Miller's "Groceries" dives into societies' need and want for objects and what those objects actually do for us and what we do with them. I really appreciated the free-flowing nature of the collection, that while experiments with structure still maintains an overarching theme of shape as its shape. The collection's overall blurred line between the tangible objects, their meaning, and a concept or an idea was very well done. At times it's used as an device throughout the whole poem, while other entries it's used more so as a twist at then to stick home the poem's leading idea, which I quite enjoyed.

There are moments where you get overwhelmed by shapes where as other moments you are allowed to sit with the traditional words. I'm not entirely sure if that style worked for me on an individual poem level but did feel the experimental style worked overall. Because of that there only a few poems that I bookmarked to revisit, including the conversation with the book and the poem on page 80.

Thank you Netgalley, Fonograf Editions, and Nora Claire Miller for sending me this advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I have to preface this review with the fact that I’m not a poetry reader, but I wanted to give something different a go and that’s how I ended up reading ‘Groceries’. I was really intrigued by the premise and the reviews made it sound as though it would be meaningful commentary on permanency and the mundanity of life but I didn’t have that experience. Although there were a few lines sprinkled throughout that resonated with me, the piece as a whole felt very chaotic and messy- think the ramblings of a stoner but somehow even less coherent.

This isn’t a ‘dip your toe into’ poetry book, it’s too abstract and for me it landed on the wrong side of the brilliant-nonsensical line. I’m definitely not the right reader for this as others have resonated with this work and found beauty in it, so I’m splitting it down the middle and giving it a 2.5-star rating (rounded down to 2 as I really didn’t enjoy it) but I wouldn’t read anything like this again in a hurry.

Thanks to Fonograf Editions and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fonograf Editions for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The topic of this poetry collection was very interesting to me. Overcomposition, especially with material goods, is something that most people deal with. Everyone has objects, and it can be hard to figure out what to do with them, whether it's deciding where to put them, whether you should keep them or throw them out, or how to use them. This poetry collection addresses all these concerns.

Overall, I did not connect with this poetry collection. There were poems in the book that I enjoyed (especially one of the last ones, and the ones about the author's cat, Ramona). I did enjoy the use of the 'spaces/rectangles' as both words in the poems and decorations around the poems. I thought that was a unique thing that made me more interested in this book.

In a single poem throughout the book, we see ‘Groceries’, much like Galileo’s accidental poem, but in a modern perspective, where we are all but tiny boxes on Earth from a distance. While I fully respect the concept, the continual nature of it was difficult to digest on my end, especially with some lovely lines tucked away, which felt rather chaotic as it came together (I am very sure this was the point though). There were some gems in here, but also some lines I felt I’d hear from someone who is simply not sober and thinking they had an epiphany.

Thank you to Fonograf Editions and NetGalley for this ARC; all opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

sigh. sighhhhhh. I really enjoy poetry normally. Unfortunately, this just didn't hit.

Maybe I'm dumb, but the poetry read like it was supposed to be super meaningful and hardhitting. and it just. wasn't.

Reading this felt like those moments when you're about to fall asleep but you're still awake but not quite and your brain's all over the place. This book is all over the place. I particularly didn't understand the Martian poem? I don't know. I just really would like one of those Shakespeare guides which explains every line for this book.

But! I particularly did like some of the poems about life and some lines did make me think about the seemingly ordinary objects in life and using them -- like digging a hole with a toy train.

Groceries has become quite a surprise to me. Nora Claire Miller has been capable of showing the beauty of the world’s boring, rutinary life. They did a great job in converging everything into poems so magical and reallistic at the same time.

I didn’t particularly enjoy reading this book, actually I just read it because I had already started and don’t like DNF’s. However I decided to give it 3 stars because maybe I’m just not built for poetry. I’ve given it a chance time and time again but it always lands flats. “Groceries” wasn’t bad and sometimes it felt like there is some deeper meaning being portrayed in it but then other lines felt empty. Some of it was quite surface level and bland in a way (or totally random compared to the context). More or so made to fill up pages. My favourite line was “life on earth is so meaningful until you really talk about it”.

Most compelling is the cosmic scope Miller brings to mundane objects, asking not merely where to put them but "how to print them out from the sky so they get sucked back down to earth." This vertiginous perspective transforms consumer culture into metaphysical inquiry, finding in grocery lists the fundamental questions of materiality, representation, and taxonomy.

There are many poetry books about the beauty, and mundanity of every day life. The best among them evoke feeling in unexpected ways. Groceries felt very surface level, and a bit detached.

Thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC of this story. Here is my honest review.

This was such an interesting piece. I have never read a story in this style before and I hope to find more like this in the future. Groceries is a story of telephones. Violets. Cellophane. It is a story of shapes and the way they sound. It reminds me of sitting in class, arguing with peers about the science and how it is red, the number 5, Saturday. math and how it is blue, the number 8, Friday.

The creativity and originality is striking. I hope to read more from Nora Clare Miller in the future.

Thank you Netgalley, Fonograf Editions, and Nora Claire Miller for sending me this advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was an interesting and unusual book of poetry. At times it felt a bit random, but overall everything made sense when viewed as a whole.

To me it felt like a surreal walk through a grocery store while you are half awake. Little thoughts would catch your attention and become sharp and clear for a minute, before blurring out into a haze as you move on to the next row.

This was really fun, and I think everyone should give it a read.

What a peculiar collection! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
There were a lot of stanzas and passages on the passing of time and how we take it for granted. Also, the state of the Earth, its dying state, and how the human race brushes it aside with disregard. The author turned a short collection into a deliciously provocative statement piece. Not what I was expecting-Obviously, that made me love it more.
All through reading this I could see my autistic brain on the pages. Somehow the author completely encapsulated my viewpoint of the world as an autistic person. The oddness, the backwards thoughts, the questions. It got it right down to the bone. I'm sure a lot of people won't feel the same as me in that regard, everyone is different, but I felt very seen.
I added a copy to my wishlist because I will be purchasing this for my shelves!

Groceries is a thoughtful and beautiful long-poem discussing themes of objects, including object permanence and the use of objects within our lives. A quick yet meaningful read, I believe that this is poetry that everyone can understand and love. Miller writes with passion, explaining themes and scenarios that we all feel and can relate to. Their writing is beautiful and has a flow that only advanced poets are able to create, where the words seamlessly blend from page to page. This book is unique in the way that Miller leaves blank boxes on many of the pages, allowing your brain to 'fill in the blank' or use your imagination, which really helps the reader connect to the poem. It doubles the poem as a piece of art, which is something that we don't see often. I really enjoyed this poem. Poetry is one of my favorite things to read, but you just don't see true poetry like this very often anymore. Thank you to Net Galley, Fonograph editions, and Nora Claire Miller for giving me the chance to read this poem. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unfortunately I’ve been unable to actually read this book, each attempt I made, through all of the options to read it, didn’t work and took me to an error of some sort. None of my other reads on NetGalley have presented this issue so I’m unsure what it stems from, I apologize!