This is my first year participating in The Sealey Challenge, and while I am thrilled to be doing so, I am a little crazed: I am also reading for the Oregon City Public Library's Summer Reading Bingo, Goodreads Annual Reading Challenge, and I have challenged myself to read/re-read all of Agatha Christie's books, starting with the Hercule Poirot books. I also read a lot of poetry for my blog as well as prior to submitting my own poems to a journal. And when I drive by myself, I almost always have a book to listen to. So I have been reading more this summer, especially this month, than I have since studying for my doctoral exams (and back then we did not have audio books, so I may be reading even more this summer!). Of course I love reading, but I also enjoy savoring books, which this challenge does not allow for. But, it has made me determined to read at least 1 book of poetry each week going forward. 

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I am going to list the books I have read for Sealey each week. I am also posting every day--once I complete a book--on Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, and Instagram (with photos of the books), and I write a review of each book every day on Goodreads. So if you would like more than a list, and wish to read what I think of each book, head over to my Goodreads page.

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If you are participating in #TheSealeyChallenge, remember to post. I love seeing what others are reading! #thesealeychallenge2023

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For more information on The Sealey Challenge, click here.

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WEEK ONE

August 1: The Wild Fox of Yemen by Threa Almontaser (Graywolf Press, 2020)

August 2: A Place So Deep Inside America It Can't Be Seen by Kari Gunter-Seymour (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2020)

August 3: The Night Divers by Melanie McCabe (Terrapin Books, 2022)

August 4: For My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes (Penguin Poets, 2018)

August 5: American Zero by Stella Wong (two sylvias press, 2019)

WEEK TWO

August 6: I Will Pass Even to Acheron by Amanda Newell (Rattle, 2021)

August 7: Mothman Apologia by Robert Wood Lynn (Yale University Press, 2022)

August 8: Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith (Coffee House Press, 2008)

August 9: Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón (Milkweed Editions, 2015)

August 10: Still Life with Mother and Knife by Chelsea Rathburn (LSU Press, 2019)

August 11: Earthwork by Kristin Berger (The Poetry Box, 2022)

August 12: Forest Primeval by Vievee Francis (Triquaterly Books, 2016)

 

WEEK THREE

August 13: The Animal After Whom Other Animals Are Named by Nicole Sealey (Northwestern U Press, 2016)

August 14: All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran (Penguin Poets, 2022)

August 15: Partial Genius by Mary Bidding (Black Lawrence Press, 2019)

August 16: Late Wife by Claudia Emerson (LSU Press, 2005)

August 17: Field Guide to the End of the World by Jeannine Hall Gailey (Moon City Press, 2016)

August 18: And So Wax Was Made & Also Honey by Amy Beeder (Tupelo Press, 2020)

August 19: Tips for Domestic Travel by Hayden Saunier (Black Lawrence Press, 2009)

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August 20: They Speak of Fruit by Gary L. McDowell (Cooper Dillon Books, 2009)

August 21: Dialogues with Rising Tides by Kelli Russell Agodon (Copper Canyon Press, 2021)

August 22: Buffer Zone: Snapshots From an Abortion Clinic Escort by Christine Taylor (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2020)

August 23: The Wendys by Allison Benis White (Four Way Books, 2020)

August 24: Saltwater Demands a Psalm by Kweku Abimbola (Graywolf Press, 2023)

August 25: Obit by Victoria Chang (Copper Canyon Press, 2020)

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 August 26: Did You Know? by Elizabeth S. Wolf (Rattle, 2019)

August 27: Silt by Erica Wright (dancing girl press, 2019)

August 28: Exploded Assembly by Karen Donovan (Sow's Ear, 2020)

August 29: To Drink from a Wider Bowl by Joanne Durham (Evening Street Press, 2021)

August 30: A Plucked Zither by Phuong T. Vuong (Red Hen Press, 2023)

August 31: The Blue Hills: Poems after the Life of Maud Gonne by Lucinda Grey (The Comstock Review, 2011)

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