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Wild and Precious: A Celebration of Mary Oliver is by far the coolest reading experience I’ve had this year! It’s an audio compilation of conversations with students, friends, and readers of Oliver’s, interspersed with audio of Oliver herself, as they discuss both poetry and poet. Examining recurring topics in her work like nature, attention, dogs, and death, Wild and Precious mines both Oliver’s most recognizable poems (Wild Geese, The Summer Day) as well as deep cuts from longtime readers (The Kookaburras, When Death Comes). I was particularly surprised by how much I enjoyed the way different faith leaders spoke about the transcendent nature of her writing. Contributors in this collection include: actress and activist Sophia Bush, chef Samin Nosrat, poet Ross Gay, writer Carmen Maria Machado, actress Busy Philipps, writer and actor Rainn Wilson, memoirist Claire Bidwell Smith, and bestselling author Susan Cain. Sophia Bush does a phenomenal job with the narration, and listening to everyone speak movingly about how Oliver’s words resonated with them had me tearing up more than once — I was *not* prepared for Carmen Maria Machado’s anecdote about her first dog — and I get why this text is only available via audio. You have to hear their voices: the smiles, the wavering tones, the awe. This collection feels like a tribute to Oliver’s call to action, the thing her life’s work demands: “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” Whether you’re a huge Mary Oliver fan like me or someone who doesn’t think poetry is for them, I encourage you to give this a listen. 📸: I’m holding out my wrist and wearing an Apple Watch displaying the audiobook cover of Wild and Precious. There is grass and a single yellow dandelion visible in the background. via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C5vig7hrFFw/