Watering the Soul

by Courtney Peppernell

Poetry and prose to encourage us to grow.  Watering the Soul  is a timeless reminder that everyone needs time, love, and forgiveness. In the deepest, most enchanting part of the forest, a creature hands you a seed. Within the seed is your soul, ready to be grown again.

From internationally bestselling author Courtney Peppernell comes her new book of poetry and prose,  Watering the Soul . In true Peppernell style, the book is divided into sections, this time following a step-by-step recipe, to heal your soul.

Filled with themes that focus on forgiveness, gratitude, togetherness, and equality, Peppernell takes you on a journey to find a precious yet profound understanding; that a seed is not grown with haste and nor is becoming whole, that in each and every step, we find the meaning of watering the soul.
 
This is the story of your soul and how it can be grown again.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Self Help, Mental Health, Adult, Contemporary, Short Stories

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 17, 2021

About the author

Courtney Peppernell is an acclaimed best-selling author from Australia, celebrated for her inspirational poetry collections, including the beloved Pillow Thoughts series, Watering the Soul, I Hope You Stay, Time Will Tell and more. With over two million sales worldwide, she continues to lead the forefront of today’s poetry genre. Courtney spends her days writing and working on many projects with her beloved dogs and chickens in tow. She hopes to continue exploring expression and the art of healing through stories, novels and poetry for years to come. Stay tuned for the latest releases from Courtney and her team!

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watering the Soul is a powerful, inspirational guide to living your best life, drinking in the moments before they pass you by and is written primarily in verse form. It encourages you to breathe, slow down and give yourself time to heal and appreciate the world around you. To live in the moment and take it all in. You can feel everything shift as each moment settles into existence. A gentle, nudging self-help guide in the form of poetry with beautiful prose and plenty to ensure this is a title you will turn to again and again when you need a little boost and in the times you may need a steer in the right direction. It's a calming read complemented by the whimsical illustrations interspersed throughout.

Admire the present. Don't worry about the future; it'll come soon enough. It focuses on breathing in life, grounding yourself, exhaling worry and anxiety, accepting yourself as you are and bringing comfort and reassurance to those in need of it. It carries a message requesting you to not only be kind and patient with others but with yourself, too, something we often fail to consider. Allow yourself time to do what matters most to you, what makes you happy. Surround yourself with positivity, supportive people and most importantly see yourself thrive as you begin to truly cultivate your soul using the recipe supplied within these pages. Highly recommended.

[Colton · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Repetitive at times but overall enjoyable

[Izabela Górska · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. “The Way Back Home” doprowadziło mnie do płaczu, podczas gdy to, było po prostu ładne
2. Chyba jestem aktualnie w zbyt dobrym miejscu w życiu żeby mnie to ruszało (dla mnie to dobrze, gorzej dla oceny książki) 👀

[Veronica Carpenter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. It’s the same poem rewritten over and over, with a vocabulary of no more than 50 words and the emotional depth of a thimble. I’ve heard better work at my middle school’s poetry slam…

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Watering the soul is a beautiful and comforting book of poetry and prose by Courtney Peppernell which isn't too dark or heavy and does leave you feeling like you have been comforted by someone who understands you and cares.
I have read one other book of poetry by Courtney Peppernell and loved it but this one is the best of the two I've had the pleasure to read so far.
This book was very uplifting and thought provoking and I found myself rereading some of the poems time and time again.
This beautiful book of poetry is coupled with some really beautiful illustrations at the start of each section, much like the one on the front cover of the book.

[rowan · Rating 1 out of 5]

that was. an absolute. train-wreck of a book for me. i felt like i was reading the same poems over and over again, with each one either being centered around exhaustingly overdone cliches like “hope” and “kindness”

there were at least 15 poems about slowing down to appreciate coffee and sunsets and i wish i were joking

i was 100% here for the poems that weren’t lecturing me to become a better person though 😭 the ones centered around being in love were very sweet and well thought out.

all in all 1.5/5 because that took me a painful amount of time to get through but i *did* highlight stuff

[Jan Agaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although some of the poems fell flat for me, I think this is Courtney Peppernell's best work by far, from the 5 or so poetry collections of hers that I've read at least. I especially appreciated the poems towards the end of the book, in the "Find Your Light" section.

