This is a compilation of stories centering life during Covid-19.

For some people, it might be too soon for a book like this. The experiences could be triggering, especially since we are still in the middle of this pandemic. Consider this my content warning.

The tone of the stories ranged from devastating to hopeful and everything in between. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and so many people are experiencing it differently. This book gives insight and voice to some of those different experiences.

The book was divided into five sections: What now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, and Don’t Stop. The collection of writing varied from poetry, to essays, to interviews. Each chapter I held my breath, waiting to cry, laugh, or roll my eyes.

While I was reading this, I was also reading Intimations by Zadie Smith. She provides a different perspective, she writes about life in lockdown. I liked that she really explored privilege in the pandemic. It was a good pairing I think. Also, intimations was fairly short but it packed packed a punch. I definitely recommend both books if you’re looking for something pretty deep and heavy.

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

I can see a lot of people enjoying this book and really connecting with it but I just didn’t feel that way. I don’t think this book is for me and there’s nothing wrong with that! I think it just kept dragging on and I was taking forever to get through it. This was very middle of the road for me. There were a few essays and poems that I really enjoyed but most were just okay. I think I might have had the wrong interpretation of the synopsis of this book which is completely my fault. I was just expecting something a little different. I think I would’ve liked this better if Covid was more in the past rather than still an issue we need to deal with every day still. I loved how the audiobook of this had a full cast with all of the authors who participated in creating this book.

CW: death, eating disorders, sexual assault, PTSD

I think I might have preferred this more in the physical format as I would have preferred to consume it a few essays at a time as it felt really long on audio and sometimes dragged on. However, I did enjoy the essays and poetry, and I especially enjoyed the full cast narration in the audio version.

Alone Together is an important read about the challenges we are facing in the Coronavirus pandemic. This book had many different voices, with different authors contributing to the book as well as different people speaking in each piece. My favorite part was being able to hear the different people speaking about their own views and experiences during these hard times. Alone Together is definitely good to listen to right now, and will be nice to listen to and reflect upon in a few years from now!

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

At the halfway point of this book, I was already on the search to see if I could get a physical copy of it locally. Because I know I will be coming back to it time and time again.

This book has stories that made me laugh, and made me nearly cry. It feels like the touch of humanity that we all need in a time like this. But also it has the kinds of stories that you find yourself turning to time and time again.

Paired with the beautiful variation of narrators this audiobook has, I can't recommend this enough no matter what version you choose.

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 as well as varying narrators. In the print book, 69 authors contributed to this work that includes their collective pain and dreams during this time. The ebook and audiobook have 22 additional authors that were added in as well. I did like how there were several different narrators in this audiobook because the varying voices brought a different dimension to each piece that wouldn't have been the same in my opinion if the entire book was done by one narrator.

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 also 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.

I enjoyed the essays and stories of how people have coped with the Covid pandemic. It was an interesting look at coping and survival.

Alone Together is a fantastic collection of essays and poems from published writers offering a number of diverse and carrying perspective on their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories are moving and show how this experience has been a way we can all connect in different ways. You'll relate to many of the experiences and feel every emotion imaginable reading this book. I highly recommend it.
The audio is great with a number of different narrators to bring the stories to life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Podium Audio for the advance copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Podium Audio for an audio version of Alone Together in exchange for an honest review. This one was hard to swallow at times, mainly because at the time of listening the world still remains in the midst of the coronavirus, so listening to people's tales of losing loved ones and missing friends and family really hits close to home. This would probably be a better title to revisit years down the line when the pandemic has simmered down and it's easier to look back on. Especially from an audiobook perspective when you can truly hear the grief each reader portrays when they tell their story. This will be an excellent time capsule type story for readers to pick up a decade from now, it's like its own personal history book.

Wow, this collection is a lot but I think based on the topic it really gave space for people to talk about their experiences during COVID. The collection covers grief, isolation, disaparity, racism and much more. It's definitely not an easy or uplifting but valuable in the sense of you're not alone.

ALONE TOGETHER presents an emotional and engaging collection of essays relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. all essays were either insightful or beautifully written. many were both. I withheld the fifth star likely because I cannot think of any essay that I will remember forever, but overall this was a good, relatively fast read.

While I love the intention behind this book, I think it'll be even better years from now. It captures a finite moment in time that I don't think we're ready to reminisce yet, because we're still in the throws of the pandemic but our perspective on it has changed dramatically. This book was written in a time before "pandemic fatigue" hit and should be read in a time when "pandemic fatigue" is a thing of the past. I don't think we're ready to appreciate this book yet, BUT, it's a time capsule we'll be glad we have...I think it might just take 5-10 years for us to get there.

Thanks @netgalley for this audiobook version of Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19

It’s a compilation of essays written and narrated by a full cast of authors and edited by Jennifer Haupt. This book is full of perspective, diversity and accounts of experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was in my feels SO many times listening to this work that more than 90 authors contributed to. Every story evoked empathy, and so many hit close to home.

I think this is a great book to have on your shelves. What beautiful and vulnerable art these authors have drawn here. I don’t know that I could appreciate it quite as much as I will years from now looking back versus currently amidst this pandemic, but I know it’s one I want to look back on.

