Audiobook Review of Wake Up Grateful by Kristi Nelson.
"Open your heart to the things that now enrich your life but came from loving something or someone you had to let go. Be grateful to your heart for its beautiful courage." ~Kristi Nelson, Wake Up Grateful.

Kristi Nelson is a cancer survivor who fought for her recovery and wrote this book as a lesson for the power of gratefulness. She does a beautiful job narrating her book and sharing her vulnerabilities as personal examples. She provides numerous perspectives and practical ways to shift the brain to look for gratitude every day.

Nelson says, "I carry grief as an evident blessing of having loved and been loved." I have six dear guardian angels (Paternal and Maternal Grandparents, Godmother/Aunt, and my Dad). Losing my Dad so unexpectedly from a brain injury after slipping on the icy driveway made me conquer my deepest fears. Grief has become my close friend because it reminds me I've given and known the greatest unconditional love. This exceptional loss gave birth to my daily practice of vulnerability and gratitude. Nelson discusses her thoughts of facing death and how it strengthened her appreciation for the little pieces of life. I see them too. This book is so powerful and meaningful, now especially, as we are all living in this pandemic. 2020 has become the "year of gratitude" because all of the daily distractions disappeared, allowing us to pause and count our blessings. I highly recommend this book to everyone. I will be making this book an annual tradition to listen, practice, and strengthen my gratefulness.

Thank you, #NetGalley and #WorkmanAudio, for this ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Every time I kept thinking about my own response to this book, I felt petty and churlish. The kindest thing I can say is that this book did not resonate with me and I did not find it helpful, despite theoretically agreeing with much of it.

This is a well written and timely book, especially in today’s pandemic times. Remembering and practicing gratefulness is a life saver of our sanity.

Good message and I could tell the author cared about what they were writing. However, I found this book to be quite repetitive and “fluffy.”

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'm conflicted on my rating because Wake Up Grateful was dry. I listened to the audiobook and the author narrated it. She wasn't horrible but I would have preferred a professional.

I'm also sure my style of listening to an hour of the book at a time made the book less enjoyable. The author broke the material into tiny segments with questions at the end. This would be a great book to own and read slowly. I was on a library deadline. I know I would have enjoyed this better if I would have slowed down my pace.

All that being said, this book made such a difference in my week! I've read a few books on gratitude and while I've enjoyed them all (I LOVE the topic of gratitude), this one impacted me in a way that the other books didn't.

I always thought of gratitude as "counting blessings." Sort of something that happened at the end of a long day. The "take nothing for granted" theme of this book really struck a chord for me. I found myself pausing in my day and finding things to be grateful for and really trying to cherish the now. I loved how the author incorporated mindfulness into gratitude.

Another take-away for me was to appreciate the gift of life. I loved the idea of not worrying if the glass was half empty or full but to just be grateful for the glass. The author went through cancer and effectively convinced me that life is a gift. Period.

The actual "entertainment" value for this book would be closer to 2.5 stars. However, the impact of the book was closer to a five. I'm going to compromise and rate four stars.

This is a really well rounded look at gratitude and how to educate your brain to see the joy in life every day. I really enjoyed doing the exercises. I liked that it can be picked up at any point in life and there's something for every scenario. Really enjoyed it.