New Names for Lost Things
by Noor Unnahar
Pub Date 19 Oct 2021 | Archive Date 19 Oct 2021
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Poetry



I am reviewing a copy of New Names For Lost Things through Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley:



If you are looking for a beautiful Collection of poetry, let me recommend New Names for Lost Things.


New Names For Lost Things is an all new beautifully illustrated collection of poetry from the bestselling author of Yesterday I Was the Moon. New Names For Lost Things combines Noor Unnahar’s powerful poetic voice and her signature collage style visual art for a book of highly personal reflections on loss.





I give New Names for Lost Things five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

These poems were so honest and raw. Mainly they were directed towards family issues and memories that i personally cannot relate to; obviously that doesn’t mean the poems were bad there are just probably some people out there that this would hit much harder for. nevertheless it was a beautiful novel, intertwined with pieces of art throughout which were aesthetically pleasing.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of New Names for Lost Things.

I love poetry and I love this book. The illustrations and beautiful. I couldn’t connect with a few of the poems, but that happens. A beautiful collection.

The illustrations in this book, especially the ones with little sentences on were my absolute favourite. They were gorgeous. And even when the illustrations contained little words, the illustrations spike a thousand words.

I related to some of these poems, but not all! But it was still an enjoyable read! So I definitely recommend it to poetry lovers! I will be checking out some of the authors other work for sure

New Names For Lost Things is a collection of poetry about identity, loss, and loneliness.

What originally drew me into this book of poetry was the cover and the title. As much as I wanted to connect with this based on the themes (and the author being a non-white male), I felt like it slightly missed the mark.

There were certain poems that I could relate to, specifically “Remembering the Daughters” and “Language as an Identity”, but as a collection, it only touched the tip of the iceberg and didn’t dive deeper into the emotions surrounding identity, loss and loneliness.

Thank you to @andrewsmcmeel and @netgalley for providing this ARC. If you’re looking for an aesthetically pleasing book of poetry, this is for you — out on October 19, 2021.

I always enjoy reading poetry written by Noor Unnahar. I enjoy the artwork/images that are throughout the book. I feel like it feels more personal with them accompanying the texts. The poems are not long and are easy to digest. If I were referring someone who Is just getting interested in poetry I would certainly suggest this book.

This collection of poetry was well written and full of amazing themes, such as self love and acceptance. However, I just didn’t resonate with the poems/connect on a personal level with the writing.

Beautifully written and laid out. I absolutely love love stories and poetry. Most of these you will know. Some I have never heard of before. These stories transported me to another world of love and light. I felt like this book was speaking to me and for me. It was so beautifully written and resonated to my core. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free e-arc of this book in advance for an honest review.

2 / 5 Stars
I'll keep it short this time, because I don't have too much to say. Which means, the short version of my review is: Sadly, I couldn't connect with this book.

I loved the the cover and the blurb. It sounded promising. But after finishing the first poem, I figured, that I wouldn't like it that much. The poems were all written in a certain style - even though there was some variety -, a style, that isn't really my kind of tea. I also didn't really feel like I was really getting what I was promised. Or rather, some aspects of that were not as present, as I had thought they would be.
I'm sure, that other people can and will love this, but this is just not the book for me.

Thank you NetGalley, author Noor Unnahar, and Andrews McMeel Publishing Company for providing a copy of New Names for Lost Things for me to review. I am not familiar with poems but what grabbed my attention was the title of this collection and the art on the cover. Once I started reading the poems, it made me slow down and think about each piece's title, the meaning behind it, the purpose and intent of the structure, the feelings, etc. I think it's very obvious in poems that each word is important, that each new line has meaning, and the way sections are broken up or allowed to run on was done on purpose. I don't understand each poem fully but I can tell it's personal and full of emotions. (some of them were relatable). Also, the art pieces were interesting and thought-provoking too. My favorite one that I stared at for a long time was "tamed" and it's on a picture of the ocean with white waves on the bottom. I don't know why it was so captivating but I keep thinking about that piece. Overall, reading this book made me slow down and think about the meaning behind the words and analyze my own interpretations and feelings as well. It was a great way to stop thinking about the present daily worries and just focus on understanding my own internal thoughts. I wouldn't say this was a fast read because I wanted to feel each poem and art piece but it was a really cool experience.

This was a beautiful collection of poetry. Some of the themes were family, culture, and loss. I loved that Noor included a glossary at the end of the book. The artwork was great. I love that art was included with the poems.

Es interesante este libro de poemas porque mezcla la religión, la familia y la escritura, no de una forma tediosa, sino de una forma hermosa.Ahora, no se si era la edición que me mandaron o estaba escrito así a propósito pero era una forma bastante inusual. Btw amé las ilustraciones.

