Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul

by Jack Canfield (Compiler)

Chicken Soup For The Single's Soul - 101 Stories Of Love And Inspiration For The Single, Divorced And Widowed

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Romance, Inspirational, Relationships, Short Stories, Christian

392 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 1999

About the author

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series, which currently has over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997.

Canfield received a BA in Chinese History from Harvard University and a Masters from University of Massachusetts. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with author Mark Victor Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. After three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.

Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live and the BBC.

Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life.

Jack Canfield was born on August 19, 1944, in Fort Worth, TX. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor). He attended high school at Linsly Military Institute, Wheeling, WV, 1962. He went to college at Harvard University, B.A., 1966; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.Ed., 1973. Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum in 1971 (divorced, November 1976); he married Georgia Lee Noble on September 9, 1978 (divorced, December 1999); he married Inga Marie Mahoney on July 4, 2001; children: (first marriage) Oran, David, Kyle, Dania; (second marriage) Christopher Noble. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of heartwarming and tear-jerking stories. The best things that I am taking away from this is that someone else is always making do with less (money, time, heath, support, etc.) and this quote from page 369, "Sometimes you dance with a partner, and sometimes you dance alone. But the important thing is to keep dancing".

[Jen Jenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I love the Chicken Soup For the Soul Books - Probably why I keep reading them...

Five years ago I had just gotten married, moved into a new home and was trying to enjoy the benefits I always heard about that come with being a 'newlywed.' Most of that 'enjoying' was me hanging on to a nice moment here and there, learning that all I had hoped for was far from reality. At that time I had put a Chicken Soup for the Soul book in our 'bathroom reading materials.' Little did I know at the time from that point I would find myself stowing away in the bathroom - reading these great short stories! What a blessing that had been to me then, to have 5 minutes of joy in a life and marriage that wasn't what I'd always hoped and didn't bring half the smiles this little book gave me. How grateful I was though, I honestly think that this book helped me survive, it was at least one of those sweet tender mercies from the Lord that helped me survive, others were my sweet little Jada (my niece - how I miss her!) and my amazing and simply wonderful neighbor Rhonda, who helped pick up the pieces of my broken heart. I wish I could find or at least remember which 'Soup' that this was... About the same week that I finished my 'Soup' my ex-husband also asked for a divorce.

I was given this particular "Soup" shortly after my divorce four years ago, I chuckled to myself and said well I guess there is a version for every stage! Secretly I've hoped that once I finished reading this one that my chapter of being 'single again' in my own life would also come to a close... While it hasn't been the same week, I'm hopeful. I'm so grateful for this book, the progression through different stages of singleness and the healing and heartbreaking stories alike. I felt like I had a support group this past four years, which was absolutely needed as I found myself alone and isolated from what friends I thought I had, in a strange new place and navigating career suicide with my move. I found myself having to rebuild my life nearly from scratch, re-evaluate who I am, what I believe and what impact I currently have on the world around me and what I want to change to be the difference. I purposely slowed down at reading this book, only allowing myself to read one or two entries a week, and sometimes less. I felt that I needed the time to process others stories and my own mind and heart. I honestly think that this book helped me from truly assisted me in my will to not become bitter and vengeful, but more grateful that he let me go and had the courage to do so, allowing me to have a much better chance at happiness. From experiencing my bad marriage and my loneliness before hand to my life now and my attitude towards myself. I'm so grateful for the experience. I truly am happy with who I am, happy with how I give back to the world and make an impact, and know that frankly I was an amazing wife, and might someday again have that chance, but I love hanging out with myself and now really comfortable in my own skin. All of this is intricately entwined together as this has been a long and sometimes painful, and mostly joyful growing experience, and has been a nice little journey and chapter of my life. Thank you Jack Canfield for your guidance through this minefield. :)

Ps. If I decide to marry again one day, I look forward to it with joy. But in the meantime I'm loving each moment of being single!

[Amancay]

Following in the standard set by previous Chicken Soup anthologies, this one is as tasty and savory as any of them. I tend to enjoy any tid-bit of the Chicken Soup series I can get my hands on, whether or not they are geared specifically towards me. Either way, I believe that they hold a certain truth in any circumstance, time, or place.
In this serving, you get to share in many stories of love found, love lost, encouragement through unavoidable circumstances, humor, joy, sadness, and more. As usual, each story I read reminds me of something, some moment in particular, on even some one in my life. It is the application of this new found enlightenment that is most difficult to adhere to. Passing this book on to a dear friend is my greatest joy of all. Knowing, that even though I’ve finished it’s reading, this wondrous treasure will continue blessing the lives of those around me!
I’d strongly recommend this to any single person, no matter how they got to their single-hood, and anyone else who’s willing to take the time to learn a little from the “have-nots”!

