Embrace the More Inclusive Idea of Gratefulness

Audiobook and eBook Review:
As one who enjoys reading self-help books, I couldn't pass this one up when I saw it at one of my favorite book review sites. I am so glad I chose it as both an audiobook and an eBook. While I certainly enjoyed listening to the author narrate the book—and I do think when authors narrate their own books, the audiobook is so much better because you can feel the author's passion for their writing and subject—I'm so glad I chose the eBook as well. Audiobooks pass through the mind so quickly, but this is a book to be savored and thought about. The author has dealt with medical issues and is also a spiritual seeker—in fact, her spiritual mentor wrote both the foreword and has quotes sprinkled liberally throughout. Both these aspects of her life inform this book. At the very beginning of the book, she distinguishes between the concepts of “gratitude” and “grateful.” While this might appear to be quibbling over details, the author explains herself well and shows how the concept of “grateful” is far more broad and inclusive than simple gratitude. Each chapter has insightful quotes that in themselves give you much to think of. She also has questions about each chapter's topic for you to consider, usually in several places, as well as how to practice what she is talking about in your own life. Occasionally, she offers affirmations as well. The book is so rich, and I know I will be returning to it to dive deeper into each chapter. I particularly liked the second part of the book, after the introduction to gratefulness, its five principles, and general practice, where she looks more deeply at gratefulness in the real world, at different aspects of our lives, like being grateful for our bodies, our emotions, nature, and even uncertain, grief, and loss. If you like pondering these kinds of topics as I do, you may enjoy this book or audiobook as much as I did.

I love how you can open a book and in helps transform you way of thinking. This book fits almost any place you might be in your life. This book is a keeper to revisit as needed. It was a great read during the pandemic.

I really enjoyed this book, which helped to boost my confidence and it reminded me to be grateful for everything in my life.  While I read it, I was stressing about something in my life and this book reminded me not to focus on that stress and instead, be grateful for other things in my life which were a blessing.  This is a great book which will help many people.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fab book that I think we all need right now! These are challenging times and that is often when it is most difficult to be grateful and thankful for what we have. I like that you can read Wake Up Grateful in segments and does not have to be digested all at one time. A well written daily reminder of gratitude perfect for our bed sides! Great information, would 100% recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gratitude:  it is the antidote for whatever life throws at me.  Wake Up Grateful is a great book to experience during the pandemic.  I'd meant to explore it more around Thanksgiving, but was really able to dig in with the new year. It turns out Wake Up Grateful is timely whenever you get to read it.  It feels very personal and intimate. Though the author began this journey when diagnosed with cancer, you do not need to be sick to appreciate its value. I think this book would be great for a book group-whether for one discussion or for a chapter by chapter study to really reflect.

Purchased this YA/middle grade novel for my middle school library.  Superb character development, elegant world building, and compelling plotting.

This was a great book that I think we all need right now! These are challenging times and that is often when it is most difficult to be grateful and thankful for what we have. I like that you can read Wake Up Grateful in segments and does not have to be digested all at once. A beautifully written daily reminder of gratitude perfect for our nightstands! Great information, would absolutely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have already gave my review about the audiobook version of this same book that I have liked and  I got to learn some of things about gratefulness in an everyday life as a practice. Being grateful is not an easy task and mainly when times are difficult and to know how to be and  stay grateful in each moment and for everything even for the tiniest little things in our lives. Gratefulness  is really bigger than what we may think . 

Through this book, the author speaks about so many things and each point is detailed in many other points, it's really rich . There are some spirituality of course for it is influenced by Brother David Steindl-Rast. I'm not a big fan of books about spirituality and so on but this apart, the book has some good advice that can help after the last year and in order to start a better year with a new view about your life. 

What I can say is that reading this book can not hurt for sure, so why not give it a try and that was actually what I was thinking when I decided to start it. At the end, it didn't hurt and it reminded me about some important things that I should be grateful for.

This is not a book to sit and read cover to cover, but to take your time with and read with thought and concentration. 

It’s always helpful to be reminded to not take life for granted and to give thanks for all things. 

#WakeUpGrateful #NetGalley

I enjoyed this book and it really has me wanting to do some of what the author suggests.  Perfect timing because I was looking for a few extra things to start for the New Year.  What I liked the most was that she explained the how and why it is all beneficial to you.  It got me thinking about my life and how to apply it all!

Interessanter Ratgeber

Wer nach einem Buch sucht, um mehr Dankbarkeit in sein Leben zu integrieren, ist hier an der richtigen Stelle. 

Beachten sollte man, dass das Buch im Unterhaltungston geschrieben ist und auf die Untermauerung des Gesagten durch die Angabe von Studien verzichtet wird. Wenigstens ein paar wissenschaftliche Studien zu den Grundpfeilern des Geschriebenen wären schön gewesen, aber danach sucht man leider vergeblich. Dafür werden wichtige Personen / Organisationen im Leben der Autorin wie "Brother David" und das "Network for  grateful living" umso häufiger erwähnt. Das kann man gut finden oder auch nicht. Ich bin da etwas zwiegestalten, wenigstens im Anhang hatte ich eine Liste mit ein paar grundlegenden Studien zum Thema Dankbarkeit erwartet. 

