Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID 19 is a compilation of interviews, stories, and poetry that speaks to the way we have all felt as we have endured the COVID 19 pandemic. Dozens of authors, poets, and other artists tell of baking bread and grocery shortages. It tells stories of distance, illness and loss. This book is as beautiful as it is relatable. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This one hit close to home when it first became available and has a strong hold cue at my library. I enjoyed the short stories instead of a long story in this theme, as we are all still languishing through it. My hope is that reading these stories we will all learn that we are not alone but together through this pandemic. Lots (90!) of well know writers added to this collection. If one of them isn't for you, then move on to the next one. Maybe you'll even find someone's voice and writing that you'll search out to read more from them!
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all views my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the review copy. The below opinions are mine.

Alone Together is a collection of writings by various authors and other collaborators about living in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are essays, some are poems and there is also some poetry. I'm not a huge fan of poetry and I couldn't connect with them much. This anthology touches upon several important topics such as feeling lonely, struggling to move forward while grieving and after experiencing loss, how the pandemic impact each of us differently etc.

I really enjoyed reading the essays and it was interesting to read how other people are coping in this pandemic. We are also able to get some pointers. This book has introduced me to several authors whose books I will be checking out in the future. Many thanks to Jennifer Haupt for compiling this anthology. This book really helped me to observe the pandemic from different points of view.

Such a thought provoking collection!

Thank you Netgalley for my gifted copy. It was interesting to hear other people's stories and how they are dealing with life during this pandemic.

This timely book helps readers feel a bit more connected in a time of isolation. It is incredibly relatable.

Alone Together is a collection of essays and poetry that reflect on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is incredibly powerful. I connected to so many of the pieces and I'm sure others will too. From grieving simple things we can no longer do like sitting in a coffee shop or finding the joy in small things like the scent of lavender to looking for the good in people and community many have been able to build from this crisis.

At times, I found that I did struggle to read it. Perhaps that's because the pandemic is ongoing and it often reminded me of the struggles we continue to face. However, I think this collection will be so important in the future as it describes the impact of the pandemic on our emotions, relationships, and day to day lives.

It was such a powerful book that was still hard to read, especially when we are still going through the pandemic. Some stories were full of hope and helped me realize the many other perspectives of how hard or easy the rest of the world is handling the pandemic. Some other stories made me really nostalgic that actually hurt reading them . It’s really special to read a book to go away from real life and travel to imaginary worlds, but it’s more important to see different points of view from the world you are actually living in. I love the different steps or areas we have during covid. Also I love the different types of writing: poems, memoirs, short stories, etc.

Very intriguing, relatable perspective. Important subjects are discussed such as grief, love, the process of moving forwards, and so much more. Interesting.

Who knew that we would still be in quarantine all these months later? This was a good read to help you understand that you are in this together. The essays and poems are powerful.

From Shelf Awareness for Readers, January 15, 2021:

From the Shelf
What It Means to Stay Home
My 17-month-old son has spent the majority of his life at home, so the beauty of And the People Stayed Home (Tra Publishing, $18.99), a picture book by Kitty O'Meara that honors the importance of staying home and staying in during the Covid-19 pandemic, is probably lost on him. As someone who remembers a time when we used to go places and do things, however, I find myself drawn to its quiet, subtle way of capturing all that staying home has meant.

Alone Together, edited by Jennifer Haupt (Central Avenue, $16.99) explores this theme in more depth through interviews, essays, poems from 90 contributors. Zadie Smith's Intimations: Six Essays (Penguin, $10.95) considers the experience of living through a global pandemic. The slim collection graced many "best of 2020" lists, and I've just asked my local indie to put a copy on hold for my next curbside pickup.

In addition to making me ever more grateful to have a place to call home, the experience of staying in for so many months left me curious about the very concept of home. I dug out my old copy of Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life (Anchor, $17), and found in Bryson's balance of serious thought, humorous comments and random tidbits for trivia a lens through which I am re-experiencing my own home.

Similarly, in Be My Guest (Knopf, $19.95), Priya Basil uses the act of serving food to others as a way of exploring identity and community. While it may be some time before we're in a position to host others, this book, like all others on this list, brings a newfound appreciation of all that we had, all that we still have, and all that we can look forward to again--hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

--Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

As with any compilation, there are standout submissions and others that fade to the background. Since we have stayed at home for months, some of the essays / poems really resonated with me, and many brought tears to my eyes. I think this book is great for exploring feelings and moments we are experiencing during this challenging time, and it might bring you comfort.

Timely set of personal essays about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The variety and diversity of voices makes this collection especially moving.

This is a fantastic collection - perfect for these strange, crazy COVID times. This collection of essays, poems, interviews and insights from over 90 different authors chronicles the time of living through a global pandemic including topics of isolation and uncertainty which is relatable for pretty much everyone in 2020 and 2021. This collection is an invitation to look and reflect on life in these unprecented times and what really matters. There is something for everyone in this book.

