Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this e-ARC! I want to say up front that I’m not a frequent reader of poetry, and I requested this to broaden my horizons. So, I’m not exactly sure how to review this.

However, as a poetry neophyte, I think Mary Oliver is my kind of poet. The “Who’s It For” summary on The StoryGraph suggests this book is for “readers who seek quiet, reverent communion with nature and the self, who find solace in language that praises rather than explains, and who are willing to linger in gratitude for fleeting moments of beauty.” Doesn’t that sound nice? I think it does.

This was challenging to read in the way that I felt like I might be reading another language, outside my comfort zone. I enjoyed picking it up right before bed as a way to wind down. Like any reading experience, there were parts that I strongly connected with, and other parts where I felt like I could glaze over. As a fellow New England lover (Is there a word for that? “New Anglophile”…?), I couldn’t get enough of her transporting descriptions of the Cape, no matter the season. Some of my favorites are “The Hummingbird,” “Wind,” “You Are Standing at the Edge of the Woods,” “Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me,” “A Settlement,” “The Loon,” and “By the Wild-Haired Corn.”

I knew nothing about Mary Oliver before reading this, apart from the fact that she was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (gleaned from the cover) and that she sadly passed away in 2019. Upon further research, I learned that we have a lot in common – she was a fellow native of the Buckeye State and studied at Ohio State (my alma mater). This book has certainly done its job – for me, at least. I still don’t know how to properly review poetry, but I consider my horizons to be broadened.

This is a very nice all in one beginner collection of Oliver's verse and prose. It does not have everything I love in it--would be a big book--but it has a nice lovely balance. If you do not have a complete collection, this would be a good place to begin. It would be a great addition to small public or home libraries.

I love Mary Oliver’s poetry so I knew I would love this collection. It was compiled after her death from the book-length poem The Leaf and the Cloud, the collection What Do We Know, and essays from Long Life. That said, my favorite parts were definitely the poems from What Do We Know, so I personally will probably look for a copy of that book for my own collection. The essays are definitely wonderful reading too, but I would probably read them once from the library but want the poems to read again and again.

This will be a wonderful book for any lover of nature, poetry and Oliver.

A new compendium of three previously published Mary Oliver books (two volumes of poetry and a third of mostly prose). As you might expect, that makes this triple-worthy of your attention. I’ve read a lot of Oliver over the years, but not these three volumes. I’m grateful for the opportunity to enjoy them back-to-back-to-back.

There is a very good reason Mary Oliver is one of our most beloved poets. The way she so eloquently and gently reframes our world is legendary. Her poetry is simple but magical. What this collection showed me for the first time though, was what a tremendously talented author of prose she was. She states that it is not her forte, that it doesn't always feel like the medium for her, but I'd argue that her vision translates magnificently to prose.

Mary Oliver can do no wrong - this collection is no exception! Beautiful, moving, evocative - truly everything I could want from a collection of poetry. No notes, will read anything she has written and take any excuse to read/reread her poems in any form.

Nature abounds in this collection of poetry and prose by the late Mary Oliver. I love how nature is her form of worship and how the joy she finds in it leaps off the pages.

I enjoyed her musings on her beloved Cape Cod and its wildlife as experienced and appreciated in great detail on her daily walks.

I was struck by a passage about the daily discipline of a spiritual practice. Reading the book was worth it if only for this bit of wisdom about routine and the benefits of “divine attentiveness.”

What delighted me were essays about some of the residents of early Concord, MA including Emerson. What a touching tribute to this man of nature.

Mary says, “I walk in the world to love it.” We her readers are so fortunate to be able to walk along with her.

This collection gathers three full-length works of the late poet: : the book-length poem The Leaf and the Cloud: A Poem, the poetry collection What Do We Know, and essays from Long Life: Essays and Other Writings. With an introduction by Natalie Diaz, this collection is a great way to revisit some of Oliver's mid-career writings.

What is there to say? Absolutely beautiful. These poems are so moving. I wanted to savor each one. Highly recommend!

Such beauty in every poem. It’s hard to imagine what person can have so many thoughts about so many things and have it all be absolutely beautiful. She will be missed

i haven't read much mary oliver, so this was a nice introduction to her poetry, prose, and essays. what an amazing writer with such a deep sense of beauty and hope. my only critique is that i didn't see much need for the addition of the biographical/critical essays on other poets--i'd rather more of her poetry and prose, and it sticks out sorely compared to the rest of the stellar book.

If you're a Mary Oliver devotee, you'll want to pick this up. It's a continuation of all you've loved about her previous work. Reflections on life, nature, our place in the world, both in poetry and prose. There's an interlude of some writing she did about Nathanial Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson that I'm not sure felt like it fit, but if you're just looking to gather up everything Oliver has ever written, you'll likely find value there.

