Somehow: Thoughts on Love is a collection of Anne Lamott’s thoughts on love and all its complexities.
This was the second book that I have read by this author, but the first that I have listened to on audiobook. She reads the novel herself and I really enjoyed that. Especially with a topic as complex as love, having her narrate the text made me feel like she was there and we were having a discussion.
Each chapter takes a look at a different aspect of love: friends, lovers, children, professional, and religious. Within each chapter, Lamott shares an experience from her life, explaining what she learned about love.
One of these experiences stood out to me while listening to the audiobook. Lamott shares about a few times she gave out hygiene kits to unhoused individuals and was surprised by the person’s reaction, which was not the reaction Lamott had expected to see. Usually they picked out a few items and left the rest and were not openly grateful for the items in the kit. After reflecting on these interactions, Lamott’s takeaway was that she was imposing her idea of what loving the unhoused looked like, rather than seeking to understand what they actually wanted and needed.
Many of the experiences Lamott recounts are relatable and the lessons she learns would make all of us better people if we took them to heart. There are aspects of love that I have never considered and some that I have not experienced yet, but all in all it was an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
I think this would be a good book club choice since there is a lot that book clubbers could discuss, whether it is their agreement/disagreement with Lamott’s opinion on love or sharing their own experiences similar to Lamott’s. This was a book for a book club I am a part of and it was one of best discussions, spawning a lot of tangents and personal reminiscences. That being said, individual readers could use this as a companion to a journaling practice, reflecting on their own thoughts and experiences with love.