It is personal. You feel as though you are ...
595618
It is personal. You feel as though you are being allowed into someone's life. It is haunting. This life the reader is drawn into is real, complete with all the sadness and angst that adults learn to bury in cocktails and binge TV watching. It's fresh. I'd read anything else this artist created.
1541299
Many who read this feel as tho they are reading what could be their own journal entries. An important book for caregivers esoecially of men with Parkinson's. So much resonates with my own experience.
3591758
I have been especially touched by the Author's attitude of understanding that working with emotions is exhausting and the reader/patient has the right to feel tired and take time for next steps.  It feels great to be taken care of in this way!
1298949
She pours her heart into this book and I felt like I got to see and feel a little bit of herself. It spoke to me so much I think because her story sounds so like mine. I connected with it but also it was her story...her own. I love her honesty.
1727024
It is like a real life friendship .... you need to ease in to it . The longer you linger, the more you learn and then you care.
2396795
You come away feeling like you really know the people and the town.
101613
Real. Feels like I am listening to someone who has gone tru what I am going tru now. Not a saint n don't pretend. No judgement passed. I am enjoying it. Reads a lot better than books that tries to tell you what is wrong n what to do n you are wrong. No. I feel like I am listening to a friend who is sharing without judgement.
729894
The daily struggle of empaths are real! But for an empath to explain why to their family and friends is difficult, because the "receivers" perception is reinterpreted by their personal human condition...not taken on the pure meaning of an empaths well understood intentions. I was able to show certain chapters to my spouse and say, "see, this is what I mean when I say that I can feel other people's energetic 'stuff' which is why I need an arms length personal bubble (or sometimes more depending on the person )". It gave me peace with the constant struggle I feel when I say I am extremely introverted...yet they disagree because im a thoughtful conversationalist. Or why I can't just float along in some humdrum job to pass time until retirement because my spirit refuses to just remain calm and wait on society's timeliness. I cannot make people feel the internal storms associated the day to day common place situations that other's shrug off, which fester in me until im worn out or numb....but this book reinforces that peace can be found on my own path, no matter how much society disagrees. And though I already know this, it's always nice to have the reinforcement that I'm not as crazy as the world sees me...im just dedicated to making peaceful growth amongst myself and those who desire it.
4950050
And i get some sort of inner pleasure being able to  express myself the way i really feel.
1463232
This book reminded me of being young and that massive feeling of anythings possible that you feel in your early twenties.  Life is just starting and your mind is wide open to experiences.  Ive never lived in New York but having read this book, I feel like I have been.  At least my mind has traveled there.

This book is NOT about Salinger.  This is not bad or good, but it just is what it is.  It appears to me that it was a way to garner interest.  Perhaps the authors years in the publishing world served her well because I know few people in the reading blog world that are not talking about this, reading this or discussing this book.  So that aspect has worked in her favor.  However, I was glad it wasn't about Salinger because quite frankly Im not a fan of that recluse.

I really found her workplace to be divinely interesting and comically entertaining.
4495426
I am often times pulled into a book or a character because of how different their "lives" are from mine; but in this case it was quite the opposite. The writing style and the content is so easy to connect to that you almost feel like you're reading your own story. It's magical how realistic the portrayed feelings are and how deeply they go. I read quite a bit of LGBT themed literature and this is one of the most honest and true feelings works I've come across.
3820042
What a great read.  Very personal, and really lets you into the author's mind.  It was hard to read at times due to the emotional and painful periods during parts of her life.  I am very honored to call the author one of my friends!  It showed me also that most of us feel the same things growing up, even when we feel like we are the only one feeling like that.
3087012
You feel as though the Lord is right there with you, speaking to your own heart, in a very personal way. A must read book for every Christian.
3646541
Research it and you will see for yourself why it's the best. Try it and feel for yourself...
157763
Oh! You got me at the first poem, Ms. Johnstone.  Thank you for saying out loud what we are seeing and feeling for ourselves.  It is all of our collective experience you speak of, and you comfort us by reassuring us that you notice it too.  Thank you for being a guide in the dark for so many.  The illustrations seem otherworldly, as if our own experiences are as well.  I suppose they are.  This is for sure not a reality we had imagined for ourselves.  It is sometimes a cold and desolate place here, but somehow I have comfort knowing people are you are in it. Thanks for offering your hand, and your eyes.  Well done.
3926316
I see the advice in this book as really personal (I cant think of the exact word right now). Like you would go to a close person, and tell them of your issues with marriage. And that person gives you heart-felt advice. Sensible and every day and frank for both ways.husband and wife. Thats the exact feeling I got here. As if the book was talking just to me and as if it was written just for me. This book was unexpectedly short, though I do not hold that against it.
3919799
There is something to be said about a book that feels more like life than fiction, that makes you forget how long youve been sitting in that reading chair until your legs are cramping and youve got to get up and move around. Those kinds of stories grab you, take you in, invite you for a cup of coffee and never let you leave. Those of the stories that Liz & Lisa write because even after closing THE YEAR WE TURNED FORTY, I could swear I was still living inside of Gabriela, Claire, and Jessicas world.

Was it a good year for any of us? No. But I don't know if the point is to compare. Maybe we need to revise our definition of what better means.

THE YEAR WE TURNED FORTY follows three best friends who are stuck in life. At the age of fifty, they are living with regrets, mainly mistakes that they made during the year they all turned forty. When the opportunity to actually go back in time to relive their 40th year presents itself, they are apprehensive. If they go back, they might be able to fix what was broken, perhaps make their lives great again. But they soon realize that going back in time to change their lives will indirectly change the lives of those around them.

Life wasn't meant to be played like a game of chess, moving the people you love like pawns to win the game.

I loved this story so much because it gives you a little fiction and a whole lot of real life messes. It makes you question your own actions, how you live the one life you're given (unless time travel truly is real and we just aren't aware of it yet). Regardless, you begin to question what you find to be important and what just doesnt matter in the grand scheme of things. THE YEAR WE TURNED FORTY allows you to see these three best friends struggle through their lives  twice and ultimately realize that being happy doesnt mean not having regrets; it means living the life you were given in spite of the bumps in the road.

maybe the only way people could know how much they loved something was to be faced with a chance they might lose it. It didn't mean you should live in constant fear, but rather it should serve as a reminder that love should never be squandered.

In conclusion, this story is one that you need to read at least once, if not twice, in your lifetime. Everyone needs a kind of reminder that says: love the life you're given, and live it like tomorrow isn't real. Another A+ read from Liz & Lisa!