This is simply excellent. It is work, re-wiring one's self to be grateful, but this book has practical ways to change in powerful ways. It covers the big areas of life, including death, and is very well written. Highly recommended.

Thanks very much for the review copy!

WAKE UP GRATEFUL is a must-read! I highlighted so many passages in this self-help book and I really think it will have a meaningful and lasting impact on countless readers. I enjoyed the narrative, anecdotes, prompts, and exercises and look forward to implementing Nelson's wise suggestions. Some inspirational books are repetitive. That's one of my pet peeves about this genre, when a book could have been a couple blog posts. However, I felt like this book was the right length. A very insightful read.

This is the kind of book that struggling people are looking for! Especially now, when we're getting dragged around by current events, we're looking for some help in feeling better, whether its for just an attitude check or if you're feeling yourself pulled down into the spiral of depression. The premise of this book is to re-wire your brain to make gratitude a more automatic lifestyle, and that's way better than starting from zero and having to convince yourself of gratitude every day. This book gives you a practice for gratitude training, and author gives lots of real-life examples for overcoming through gratitude.

I'm so thankful I read this book, it was really inspiring. It made me feel like a better person for reading it. This book was absolutely amazing!

During the COVID pandemic, I’ve tried to count my blessings more. So when I found Kristi Nelson’s book on NetGalley, I snatched it up. Executive director of A Network for Grateful Living, she turned to thankfulness to survive stage four cancer at 33. In WAKE UP GRATEFUL, she shares transformative techniques to go from “woe is me” to “thank you.” It’s a big spiritual shift that impacts mind, body and soul. I’m starting right now to follow Kristi’s example. Read this book and I bet you will too!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 24 Nov 2020

Thanks to the author, Storey Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#WakeUpGrateful #NetGalley

Wake Up Grateful by Kristi Nelson
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

240 Pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Release Date: November 24, 2020

Self-Help, Health, Mind & Body

The subtitle, “The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted” is reason alone to read this book. It is organized into two parts:

Part 1: From Gratitude to Grateful Living explains the principles of grateful living. This also includes the five guiding principles.
Part 2: Grateful Living in the Real World focuses on how to bring grateful living into your life.

The author talks about being diagnosed with cancer at age 33 and how important it was for her to be grateful every day. As time went on and life seemed to turn into routine, gratitude took a backseat until she met Brother David. He survived World War II and tells about his experience in bomb shelters waiting for the end to come. Kristi took a job as Executive Director for A Network for Grateful Living and found Brother David was part of the interview process. It was serendipity.

The depth of the writing is wonderful and really makes you reflect. Because the author includes her own experience makes the book feel more personal. She describes her illness and “fever of unknown origin” diagnosis (which I have been given too) and the extensive testing to her ultimate diagnosis. Her message is to be grateful for each moment and don’t take anything for granted. Last year I lost a friend to lung cancer. It was aggressive and she was gone within a year of diagnosis. I traveled to visit her twice during that year and know how grateful I was to spend the time with her.

The book is written so that a reader can open it to any page and receive a little wisdom in the form of a quote or question. The formula the author uses is from Brother David’s practice of Stop, Look, Go. This is a way to be alert and notice things happening around you. I was unaware there was the difference between gratitude and gratefulness. The definitions make the difference so clear. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

With all of the problems that this year has brought, I was looking for something to help put life in perspective and be grateful for all that I still have. This book was a good reminder to be grateful everyday, even for the smallest things. At times it was a little long winded, but I enjoyed it and it was a bright spot in my day.

This is a fantastic must-read book! With all of the craziness and pessimism in the world, it is so important to be grateful for the blessings that we do have. This book is full of tips and tricks to do that as well as exercises that help you utilize them. Do the activities. Mark your favorite passages. Remember to be grateful. If you do that, you will find you are more blessed than you realized and be happier.

A great book for anyone struggling, which seems to be a lot of people considering the world today. I love the topic of self-help, especially mindfulness and gratitude. I'm currently in counseling and the topic of being mindful and present comes up a lot. In fact, it has been part of my homework the last two weeks. The book emphasizes how to train your brain to see the good in each moment. I appreciate that the author put her own personal experience with cancer in her book. It made the book feel more real. Overall the book is very inspiring and shows us how to not take life for granted. Highly recommend.

I selected this book as I generally just love these kind of topics, I had no real expectations, based on the subject matter took an interest.  I got much more than I expected from it, before I even reached the end. This is the kind of book that could really help everyone, from those who are in deep need of uplifting, direction, a reason to keep going. And those like me, who just love this stuff! And take an interest.  What I loved about this book right for the first chapter is that, it's practical so you can apply what  you're reading.  The book is split in to two main sections 'from gratitude to grateful living' and 'grateful living in the real world.' The author clearly explains the difference between 'gratitude' and  'gratefulness' , I could see the points made well. I had never seen them as different more interchangeable. In my mind once this was established I could clearly see how I could step up my daily practice of gratitude, by adapting the POV the author explains so well with the 'grateful approach.' 

