“Invisible Strings” is a collection of 113 poets writing poems based upon Taylor Swift songs. This book is edited and organized by Kristie Frederick Daugherty. I found the idea of this book to be fascinating - if you’re a Taylor Swift fan or not, how one artist (or another person) can “see” another artist’s work can be rather fascinating. I’ll admit to not being a huge poetry fan, but I decided to give this book a try. Like with any anthology, some works will be really fantastic and others not as well received. Ms. Daugherty, in the introduction, mentions how she came up with the idea for this anthology and how she reached out to poets and this collection came to be. If poetry is your thing, this might be a book to pick up and explore. Did I think this book was fantastic? No - but that’s pretty typical for any anthology. Do I think that every fan of Ms. Swift should read this book - again, no, but I think if they like modern poetry and exploring how lyrics affect others, this might be a book for them to pick up. I’d recommend this book, but for me it was okay (3.5 rounded up to 4) … but then, again, poetry isn’t my jam. And if, like me, you don’t know the words to all of Ms. Swift’s songs, that’s okay - the poems contained can be read as stand-alone works of art. As a bonus, Ms. Daugherty includes a “playlist” of the poets’ works at the end of the book for further exploration.

I wish I was a poet so I could convey how much I enjoyed this book. It was moving and thoughtful and incredibly fun to read so many beautiful words inspired by the lyrics of Taylor Swift.

The idea behind this anthology is brilliant. Drop Easter eggs into poems and if you want to play along-figure out which songs inspired the words.
Non Swifties will get carried away by the poems which stand on their own. It’s a choose your own reading adventure.

Perfect for Swifties, poetry enthusiasts or holiday present gatherers.