Title: Have We Found Our Better Selves?: (What We Can Learn From Covid-19)
Author: Meril R. Smith
Publisher: Inks & Binding
ISBN: 978-1990695223
Pages: 100
Genre: Politics & Social Sciences/Social Sciences
Reviewed by: Alyssa Avina

Read Book Review

In the last couple of years, the biggest event and point of contention to hit the United States has to be the global pandemic. The COVID-19 virus has taken control of many of our lives, influencing and determining how we live and how we approach others in the world. The United States has become one of the most contended nations in the debate between vaccination supporters and non-supporters alike. Yet in one way or another throughout the nation, everyone has had to adapt and grow through this pandemic. Yet as the vaccination rates soar and people hope to find ways of going back out into the world, the question arises: how has the pandemic changed us?

In author Meril R Smith’s Have We Found Our Better Selves?: (What We Can Learn From Covid-19), the author follows up in this sequel to the survival guide written within the first 3 months of the pandemic. In this follow-up, the author explores the potential aftermath of the pandemic a year and a half after the COVID-19 virus hit, exploring how the pandemic has changed us as a whole. From how we interact with others and venture out into the world, to the skills that we have developed and even the way we think about things as a whole, the author explores a wide array of topics to show their own unique perspective through years of experience as a spacecraft controller during the moon landings, as well as their personal views through this pandemic.

The author did an incredible job of providing such a unique and thoughtful perspective on a truly difficult subject. The painful losses and scary health crisis so many faced throughout the first year and a half of the pandemic hit close to home for so many people, that the fear and loss became so prevalent in our lives. Yet the author introduces the concept of how those who are here still and have made it to the other side of the pandemic can learn and grow in this post-pandemic world. I appreciated the personal stories and attention to detail the author utilized in this book, from how these experiences shaped how we approach spending time with family to our jobs and so much more. The focus the author brings to how this virus is not gone but something to be managed and how the world is forever changed was so crucial to this reader, as the need to be vigilant and aware of the virus’s resurgence is important to preventing future outbreaks.

This is the perfect read for those who enjoy non-fiction reads, especially those that deal in politics and social sciences and the personal experiences which a pandemic such as the COVID-19 pandemic can bring. As someone who has been living through this pandemic and recognizes the importance of the lessons that we have learned, as well as the skills needed to survive, I found this book to be both informational yet relatable and personal all at once.

Heartfelt, knowledgeable, and engaging, author Meril R. Smith’s Have We Found Our Better Selves?: (What We Can Learn From Covid-19) is a must-read book of 2022 and for the future of living in a post-pandemic world. The personal stories and insightful lessons learned from that experience make this book so crucial to understanding our world today, and gives a glimmer of hope to finding a means of living in this world with the COVID-19 virus.