Every month, a letter. That's what Lauren decides to leave her husband when she finds out she's dying. Each month, she gives Josh a letter containing a task to help him face this first year without her, leading him on a heartrending, beautiful, often humorous journey to find happiness again in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins. Joshua and Lauren are the perfect couple. Newly married, they're wildly in love, each on a successful and rewarding career path. Then Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. As Lauren's disease progresses, Joshua struggles to make the most of the time he has left with his wife and to come to terms with his future--a future without the only woman he's ever loved. He's so consumed with finding a way to avoid the inevitable ending that he never imagines his life after Lauren. But Lauren has a plan to keep her husband moving forward. A plan hidden in the letters she leaves him. In those letters, one for every month in the year after her death, Lauren leads Joshua on a journey through pain, anger, and denial. It's a journey that will take Joshua from his attempt at a dinner party for family and friends to getting rid of their bed...from a visit with a psychic medium to a kiss with a woman who isn't Lauren. As his grief makes room for laughter and new relationships, Joshua learns Lauren's most valuable lesson: The path to happiness doesn't follow a straight line. Sometimes heartbreaking, often funny, and always uplifting, this novel from New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins illuminates how life's greatest joys are often hiding in plain sight.
Download and start listening now!
"Somewhere I read a blurb that was spot on when it promised this latest book from Kristan Higgins is “sometimes heartbreaking, often funny, and always uplifting.” Yes, Pack Up the Moon is sad, and I have to admit that despite how much I love her books (I have almost all of them), I questioned whether being in the throes of the second year of COVID-19, was a time I wanted to listen to a book actually being advertised as heartbreaking. But I did, because hey, we’re talking about Kristan Higgins! And yes, I cried (I’m not normally a crier)—and as promised, I also laughed aloud.
I bought the audiobook from my favorite audio bookstore AudioBookstore.com, the second day it was available and had finished it the following day. Xe Sands, an expert in narrating Kristan Higgins books, delivered yet another stellar performance representing Lauren. I’ve never heard Dion Graham before, but he, too, did a great job bringing Joshua’s character to life. The ONLY change I would make were I in charge of the world, would be to have Xe Sands and Dion Graham consistently read their respective roles despite “chapter assignment” rather than having Sands read some of Joshua’s dialog because it was in “her chapter” and likewise, Graham reading Lauren’s dialogue when it was in “his chapter.” Perhaps it was a COVID thing. Regardless, it didn’t distract from the story once I got used to it because the 13½ hours was the fastest 13½ hours l have experienced in a long while.
Now, two days later, I find myself missing the book—the atmosphere and characters’ presence have stayed with me and I miss them. I predict I will be listening to Pack Up the Moon again, very soon! Hurry, don’t wait to treat yourself to Kristan Higgins’ best book, which indeed uplifting! "
—
Carol (5 out of 5 stars)