Things That Join the Sea and the Sky

August 14, 2017
Poet and philosopher Nepo (The Endless Practice) combines poetic prose and straightforward, sensible philosophy in this collection of thoughts encouraging readers to mindfully relish their journeys through life. The book sensitively and empathetically examines universal parts of the human experience—such as fear, death, love, happiness, and kindness—in 145 short, lyrically written entries. Nepo begins by revealing that it was his own brush with mortality—in the guise of cancer—that set him on the way to discovering these truths. Next, he peels back, layer by layer, the intimate thoughts that fill his mind, and does so in an inviting way that compels the reader to follow. Nepo concludes this work with dozens of provocative journal prompts (such as “Do you know when you will die? Why?” and “Why do we seek the truth? Why do we tell the truth?”) designed to take eager seekers of enlightenment further down the path to self-realization. While not a conventional self-help book, particularly in that it doesn’t claim to have all the answers, Nepo’s book will be a rich source of comfort and courage for anyone who opens it. Agent: Eve Attermann, William Morris Endeavor.

November 15, 2017
Nepo (Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, 2012), author of both poetry and nonfiction, here shares 145 short pieces: contemplative nuggets that invite the reader to pause and reflect, to savor and linger. Arranged into thematic units, the titles, like the vignettes themselves, are little works of creative play. From the first section, Stopping the Noise, to the final part, How We Make Our Way, Nepo has given attention to crafting a work that, as the subtitle suggests, serves as field notes on living. Also a philosopher, Nepo tells the reader that the book was 15 years in the making, but that seems about right for a book that has been lived and breathed into with such joy. He asks, Is what we go through put in our way to reduce us to what we truly are? And what is that? Readers can not only dip in and out of this book at will to try to answer Nepo's questions for themselves but may more actively participate via Nepo's 100 journaling prompts for deeper self-discovery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)