Alone Together

Great collection of a myriad of perspectives on the Covid-19 crisis. Lovely cast of narrators too. Some humour, some heartbreak, and a variety of writing styles.

It would be morally wrong for me to give this book anything less than five stars. I adore the concept — short stories and prose about a pandemic that has absolutely affected every person on earth that's ALSO a fundraiser for said pandemic's damage? Yes. Give me all of that positive energy. Some of these stories were amazing — and I will think of them often. Some hit way too close for comfort. Some were comic relief. Some were educational. Some were emotionally exhausting. Some were just beautiful. Read it slow to savor each piece!

The narration on this was beautiful! I enjoyed the real look at how COVID-19 has impacted people's lives. Some of the stories I wasn't ready to hear but I appreciated that this didn't romanticize any aspect of this time. I liked the different types of writing. My favorite were the poems. I left this book feeling a little bit sad, connected to how others are experiencing this time, and hopeful for how we're moving forward together.

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.

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 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.

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.

“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.

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 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.

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

This was the perfect book to read and reflect upon as 2020 wraps up (even though at times, it felt a bit TOO close to home!) As many have mentioned this year, we are living through unprecedented times -- a time of change, a time where things feel out of control, a time that caused us to all slow down and stay home -- yet, as this book makes very clear, we are not experiencing this alone.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the variety of authors, experiences, and the cause that it supports. I have to admit that I was a little confused and disappointed in some of the stories -- I wish that it conveyed more about how Covid-19 has affected people other than writers (for example, teachers, doctors, parents, frontline workers, etc). This book seemed primarily based in early quarantine days (March - May 2020), which is incredible that it was written, gathered, and published so quickly. But, it's December 2020 and we are still experiencing the impact of Covid-19, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for an Alone Together Volume 2.

Highly recommend reading, reflecting, and adding this book to your bookshelf to remember this year.
Thank you to Netgalley and Podium Audio for an audiobook version of this fantastic anthology in exchange for an honest review.

An amazing collection of essays, poems , and short stories revolving around Covid -19.
This is a heartbreaking, inspiring, and thought provoking collection.
This really helped me see lockdown and the pandemic from so many other sides.

I highly recommend this book, and I love the fact the proceeds go to a great cause.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a copy of "Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19" from Podium Audio in exchange for an honest review and I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed this audio book. It's a collection of short stories and poems depicting real life experiences of COVID-19 collected from 90 authors. Some of the stories are longer than others and some are pretty quick; but overall, they were all enjoyable.

The audio book was a roller coaster of emotions as I cried, laughed and smiled throughout my entire listening experience. The collections were focused around both the good and sorrowful insight of how these authors were impacted by the pandemic. Any reader could relate to the various stories and poems as we have all experienced COVID-19.

The book is told in five separate sections: (1) What Now?, (2) Greive, (3) Comfort, (4) Connect, and (5) Don't Stop. All five sections take a look at how COVID-19 has forever changed us and society. Some of these authors have suffered by loosing loved ones to the virus as well as watching family members contract the virus and recover. Other authors describe their own personal experiences with contracting the virus. As readers we see the devastating effects this virus has had on many.

Other aspects of the stories discuss how quarantine has affected many of us. Some of us are alone, while others are stuck in dire situations. These are unprecedented times and this book reminds that we are all in this together. Even though we may be alone and viewing the pandemic from different frames of mind, we are all experiencing something simular. COVID-19 has forever changed our lives and the stories and poems of this book show us that humility still exists in a world full of chaos.

This was a wonderful anthology of perhaps the scariest time in history for many of us. While it may sound depressing to listen to people talk about their own journey through this pandemic, it is actually uplifting and encouraging as you feel not so alone in the daily struggles and mind games COVID has played on all of us with insolation and uncertainty. Beautifully written and highly enjoyed the audio- made me feel connected to the stories. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2020 has certainly challenged us in many ways, but as isolated as we may have felt individually, it does help somewhat knowing that we have all been facing these challenges simultaneously. This book is a series of tales chronicling how many different folks have faced the challenges of quarantining and dealing since the onset of COVID-19 brought things to a screeching halt this past spring. While nothing feels normal, it helps to know we aren’t truly alone in this struggle.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
This was a moving and poignant collection of first person narratives. I loved being able to relate to so many different people I had never met. COVID-19 and its wide reaching impact has been a shared experience for so many. However, living in isolation its hard to always feel connected. This was a fantastic way to unite through this difficult shared experience.

Alone Together is an amazing book, and the audio version is a perfect example of how a great story can be enhanced by the audio version of the book. It is a collections of essays, poems, interviews and conversations about how people are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic written by many of my favorite authors. I tried reading the ebook when it was first released and found it to be an amazing story but a bit too close to our really challenging current reality to read the entire book, so I put it aside for later after reading a few chapters.

