I was hesitant to read this memoir as I knew it was likely to bring on a stretch of melancholy I would need to fight my way out of with lots of long walks and lots of wonderful books. It did do that but there is a lot of joy and just warm hearted feeling as well. As my own son has just welcomed his own son recently I wanted to place this book in his hands and say treasure the moments, find the joy in the ordinary as it all goes by so so fast.

Love the voice and perspective of this book. Coming from a familiar voice and personality, we glimpse our own lives as parents of children with phases that are inevitably ending and are inspired to embrace and pause for these times so we really see them. Thank you!

Not exactly what I was expecting. It seemed more about her career with NPR than an actual parenting book. But overall it is a quick read and the author is a good storyteller.

I enjoyed reading about Mary Louise Kelly's struggle balancing motherhood while maintaining a career in journalism. Many mothers will recognize their own struggles with missed soccer games, vacations cut short and just generally feeling like they are missing out on their children's lives. I thought the sections about her time with NPR were the most interesting though and found myself wanting to know more about that. Hopefully Ms. Kelly will write another memoir focusing on her journalism career. I would definitely read that!

This was the perfect book to read while I was touring colleges with my son. He'll be a senior next year and we're in the midst of what Mary Louise Kelly describes in her book. The most touching parts of the book were when she described her father and her interactions with her sons. Unfortunately, there was just too much about her news reporting that really detracted from the personal stories.

Mary Louise Kelly has crafted the equivalent of What to Expect When You’re Expecting for a new generation of empty nesters. Everyone has written a book for the beginning of our parenting lives. But what about the end?

When Kelly’s older son entered his senior year of high school, her work, her mothering life, and the crazy confluence of the two seemed suddenly alarming. This was it. Soon there would be no more do-overs, no more opportunities to catch the “next” soccer game or to be fully present for a family event.

It. Goes. So. Fast. is a reckoning, a thinking-out-loud record of Kelly’s striving for balance in a mothering life set against the background of her career as an NPR journalist. In it, she reconciles regret, embraces her aging body and brain, celebrates her competence, and suffers through loss.

As a white American woman of 50, wh ha framed with articulate insight the story of so many women like me–women who have enjoyed the privilege of education and vocational choice. While our choices have been wildly different, her conclusions resonate deeply: “…there will never be enough hours in he day or enough years on the earth to do everything we came here to do.” (Amen!)

As a journalist and fiction writer, Kelly has a gorgeous command of the English language, enabling her to describe the conflict all mothers face with clarity–and often with humor. My Kindle is full of sentences highlighted for sheer loveliness and I made good use of the dictionary feature for words like accretion, elide, verklempt, and soupçon.

The view from my own empty nest is satisfying, sometimes overwhelming, and I still find myself holding competing priorities up to the light. It was gratifying to read about another woman’s sifting process and her peaceful resolution of the paradox of parenting.

Thoughtful and reflective, funny and poignant, this memoir about sending a beloved child off to college belongs on the shelf next to The Gift of an Ordinary Day.

Everything you'd expect from beloved NPR host Mary Louise Kelly. Full review posted at BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/4632/it-goes-so-fast

A book related to the college transition and told from a parent's perspective, is IT. GOES. SO. FAST by Mary Louise Kelly, an accomplished journalist and cohost of NPR's All Things Considered. She subtitles her non-fiction text "The Year of No Do-Overs" and appeared last month on the PBS NewsHour Bookshelf to discuss this memoir. Kelly reflects on balancing work and motherhood, particularly during the year when her oldest son is a senior in high school and about to dramatically change family dynamics. While Kelly's stories (e.g., simultaneously getting on a helicopter in Baghdad while taking a call from the school nurse about her younger son being ill) may be more dramatic than what most parents face, the conflict between work and family will certainly be familiar and readers will find Kelly's writing to be engaging. IT. GOES. SO. FAST received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly.

This book brought back so many memories of my son’s senior year. The author helps us all realize we do not get a do over. It is ok to say no and spend time with your kids and families. The year before a child goes to college is so big. The emotions that you experience are all over the place. Mary Louise Kelly will make you shed some tears over this novel.

This book covers a lot of ground and so some parts resonated more with me than others. The main theme is about being a working mother who is facing her oldest son going off to college and remembering all the moments of being a mother and those moments she missed because her journalism career had her traveling all over the world (into war zones no less!) and the guilt that comes with not being there for key moments in your children's lives. These moments really resonated with me since I had a career that had me traveling internationally while my son was young. There is another chapter that stood out to me -- one where she finally is able to acknowledge she has hearing loss and the impact that has had on her and how she has learned to ask for accommodations -- that was a great chapter. I enjoyed reading this book -- sometimes it felt a bit long but overall, there were enough moments of poignancy and reflection for me that I found it to be a worthwhile read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

Well-written (no surprise), and so relatable. Like a conversation with your very best girlfriend. Open, honest and completely self-aware. Not a smidge of self-pity. Mary Louise is someone I'd like to have coffee with. Highly recommend!