[moonofchapters · Rating 3 out of 5]

wunderschönes cover, tolle innengestaltung, titelliebe und teilweise gute texte. aber eben nur teilweise... ich hatte das gefühl, alle zwei seiten das gleiche wieder und wieder zu lesen. die abwechslung hat gefehlt und manche texte haben für mich auch keinen sinn ergeben und eher zusammenhangslos gewirkt. in ein paar wenigen konnte ich mich dann doch wieder finden, habe nachgedacht und konnte etwas mitnehmen. der schreibstil hat potential, aber insgesamt war es mir einfach ein wenig zu eintönig und fremd.

[Rat Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to believe that sometimes in life things happen at the exact time you need them. This book happened right when I needed it, it's beautiful. I welled up a few times and I'm so glad I have this in my collection. I will treasure it.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every page of this book ❤️ It resonated with me a lot and I felt it deep in my bones. I'm definitely going to read her other books as well.

Thank you Annelot for giving me this wonderful book 🥰 I absolutely loved it!

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure cuteness in a form of a book. Courtney Peppernell's work always feels comforting to me but this one was especially so. It just felt like one big warm hug. Also, this collection felt a bit different from her previous work. This one did not focus on loving other people, but instead it focused on self love and self care. Everything about this was so cute. I feel like if I ever need a pick me up or a friendly shoulder I can just pick this book up and find it in here.
P.s. the artwork was also so so cute.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[mel🎀 · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was so disappointing. for $17 i expect more than basic knowledge about “how to heal”. missgirl has been telling us every chapter to be grateful and that its okay not to be okay. dont get me wrong there were some poems which were pretty nice and i have some lines underlined but all in all it was very underwhelming. (the pictures each chapter were cute tho)

[angelpompom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Butterflies see colors
that are invisible to us.

I imagine hope to be
like these colors.

While we cannot
often see it,
and even if
we are afraid,
hope still exists,
just like those colors.

🦋

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute. Courtney Peppernell creates literature like a cozy home

[Neel Soman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watering the Soul is almost great.

I'll start with the good parts. The actual concept of the book is brilliant: poetry and prose masquerading as a self-help book disguised as an instruction manual. Each section (or "Step") is well-themed and cohesive, and each begins with a delightful illustration by Melbourne-based Justin Estcourt. Courtney Peppernell's prose is relaxing and vivid all at once, depicting slices of a woman healing from some unknown hurt that is just vague enough for pretty much anyone to relate to.

Unfortunately, I found a lot of the poetry to be a little bit boring. A lot of it follows the "Instapoetry" stereotype of randomly chopping up sentences into short lines for no particular reason. Here's an example that I randomly turned to:

I just want to take
your hand in mine,
let you know that
everything
is going to be okay.

That even if you feel
scared, alone, uncertain-
there are still moments
to be had and
dreams to be lived. (p. 47)

To me this accomplishes nothing, but of course the style does have its fans. Admittedly I am not familiar with any of the author's previous work, which I presume most other readers would be before buying this collection.

Even some of the prose is somewhat meaningless. Let's take a short story titled "The Swing" as an example (note that most writings in this book are not given names). We have our narrator talking to "Life," who is slowly constructing a swing. The narrator is impatient, but Life insists that they must take their time. Eventfully the swing is built and the narrator is happy - the moral being that "if we are not patient, then we will not be able to fly" (p. 166). But the narrator does point out that "Surely it does not take this long to build a swing," and Life gives no explanation as to the dangers of rushing. I felt cheated out of a satisfying conclusion to this story, because the reader has to just accept that Life is correct. I suppose that could be the point, though.

