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Corners: Voices on Change
Every life journey traverses curves and corners. In Corners: Voices on Change, writers find a way through changes. Their literary essays offer honesty, comfort and humor. Tracing their stories helps us to process our own changing lives. Be inspired by thoughtful lives as the writers—
- Deal with grief and loss
- Reject antiquated patterns of prejudice and selfishness
- Get fired
- Engage in War
- Experience disappointment in God
- Find their voice
- Say “no”
- Navigate the ubiquitous anxiety of loving a recovering addict
- Save themselves from disappearing into marriage or parenthood
- Discover lynchpins in family and culture
- Choose a new religion and choose to love within the backlash
- Learn to love a Trump-voting spouse when it seems a betrayal
- Recreate a great life when the body, brain, or life circumstance won’t return to the old normal
- Accept responsibilities, truths, and realities
- Celebrate differences
These voices don’t prescribe a singular path to self-actualization. That would be a lie. We all face corners. We have to turn. We must make accommodations, or we get stuck clinging to beliefs and ways of life that can no longer sustain us. The beauty in these very human stories is laden with honesty, triumph, humor, resignation, comfort and insight. The cumulative effect of these personal stories is even greater than the sum of the parts. Readers experience the gallant pursuit of managing responses to change. Writers celebrate and lament the past, but don’t cling to it. They find a new normal. They strive. They accept.
- Deal with grief and loss
- Reject antiquated patterns of prejudice and selfishness
- Get fired
- Engage in War
- Experience disappointment in God
- Find their voice
- Say “no”
- Navigate the ubiquitous anxiety of loving a recovering addict
- Save themselves from disappearing into marriage or parenthood
- Discover lynchpins in family and culture
- Choose a new religion and choose to love within the backlash
- Learn to love a Trump-voting spouse when it seems a betrayal
- Recreate a great life when the body, brain, or life circumstance won’t return to the old normal
- Accept responsibilities, truths, and realities
- Celebrate differences
These voices don’t prescribe a singular path to self-actualization. That would be a lie. We all face corners. We have to turn. We must make accommodations, or we get stuck clinging to beliefs and ways of life that can no longer sustain us. The beauty in these very human stories is laden with honesty, triumph, humor, resignation, comfort and insight. The cumulative effect of these personal stories is even greater than the sum of the parts. Readers experience the gallant pursuit of managing responses to change. Writers celebrate and lament the past, but don’t cling to it. They find a new normal. They strive. They accept.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
187 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 30, 2018
12 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Amy Lou Jenkins
4 books59 followersAmy Lou Jenkinsis an award-winning, best-selling author, speaker, and thought leader from Wisconsin.
Every Natural Fact; Five Seasons of Open-Air Parenting
now available for purchase from your local bookstore, Amazon, and other booksellers
Any reader drawn to the outdoors will cherish Every Natural Fact and its author's sensual intelligence potted in the fertile soil of a boundless curiosity for the world. Amy Lou Jenkins is the Anna Quindlen of the north woods, the Rachel Carson of the good land of Wisconsin, bequeathing to her son and to all of us an indestructible sense of wonder.” — Bob Shacochis, National Book Award-winning author of Easy in The Islands and The Immaculate Invasion
"Braiding together history, memoir, gentle parenting guidance, and superb nature writing, Jenkins' prose illuminates the details of ordinary life."—Susan Cheever, author of American Bloomsbury
Wisconsin's wild areas become the world in extraordinary debut by Amy Lou Jenkins'. Every Natural Fact is nothing less than sensational.By Pamela Miller, Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"If you combined the lyricism of Annie Dillard, the vision of Aldo Leopold, and the gentle but tough-minded optimism of Frank McCourt, you might come close to Amy Lou Jenkins, a writer who obliterates the distinction between regional writing and actual, honest-to-god writing. I, for one, would follow her anywhere."—Tom Bissell, author of The Father of All Things
Any reader drawn to the outdoors will cherish Every Natural Fact and its author's sensual intelligence potted in the fertile soil of a boundless curiosity for the world. Amy Lou Jenkins is the Anna Quindlen of the north woods, the Rachel Carson of the good land of Wisconsin, bequeathing to her son and to all of us an indestructible sense of wonder.” — Bob Shacochis, National Book Award-winning author of Easy in The Islands and The Immaculate Invasion
"Braiding together history, memoir, gentle parenting guidance, and superb nature writing, Jenkins' prose illuminates the details of ordinary life."—Susan Cheever, author of American Bloomsbury
Wisconsin's wild areas become the world in extraordinary debut by Amy Lou Jenkins'. Every Natural Fact is nothing less than sensational.By Pamela Miller, Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"If you combined the lyricism of Annie Dillard, the vision of Aldo Leopold, and the gentle but tough-minded optimism of Frank McCourt, you might come close to Amy Lou Jenkins, a writer who obliterates the distinction between regional writing and actual, honest-to-god writing. I, for one, would follow her anywhere."—Tom Bissell, author of The Father of All Things
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 18, 2019
Change can be scary. When we can’t see where the path is going, we become agitated, anxious, or defensive. Amy Lou Jenkins collects a number of essays and stories that navigate the many emotions that come with different shades of life change. It was interesting and enlightening to see different people’s perspectives on their different situations. Check this one out if you’re wrestling with a bit of change or maybe just want to broaden your horizons.