[Alesha Kaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book when I was renovating my house. It was given to me by a dear friend when my divorce was complete. At that time, I kept the book aside thinking it was the last thing I needed and that I did not want to hear other people sad stories. Oh, but how wrong I was. Years later, during my house renovation I found this book and started reading and my oh my, I could not put it down. Now in retrospect, I wish I did read the book during that phases of my life. Such beautiful and inspiring stories. Real life stories of triumph and despair. Original and to point. Words that I could not express back then was spoken in this book. The stories are short and easy to read. There is minimal exaggeration unlike some others books I have read where miracles and magic come into play. None of this was present in the short stories. The comfort I felt completing the book truly touched my soul. The title is apt "Chicken Soup", so comforting. What I took away from this book is that many people out there are going through their own battles, but some amazing ones shared theirs to make us feel a little heard, a little seen and even giving us hope. The love of neighbors or friends in some stories made me believe that humanity is still thriving out there and I hope one day I could also lend a hand to someone going through a difficult relationship. I appreciate how the content were lined up in the book starting with "Single and Happy"and ending with "Friend and Family". The heavy stories are in the middle mainly Chapter 6,7,8. Easy comfort read, highly recommending all singles and non singles. I felt a sense of belonging in an increasingly isolated world and for that, I applaud the team of Chicken Soup. I have become a fan and can't wait to get my hands on the next chicken soup edition.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Very inspirational for anyone.

[Patti Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming personal stories to inspire all single people! Definitely tear jerker stories, but will set your heart afire.

[Ly Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found inspiration and hope in those stories.

[Linsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forgot how overwhelmingly Christian these books are. Not one single nonhetero story either. Good grief.
Also more for divorced and widowed people rather than the never married.

[Gina Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being single myself, these stories gave me the lift I needed at just the right time.

[Kaléiah A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul, I learned that like some people said, actions speak louder than words.

I also learned that if we go on a date with person A, we might ended up not marrying person A, but person B instead, because love is unexpected.

From this book (and from our own daily lives), we could know that love doesn't always come from big things. Love can also come from little things.

Many people want to be in a relationship and many people don't want to because of bad experiences in the past. However, we should know that we are not alone in going through this phase.

Rating from me: 5/5. ⭐📚

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories are very touching and memorable. Others, not so much. Stories included feature people who never married, divorced individuals, widows, and widowers. The characters find romance in some stories and in others, they just find themselves. There's a good variety, but I wish there were some indication of which stories are true and which are imagined.

[Susan Chow-Dukhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul contained tender, comforting stories, with the odd story bring tears to my eyes. While there was still the standard stories of how religious faith provided direction and comfort, there seemed to be fewer stories of this kind, than what has been found in other Chicken Soup books.

[Neha Brijoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I'm not single but just like an actual chicken soup, warm and filled with love and memories, this collection of Chicken Soup stories will warm the heart and prick the soul.

Some are joyous while others might be heartbreaking.. you'll find yourself relating to so many of them, going back in time to memories of your own chicken soup stories.'

[Isabella Showers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I've read so many Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and this one was by far the best. I got real advice from this book that I plan on using.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I'm newly single again and not enjoying it very much, I decided to give this a read to see if it could help. It had some nice stories, but unfortunately there weren't really any I could identify with. But hey, it passed the time and got my mind off things for awhile I guess.

Like most of the Chicken Soup books, this one has a bunch of stories separated into type. In this case its Single and Happy, Dating, Finding Your Mate, Making a Difference, Single Parenting, Single Again, Losing a Partner, We Are Not Alone, Friends and Family, and of course the lengthy stuff there always seems to be at the back. All the stories are meant to be inspirational and uplifting and there is a wide variety of people telling their experiences. Since this one is for the Single's Soul it of course has stories of divorce, raising the kids alone, losing a spouse, never having found your special someone, and other like themes.

