Call Us What We CarryCall Us What We Carry
What it's about
Amanda Gorman, the presidential inaugural poet, captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In these poems she explores history, language, identity and loss, including the poem she read at the 2021 inauguration, The Hill We Climb.
Why it's worth reading
It spent 2 weeks at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It's one of the best-selling poetry collections of recent years.
You'll love it if you liked
The Hill We Climb
The Sun and Her Flowers
CitizenGood to know
Many poems play with form and layout, so it's best read in print.
By the numbers
- Readers36 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller51 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
More by Amanda Gorman
If you like this, read next
Explore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Call Us What We Carry worth reading?
Yes. It spent 2 weeks at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It ranks #1,952 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 64.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Call Us What We Carry about?
Amanda Gorman, the presidential inaugural poet, captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In these poems she explores history, language, identity and loss, including the poem she read at the 2021 inauguration, The Hill We Climb.
How long does it take to read Call Us What We Carry?
About 2 hours (80 pages), or about 4 days at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Call Us What We Carry?
If you liked it, try The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman, The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur or Citizen by Claudia Rankine.