New Names for Lost Things by Noor Unnahar immediately spoke to me with its gorgeous and seductive cover but, unfortunately, I was unable to successfully download the file, and will regrettably be unable to provide a review. Four stars for the cover art and the promise of what lies between the pages.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas McMeel Publishing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. However, I do not have the capabilities to read it in protected pdf only. Thank you.

I haven't read a book of poetry in a while, but I really enjoyed this one. I thought most of them were relatable and easy to read. I did not understand some of the images and how they were related. Overall, I think this a great poetry book that can be enjoyed by both adults and teens.

A strikingly beautiful read that cover themes like grief, family bonds, and loneliness. I am a fan of Unnahar's flowery prose, it's rich and poignant, but also still accessible to a wide audience. The composition of the poems are easy to read and while it doesn't break the mold it has a subtle uniqueness to it that I enjoy. This is a collection that can be enjoyed by teen and adult readers.

My favorite poems are "Inheritance", "A Personal Tragedy", and "Pockets."

Wow. The poems in this collection were so beautifully written and evocative in their brevity.

The images throughout were stunning and really added a sense of clarity to the poems while allowing the reader to have a further look into the author's mind. The images really helped to break up the poems into different sections and provide a sense of understanding or a moment to collect yourself before moving on to the next section.

The use of different poetic structures throughout was really interesting and Noor Unnahar really understood what structure worked for each poem. While many poems re-visited similar themes throughout, it was not repetitive; each time a theme or idea was re-visited something new was unlocked.

This one didn't hit me as hard as yesterday I was the moon and I'm a little sad about it.
I didn't connect with alot of these poems. But it was still a nice collection of poems by one of my favourites.
Th pictures inbetween really broke up the book nicely.

I received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Poems on loneliness, grief, family, the art of creating a poem only possible when one is not happy, home, city life, ghost and mango trees. Despite this wide range of topics the bundle feels detached and more esthetic than viscerally personal.
If I were a whisper, I would be about heartbreak and burning paper.

If anything New Names for Lost Things is definitely a beautiful work in terms of the illustrations and collages from Noor Unnahar included in the bundle.
I enjoyed reading the poems, but felt there was quite some overlap in vocabulary in some of the works, and also in general topics. Grief, city life far from home and loneliness have a 80% change of appearing in any poem in the bundle, and while it's good to have some cohesiveness I would have appreciated a bit more variety. Also a lot of the poems, despite the topics handled, feel kind of distant. Still I enjoyed and wrote down quite a few, and a female poetess from Pakistan is definitely something to celebrate.

Selected poems:
Lucid dreaming
Everything I know about you, I know from the absence of you.
All the crushed glass on the road I once thought was water is coming back to me. I wash my hands and there’s blood everywhere.
I run the faucets and they only glow. This city has been eating its loneliness again (I thought you should know about this).

A personal tragedy
This unstitched loneliness keeps bleeding out of my hands. I was always ready to be someone else. To be remembered like a fabricated war history. Reunion with myself remains a personal tragedy. But to be a poet without being tragic would have been quite a shame.

Dawning
You were so protected once -
it almost made you ungrateful. Look what
safety does to bodies reliant on it. I could
have been something else. A cobalt sparrow
on a withering tree. A fragile pearl on a cashmere coat.
An unnamed star adjacent to the moon. But I was given this life. Too many wants stitched inside a warm blood house. I could have left it behind. But I was given this time.

A tired confession
good god,
my guilt has three faces &
none of them was born with eyes.
why does a heart inherit a cage
but no key to keep it there?
I will drown if my anger asks me to.
it has an ocean to its name. it has
everything I wasn’t given.

Notes left for a stranger at the nameless park in my hometown
Cowardice is bravery halfway a long road. I remember all the skies tomorrow stole but counting them will cost the loss of another one.
What else do you know about home besides how it falls apart?
Even forgiveness sounds like an aggrieved blame in your voice.
There is road tinted by everything yesterday left behind. I have been sleepwalking on it.

Selected quotes:
The heart is a lawless land

Someday, you will look for a language but will find only a scream instead.

I am grateful for everyone who had power but didn’t exercise it on me.

somewhere between the teeth of grief, there’s still enough space for us to get out. I say we get out. - Lately

May your grief find a dark fine door ajar and leave.

I am only a poet when I am crying

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC of New Names for Lost Things in exchange for an honest review. This collection of poetry is beautiful. I loved the visual art interspersed between poems, as well as how the formatting of poems varied throughout the collection. The only critique I can give is that the collection felt overly curated at times. I would have liked to see more rough edges to feel the vulnerability and feel more connected to the themes.