Wonder

The world is still full of wonder. We've just been too busy to look.

"I couldn't put it down. It is exquisite. A profound read — and I say that with no hyperbole. It spoke to something missing in me that I cannot verbalize yet." — Bonnie Lieberman, Mom and School Board President

We move through our days half-awake — rushing past the poppies, skipping the concert, ducking in out of the rain and missing the experience waiting around the corner. And then, every so often, something stops us cold. A lilting ballad. A painting in the museum we almost skipped. A friend who holds fast to joy and grace at the absolute edge of everything. In those moments, we remember what it feels like to be fully, achingly alive.

Wonder is a sanctuary for those moments — and an invitation to see them in the middle of our busy, over-scheduled lives.

In thirteen lyric essays across four movements, Gary Waddell takes us on a sweeping journey: from a twilight backyard in North Carolina to a Parisian chapel in the rain, from Frida Kahlo's unblinking gaze to a desert sky of breathtaking brilliance, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to a friend's porch at the end of a life well-lived. Along the way, he makes a quietly radical case — that wonder isn't a luxury reserved for grand vistas and rare occasions, but is the very point of it all, available to anyone willing to pay attention.

For readers who love Anna Quindlen's A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Ross Gay's The Book of Delights, Haemin Sunim's The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, and the lyric poetry of Mary Oliver, Wonder is a book to keep, to return to, and to give — to anyone who has everything, or would welcome a reminder to breathe deeply and notice what's in front of them. Wonder awaits.

Just look.