This year has been something, right?

I am constantly reminded that we are all going through the same experience. While some people have clearly been more negatively impacted by the pandemic than others, and some deal with it more close up than others, we are all dealing with some variation of the same stress and anxiety. And we’re dealing with it in isolation. But one way of connecting, of course, is through art, and it’s no surprise that this pandemic has inspired a spate of writing that, nine months in, underscores the universal nature of the losses brought on by covid-19. One of those books is Alone Together: Love, Grief And Comfort In The Time Of Covid-19, a collection of essays and poetry written by a range of literary voices and edited by Jennifer Haupt.

Alone Together‘s essays and poetry are grouped into three main categories: Grieve, Comfort and Connect. They cover the deaths of close relatives, the strain this year has put on relationships, what it’s like to be Black during the pandemic. Essays are short and readable, with something familiar in almost every one of them. I recognized some of the 90 contributors to this collection – Jean Kwok, Pam Houston, Dani Shapiro, Garth Stein, Andrew Dubus III, Caroline Leavitt – but there are many new-to-me writers in here as well. And best of all, the proceeds from the book go to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, which supports independent booksellers impacted by the pandemic.

Alone Together was this month’s blow-dry book (the book I read, slowly but steadily, while I dry my hair each morning). It was the perfect book to pick up for ten minutes or so and then put down until the next day. I could read an essay or two and immerse myself in that writer’s unique perspective and experience before taking a break and picking the book up again the next day. I recommend Alone Together for anyone feeling isolated and eager to feel part of humanity again. Yes, this situation is awful, but we’re in this together. That sounds trite and clichéd, nine months in, but it’s really true. I’ve found that the best thing to come out of this year has been the feeling of connection I’ve found, often in surprising places, and Alone Together certainly helped reinforce that feeling.

“Alone Together” is a collection of essays, poetry, and interviews focusing on the impact of the current pandemic in our lives and communities. Many of the authors were able to describe complex thoughts and feelings eloquently, using personal experiences as examples. I think there is a little something for everyone in this book to connect to. Years from now, it might be a good recommended reading list/course book for college courses examining how people felt, behaved, and responded during a pandemic.
I don’t believe this is a book to read in one sitting, rather an essay or poem over a cup of coffee/tea. Overall, I thought this was an excellent project idea supported by many artists who created something during this difficult time.

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my review

2020 has certainly challenged us in many ways, but as isolated as we may have felt individually, it does help somewhat knowing that we have all been facing these challenges simultaneously. This book is a series of tales chronicling how many different folks have faced the challenges of quarantining and dealing since the onset of COVID-19 brought things to a screeching halt this past spring. While nothing feels normal, it helps to know we aren’t truly alone in this struggle.

When I saw the premise of the book, I thought it would be a good read, even to help deal with everything that has happened in the pandemic.

Although it took longer than I imagined to actually read and finish reading (because I read between breaks), it was a good read, where its differential of being written in the form of poems, essays and texts makes it lighter.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a little about different experiences in the pandemic.

* Digital version of the book received by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in ebook and audiobook formats in exchange for an honest review.

Reading of other peoples’ experiences of the pandemic isn’t something that everyone will be comfortable with at this time, but many of these stories, were actually surprisingly uplifting. Don’t get me wrong, there are some real tear-jerkers but for the most part I finished this collection with a little more faith in humanity than I have in general this year.

With any anthology that brings together such a large number of authors there were hits and misses. Overall I was impressed by the range of styles and the diversity of the authors included. Each story or poem was completely different and though largely on the same theme, it never became repetitive.

3 out of 5 stars!

DNF - tried both the audio and ebook but couldn’t get into. Not for me - I’m sure other people will enjoy.

Alone Together // edited by Jennifer Haupt

I've always struggled with short story collections but wanted to give it another try. This one just sounded perfect for our pandemic year with short stories, poems, and interviews all mixed together. There was a great variety of authors from diverse cultures and backgrounds. In the print book, 69 authors contributed to this work that includes their collective pain and dreams during this time. While I loved learning how everyone perceived this period in their lives both differently and the same, I did struggle to connect to more than just a few. It generally takes a while for me to get invested in a story and whenever I felt close to doing so, I had to move on to a different person or set of people. This isn't necessarily an issue with the book itself and probably has more to do with me as a reader. Sometimes I struggled to understand why a certain piece was included in this collection, but overall it was really interesting to see how people took something from their lives and connected it to the pandemic in some way or another that I wouldn't have thought of like that at all. While I probably won't pick up another book like this anytime soon, I am still happy I was able to read and experience this.

Thank you to the authors, editor, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.