The American Booksellers Association’s specialty bestseller lists provide a current snapshot of what’s selling in indie bookstores nationwide.
Here is the Indie Poetry Bestseller List, based on sales at independent bookstores nationwide for the eight-week period ending May 3, 2026.
1. The Odyssey
Homer, Emily Wilson (Transl.), W. W. Norton & Company, $18.95, 9780393356250
2. Devotions
Mary Oliver, Penguin Books, $20.00 , 9780399563263
3. Dog Show: Poems
Billy Collins, Pamela Sztybel (Illus.), Random House, $20.00, 9780593979419
4. You Better Be Lightning
Andrea Gibson, Button Poetry, $18.00, 9781943735990
5. The Iliad
Homer, Emily Wilson (Transl.), W. W. Norton & Company, $19.99, 9781324076148
6. A Suit or a Suitcase: Poems
Maggie Smith, Washington Square Press, $25.00, 9781668090053
7. Dog Songs
Mary Oliver, Penguin Books, $17.00, 9780143125839
8. Little Alleluias: Collected Poetry and Prose
Mary Oliver, Grand Central Publishing, $23.99, 9780306835810
9. Startlement: New and Selected Poems
Ada Limón, Milkweed Editions, $28.00, 9781639550517
10. Take Me With You
Andrea Gibson, Plume, $18.00, 9780735219519
11. How About Now: Poems
Kate Baer, Harper Perennial, $18.00, 9780063306080
12. Love Poems
Pablo Neruda, New Directions, $11.95, 9780811217293
13. Lord of the Butterflies
Andrea Gibson, Button Poetry, $18.00, 9781943735426
14. 44 Poems on Being with Each Other: A Poetry Unbound Collection
Pádraig Ó. Tuama, W. W. Norton & Company, $19.99, 9781324123422
15. Night Owl: Poems
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Ecco, $26.99, 9780063282315
16. Cat Poems
Tynan Kogane (Ed.), New Directions, $11.95, 9780811227506
17. Water, Water: Poems
Billy Collins, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $17.00, 9780593731048
18. Dream Work: Poems
Mary Oliver, Penguin Books, $17.00, 9780593832677
19. The Odyssey: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Homer, Robert Fagles (Transl.), Penguin Books, $20.00, 9780140268867
20. House of Light: Poems
Mary Oliver, Penguin Books, $17.00, 9798217061433
21. You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World
Ada Limón, Milkweed Editions, $20.00, 9781571315694
22. Love Poems
Rupi Kaur, Andrews McMeel Publishing, $19.99, 9798881606343
23. The Sun and Her Flowers
Rupi Kaur, Andrews McMeel Publishing, $16.99, 9781449486792
24. Time Is a Mother
Ocean Vuong, Penguin Books, $17.00, 9780593300251
25. Milk and Honey
Rupi Kaur, Andrews McMeel Publishing, $14.99, 9781449474256