A beautiful book filled with beautiful poems. Poetry is hit or miss for me and I need to be in the right mindset to be able to enjoy it, so this book took me a while to get through. Once I started though, I jumped around and found some really amazing poems I otherwise wouldn't have read.

as a gardener, i might have enjoyed this beacoup more than the average reader. The art work is Stunning with a capital S. The seasonal format is cute and endearing. But the cherry on top, was the cottagecore-esque poetry throughout the book. Some poems were a miss but overall there is something here for everyone!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I loved the artwork of this book, but that was about it. The writing did not hold me, and I went from one page to the next without being drawn in or touched. I thank NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the chance to see what was between the beautiful cover.

Leaning toward Light by Tess Taylor is a collection of poetry from many diverse voices that celebrates our connection with nature.

While I enjoyed most of the poems, some seemed to fit the theme of the collection better than others, and a few seemed clearly out of place. Overall, this was a lovely, reflective poetry collection containing some highs and lows with most of the poems falling somewhere in between.

Leaning Toward Light releases August 29, 2023. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Very "crunchy" outdoorsy collection of poems, observations about gardens, conversations around gardens, pandemic gardening, etc.

I learned a few new things while reading like..."anthology" means a gathering of flowers. A gathering of poems about flowers, plants, gardening and being outside is a spot-on title for this collection.

The descriptions are so detailed and across many types of gardens, walks of life, backgrounds, plants, and seasons. Highly recommend if you are outdoorsy and into gardening.

I very much enjoyed the beautiful poetry and the mixture of poems with recipes and short writings in this book. It was interesting that there were not only modern poets included in the book but poems from classic poets as well. I do wish there had been more recipes included, as I thought that was a very interesting touch. I definitely think the ways that this book is organized by seasons and the harvests of crops is a wonderful way to show young folks the joys of gardening, harvesting, and cooking.

A really lovely, gentle anthology of poetry. The poems all relate to gardens, gardening, nature or just the beauty in the natural world. I really enjoyed reading the poems and I really enjoyed thinking about the natural world.
The illustrations in the book also add to the reading experience.
Truly a beautiful book, and one which I would seek out to read and experience with a child.

ARC Rating 4/5 ⭐️

I really liked the cover of this book 🌱☀️

This was a very enjoyable anthology of poetry, from a wide range of people, all leaning toward growing, green space, time outside etc. I really enjoyed the collection of poetic writing, stories, poetry, art, and recipes.

Thank you NetGalley, Storey Publishing and Tess Taylor for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

Loved this anthology so much- will incorporate into our classroom when we’re learning about plants and growth. A great addition for poetry tea time

This collection of poetry is a delightful collection!

As someone who likes to get their hands dirty and lean into my garden, this collection is welcomed into my home.

Thank you netgalley for this e-galley!

I’d like to thank Tess Taylor, Storey Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with the digital ARC of Leaning Toward Light.

This book is a beautiful collection of insights from people of various backgrounds and cultures that revolve around our relationship with ourselves and its reflection in nature.

I was enamored with the illustrations and the way they skillfully separated the different stages of growth and tending, capturing the shifting of seasons and the progress of plants. Each chapter felt like a journey through the processes of processing and healing, conveyed by the contributing poets in a way that feels safe and comforting.

My overall takeaway is that, like a garden, we need to tend to ourselves and create an environment that encourages our flourishing. Leaning Toward Light highlights the resilience that both plants and humans possess and celebrates our interconnected journey with the world around us. While there are moments of beauty, there are also day-to-day challenges that can distract us from it.

Whether you are a poetry enthusiast or someone seeking introspection, I highly recommend picking up this book and immersing yourself in its pages, stepping into your own garden.

Over the past year or so, I have been seeking solace in poetry, and have really enjoyed looking at different types of poetry out there for the consumer. When I saw this book, come up as review, I was super excited to check it out! This book did not disappoint, and had beautifully written, and deeply meaningful prose which can absolutely be related to life and joy in growth. Tending to nature in a mindful matter can bring such joy and gratitude to a person.

Beautiful book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

Absolutely gorgeous. I loved this book, it really is beautiful. As someone who has recently discovered a love for plants and the joy of having them growing around me, this poetry hit hard and I reveled in every page.

I personally felt like this book didn’t grab or hold my attention very well. I liked the opening and the background on the author, but the individual sections were eh. I did not feel like it was organized or put together very well.

Leaning toward Light, and anthology, by Tess Taylor captures the essence of art and nature. As I sit and write my own poetry in a poetry garden located on San Juan Island, I fully understand the liberation of a gardens and art. Rather than feel bound and trapped by urban structures, the poetry and the garden work together to spawn thoughts and ideas. This book exemplifies freedom to express art.

Poems in this anthology reflect the essence of poetry. All gardens and the plants within them lean toward a direction. They rely on sun, warmth, and posture to blossom

Any poet knows they lean on something in their words, verse, or intention. The art captures their reality and the expression embraces their fall. Courage and despair receive grace from light. Each poet represents the art. To cultivate more. Depth, color, direction, and motivation appear in the images of flowers. Fruits and vegetables provide the palate for the audience to attain.

Whether the poet is contemporary or of the past, all plants in the garden continue to grow. The art continues to grow with each poem by the nature of the garden.

I always feel that poetry finds its way to me when I need it most, poetry after all is one of the most vulnerable acts wherein baring and bearing one’s soul. This poetry collection absolutely found its way to me when I was in a place to read, appreciate and feel all these collective and diverse poems. I loved the recipes that some of the poems and entries had attached to them too!

This is a beautiful anthology (in every version of its meaning, iykyk) that is perfect for springtime.

Gardeners, nature lovers and world wanderers alike will appreciate this collection of poetry. I enjoyed exploring different writers' styles and perspectives on our natural world and tried to read it in pieces so as to sit with different poems for a bit and really think about them.

Some writers I'd heard of and others I hadn't until reading this book but I enjoyed them all and am happy to have some new names to add to my list for future searched.

Thank you, Netgalley, Author, and Publisher, for a copy of E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I always love poetry, and this is such a beautiful collection of poetry. I love poetry that includes illustrations because somehow it makes me feel calm and understand the meaning more through the illustration offered.

I will definitely re-read this soon and get a copy for my loved one.

I really liked this concept of a poetry book, specifically relating to gardening. I made a few highlights that even stood out to me. I am not an expert in poetry by any means, but I do believe that this collection is a bit disorganized. Obviously, the formatting still has some issues, but I would have liked poems with similar meanings grouped together. Like poems relating gardening to motherhood all together or poems relating to relationships all together, etc. It was hard for me to really delve into the poems because I felt like I kept bouncing around different deeper meanings. Again, I'm not a poet or an expert, but from a regular consumer, that is what I thought.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book!*

A really nice collection of poems that deals with everything green, garden, growing. I enjoyed the majority of the poems a lot and I also liked the recipes.

4 stars :)