This was sweet and at times very poignant. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected however, hence the three stars. I thought this was going to be 100% about the author’s last year with her oldest son before he went to college. This was more about the author’s last year before her son went to college. The distinction is small, but the difference is quite large and disappointing for me. The sole reason I chose to read this book was because I am at that place in my life right now and this didn’t the way I expected it to.

Great book written by Mary Louise Kelly, a journalist generally well known for hosting All Things Considered on NPR She elects to take some time off to be more present during her son's last year at home prior to college. She writes of moments she missed but also about how much she loves her job and the pull in both directions that many women feel.

Do you ever read a book and feel like it was written just for you? That’s what the new memoir by NPR’s All Things Considered co host Mary Louise Kelly felt like. I adored this book and am so glad it exists in the world!

Here’s what you need to know: As Mary Louise Kelly’s oldest son is approaching his senior year, she begins to realize that her time with him is limited and she wants to make sure she’s present as much as possible during his final year at home. As any busy working mom knows, this is tough! This memoir is Kelly’s record of her complicated feelings during that last year, but Kelly also reflects back on her kids’ childhood. She recounts important moments she missed because of work (spectacular soccer games and calls from the school nurse when she was halfway around the world) as well as the pride and joy she has in watching her boys turn into young men. She also shares stories from her job as a journalist, and if you’re an NPR listener, some of these stories will be achingly familiar – the guinea pig mom from Ukraine is one I still think about.

My thoughts: as a mama of two teenagers, this book resonated so strongly with me. My oldest is finishing his junior year now and we’re in the thick of SAT testing and thinking about college visits and I am so very aware of how little time I have left with this precious kiddo. My personal job situation hasn’t been great and I am having to make some pretty big decisions about the future. And I really needed this book right now. It reinforced what I already know – that I am replaceable at my job but not for my little family. It. Goes. So. Fast was exactly the book I needed at this moment in my life.

If you have teens at home, I can’t recommend Mary Louise Kelly’s new memoir enough. Recommended for fans of Mary Laura Philpott.

Mary Louise Kelly, an American broadcaster on NPR, is not only a working woman, but a mother. This book, is a summation of her life with children living at home. She has come to the realization that many of us do, that she will soon be an empty-nester and the period of her life with children living at home will conclude. Armed with this knowledge, she has vowed to not take this year for granted, and will do everything in her power to enjoy every minute of this upcoming year with both children still at home. This book resonated with me, as a working mother with a teenaged son. Soon, I will be in the same position. As a parent, especially a mother, we are under extreme pressure to do it ALL. I enjoyed the conversational tone of the book that made it easy to read and connect with. There were times in the story that I wished for further information about topics briefly discussed such as marital issues and further information regarding her complexities at work with NPR. This book will resonate with middle aged working mothers and the stresses and complexities of balancing everything. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

My favorite read of the year so far!

I'm not an avid NPR listener but was so excited to get approved for this novel. I feel like there are TONS of books out there for moms of babies, toddlers, even maybe tweens but not teenagers. As a working mother of a high schooler, I was so happy to read about someone else's experience. The joys, the heartache and how equally wonderful and damn difficult it can be.

In a few of the essays, she also talks about the death of her father. Having lost my own, it was yet another way for this book to resonate with me.

I laughed, I cried. I was offered a hug by my teen when I finished it and she saw I was crying. If you're a parent of teens, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

This seems to be a popular type of book lately--personal memoirs/essays. I really enjoyed this one. Mary Louise Kelly is a correspondent with NPR and she shares her stories about her life, her job, and her children, with a big focus on the last year her oldest will be living at home before he leaves for college. She really nails the whole parenting a teen vibe. If you liked Mary Laura Philpott's book,, Bomb Shelter, or even Ann Patchett's book, These Precious Days, I think you will enjoy this one a lot!

It. Goes. So. Fast. was a great memoir on all the thoughts and feelings parents experience as their kids grow up. It was relatable, genuine, and engaging.

I think every young parent has lost count of how many times another has said "enjoy every moment, it goes so fast" and it feels impossibly far off when you're in the younger years with toddlers and elementary age. It's such a valuable perspective that we need, though - and Kelly shows what it looks like to grab on for dear life and cross the finish line fully present.