Happy August!

I hope your summer has been delightful and that it’s brought you many great reads and many opportunities for the best kind of Laziness! As summer winds down, I have an easy and light reading recommendation for you.

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August 17, 2018

Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan

Genre/Categories: Memoir, Biographical, Humor, Self Help

***This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Summary:

In these various personal essays, popular author Kelly Corrigan explores the power of words to make a difference in our lives. Throughout the engaging and thoughtful collection of stories, there runs a theme of grief as she learns to accept the loss of her father and best friend. Each chapter includes humorous, insightful, and poignant reflections revolving around the roles she plays as a parent, a spouse, a survivor, a daughter, a sibling, a seeker, and a best friend.

Amazon Rating (August): 4.6 Stars

My Thoughts:

Popular Author: Some of you might be a fan of Kelly Corrigan’s work having enjoyed The Middle Place, Glitter and Glue, or Lift. The only one I have read that I can compare Tell Me More with is The Middle Place, and I liked Tell Me More better.

Topics: Corrigan excels in story telling and Tell Me More can be quickly read or you can make it last by reading just one self-contained chapter a day. Chapter topics include the freedom of saying “no,” the joy of saying “yes,” the compassionate listener saying “tell me more” the wisdom of saying “I was wrong” in place of “I’m sorry,” the honesty of admitting “I don’t know,” realizing that we’re “good enough,” pressing “onward” through grief, etc. Important themes include faith, friendship, and grief.

Faith: Kelly comes from a religious family, and one aspect I appreciate about her reflections is her honesty in the journey of reconciling her childhood experience with her own adult faith. A seeker, she honestly acknowledges that “I don’t know” if there’s a God.

Practice “Yes”: Reading Kelly Corrigan is like listening to your best friend chat across the table over coffee. The chapter in which she lists her “yeses” is enjoyable and reminds us that we have so much good in our lives. She inspires me to make a list, too. I find that I can go on and on and on with this list….so many wonderful reasons to say “yes.” Here’s a portion of my list. Perhaps it will inspire you to make your own list.

Yes

Yes to Hawaiian vacations…..Yes to Labrador/Golden Retriever companionship…..Yes to reading…..Yes to spontaneous hugs from the “grands,”…..Yes to long, leisurely lunches with friends…..Yes to gently windy days…..Yes to rain storms…..Yes to warm chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies…..Yes to a tall, cold glass of Diet Dr. Pepper…..Yes to movies…..Yes to epic sunflowers…..Yes to blogging…..Yes to flip flops…..Yes to take out…..Yes to popcorn…..Yes to gardening…..Yes to expansive and glorious old shade trees…..Yes to South Dakota farmland…..Yes to guacamole…..Yes to Jesus…..Yes to a nap…..Yes to heated car seats…..Yes to Panera Bread…..Yes to any request from my adult children…..Yes to daffodils…..Yes to fireworks displays…..Yes to In ‘N Out (looking at you California)…..Yes to marching bands……Yes to libraries and book stores…..Yes to picnics…..Yes to Laguna Beach…..Yes to lifelong friendships…..Yes to a phone call with Mom…..Yes to newborn babies…..Yes to walk off home runs…..Yes to book clubs…..Yes to the Olympics…..

What are your favorite ways to say Yes?

Recommended. I recommend Tell Me More for fans of Kelly Corrigan, for readers who are looking for an easy, engaging, thought-provoking, lighter read this summer, and for those who enjoy reflective memoirs.

Trigger Warnings: Cancer, grief, loss of a father

*Edited to Add: Other recommended reads in the memoir/self-help genre: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, and The Choice.

My Rating: 4 Stars
(based on this being a stand out in a genre I tend to avoid)

Tell Me More Information Here

Meet the Author, Kelly Corrigan

Kelly Corrigan is, more than anything else, the mother of two young girls. While they’re at school, Kelly writes a newspaper column, the occasional magazine article, and possible chapters of a novel. She is also the creator of CircusOfCancer.org, a website to teach people how to help a friend through breast cancer. Kelly lives outside San Francisco with her husband, Edward Lichty.

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 QOTD:

Is Tell Me More on your TBR or have you read it?

Are you a Kelly Corrigan fan? Which of her books have you read?

What have you said “Yes” to lately?

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Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection!
Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

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A Link I Love

 Did you watch Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society release on Netflix?!

I loved it and I’m ready for a rewatch! Tell me what you thought in comments.

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My Summer TBR

I’ll be updating my Summer TBR list as I complete each read, so check this link often!
(So far I’ve read a good portion of the list–crossing off two more next week–some I’ve been more thrilled with than others, and I’ve only abandoned one)

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Looking Ahead:

Next Friday, I hope to bring you a review of I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon. (I’m distracted by several books at the moment)

Amazon Information Here

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Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

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