June 16, 2018
Reviewed by Kimberly Luyckx for Reader Views (6/18)
“Corners: Voices on Change” is a collection of stories about adaptation, about passing through a critical juncture, and gaining a fresh perspective. The book is comprised of 25 stories by 25 writers who are confronted with a major turning point in life. They face physical difficulties, marital strife, failing relationships and deal with social and mental dilemmas. Many authors speak to attitudes we carry, beliefs we share and societal values. Some writers are able to turn corners more easily than others. Plenty go on to forge a new life path while others greet the transformation as it stands and even learn how to make peace with it. Amy Lou Jenkins, who edits and contributes to this anthology of short stories, begins the book with her perspective. She describes her take on the idea of change and what it means to our existence. Like the other authors in the book, Jenkins discovers that adaptation is constant and necessary.
The title, “Corners: Voices on Change,” summoned me to hunt for the changing circumstance within each story. Some are more obvious than others, although none are inconsequential. There are certainly those that resonate with me more clearly. I was enlightened by several accounts that address the subject of motherhood, marriage and how we transform into middle age. There are other stories that I found to be more perplexing and tough to filter through for significance.
I don’t usually choose to read anthologies because I find switching writers from chapter to chapter unsettling. This book is no different. In one story the words flow gracefully yet in the next the author’s voice takes on a sharp, active rhythm. A couple of pieces are efficient and documentary-like, others are reflective and poetic, many are oral narratives and a few get argumentative and downright forceful. But the contrast teaches the lesson that the book advocates, change in voices. So, I learned to adapt as a reader by experiencing what is uncomfortable and finding a new perspective each time. In the end, I find the variability refreshing and inspirational.
The quality of the writing is also quite variable. For the most part the authors are clear and natural with their words and you stay engaged in their stories. There are some instances when I get lost in the verbiage or feel a bit like the author is using his/her narrative as a soapbox or therapy exercise. But that is the benefit of reading a piece with several short stories - each one only lasts for a few pages.
“Corners: Voices on Change” is a compilation of memoirs that lead the reader through the process of alienation, diversion, connection, addiction, obsession, absorption, resistance and acceptance. Each story is like a flower to pick, smell and maybe take from it a seed that you can plant in your own garden. I would highly recommend this thought-provoking collection to anyone facing a difficult transition in life.
“Corners: Voices on Change” is a collection of stories about adaptation, about passing through a critical juncture, and gaining a fresh perspective. The book is comprised of 25 stories by 25 writers who are confronted with a major turning point in life. They face physical difficulties, marital strife, failing relationships and deal with social and mental dilemmas. Many authors speak to attitudes we carry, beliefs we share and societal values. Some writers are able to turn corners more easily than others. Plenty go on to forge a new life path while others greet the transformation as it stands and even learn how to make peace with it. Amy Lou Jenkins, who edits and contributes to this anthology of short stories, begins the book with her perspective. She describes her take on the idea of change and what it means to our existence. Like the other authors in the book, Jenkins discovers that adaptation is constant and necessary.
