NATIONAL BESTSELLER “A meditation on kindness and hope, and how to move forward through grief.” –NPR “A shining reminder to learn all we can from this moment, rebuilding ourselves in the darkness so that we may come out wiser, kinder, and stronger on the other side.” –The Boston Globe “Powerful essays on loss, endurance, and renewal.” –People Cosmopolitan’s “Best Nonfiction Books of 2020” … renewal.” —People
Cosmopolitan’s “Best Nonfiction Books of 2020”
Marie Claire’s “2020 Books You Should Pre-Order Now”
Parade’s “25 Self-Help Books To Get Your 2020 Off On The Right Foot”
The Washington Post’s “What to Read in 2020 Based on the Books You Loved in 2019”
For fans of Cheryl Strayed and Anne Lamott, a collection of quotes and essays on facing life’s challenges with creativity, courage, and resilience.
When Maggie Smith, the award-winning author of the viral poem “Good Bones,” started writing inspirational daily Twitter posts in the wake of her divorce, they unexpectedly caught fire. In this deeply moving book of quotes and essays, Maggie writes about new beginnings as opportunities for transformation. Like kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with gold, Keep Moving celebrates the beauty and strength on the other side of loss. This is a book for anyone who has gone through a difficult time and is wondering: What comes next?
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I am loving loving LOVING Maggie Smith’s bool. It is the perfect book for these difficult times and really spoke to me as someone who needs to feel creative to feel alive–challenging at the moment! Just bought my second copy this morning at Waterstones Cardiff! Lent the other.
KEEP MOVING speaks to you like an encouraging friend reminding you that you can feel and survive deep loss, sink into life’s deep beauty, and constantly, constantly make yourself new.
“What I know to be true is that one hopeful person will accomplish more than 100 cynics. Why? Because the hopeful person will try.”
I wouldn’t say this book was life-changing or anything only because it wasn’t relatable for me personally (as she is writing from the perspective of a recent divorcee mother of two). Even so, I still enjoyed listening, it was very quick, and I could agree with some of her points and perspectives. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have chosen the audiobook – I almost couldn’t handle hearing “keep moving” repeated over and over throughout the book.
Also, I have never related more:
“My thinking was this: If I expect the worst, and the worst doesn’t happen, I will be pleasantly surprised BUT if I expect the worst, and the worst happens, not only will I be prepared but I will have been right.”
Uplifting and helpful. You can read it over and iver
Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change
by Maggie Smith
I have really enjoyed this book. If I didn’t need to write a review for it, it’s one of those books that I would have taken far longer to read, a little at a time, and mull over before moving on.
The physical format is a very satisfying thick, hardcover book, chunky and substantial in the hand. I like how the very short essays alternate with single page entries that work as a sort of meditation moment. The author says she wrote one a day to herself for some time to encourage herself.
There is much that is eminently relatable to me in this book of essays and affirmations, from the difficulties of motherhood post-partum, and the loss of sense of self, to my enjoyment of editing as a whittling down of words to a more “concentrated form.”
I really enjoyed her perspective of many ideas, from “commit to trying” to “what you are worth to someone else is not what you are worth.” I love the idea of looking at difficult times you are going through as your own superhero origin story.
She also provides, in one of her own experiences, a mention of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. I had never heard of the center but I’m looking forward to checking out their web site as a way to continue working on the ideas the author shares in this book. I suspect it will be very complimentary. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/
The one detraction that I feel I have to note comes from the size of the font on the essays and the color of the font on some of the short entries. The font is really quite small and while it is bold enough to generally read comfortably for myself, I have a feeling some people are going to find themselves squinting at it or getting a magnifying glass. A bigger font would have been wise.
Likewise, the light turquoise color of some entries is lovely, but on the smaller size font entries, it makes some words rather hard to make out on the white pages. In my humble opinion, the former was a choice which may lose some readers, the latter is quite simply a bad choice.
All in all, I am very glad to have the hard cover of this book on my shelf, and I think I will be going back to read it again.
Maggie Smith’s voice is the one I hear in my head, the one that keeps me going when I don’t feel I can. And now, with this book, she has gifted the entire world with that particular brand of magic.
I read this book in one sitting during one of the most difficult weeks of my life….This isn’t lofty self-help stuff; she doesn’t speak from above. Instead, she speaks next to you, whispering right in your ear that we are all in the trenches together. Every single page of this book made me breathe a little deeper and feel a little less alone.
I lived this book in real time. I was going through something hard and heartbreaking, and every day I’d log onto social media….to read what you now hold in your hands: truth and pain and empathy and the wisdom that comes with living. We keep moving. I kept moving. So can you. I will carry copies of this beautiful gift of a book in my pockets and give them to everyone I know.
Maggie Smith’s mantras are a faithful and forgiving companion, coaxing us through the darkness and toward our own resilience.
The audio book touched my soul. Her voice makes you feel each moment. I felt I was there living the same questions, fears and thoughts. A book that gives hope to “keep moving”. A great work of Art.
Carly Marie (carma).
Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity and Change is a book that will resonate with anyone who is grieving any sort of loss, going through a hard time, or facing changes in their life. At a time like this in our global history, Smith brings a breath of fresh air and perspective.
Written following the author’s divorce as she comes to terms with all the changes and adjustments that brings, this book combines journal-type reminisces, affirmations, notes to herself, and lessons learned. It is a quick read, but one I found myself lingering over and highlighting quite a bit.
I found this to be an uplifting read and one I will tend to revisit from time to time. It would make a nice gift for those you care about.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Publishers for allowing me to read a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.