All The Things: Our October Book! 🍁📚
What doesn't change in changing seasons.
You know her. You love her. And I think we might be the luckiest because we’re talking with one of the best next month.
Y’all, I went back and forth on the October book. Each of our 2023 All The Things books and author chats has been wonderful in a magical ‘stands on its own and yet beautifully builds on the previous chats, too’ way. And so—what next?
I circled around ideas/themes/topics and then out of seemingly no where, as if an actual lightbulb went off over my head like cartoon, I thought of this book cover. I remembered the title/subtitle. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading as I thought about you hearing from the author because I know—I know—she will bring honesty, humor, and wisdom. This isn’t a fluffy book or a light topic, but the words are strung together with care and thought, hope and goodness. And in that way, it is light. ✨
I suppose I’m saying, trust me when I say we can trust her.
I’ve stayed in her guest room. We’ve been to Maine together and we’ve been to Mexico together. We’ve stayed up late chit-chatting over the world’s most disappointing room service cheesecake (a sad story for another day), we’ve told and listened to five thousand stories at this point, and our three-years-strong Voxer group* (with Aliza Latta, who is legitimately one of the world’s most genuinely kind people) is rarely quiet.
I saw the behind-the-scenes of the writing of What Cannot Be Lost.
I’ve seen the continued living out of its message.
And I’m confident that whether you’re the one who needs hope in the midst of heartbreak, or you want to be a good friend to someone you love who is hurting, this book will be an encouragement and a comfort.
*Please remind me to tell you on the call or over on our All The Things Instagram account what we half-jokingly named our little group. It’s a smidge inappropriate but it’s 100% accurate. I’ll let you make of that what you will for now.
Our October Book: What Cannot Be Lost by Melissa Zaldivar
My review, written last year:
What a gift. I've just turned the final page and didn't want it to end, this honest and heartbreaking and hope-full story of loss, of grief, of searching for what is true when everything is upside down and the rug has been pulled out from under your feet. What Cannot Be Lost weaves together stories from Melissa's life, the Bible, Louisa May Alcott/Little Women, and Orchard House which is "where Louisa sat for a decade as her grief steeped into something she could swallow" (page 23). (Also: Wow. A moment of silence and a round of applause for that sentence alone.)
If you've recently lost a dear friend, if you're in the fog of grief, or if you're searching for a glimmer of hope, you'll find in Melissa a kind, compassionate, and honest guide.
📒 Book description:
A personal story of holding on to faith in Christ in the face of loss.
Author Melissa Zaldivar talks honestly about losing everything that once defined her and how God used unexpected opportunities, like working at Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, to spark a journey of working through her grief and encountering the all-sufficient love of Christ.
Weaving inspiring passages of Scripture and insights from Little Women into her personal story, Melissa encourages readers with her discovery that it’s when we have nothing left to offer that we can receive God’s love the most. And that’s something that can never be lost.
Readers will be reassured that God will meet them in the midst of their mess and urged to look to him for help, comfort and strength.
A great gift for those whose faith is being tested in the face of a loss of any kind—a loved one, a job or a relationship.