The title, “Corners: Voices on Change,” summoned me to hunt for the changing circumstance within each story. Some are more obvious than others, although none are inconsequential. There are certainly those that resonate with me more clearly. I was enlightened by several accounts that address the subject of motherhood, marriage and how we transform into middle age. There are other stories that I found to be more perplexing and tough to filter through for significance.
I don’t usually choose to read anthologies because I find switching writers from chapter to chapter unsettling. This book is no different. In one story the words flow gracefully yet in the next the author’s voice takes on a sharp, active rhythm. A couple of pieces are efficient and documentary-like, others are reflective and poetic, many are oral narratives and a few get argumentative and downright forceful. But the contrast teaches the lesson that the book advocates, change in voices. So, I learned to adapt as a reader by experiencing what is uncomfortable and finding a new perspective each time. In the end, I find the variability refreshing and inspirational.
The quality of the writing is also quite variable. For the most part the authors are clear and natural with their words and you stay engaged in their stories. There are some instances when I get lost in the verbiage or feel a bit like the author is using his/her narrative as a soapbox or therapy exercise. But that is the benefit of reading a piece with several short stories - each one only lasts for a few pages.
“Corners: Voices on Change” is a compilation of memoirs that lead the reader through the process of alienation, diversion, connection, addiction, obsession, absorption, resistance and acceptance. Each story is like a flower to pick, smell and maybe take from it a seed that you can plant in your own garden. I would highly recommend this thought-provoking collection to anyone facing a difficult transition in life.
November 28, 2018
FTC Disclosure: This post is not an endorsement, but a review. The author provided a free copy of the book for a free, honest and unbiased review through my indie book review program. The opinions expressed here are solely my own and no one else's.
I'm not gonna lie, I usually don't care much for anthologies but I did very much enjoy the Chicken Soup for the Soul books when I was younger so I did not say no when offered the chance to read this. It sounded interesting and came at just the right time for me because I myself was going through some pretty hardcore changes in my own life.
For the most part I did enjoy the book, particularly the first story of self-acceptance (something I personally struggle with a lot), but not so much the others. Some of them seemed to come off as pushing a particular pov/belief instead of merely describing an experience while others were very short and lacked much depth. I can't say that this book left much of an impact on me, but I was happy to see other writers going through life changes of many kinds because we too are ordinary people living ordinary lives. I know that personally some people seem to think that I'm no longer human just because I've published two books!
At the end of the day this is an average collection of its kind with nothing more or nothing less than the others, but if you enjoy this kind of book you should no doubt enjoy this one too!
I'm not gonna lie, I usually don't care much for anthologies but I did very much enjoy the Chicken Soup for the Soul books when I was younger so I did not say no when offered the chance to read this. It sounded interesting and came at just the right time for me because I myself was going through some pretty hardcore changes in my own life.
For the most part I did enjoy the book, particularly the first story of self-acceptance (something I personally struggle with a lot), but not so much the others. Some of them seemed to come off as pushing a particular pov/belief instead of merely describing an experience while others were very short and lacked much depth. I can't say that this book left much of an impact on me, but I was happy to see other writers going through life changes of many kinds because we too are ordinary people living ordinary lives. I know that personally some people seem to think that I'm no longer human just because I've published two books!
At the end of the day this is an average collection of its kind with nothing more or nothing less than the others, but if you enjoy this kind of book you should no doubt enjoy this one too!
August 4, 2018
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I wanted to read this book because of the good reviews and the description talking about saving yourself from disappearing into parenthood. I liked the idea of short stories. Several of the stories I found fun and relatable. However, some were depressing.
Overall I think this was an average book. The few stories I enjoyed didn’t make up for the many I didn’t enjoy.
If this review was helpful to you please click the link below.
I wanted to read this book because of the good reviews and the description talking about saving yourself from disappearing into parenthood. I liked the idea of short stories. Several of the stories I found fun and relatable. However, some were depressing.
Overall I think this was an average book. The few stories I enjoyed didn’t make up for the many I didn’t enjoy.
If this review was helpful to you please click the link below.
July 10, 2019
Too Depressing
I could not even finish this book. I felt like each story was about others problems without any hope. The stories didn’t end they just stopped. There was no story line.
I could not even finish this book. I felt like each story was about others problems without any hope. The stories didn’t end they just stopped. There was no story line.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews