Blink Book Review: “It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs” by Mary Louise Kelly
I savor the thought of it. I visit it occasionally. I conjure
up visions of slowly consuming that last morsel.
“It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs” is one of
those books. It sat unfinished in my audiobook app for five days. I just didn’t
want it to end.
This book is the memoir of NPR anchor Mary Louise Kelly’s “year
of no do-overs” as her 18-year-old son entered his senior year in high school.
Her job as the anchor of NPR’s afternoon news show, “All Things Considered,”
meant she went on air every weekday at 4 p.m. - the exact time of her sons’ weekly Monday soccer
games. (Her younger son was a high school sophomore at the time and also a
soccer player).
Every year, Kelly had told herself, this would be the year
that she would make the time to be more present, go to more games, carve out
more time with her sons. Every year, when she fell short of this goal, she knew
she had many more years ahead for a do-over. Then her first-born became a
senior. Kelly realized there would be no more do-overs.
She wrote this book in real time as she lived her son’s senior
year through the eyes and the heart of a highly successful, deeply committed news
professional who also wanted to make sure her family came first. It’s written
in essay-style chapters that connect a reader with compelling first-person storytelling,
gut busting humor, and non-judgmental sage advice.
It's obvious from the first chapter that Kelly is more than a radio news host. She writes with the clarity of a skilled newspaper reporter (which she was), the depth of a novelist (which she is) and the heart of a
mom (which she will always be).
This audiobook version caused untold “driveway moments” when
I had to finish a chapter before getting out of the car. I daily looked forward
to riding around town feeling like Mary Louise (we’re on a first name basis by now,
of course) was buckled in my passenger seat chatting about her personal
experiences as a mom, international public radio correspondent, friend, daughter
and wife. Her voice is as familiar as a family member’s (I’m a huge NPR fan
girl), so it made for easy listening.
But when I realized I was at the last chapter, I chugged in a
big breath. I stopped the audiobook. I wasn’t ready to kick her out of my car.
Through this book, I had traveled with Mary Louise as she
interviewed world leaders in Ukraine, Afghanistan and countless international capitals
and war zones. I screamed with her as she loudly cheered on her sons at their
soccer games she was able to attend. I cried with her when she emotionally detailed
the last walk with her ailing father. I’d giggled with her as she detailed the deep
connection she maintains with her group of college girlfriends.
So I let it sit for a few days. Then I chose to finish that
last chapter while on a solitary walk. I knew that last chapter would contain
wisdom, humor and some sage advice. And it did. I belly laughed and I cried.
Then I went to my new local bookstore to buy the hard copy
of the book (spoiler alert: All Good Books had already sold out of the book, so
I had to order one). That’s what I do when I love an audiobook so much. I need
to be able to return to the lovely turns of words and mark up the pages with my
favorite passages. Then I share the book with friends. In my world, that’s
the highest compliment I can pay a book!
In the summer of 2022, I created my summer reading challenge to get off the screen and back to books by reading a book a week. My accountability was to write a series of Blink Book Reviews of 300ish words so someone could read them in a blink. This is the latest in this occasional ongoing (and sometimes more like two blinks long) series. Join my Blink Book Review Facebook group to get all the reviews and books suggestions from others.
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