All net profits from sales of the book will be donated to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, to benefit booksellers in financial need 🙌🙌🙌

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“Alone Together” is an anthology about living in the shitstorm known as the year 2020. Essay contributions come from a mix of "bestselling and up-and-coming" authors. Topics are wide-ranging, but mostly center around the COVID-19 pandemic and managing the odd life of being in quarantine. It also discusses the social, political and cultural issues of the year, such as the murder of George Floyd and the resulting protests.

This premise for this book came from the writer, journalist and editor, Jennifer Haupt. Her idea was to document the times while doing something positive for those dealing with hardships, spiritually and financially. The net proceeds of “Alone Together” will benefit struggling independent booksellers via the “BIC” Foundation.

While it’s interesting to listen to these stories now some nine months into the pandemic, I think it will be equally fascinating to listen to these storytellers in a decade or two. (It’s similar to going back and listening to what life was like after 9/11).

This book is about loneliness, grief, adaptation, self-care, fear and connection. It also offers the gift of hope as well as tips to deal with stress, death and uncertainty.

Remarkably, the collection of essays, poems and interviews were compiled in less than one month! According to an article in Shelf Awareness, Haupt posted this message in April 2020: "Putting this into the universe: I've been struggling with how to do something positive during this time of hardship for many. I don't have money but I DO have a strong community of compassionate writers and readers. SO: I'm putting together a collection of interviews and essays on Love and Comfort During Covid-19. The net profits will go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation to benefit the bookstore owners who have supported readers and writers, and now need our help. THANK YOU!"

Contributors include Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Jane Hirshfield, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Grace Talusan, Steve Yarbrough and Lidia Yuknavitch. And it’s narrated by a full cast, including two of my absolute voice over actors: Julia Whelan and Thérèse Plummer. I very much enjoyed the narration!

Special thanks to Central Avenue Publishing and Podium Audio, via NetGalley, for sharing the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews edited by Jennifer Haupt. The collection is divided into five sections - What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, and Don't Stop - which are bound together by themes of uncertainty and the fear and joy that can grow within it. The audiobook is narrated by a full cast, helping differentiate each unique piece.

I was a little worried about starting this collection, seeing as we are still in the midst of the pandemic and life, for some, hasn’t changed that much yet. However, Alone Together is layered in such a way that I never felt overwhelmed by any one particular piece. I especially felt that the Comfort and Connect sections were heartwarming and Don’t Stop was the perfect, and hopeful, way to end the anthology. Sandwiching poetry in between essays and other longer pieces of writing allowed for a much needed pause to collect my thoughts and reflect. The author experiences in Alone Together offer diverse perspectives.

Thank you to NetGalley and Podium Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this collection.

This is SO relatable and also comforting to know that many people are feeling the same way as I am during quarantine. The essays involving first hand accounts of having COVID 19 are heartbreaking, but show how real this virus is despite what many people think. I'm going to guess people with an alike viewpoint are going to read this book; however, everyone should to get a sense of realism. With respect to the audio, I liked the different narrators for different essays; this made it easier to differentiate the different stories / perspectives / voices.

This was a very good collection of poems and short stories about how these authors have been finding comfort during this pandemic. It was very well put together and I really enjoyed it. My favorite short story was by Jean Kwok.

This book’s subtitle, Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19, is a bunch of what we all need right now. This collection of essays, poems, and interviews is an insightful, primary source of what people are going through during the COVID-19 pandemic. While we won’t get an inclusive perspective on the subject for a long time, these accounts are important, and they are important now.

We all need to know that we’re not alone. That the struggles we are facing (and even some of the triumphs that make us feel guilty) are universal. It’s easy to get bogged down in the numbers, the statistics, and the countless stories of grief and loss in a detached way through the news, but these very personal looks into the daily lives of the authors during 2020 helped me feel less alone.

In one account, the author talks about reveling in the solitude, something she’s always enjoyed, and I identified with her plight. Most (if not all) of my loved ones are struggling with the lack of contact, with having to stay home or find socially distanced things to do outside of their homes, but I have come into my own being completely at home (then less so once returning to work).

It’s actually inspired me to pursue a remote position long-term and perhaps move to a less-crowded are when that becomes financially possible. This pandemic has sparked thoughts, feelings, and actions few of us were forced to examine before. If nothing else, we have had to slow down and evaluate the way we’ve been living. I really enjoyed the self-explorations of these authors and their lives right now, in this moment.

There will be plenty of time for history to categorize, study, and analyze this time, but for now, we need more of the stories found in this work, to keep us connected to one another and to help us through this difficult time.

It’s out now, and if you enjoy audiobooks, I highly suggest the audio version of this. It’s read by a full cast, and the change in tone between works helps distinguish the authors and their work even more than just the style change.

A wide variety of essays, poems and thoughts about these hard times. I like the way you can relate to the stories and know that you are not alone in this; feeling the way you do in lockdown, grieving, stranded...and even about the way everyday tasks changed completely.
I did not like all of the chapters, but I deeply enjoyed many of them, they resonated with me. I liked the book and recommend it but only if you do not mind reading about the pandemic.