Inspiring story reminding us all to challenge ourselves and live life to the fullest. Being a Jersey Girl , Springsteen is a name I grew up with. However , Anne was truly able to convey his passion, artistry and energy through her magnetic words. I really enjoyed that Anne did not sugar coat how lonely her struggle with depression can be and how every day she must work on turning her symptoms upside down. She does not scare the reader away , yet simply allows them into get a small glance of how the chemistry of a brain can be extremely powerful. This book served as a guide for how to win at life .

High Hopes: A Memoir by Anne Abel is well written, however not a favorite for sure. There were several points where I wished the book would finish because while I enjoyed the premise it felt like the memoir focused on how the world was against her healing journey.

Anne suffered from severe depression and had tried many therapies in order to try to alleviate it. She finally decided after a rare acceptance to get out in the world to a concert that she would follow a bucket list of sorts. She decides to see Bruce Springsteen concerts, 8 of them, alone, in Australia. Anne is from Philadelphia and does not enjoy traveling nor did she know much about music, which is what makes this an interesting choice to overcome fears. Following along you feel so proud of her for navigating her depression and anxiety, but I also felt that when she returned the way she seems to feel about her friends and family's lack of enthusiasm for her accomplishment fell flat for me.

Thank you to She Writes Press for the advanced reader copy via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Sooooo good.

I love how this book tells us that we will never know what will inspire us to be a better <you>.

I am close to Anne<s age and went back to school to become a librarian, so I know how you are never old enough to discover you and to take that leap to do what you want,

Page after page, Anne is both brave and questionning herself, yet, continues to pursue the positive thoughts that come with Bruce Springsteen.

Beautifully written and so inspirational

Remarkable memoir by a 60ish woman who has struggled with sever depression, ECT, PTSD, and lack of motivation or appreciation by family for most of her life. After attending a Bruce Springsteen concert on a whim, she is stirred profoundly by his ebullience and sincerity in his music, lyrics, and improvised spoken interludes with the audience. She is overcome with curiosity to find out all about him, having never been a music fan.

After her draining job becomes too much for her, she abruptly leaves and decides to embark on an 8-concert Springsteen tour of Australia. She travels first class and has a travel agent arrange her connections, tickets, and hotels. Clearly she is well-to-do as it seems she can afford to travel in style. During her travels she rubs elbows with Springsteen's team but that's about all.

This book is mainly about the major changes in her that she pushes forward with, determined to bring some semblance of hope (although the tour name is High Hopes) and glimmers of joy which transports her with Bruce's music. She meets interesting people in Australia, but mostly meets herself.

Great read for music fans and ESPECIALLY Bruce Springsteen fans.

Without giving spoilers: a message to Ms. Abel--- you should ask Dave Marsh to have you on his show to talk about THIS BOOK.

Thanks to Net Galley for the eARC.

In her early 60s, having left her teaching job and had a life-changing experience at her first Bruce Springsteen concert, Anne Abel decided to combat the recurrence of severe depression by traveling to Australia to see eight Springsteen shows there, and this is the book that came out of this experience. She shares the details of her journey and her own growth through the experience, and she’s a good enough writer that the book remains absorbing (and manages to be entertaining even for those who have not yet become Bruce Springsteen fans). That said, to me this was not a travel book that is comparable to Cheryl Strayed’s _Wild_; I don’t doubt Abel’s growth and sense of accomplishment through the experience, but the fact is that this was a very high-end trip and some of the benefits she attained came through her having a high level of both obsession and privilege. As a reader I did not really begrudge her this and still appreciated her story, but I think this aspect of it could have been more clearly acknowledged in the course of her telling the tale..