"The Hot Young Widows Club" by Nora McInerny

Two of the best books I've read so far this year were written by Nora McInerny, host of the podcast "Terrible, Thanks for Asking" (which I still need to actually listen to): "It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)" and  "No Happy Endings"  (which I reviewed here and here). 

So when I heard Nora had published yet another new book recently -- "The Hot Young Widows Club" (which is also the name of the online support group Nora co-founded) -- I went in search of it (and eventually found a copy, in the death & grieving section of the local mega-bookstore).

As a brief summary:  in 2014, when she was 31, Nora lost her second pregnancy, her father (to cancer) and her 35-year-old husband (to brain cancer), all within the space of six weeks. Since then, she's made a career out of talking to other people about their hardest life experiences, and helping us all deal better with grief and loss.

In her previous two books, Nora told her own story and shared some of the things she's learned over the past few years. In this book, she distills and shares that hard-earned wisdom, with topics that include "am I grieving right?", "I feel like I'm losing my mind," things you can do to help someone through their grief, loss of relationships after a loss, the importance of showing up, empathy and listening, tips for your post-death to-do (and not-to-do) list, self care, and much, much more.

You don't have to be a widow (let alone young, or hot!) to read this book or to get something out of it. You just have to be human. As the copy on the inside flap of the book says: 

Welcome to the Hot Young Widows Club. Maybe you haven't lost a spouse (yet!). That's okay. This book is a club of its own. Not just for those who have survived a spouse, but for anyone who has loved someone who died, or who has loved someone who has loved someone who died. It's for anyone who currently loves someone who will die, or who knows a person who loves someone who will die. Like it or not, you'll join it someday. 

This is a TED book, an expansion of Nora's TED talk from earlier this year, which is also fabulous and which I highly recommend watching. I was surprised at what a small, slim little volume it was -- under 100 pages -- but it is chock full of wisdom (and Nora's trademark humour) in every page. (I almost felt guilty for counting it for my reading challenge... until I remembered that I also read all 448 pages of the Mueller Report, lol.) 

I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. This would make an excellent little gift for anyone you know who has been recently bereaved in some way, or for someone who is supporting someone who has been recently bereaved. If you don't feel like your own grief is being properly supported by the people around you, hand them this book. :) 

This was book #24 that I have read in 2019 to date, bringing me to 100%!!! of my 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books.  I have now completed my challenge for the year, 12 books ahead of schedule! :) (Anything I manage to read after this will be gravy, lol.)