This collection is marvellous, let me tell ya. COVID is driving me (and everyone else, it seems) insane. Being stuck inside, being forced to work to pay bills, being scared and anxious and worried... We're all in the same boat, even when we're not. We're all in this together. And this book reminds readers of this.

Faith Adiele's The New Old Vocabulary showed me COVID from a very different angle. I'm up in Canada, just chilling at home, doing full time school and reading my little heart out. I'm picking up new hobbies and trying my best, but her comments... It put life into a perspective. I complained about being alone, but having the opportunity to be semi-safe, but not everyone in the U.S.A. is. The stats about African American men being arrested when they're just trying to help homeless people... It hurts. It makes my soul ache. Really ache.

Andre Dubus the Third's story made my eyes well up, reading about his mother-in-law's thoughts on COVID. It hurt. It hurt real bad. But at the same time, it made me not feel alone. I'm not the only one questioning why this is here. It made humanity feel so much better than the crazies in my town screaming and threatening each other if they get 10 feet near them.

Laura Stanfill's story about Priya... It makes me weep. It's so close to home, yet so beautifully written. Grace Talusan's also made my heart feel so sad. Jean Kowk's gave me hope, and made my heart sing because I related to it in so many ways.

Then there's more poems, and essays, and interviews, and short stories throughout. Some will bring tears, some will open your eyes and some will give you hope. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a piece of work in this for everyone. It'll make you feel connected to a community you didn't know was there. It made me feel more at home then I have in months, which is a feat all in itself. It's nice knowing that we're not alone in this big battle.

There's love, hate, fear and hope throughout. This is one absolutely incredible collection that I am so happy and proud of picking up. We need books to remind us of our humanity sometimes, and this book did it.

Also, the reminders of George Floyd, and the racism and hate that still lingers... It's as bad as COVID, if not worse. Because racism is avoidable if people could be kind, COVID and super viruses, not as much.

We need justice.

Five out of five stars. ( )

This book really spoke to me on an intimate personal level. It helped me to feel that I’m not alone with my feelings during this pandemic. It was great to see that I am not alone in feeling angry, sad, scared, anxious. I love the mixture of essay, poems, interviews. Wonderful. I could not put it down, highly recommended. ( )

I didn't end up reading all of the selections in this book, mostly because I don't generally love poetry. My favorite part of this book is the way the authors tell stories so quickly. I felt like I could get my bearings easily, helping me connect my circumstances to these people I have never met and will never meet. Each story, whether in the love, grief, or comfort section, had traces of each emotion and situation. This really is a complex time to be alive, but seeing how things can be all three things at once gives me a little more hope.

I found this e-book to be easy to get, even with the recent release date. I'd recommend it to those who are comfortable accepting the present situations, if you still live in the past tense this isn't the book for you. The grief stories seemed to encapsulate the same feel as memories I've heard people tell of when they first heard about 9/11. The moment when things seem real is important to record, even if it is hard. This book will be applicable even after COVID-19 stops being a high-priority issue. ( )

This collection of short stories and poems are touching, filled with tons of emotions, and all together moving. The way this book is formatted is that it is broken out into sections...love, grief, and comfort. There were several stories and or poems that I connected towards better then others. Yet no matter whether I "loved" or "liked" a story or poem is besides the point.

The overall importance of this collection is that it showed that no matter what walk of life we come from; we are all connected. If you are an introvert or extrovert, during this pandemic you realize that family, friends, and human interaction are very much needed. Just a smile or to have a conversation with someone in person can make some one's day. This book is worth your time to read. If anything I think this book is very appropriate for present times. ( )

"Pick up your pen and write. Pick up a book and read. Engage in your world; do not shrink from it." - Garth Stein

I'm excited to be sharing ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief & Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 as a part of Kate Rock Book Tours. This collection of essays, interviews & poems about the authors' experiences during the pandemic comes out September 1st. All proceeds go to @thinkingbinc, a nonprofit that benefits the bookselling community.

"In telling our stores, we hope to enable you to tell your story. That's the sweet spot of connections, where the healing happens." - Jennifer Haupt

ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect & Don't Stop & focuses on how isolation & uncertainty is changing us as individuals & a society.

"So many of us, across political, racial, and socioeconomic lines, are grieving, but the question is how we'll deal with it all. Will it paralyze us or motivate us?" - David Sheff

I wasn't sure I was ready to read about Covid. Books are usually an escape for me & I worried this might add to my stress but it did the opposite. It helped to read about how others felt and their hope and optimism in the midst of this universal struggle.

"How are we going to make our blues beautiful? It's all about perspective." - Kwame Alexander

There are 91 authors in the ebook & audiobook (with 69 in the print book) & each viewpoint is enlightening in its own way.

"We grieve the chance to celebrate those we love in what used to be the big moments in life, in the time before every moment of life itself seemed so big." - Meg Waite Clayton

ALONE TOGETHER left me feeling that although our lives are now divided into before Covid & after, there's a good chance that our new world will be one that has positives we never imagined.

"We had very busy lives that would sometimes pull us in different directions, but in this period of lockdown, we have learned to make time for each other again." - Jean Kwok

Thank you to Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, Central Avenue Publishing & author for an ARC to review. ( )