How About Now - Poems

The third full length poetry collection from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Woman. Renowned poet Kate Baer returns with a bold and compassionate collection that confronts the march of time in a shifting world. With her trademark candor and curiosity, Baer explores what it means to grow older, to release children into the wildness of their own lives, and to reclaim the ever evolving self. Raw, luminous, and urgent, this collection channels Baer''s own journey to middle age into poems that are profoundly intimate yet resound universally, identifying the beauty, resilience, and fragility that arrive in every stage of life. How About Now is a striking declaration of ongoing transformation and self-discovery. From the poet who has captured the heartbeat of the modern woman, this collection reaffirms Kate Baer''s place among the most vital voices of our era.

Report

"Longtime poetry buffs and poetry newcomers alike will enjoy this collection." - Library Journal
"Kate Baer makes poetry look easy, but it's not. In clear, accessible language, she writes about ordinary joys and travails - cleaning dog vomit off the carpet, trying to get a doctor's attention, wrestling a child to school. She's often funny, usually at her own expense, but she has a sharp eye for the humiliations of modern life and the comedy of a long marriage." - The Washington Post
"This tender poetry collection explores themes of modern womanhood, reveling in and romanticizing the mundane and offering reflection and recognition." - Shelf Awareness
"Popular poet Baer signals, from the first pages, an intention to reveal layers of the self that are emerging or have newly emerged. Each small poem, with its clear and digestible musings, shapes the book's overarching exploration of the passage of time and the fleeting nature of life's stages. Baer's collection may appeal to seasoned readers and those for whom this is an introduction to poetry." - Booklist
"Kate Baer's newest collection of poetry is a luminous exploration of aging, transition, and self-discovery. How About Now solidifies the bestselling poet as one of the most authoritative and renowned voices on issues that universally resound for a modern woman, from contemplations on motherhood to musings on the entrance to midlife." - Harper's Bazaar
"In this luminous new collection, Kate Baer captures the ache and beauty of middle age. From releasing children to reclaiming self, and reckoning with time's relentless march. With her signature candor, she sketches poems that feel both intimate and universal, as if she's speaking directly to the pulse of modern womanhood." - SheReads
"How About Now, the spectacular new collection by bestselling poet Kate Baer (What Kind of Woman), is all about change: the effects of getting older, what it's like to watch your children grow, how relationships evolve (or don't). Touching on everything from text chains to bridesmaid speeches to panic attacks, the poems uncover the profundity behind our seemingly ordinary lives. Keep this slim book on your nightstand-it reads like words of compassion from your wisest friend." - Real Simple
"New York Times bestselling poet Kate Baer reflects on aging, motherhood, and sense of self with honesty, grace, and humor. Through her intimate and thought-provoking poems, she captures the beauty and vulnerability of transformation, reminding readers that growth is both inevitable...and empowering."
- Southern Living Magazine

"Kate Baer strips the journey of self-discovery raw in her collection of poems that explore the journey into middle-age. Baer lays bare the experience of seeing children grow up and away, and finding how to reclaim the self as it has hidden itself away for so long. Honest and striking, Kate Baer's poetry captures the beauty of life in each of its seasons and reminds its readers of the intimacy in exploring the self."
- SheWrites

"Baer's latest book of poetry, How About Now, captures the mundane beauty of what it means to be a modern woman in midlife. She writes of shifting roles and shifting bodies, of the joy she finds in her family - even if she'd rather stand outside and look at them through the window, and the unique bond in female friendships." - MPR News
"The motherhood/womanhood/friendship trifecta wouldn't be complete without the work of the inimitable poet Kate Baer, and her newest book of poetry arrives just in time for cozy season. Her books grow right alongside her, this release focusing on aging, watching kids grow into adults, and the ride of midlife." - Worth Mentioning
"The poems are short but thought-provoking, capturing an experience that is both extremely personal but that will also resonate with women everywhere."
- Motherhood Moment

"A striking poetry collection that delves into the realities of aging, change, and self-reinvention. With her characteristic honesty and curiosity, Baer explores the universal themes of growth, letting go, and discovering resilience in every stage of life. Whether you're already a fan of her work or new to her voice, this collection offers raw, luminous poetry that speaks to the heart of what it means to evolve and embrace transformation." - Hits 96

"Kate Baer's poems are so full of life-life as it is now, life as it is for so many of us who are women and wives and mothers-that I can hear them breathing. I loved this book." - Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow
"When you love the world and are weary, here is Kate Baer to shine her light like the kind of radiant and brilliant friend who says, same. Who says, I've got you. So you can take a breath and let your shoulders drop. So you can turn and lift your face. How About Now is a balm, a banister, and a battering ram. Her very best yet." - Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich
"Raw, honest, painful, inspiring. To see oneself reflected in another person's words is such an important reminder of how not alone we actually are. Beautiful and real." - Jenny Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of Let's Pretend This Never Happened and You Are Here
"Kate Baer has a brilliant, transformative talent for 'making/ everything/ into something.' She makes life into art, crafting poems that are part snapshot, part mirror, part outstretched hand. Baer's poems are beautifully distilled and compressed, but they're enormous inside; they hold our world. How About Now is her best book yet." - Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful
"Midlife, midnight. In love and out of it. Kids, cats, the ominous pulse of time, time, time. Every Kate Baer poem in How About Now is a lifeline, tethering one woman to herself. To read this collection is to be known." - Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch
"Kate Baer's poetry is a prescription for the agony of modern living; each word she writes convinces me that nothing is mundane and everything is meaningful." - Nora McInerny, author of Bad Vibes Only and It's Okay to Laugh
"Sometimes I think reading Kate Baer's poetry is as good as therapy. She examines womanhood at various stages of life, laying bare the complex struggles and emotions that come with each. Baer encourages readers to grab hold of their desire and hunger for life and take a triumphant bite." - Becca Naylor, American Booksellers Association

Product details

• Authors: Kate Baer
• Publisher: Harper Perennial USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 26.11.2025
• EAN: 9780063306080
• ISBN: 978-0-06-330608-0
• No. of pages: 99
• Dimensions: 136 mm x 203 mm x 9 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; LITERATURE: WOMEN'S LITERATURE, LITERATURE: GENERAL FICTION, POETRY: Women Authors, POETRY: Subjects & Themes / Love & Erotica, LITERATURE: POETRY, POETRY: Subjects & Themes / Family, Narrative theme: love / relationships