Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit

Generally, I do not look at the human kind and individual humans (including myself) too positively. However, this book is the only one which convinced me that there is still hope for us. Another book which I would take with me to a lonely island.

I have read other Chicken Soup books prior to reading this one--and I found I liked those better than this one. I think this might have been the first or one of the first in the series. I didn't find as many personal accounts or stories in this volume as I have in other volumes. I liked the "Overcoming Obstacles" section of the book best.

In keeping with the series this volume contains 101 short stories demonstrating compassion, generosity, kindness and belief. The stories are grouped under the seven headings of On Love, Learning to Love Yourself, On Parenting, On Learning, Live your Dream, Overcoming Obstacles and Eclectic Wisdom.

The stories provide a mix of insight and inspiration and are able to make you feel humbled and empowered. Many of the stories create an emotional reaction and connect with our humanity. Many also provide solid guidance and support and ready access to experience that we can benefit from with relevance to our improvement efforts.

By way of example if you find the temptation to use failure as an excuse to give up trying, the story of Abraham show more Lincoln may prove very instructive. Before becoming US president in 1860, he overcame a long list of failure and setback including bankruptcy, mental breakdown, failure to get in to Law School, repeated failure when running for the state legislature, the senate and congress and received only 100 votes when running for vice presidency .

Most of the stories are not of the well known or famous but are guaranteed to be thought provoking. What I like is that you can carry the book with you and read it when you have little more than a spare minute. The stories are really good at giving a kick start to your emotions and your thinking, often in unexpected ways. show less

I must be really pathetic. I don't like these books, yet so many people have given them to me. I swear I don't need them. Cute stories, but then what? I fail to be inspired...

The Chicken Soup books are some of my favourites. They contain short stories that will tug at your heart strings. Love them. To be honest I don't know if I've read all the stories, I usually just flip through and read a couple at a time.

This first one is probably the best one. The stories are touching and can be inspiring. But too much of a good thing can be cloying.

I love the different stories inside this book. I have the paperback and I always re-read them back when I was in College. It always teared me up whenever I read these heartwarming stories.