Some of the types of stories to be found in this compilation are those of single parents struggling to make ends meet for their kids and the kindness from strangers that was given to them. Another story might talk of how a person adjusted after the death of their spouse. I think one of the stories that most resonated with me was the story of the woman who could only afford to live in a trailer park, yet still with her meager earnings managed to create a small library and bake bread for the even poorer families around her, mostly for their children. Her desire to do this eventually led her to her new career and a happy life. That was really inspiring to me. Another story that I particularly enjoyed was that of a single man constantly looking for the perfect woman, and finally finding acceptance with just being by himself. That was the type of story I really looked for in this book. But there were others I enjoyed for sure, those that talked of having the strength to leave and how they put their life back on track after they left the relationship, those that did find true love even after they thought they'd never have it again.

Despite all these wonderful stories, I found a few things that I didn't like as well. Mainly, the book didn't really have anything I could identify with. And there were more stories about moving on to find that new special someone than there was just about accepting the state of singleness. More appropriately this might have been called Chicken Soup for the Returning to Dating's Soul. There were even some stories in here from happily married people that didn't really have anything to do with being single.

To me, I consider the chicken soup series to be a form of Christian fiction, and as such there is a lot of religion incorporated into the story about praying, etc. They aren't all like that, but its a predominant theme. But since the stories are meant to be inspirational that can be expected. They are organized well and I'll admit that a few made tears come to my eyes, but I didn't have any full out crying in this one like I have with some of the others.

Its a good book, don't get me wrong. But it just didn't satisfy what I was looking for.

Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul
Copyright 1999
387 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2011

[Safira Ryanatami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Semua orang pasti pernah mengalami kesepian, tetapi tidak semua dapat berdamai dengan dirinya ketika kesepian itu muncul. Perlu waktu yang lama untuk menyadari kehidupan ini begitu berharga, sehingga sayang kalau merasa kesepian. Ya, idealnya begitu. Namun, tidak semua orang mudah untuk menyadarinya. Termasuk aku.

Buku ini membuka mata kalau ternyata "kita tidak sendiri" untuk menghadapi kenyataan bahwa kesepian itu ada, semua orang pasti merasakannya, dan akan selalu ada hikmah dibaliknya. Kisah-kisah yang ditampilkannya pun begitu menyentuh, seperti halnya negeri dongeng, tetapi ini nyata. Salah satu kutipan favorit, "Kehidupan mempunyai ruang sedikit bagi segala sesuatunya. Kadang-kadang kita berdansa dengan seorang pasangan, kadang sendirian. Tetapi yang paling penting adalah kita terus berdansa"

Buku yang bagus untuk dibaca kapan, dimana dan dengan perasaan apa pun.

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally finished reading this book, setelah lama menunda untuk membaca selama 2 bulan gara-gara tergoda baca yang lain. -_-
Okay let's talk about this book, buku ini menyajikan cerita hangat sehangat sup ayam di hari yang dingin, banyak cerita inspiratif kehidupan para lajang, single parents, widowed, atau lajang yang menginginkan menjadi lajang. Setelah membaca, hal yang saya dapat menjadi lajang yang entah karna keinginan atau hal yang lain bukanlah hal yang buruk, because being single we can be happy just the way we are :)

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, so my aunt gave me this book when I graduated from college! I guess she thought that I was an old maid and needed some inspiration? I think the money she spent on it was not wasted since I'm sure the look on my face when I opened it was priceless. As you would expect, the small amount of it that I read was pure drivel.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think great books doesn't necessarily have to do with one's status
i'm not single when i've read it and i enjoyed it
single is depend on one's state of mind (i think^_^)
if you choose to be single and like it, so be it
but when you forced to be single (some stories) by all means widows or divorced, their story can fulfill your heart with hope that everything would be okay

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and is for singles, whether divorced, widowed, recently broke off or always single. It consists of many 3-4 page short inspirational stories. It brought out all of my emotions from tears in my eyes to out right laughing. There is even a story about Cathy Lee Crosby. I highly recommend this book!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this when I was single, and didn't get around to it until the past week. Even though I am now married, I still enjoyed it. I am passing it on to my single friends, and maybe to some of my widowed friends.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the Chicken Soup books are special to me, but it was nice to have such a touching job done for singles.

[Shielgy · Rating 2 out of 5]

i have this book but not reed it yet

[Yenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

hm... chickensoup gitu loh... hangat2 mengepul bisa nyembuhin flu tulang :)

[Adam good]

it seems really good

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually into this stuff, but it was a great collection of experiences.

[Luluk enggaringati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full inspiration.

[Dian Susanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pencerahan...untuk yang masih single, ditinggal cerai, ditinggal meninggal oleh orang yg dikasihi. Hidup ini dinikmati, jgn diratapi...piiiz

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

really gave me no help whatsoever

[Mindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a poetry in it that i love so much.