Der Inhalt basiert teils auf den persönlichen Erfahrungen der Autorin nach einer Krebsdiagnose. Ihre Erfahrungen haben mich berührt und ich empfand die Art und Weise, wie sie in den Rest des Buches eingebunden waren, als sehr passend. 

Der Aufbau ist so gestaltet, dass es immer wieder Tipps und Übungen mitten im Text gibt. Manchmal kam mir das etwas unübersichtlich vor. Es wäre schön gewesen, wenn die Praxistipps am Ende noch einmal auf einen Fleck zu finden gewesen wären. 

Aufgrund des Aufbaus und der fehlenden wissenschaftlichen Studien war das Buch für mich nicht perfekt, etwas aus ihm mitgenommen habe ich aber dennoch, dafür gebe ich drei Sterne.

The title of this book and the description piqued my interest because I truly believe gratitude is one of the best prescriptions for dealing with unhappiness and anxiety in our culture. I felt like it had very good information in it, and the premise is compelling. I had a difficult time reading it with enthusiasm, however. I found the style to be a bit dry, and it was difficult for me to focus on it. It is a compelling subject, and I feel like we need more books dealing with the topic of gratitude. This one was a slow starter for me, however.

Sometimes authors write about gratitude, but you can only sense it from them on a superficial level. They don't have the life experience to communicate to the reader how to continue reaching for gratitude even while dealing with long term hardship that doesn't let up. Kristi, on the other hand, is not one of those authors. She writes from real life experience of going through diagnosis and long term treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma.  There are a lot of practical tools in this book, but more than anything I think Kristi gives the reader a new way of thinking about gratitude. She introduces the reader to a whole different way of practicing gratitude: proactively instead of reactively and unconditionally instead of conditionally. It's a book with a fresh approach to a topic that's thrown around a lot in today's culture. I like that she admits that gratitude is something she still has to make an active effort to practice every day, even after she got through the most difficult times. I would most certainly think of buying this book for a friend who's facing a challenging season.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy of Wake Up Grateful.
This is an eminently readable book which doesn't divert too much from it's title and thus contains a lot of helpful text. It is a book best kept by the bedside and referred to time and time again.

Think you have nothing to be grateful about? Kristi Nelson will change your mind. She digs deep into gratitude and how waking up with gratitude can change lives. She gives lessons and tips on what what we can be grateful for, as well as sharing her story. Beautiful writing with challenges on doing things differently, being aware and mindful of all the wonderful ways to find gratitude in the every day. Highly recommended.

Putting life into perspective, more than the usual self help guide and certainly a book for the present time of pandemic.  Exercises and ideas to rewire the brain to gratitude is such a powerful process. Excellent book.

Full of wisdom, raw honesty, deep analysis and practical guidelines, this book is an excellent tool to change your life through gratitude.

I always hear about the power of gratitude in everyday life, but I used to disregard it because of course I'm already grateful for everything in my life. What I didn't know is that being passively grateful is not nearly as powerful as making a conscious effort to Wake Up Grateful every day, This book educated me on why seeing little joys in life can be so powerful, even neurologically, and how to do it. 

I liked how it is divided into the following sections: Part I- Five Guiding Principles: Life is a Gift, Everything is Surprise, The Ordinary is Extraordinary, Appreciation is Generative, and Love is Transformative. Part II is about bringing the grateful practice into areas we need support. The organization is definitely a strong suit of this book.

I love the practicality of this guide, but I personally don't feel like I've taken full advantage of it since I didn't stop to journal, which is highly recommended. Journaling is probably the only way you can really sit with your feelings to such depth. But for me, somehow I can never get into writing - something that this guide could have certainly covered for a 5-star ranking.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The timing of this book could not be more perfect since some are under a forced lockdown and even more live in fear. Many people have lost sight of the big picture and this book helps right the perspective of what’s truly important. Wake Up Grateful helps remind us to be grateful for many things, even the smallest of them. The author of this book, Kristi Nelson is an inspiration herself, becoming grateful while overcoming tragedy.

The book includes exercises that will help make the reader more grateful and this is so important at a time when we feel like victims of this horrible virus. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It teaches us to change our perspective — for example, viewing obligations as opportunities.

Thank you to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

In this book, Kristi Nelson reminded me what it means to be thankful every day. Great quiet time book in the mornings before coffee! Very reflective. Let's continue practicing gratefulness!

The main positive I got from this book is 'life is a gift'. As much as we all know this, we can forget and a reality check is needed sometimes for us to be grateful. 

I did struggle with this book, I'm trying to be more open minded and some of the sections I couldn't get to grips with. 

Does encourage you to wake up and take stock of all the things you are grateful for.