This surprised the heck out of me. I've never been a big fan of poetry -- it felt like a lot of work and I was a little intimidated trying to find meaning in the words. Well, this was different. Accessible, illuminating, often beautiful turns of phrases, I was mesmerized and taken on miniature voyages a hundred times during this collection. I loved the connection with nature and spirituality, and the author showed her humanity and love the the wild in every stanza. To be fair, the prose pieces were much less interesting to me, although they showed some historical perspective on Oliver's future works. Provincetown, MA IS a special place, and the author presented it perfectly.

I'd never heard of Mary Oliver before reading this. Now I can't and won't forget her.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

A nice collection of Oliver’s work. As someone who isn’t a poetry reader I found solace in reading some of the poems and taking a step back in my day.

As a lifelong lover of poetry, I have had Oliver on my must read list for a long time. To be clear, I’ve read her poetry before, but I wanted to root myself in one of her collections, noting in her overarching themes and motifs. Lo and behold, Little Alleluias: Collected Poetry and Prose was available in the read now category on NetGalley courtesy of @grandcentralpub.

The works here focused on love and the natural world - two of my favourite poetic subjects.

These offerings were profound. Oliver captures such complexity in simple natural pleasures - nature and the divine is a constant, beautiful refrain.

My only qualm with this collection was the essays tagged on at the end; they were written about Nathaniel Hawthorne and his works and life. While I’ve read The Scarlet Letter, I’ve not read The House of the Seven Gables (though I’ve visited) but it just felt like a very disjointed part of this collection. I understand the thematic connections, but I didn’t feel the power in her prose as much as in her poetry.

I finished this collection at the time when the tremendously talented poet laureate of Colorado Andrea Gibson (they/them) died. Both Oliver and Gibson were tapped into something not of this world - and I think they understood more about life than most of us ever will. I can’t help but feel that Gibson’s work and Oliver’s work were in conversation with one another. They were both gifts and their words remain for us to treasure forever.

Oliver’s words and themes resonated deeply. Might I gently suggest dipping into this collection if your soul needs a balm the way mine did.

Mary Oliver deserves all the stars, always. This is a lovely work filled with joy, gratitude, and nature. How lucky are we to be able to enjoy her writings - prose, poems and in between. The list of poems that I especially enjoyed is simply too long to list for this review. Of special note, the author even had me appreciating her dogs and I'm not exactly a dog person. Just lovely. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to immerse myself in Mary Oliver's world - it's a wonderful place to linger.

This book is such a treasure, as are all of Mary Oliver's collections. This title is perfection. I love it so very much. I've been reading Mary's work for the last handful of years, and this book is a wonderful gift. I look forward to having a physical copy to read and hold this fall when it releases.

I received a free e-ARC from NetGalley.

I am not a "poetry person". I feel bad saying that, but I want someone to build me a world in which I can escape for hours or days. Give me an 800 page fantasy novel, please.

Mary Oliver's poetry is an exception to that. She can take me deeply in to the world of the small black snake or the heron on the pond with only a page, and I love that.

Mary Oliver anything will always be good. I don’t know that this feels like a complete collection or a themed selection of her works, but I will always read and adore her. I liked including the introductions she was writing for classic books, that was a sweet touch and not something people would care to include in a book like this, so as a fan thank you. 🩷

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I am precisely the target audience for this book. I am a long time devotee of Oliver and I own all of her books that are still in print and floating around the bookselling universe. Due to that fact, I already own the three volumes contained in this new, beautiful compilation.

It was not my first time reading any of these words, but that maybe isn't the point of this book - at least not for me. For me this collection felt more like a curation. A painting of a picture via juxtaposition and cohabitation of poems and stories that have not been sat so closely together until now. And what a thoughtful and profound picture it paints.

I think this book will welcome readers to consider Oliver's work and perhaps also her life, in a new, or at least slightly altered light. The foreword by the remarkable Natalie Diaz (a profoundly exceptional poet, in her own right) really sets this book up beautifully. Diaz reminds you of the alternativeness of Oliver's approach to words and to life, centers the work on the holiness of existence, and perhaps most profoundly, she shows you that the beauty of the work you are about to read is multifaceted and complex - as was the author of those words.

If you are new to Mary Oliver, or if you have had only brief previous encounters with her work, I believe that this curated selection of her poetry and prose would be a beautiful place to begin. The works contained in this volume are some of my favorites and no amount of revisiting has been able to rob them of the wonder and emotion they always elicit in me.

As someone who has spent many years reading and re-reading Oliver quite rigorously - I am always glad to see her work through a new lens - and I felt very luck to find that exact experience via this book.