This Just Speaks to Me

October 1, 2020
Kotb, popular co-host of Today, seems to have found a winning formula for best-sellers. Here, she follows up I Really Needed This Today (2019) with another collection of inspirational quotes, assigning one to every day of the year. As in her previous offering, she includes an eclectic group of contributors: Marcus Aurelius, Reba McEntire, Maya Angelou, Jimmy Buffet, and Mahatma Gandhi, just to name a few. The quotes run from a few words to a few sentences, and Kotb adds personal commentary to each one. Sometimes there'll be just a one-word affirmation, or a deeper reflection, or an anecdote, or a profile of a friend (celebrity alert!) or a family member (her two daughters and boyfriend Joel figure prominently). Entries are fresh and relevant; many comments refer to COVID-19, and a couple invoke Black Lives Matter. Whether readers desire insight, encouragement, or a good laugh; whether they want the inside scoop on Billy Porter or Simone Biles, there's something for everyone. There's bound to be plenty of publicity, so expect lots of demand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)