A truly vulnerable, heartfelt book that was exactly what I needed in the tumultuous years of Covid. This book illustrated how in the midst of the pandemic what we needed most was each other and our communities. Truly a relatable read for all who lived through the early days of Covid.

I requested Alone Together because of the description, and because I was interested in hearing more perspectives about the COVID pandemic, others' thoughts and reactions, and how other people were dealing with COVID individually, while everyone on earth collectively was also dealing with it together.

Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of short essays, poems, and interviews that provide a historical perspective that will be relevant for years to come, as well as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation.

Alone Together is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, and Don't Stop.The overarching theme is how this time of isolation and unpredictability has the potential to alter both our individual and collective identities.

Over 90 authors, including Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch, contributed their work to Alone Together for free.

I was granted a copy of this audiobook by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.
The reality that anyone will relate to. Was very well done, the narrative was amazing I definitely recommend this to anyone, for the diferente perspectives and the union of writers was genuinely interesting.

I enjoyed reading this collection on its own, It was nice to be able to sit back and listen to it being read to me.

A nice collection of stories that were an interesting read as a reflection back onto the first person of the pandemic in 2020.

“We grieve the chance to celebrate those we love in what used to be the big moments in life in the time before every moment of life itself seemed so big.”

Alone Together is an anthology of essays, poems, and stories related to the Covid-19 pandemic. These pieces are raw, emotional, and moving as the authors work through their "new normal" from the pandemic. Had I listened to this closer to the time I had actually received it, I think I would have enjoyed this collection much more than I did now, a year and a half into it. I'm tired of thinking about the pandemic and seeing all of the ways the pandemic has split us from those humans who were cheering for healthcare workers and working together in those first few weeks of the pandemic. Now hearing about the pandemic brings on emotions that are anything other than heartwarming, and I think today's current state of affairs affected my response to listening to this one. I definitely enjoyed the wide range of audiobook narrators that contributed to this collection. Personally, I'd love to go back and listen to this collection again in several years when we're not (hopefully) still in the thick of things. I think at that point I'll have a much different appreciation for the art that was created during the first stage of this pandemic.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Podium Audio for an advanced listening copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

<i> I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I was a little worried we were still too far into the pandemic that this would be triggering, but it was actually really nice and affirming to read about other people going through similar struggles. In a time where the normal for many people, particularly those living alone is loneliness, it was nice to read about others in the same situation led to some relief of that loneliness.

Following a handful of people through the COVID lock down. These stories are authentic, sad, beautiful and engaging. There was grief and happiness. new beginnings and endings.

I really did not enjoy this. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish it. I think it is because, as it turns out, early quarantine did not become the easily romanticized thing that I (and we) thought it would. The writing was very good, and they have talented people that worked on this. However, I just did not enjoy the content as I thought I would. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audio book!

Unfortunately this book expired before I had the chance to fully read it and therefore cannot give a full review.

A mixed collection of the myriad experiences happening for the last year of Covid and even now as it is still happening.

Something is likely to resonate with almost any reader or listener as there are so many voices here… and their presence reminds us that we while many of us may be alone we are in this together.

What a beautiful compilation of essays about life during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Truly a great collection, with so much varied content, moods and feelings. Let's be honest, the pandemic hit everyone, and it hit everyone truly differently. Yet we're all in the same boat. We're all living through the same pandemic, but in different ways.

Poems, interviews, essays, short stories - this collection runs the gamut. The writing styles vary, the narration styles vary, and I have to say not only will everyone find something to relate to as they experience this collection, but they will also come out the other side with a better understanding of how others are experiencing this time, and perhaps some empathy and acknowledgement that we're not all having the same experience, but we are all being challenged and changing just the same.

Overall, this is a strong collection. Here are some of my favorite pieces:


The foreword is written by Garth Stein of The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Editor Jennifer Haupt interviews Kwame Alexander.
Nikki Giovanni penned a lovely poem, "At Time Like This," for Maya Angelou.
Gayle Brandeis, a poet unfamiliar to me, has a poem titled. "Shedding."
Kevin Sampsell's essay "Books on Pause" reminded me of an offhand comment I made to the owner of a mom and pop bike shop just before lockdown.
'Today When I Could Do Nothing" by Jane Hirshfield
Sonora Jha's "Alone and Awash with Desire" was not about what I thought It was going to be about based on the title.
Don't Tops

1 year since COVID happened and we're still experiencing it. This book is timely on the current situation and a series of different stories from different people on how they coping up with struggles, and lessons isolation brought us.

I felt moved reading what these authors put into words. I felt connected, feeling the same things these wonderful authors were, truly knowing we are all in this together. This is a book that can be read a little at a time, as each author’s contribution is short.

This collection perfectly captured the COVID 19 experience. It will give you hope, make you cry, restore your faith in humanity all in one.

One of the things I found interesting about the pandemic was here was a massive historical event we were all living through. Sometimes when I'm reading about World War 2, I think what was it like for everyday people? What changed, how did it effect the day to day. So when everything shut down for the pandemic I was like here is a massive, sustained change to our life that will effect the future. I really wanted to listen to this book because here is a real time response to that change. I really liked the idea and the premise, and the layout of multiple authors and artists contributing to what happened in their lives. However, some of it in the beginning was still too real and the pandemic was still happening so it was hard to listen to since we were still in it. I like having the option to read about how this has changed our lives but it will take me way longer to get through it since its still so current.

This was so timely and I liked the concept so much! Covid has been really hard and these times, we sometimes need to take a break and this was a great help! I know it's the same for everyone. Rating this 4 stars!

It's march 2021, and we're starting our third lockdown in Paris. Fatigue, lassitude, and hopelessness - as I felt all sorts of negative emotions, I started listening to Alone Together. And it was just what I needed. There is a variety of short stories in this beautiful collection of short stories - some are devastatingly sad, some are funny, hopeful or heartwarming. But all of them made me feel a certain connection, and a strong sense of belonging. And right now, that's enough. I really, really needed that !

I’m not usually a big fan of essays, but I do go there on occasion. When I saw the blurb on this collection, I knew I really had to read it. Jennifer Haupt has done an outstanding job gathering essays and poems from about 90 different authors. Most all of the contributions have the prevailing themes of feeling alone and struggling to move forward in times of crisis and grief.

For me, the essays, none more than a few pages long, vary in quality. I think the majority are very good and are successful in invoking feelings and poignancy. None however made me cry. I am disappointed that I could not connect with most of the poetry. I blame my “science mind,” and somehow feel I cheated myself in regard to these writings.

Many of the pieces were written during the COVID crisis, mostly during May 2020, from what I can tell. This being October 2020, I am amazed to see how fast the compilation was pulled together, especially with so many authors involved. I love the little author biographies at the end of each piece. I took time to look up most of them on Goodreads or Wikipedia and by doing so ended up adding quite a few books to my TBR list (a good thing IMHO).

It is so wonderful to see how many themes are touched upon. These include losing family members to COVID and other diseases during the time of COVID, communication with those who have passed, final bonding with a parent, sibling estrangement, rejection, jealousy, separated lovers, the yearning for physical touch, the gift of lavender, helping others however one can, the power of music, the miracle of the song of canaries, special bonding with animals, and of course, love, just to name a few.

Overall, I really enjoyed Alone Together and highly recommend this anthology to all who are experiencing sadness and those interested in how others are coping during this tragic pandemic. Of special note, all net profits from the sale of the book will go to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community.

•Character development- 4☆
• Story Plot- 3☆
• Flow of the story- 4☆
• Overall - 3.5☆