Listening to the audio version of the story really drew me in to each of the writers' stories. It is read by a huge cast of fantastic narrators and many of the chapters are narrated by their authors. I could feel the pain and struggles in their voices and many of them moved me to tears and to pause my listening to take it all in. I could not ask for more than this from any book! It's a great way to reflect on what we've all been through in the past year and how we can look forward into a new future.

This was a very interesting and timely collection of essays. Alone Together contains so many different Covid thoughts, experiences, and interviews. They range in length from a poem with a few lines to a personal story that is several minutes long. The editor, Jennifer Haupt has assembled a diverse group of 90 terrific writers for this project. Plus, the sales will go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a group founded to help struggling indie booksellers.

When I first began listening to this it completely tripped me out. So much of what I know about experiencing the pandemic is from what I see on the news. To actually hear it straight from a person instead of MSNBC felt so intimate. Like, I forgot they were strangers.

There were many times that I almost blurted out, “Oh my goodness, me too!!” The title Alone Together fits not only our physical circumstances but also the vibe of the book perfectly.

While this was a solid group of essays, there are a few weaker ones and a couple I thought my eyes might roll back in my head listening to the author’s privilege. 🤦🏼‍♀️ However, these are truly in the minority.

Also, heads up. These essays can be intense. There were a couple about folks dying that I just couldn’t do, especially with covid worries causing increased anxiety. I could see that some people may not want to read it because it’s too soon and the collective trauma of the pandemic is still ongoing.

More than anything, this book gave me some much-needed moments of connection and “I see you” during a horrible year for our world.

Thank you to @netgalley for the chance to review this audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Don’t let me die alone.”

COVID-19 has changed everyone's lives and showed us how ephemeral our existence can be. People have faced different obstacles like the loss of a loved one, the eviction of their housing, the dismissal of their jobs, among many other situations. "Alone Together" is a perfect depiction of the struggles the world is going through. It shows us how vulnerable certain groups have become in such a heartbreaking and realistic way through poems and real short stories. It is definitely a worthy read.

Reading this makes you empathize with those who have not been as lucky as you. Here's a link to the WHO's official website to donate to the "COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund." You can find more information on who they partner with here: https://covid19responsefund.org/en/

Thank you to Netgalley and Podium Audio for the ALC of this essay collection.

Overall I did enjoy Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the time of Covid-19. I really enjoyed hearing so many different viewpoints and situations of the early stages of the pandemic.

I did feel it was a bit lengthy. Having different narrators helped make it feel a bit more manageable, but it still felt very long. That very well maybe because we are still in the midst of this pandemic and its a lot to digest while we're still living it.

I do think this is an important collection of voices and stories to be in existence. Especially for the future when people look back on this time period. Having first-hand experiences documented will be so important when we look back on this tumultuous time in our history I’m glad that Jennifer Haupt has put these stories together.

I will honestly say that I did not finish reading this title because I was having anxiety listening to stories about the pandemic while in the pandemic, but with that being said I think they did a great job with exposing different people's truths during this very trying time and the stories I did read (over 50%) were well written. I'd like to revisit this at a later time.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, which has not altered my opinion of this book.

We are all surviving during this period of time known as a pandemic. This will for sure be affecting our way of life currently, but it also have already left it’s mark on the future. This series of shorts is really quite interesting and heart warming. That being said it was also heart breaking at points.

This collection is non-fiction so it addresses what people have actually gone through in the first few months of this quarantine. This is an important time in our history and due to that it has really made an impact on our world. This book is a great way of showing how several people from different worlds and generations are dealing with the pandemic and how lives are being adjusted due to this lifestyle change most of us have had to make.

Overall, I think that this is a very important read that should be read by everyone, especially in the United States. It’s important to see how everyone is being affected by this and there are some that even talk about those who are suffering due to COVID-19. Just because we might not see it up front doesn’t mean that it is all gone. It’s still here. 4.5 out of 5 from me

Everyone is having a hard time with Covid. Fortunately, if you like to read, it makes things a bit easier. I got this on Audio, so a different author or writer talks about an experience they’ve had during Covid.

Some of the stories were great and I really felt for what some people are going through. I especially related to having family away from your area and trying to keep in touch or repair relationships. Those were the best. The stories were a bit inconsistent, some were better then others.

Overall, a nice audio listen to remind us we are going through Covid together and will eventually get through it. Glad that the vaccine has become available, but in the meantime most of us are going to be waiting several more months.

Thank You NetGalley, Jennifer Haupt, and Podium Audio for giving me a copy of this audio book.

A collections of interviews, essays, and poems describing the experiences and emotion of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global quarantines. A truly human, and personal look at how people are coping with these "unprecedented times." This book will be used to teach future generations about life in the year 2020.

I loved this book. I started listening to this last month and took my time to finish it. It was a very brilliantly written book and I fell in love with the narration and the story.
Highly recommended.

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☆

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 !

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.

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.

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.

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