Overall, Watering the Soul is by no means bad, it's just... not something I would spend money on for myself. Perhaps as gift, though. It conveys a beautiful and unique sentiment that seems to be targeted to young people growing up and making major life changes. Young people who are doing just that, watering their souls.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This review originally appeared on figurefifteen.com/watering-the-soul

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Years from now, after all that is to be done and all my memories have been painted in the sky, I don’t want to have arrived at the end knowing I was more afraid to live than I was to die”

⭐️⭐️

never make me read this again. it’s lucky it gets two stars.

[jagodasbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I was searching for the light"

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review

[Maddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DRY. how does this have over four stars? it's repetitive positivity oozing prose poetry. and it's poorly written

[Sami · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I gained nothing from this book. I did not think it was well written and the messaging was not profound. It did have very cute art though..

[Indy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute poetry book!!

[tiff · Rating 1 out of 5]

waste of paper

[Jamie-Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a gift given to me because of the title and the adorable cover.
But overall it was mediocre; there's a lot of repetition within and repetition from things we already know. Nevertheless I decided to give four stars because the steps provided by this little plant being to healing were very neat and well I enjoyed the artwork. Also there are a few poems that are really striking. Looking back at home many post-its I gave to this poetry collection it has a very healing undertone and some gems in it.

[eilost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and comforting✨

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something in me is healing now

[Brina · Rating 3 out of 5]

„This is the story of your soul and how it can be grown again.“ - Ein schöner Slogan für dieses Buch und somit hat dieser kleine, aber feine Satz direkt mein Interesse geweckt. Da ich Gedichte im Allgemein sehr mag, habe ich mich somit sehr auf „Watering The Soul“ gefreut und hatte hohe Erwartungen. Leider konnten diese nicht immer erfüllt werden.

Zuerst sollte gesagt sein, dass Courtney Peppernell definitiv schreiben kann, was sie bereits u.a. bei „Pillow Thoughts“ unter Beweis gestellt hat. Die Mischung aus Gedichten und Essays ist auch in diesem Fall an sich gut gelungen, nur wirkten einige der Texte schon fast zu durchdacht.

So gut und wichtig einige der Texte auch sind, so wirken mir diese doch zu konstruiert, zu gewollt und oftmals schon fast zu kommerziell, was ich von Courtney Peppernell bislang noch nicht gewohnt war.

Dennoch werden in ihren Texten sehr wichtige Themen angesprochen, die nicht nur einem selbst gut tun, sondern auch anderen Menschen. So geht es in „Watering The Soul“ unter anderem um Selbstfindung, Vergebung, Selbstliebe, Respekt für sich selbst und anderen gegenüber, aber auch darum, stets für Neues offen zu sein.

Kurz gesagt: „Watering The Soul“ ist insgesamt eine gute, allerdings nicht überragende Sammlung an Essays und Gedichten und kann großteils mit einfühlsamen und nachdenklich stimmenden Texten überzeugen. Wären einige Texte etwas mehr aus dem Herzen heraus und weniger kommerziell, hätte ich sicherlich noch mehr Freude an diesem Buch gehabt.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of Courtney's poetry definitely did not disappoint! I have read their collection of poetry Pillow Thoughts and fell in love with Courtney's poetry. This collection of poetry was different from her past poetry but, is still absolutely brilliant! Courtney is a poet that I will read everything they write! While I was reading this collection I definitely felt inspired to make sure others in my life know how much they matter because you never know what they may be thinking in their head. I highly recommend any poetry by Courtney Peppernell!

[Alara Koksoken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single page was a gift. I cannot express how much this book means to me and how much it helped me see everything in a new way. I will forever recommend this book to everyone. The writing, the messages, the pictures. This book was exactly what I needed to read and feel.

[Esther Mackley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to forced myself to finished this book because this book was so bad. Their was some good poetry but most of it felt like words scribbled on a page. Don’t let the start and end date deceive you, it took me a year to finish this book.

[Janina Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were really great. Some parts were not as engaging.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Rounded up. I loved the title, concept and art but a lot was repetitive and left me wanting more depth.