During the COVID pandemic, I’ve tried to count my blessings more. So when I found Kristi Nelson’s book on NetGalley, I snatched it up. Executive director of A Network for Grateful Living, she turned to thankfulness to survive stage four cancer at 33. In WAKE UP GRATEFUL, she shares transformative techniques to go from “woe is me” to “thank you.” It’s a big spiritual shift that impacts mind, body and soul. I’m starting right now to follow Kristi’s example. Read this book and I bet you will too!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 24 Nov 2020

Thanks to the author, Storey Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#WakeUpGrateful #NetGalley

Gratitude is a practise everyone should have. It increases happiness as well as your health and manifestation. This book gives you a deep explanation as to how important it is to simply take a moment every day to be grateful. I highly recommend it. This is probably the most important step to start with in self-development.

It took me a little while to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. What an insightful and inspiring book to help guide you on a path of being more grateful.. The exercises enabled learning to become more practical. I particularly enjoyed the beautiful poetry and the assortment of quotes. Although read chronologically, one could also read sections most relevant to them if needed.

A simple guide that really gets you thinking about what is important - especially useful at this time when we have plenty of time for reflection.

Wake Up Grateful by Kristi Nelson
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

240 Pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Release Date: November 24, 2020

Self-Help, Health, Mind & Body

The subtitle, “The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted” is reason alone to read this book. It is organized into two parts:

Part 1: From Gratitude to Grateful Living explains the principles of grateful living. This also includes the five guiding principles.
Part 2: Grateful Living in the Real World focuses on how to bring grateful living into your life.

The author talks about being diagnosed with cancer at age 33 and how important it was for her to be grateful every day. As time went on and life seemed to turn into routine, gratitude took a backseat until she met Brother David. He survived World War II and tells about his experience in bomb shelters waiting for the end to come. Kristi took a job as Executive Director for A Network for Grateful Living and found Brother David was part of the interview process. It was serendipity.

The depth of the writing is wonderful and really makes you reflect. Because the author includes her own experience makes the book feel more personal. She describes her illness and “fever of unknown origin” diagnosis (which I have been given too) and the extensive testing to her ultimate diagnosis. Her message is to be grateful for each moment and don’t take anything for granted. Last year I lost a friend to lung cancer. It was aggressive and she was gone within a year of diagnosis. I traveled to visit her twice during that year and know how grateful I was to spend the time with her.

The book is written so that a reader can open it to any page and receive a little wisdom in the form of a quote or question. The formula the author uses is from Brother David’s practice of Stop, Look, Go. This is a way to be alert and notice things happening around you. I was unaware there was the difference between gratitude and gratefulness. The definitions make the difference so clear. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Nothing particularly new or innovative for this style of book. Felt like Nelson was trying to rewrite 'The Secret'. I can see that this might be a decent entry point for readers who are new to this concept, but for seasoned readers of self help and this genre of literature this is old hat.

Author Kristi Nelson discusses grateful living and the difference between this and mere gratitude, which she describes as a more fleeting experience. I'm certainly behind the whole gratitude thing, but this book didn't "spark" for me. It felt repetitive at times, with the author emphasizing the same points - be grateful, appreciate what's right in front of you. Got it ;)

I thought this book was brilliant! It came into my life at a point where I very much needed it and the ideas behind it have become a part of my everyday life. Such a wonderful gift to pass on to those you love!

The formatting of this kindle book made the reading difficult.

As for the content. Good self help but well worn road.

I am not new to self help or gratitude books, but this book was maybe the most rounded of them all. The introduction, especially where the author speaks about Brother David, sets the pace for the book. The book was insightful and more than just some prompts or daily exercises. It also moved at its own pace, which is a good thing because a book like this isn't meant to be read all at once. I would recommend this book to others, especially given that it appeals to everyone.

Kristi Nelson's premise for her text is powerful and persuasive. Her initial commitment to grateful living was catalysed by a cancer diagnosis, however she explains that as her life returned to "normal" she found herself falling back into old habits. This makes her story extremely emotive, but also highly relatable. The distinction she makes early in the text between "gratitude", which is definitely a well-being buzzword at the moment, and "grateful living", which the book advocates, is instructive. The spiritual tone of the text will be a draw to some and will likely deter others, in particular perhaps those who are seeking pragmatic/science-driven tools to integrate into their life. Certainly, some of its advice feels very meditative, even ruminative, in contrast to other sections which offer very practical guidance about how to move towards "grateful living". For example, the step-by-step guide to having a grateful day really helps to ground the advice of the early sections of the text and feels very achievable. One of the real strengths of Nelson's book is the fact that she designs it to be useful even if read in a non-linear fashion. It is intentionally "bitty" and easy to dip in and out of - this I feel complements her intention for the practice of "grateful living" to be a lifelong commitment and something that her guidance can support for the long term. The only thing I would say about this, however, is that the many different sections available in the text make it hard to create an aesthetic mise-en-page. The publisher has done a good job at being consistent in the design, but I would personally prefer an additional level of simplicity.

The arrangement and order of this book is very well planned and thought out, which I really liked. The opening letter is very to the point, doesn’t try to play on emotions, but reels you in because the book off the top seems earnest and honest and genuinely relatable. There is A LOT of stuff in this book. Some, a bit much, but not for others. It’s not too cheesy which is always best in books like these.

This is simply excellent. It is work, re-wiring one's self to be grateful, but this book has practical ways to change in powerful ways. It covers the big areas of life, including death, and is very well written. Highly recommended.

Thanks very much for the review copy!

Was really eager to read this as I really like to read people's life advice to become mindful. However it was unavailable to read on kindle and was unable to download otherwise. Thank you for approving my request, however I will only be reviewing books available on the kindle feature.