The best thing is, this approach is outlined in a practical way, for example writing out a to do list, with a different mind set. Eg  'this week I have to x,y,z'  to 'this week I am grateful I get to do x,y,z'. When I did this first exercise the burden of my to do list totally felt different! I could see why, how, and where the author's approach can help not only  me, but also uplift, focus you, add motivation, and drive for us all! This is just one example of the many exercises, practical reflections, and points to ponder in the book. 

Overall, this is a very practical guide, and can be used as a reference for what you need to focus on personally, or read from cover to cover.  I feel it  could be highly valuable for a lot of people, and a great companion to have to help set your goals, intentions,  manifest the life you want, and keep yourself in a positive state of mind at all times. I very much recommend it for everyone! Especially if you're a busy person, with a lot to do, or  you just need a pick me up, or even if  you enjoy subjects like gratitude, spirituality and believe in the power of the Universe. I can't wait until my copy arrives! 5 must read stars.

During this pandemic I feel like everyone is going to the self help section. This book is a must read. Things will not get any easier and I plan on using this book again

Wake up Grateful always!

This reminder is especially important if you are when we are stuck quarantined in the pandemic. To remind ourselves to be grateful. I thank netgalley for this book

Converting your distress to Thank you is really important to survive in this tough world. After having gone through a bad phase in my life, i can very well relate to the book.

Really helps for people who feels let down in life daily.

Highly recommended to get a good happy body, mind and soul.

I feel like this is such a timely book! I enjoyed reading the author’s story, she is inspirational. I found the suggestions helpful and I plan to continue building on my gratitude practice.

I think this is a lovely book that has mindfulness and meditations ideas on helping you wake up grateful and appreciate what you have as you get going each morning. As a person who struggles with depression I really try to do morning meditations and concentrate on the things I am grateful for so I found this book enlightening and helpful.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

The book, “Wake Up Grateful” is a guidebook and framework to transform your life. It allows you to see your life as a source of hope. Due to the current national pandemic, this book is especially helpful and can be a transforming process of your everyday life. You can use what that author has set forth in this book and personalize it to what works for you. Part 1 of this book focuses on the 5 guiding principles for grateful living. These 5 guiding principles include: life is a gift, everything is a surprise, the ordinary is the extraordinary, appreciation is generative, and love is transformative. One of the most transformational aspects that I took from this book included the practice of changing your everyday tasks from ‘obligations’ to ‘opportunities’. This is something that really made me stop and think. While I get so bogged down in everyday life with what I ‘have’ to do, I should merely be glad that I am ‘able’ to do so. I also liked the focus that expectations and assumptions lead to anger, regret, and disappointments. Not only does this author point out the guiding principles, but she also provides specific practices of how to put these principles into your daily life. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to change their thoughts about being more grateful. I am appreciative of the author, Kristi Nelson, Storey Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to review this book and provide feedback.

This was a really uplifting read that came along at just the right time. It was encouraging in the best of ways. I think the title says it all and in this book the author really encourages and shows you how to do that.

I really enjoyed this Author's view on life and how to re-center yourself to feel more grateful each day. I appreciate this point of view and think this is a wonderful reminder, especially in the middle of what we are all going through as 2020 has been an especially tough year!

As someone who has had a lot take place in my life, but who is lucky to still be waking every day, I am a firm believer in waking up knowing you are lucky and have a great opportunity. I loved this book’s message and the way the author talked to us about waking up grateful. In a world where people often take the small things in life for granted, this book is a staple, as it shows you how lucky you are to have the life you do and how to never take things you do have or opportunities/lessons you are given for granted.

I was excited to receive an ARC of Wake Up Grateful, because as a counselor I am aware of the importance of a gratitude practice on well being and happiness. This is often an area where I fall off track, forgetting to be consciously grateful, and so this book was a welcome guide back into a gratitude practice. The principles outlined in the book are broadly Stop. Look. Go. The book expands on each of these, and also includes the story of the author and her personal illness and recovery which I found fascinating. If you're interested in developing a personal gratitude practice this book will be a great resource on your journey.

This was an inspiring read, written by an author who recognised the need for mindfulness in her fight against cancer. I great reminder to us all that things can change seemingly overnight and we should appreciate what we have and not dwell in what we don’t have. Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy for review.

Prompts, exercises and other information about how to wake up grateful. I feel this book is timely and sure to be a gift for those of us struggling to find perspective in our lives. Definitely a good choice for those wishing to be a bit more settled in what they have, while living in a world that encourages us to want more and more.

Totally needed at this time when everyone is struggling. I'm not a stranger to self-help books and this one was great. I would definitely share it with a friend and refer to it in the future!
Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you so much for allowing me an advanced copy of this book. Kristi’s story is so inspiring and empowering. I have always tried to practice gratitude but this book takes it back to basics and gives some fantastic tips and insight in to how to bring living a grateful life in the present. There are some fantastic quotes which I have jotted down and stick around my house to remind me how very lucky I am. This is such a pertinent book for the times of COVID. I would highly recommend this book.