The Year I Stopped to Notice

by Miranda Keeling

This book is a delight ... the world is full of little surprises, momentary little fountains of pleasure and beauty, that could be visible to all of us if we learned to stop and notice' Philip Pullman



January: A man walking along Caledonian Road falls over onto the huge roll of bubble wrap he is hugging, perhaps for just this sort of situation.



Inspired by her popular Twitter account, The Year I Stopped to Notice collects together Miranda Keeling’s observations of the magic, humour, strangeness and beauty in ordinary life. Through the changing seasons, on city streets and on buses, in parks and cafes, Miranda notices things: moments between friends, the interactions of strangers, children delighting in the world around them, the quiet melancholy of lost items on the pavement.



Accompanied by stunning watercolour illustrations from Luci Power, Miranda’s poetic vignettes take us on journeys of discovery and share with us the joy of stopping to notice.



September: On a sweltering, packed rush-hour train, my arm suddenly feels lovely and cool, and I look down to see a shopping bag held by the woman beside me – full of just-bought cartons of milk.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Poetry, Short Stories, Essays, Art, Biography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2022

About the author

MIRANDA KEELING is the author of The Year I Stopped to Notice (Icon Books) and the writer and presenter of multi-award-winning podcast Stopping to Notice. Her work has appeared in 100 Voices (Unbound), Write Across London poetry map (The Royal Society of Literature), METRO online, Reader's Digest and Gains and Losses (Barbican Press).

She also writes for film and theatre. Her work incudes Sweet Porridge (Tiny Light Theatre), Panphobia (Stratford Circus Theatre), The Carbon Footprint Detective Agency (Arcola), Tweet-off on the Tyne and What Kind of Times Are These with Ian McMillan (both for The Verb, BBC Radio 3).

She is a winner of the BBC Radio’s Norman Beaton award. Visit her at https://www.mirandakeeling.com

Reviews

[Chelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed something easier to read and picked this up. Lovely little book that also serves as a reminder of the importance of noticing things and being present in the world.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceptively simple and absolutely delightful, like tiny prose poems. I found myself deliberately slowing down so that I could savor it for longer.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely little book full of brief description and bits of conversation the author observed over the course of a year. 3.5 stars

[Maggie]

Lovely small book of tiny observations that feel like wee short stories or haikus.

Here’s one, from June:

A very small man screeches to a halt in an old red Mini and parks appallingly, to the soundtrack of psychedelic funk blaring out of his speakers.

p. 79

[Tarn Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming little image-poem-haiku-like thingies of moments, mostly in London, some funny. Made me feel happier and more awake to the details of my world. Good models for student writing.

[kb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of my faves:

"Little boy watching a cat walk past him: That cat has some lives left.
His mum (smiling): How do you know
Him: I can see them."

"Woman in a cafe looking at her salad: I'm going to ignore the cauliflower.
Her husband: I'm sure it'll be devastated, Maureen."

"As the door of this cafe opens, a breeze swirls in, riffles through every page of my notebook as if looking for something, and then leaves again."

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick and cheerful gift book kind of thing, where the author just puts down the snippets of observation and conversation she comes across into a notebook (either that or Tw*tter), and has selected the best for us. Here are Londoners going about their day innocent of being watched – commuting, singing, sleeping, missing their train because they were reading a book on mindfulness... Some of the entries certainly make you laugh or boggle or ponder – simultaneous Tube drunks could be invisible theatre, as could the woman talking to her shopping in the mistaken belief she was pushing a pram with her littl'un in it. Stylistically, the entries can be as plainly done as those little page-filler bits you used to get in Reader's Digest, or can go the full gamut of expressiveness if talking about inanimate objects. Some do make you aware it's aiming for a comedy line; all-told the diverse locations listed make you wonder what the heck our creator's daily pattern was. Charming at its best, but I cannot see this as a book anyone would ever need to buy.

[Heather Dreier · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a small little book, but has a big impact. How often do we really look around at the small and beautiful things.

[Emily Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartwarming and just lovely. I smiled and chuckled throughout. A perfect coffee table book.

[Carol Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think you could read this book hundreds of times and each time a different observation will bring a smile to your face or a tear to your eye. This is a book that you want to pass on to everybody you know, and even those you don't. It makes you want to sit up and take notice of the little things rather than having your nose stuck in your phone (although I'm more likely to have mine stuck in a book). It truly is a little book of beautiful things.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Woman on the bus:
I love this time of year.
You can legitimately
eat three hot cross
buns for breakfast."

Yesss, it's the small things that matter

[weemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Library book 📚

4/5 ⭐

Such a beautiful little book, with gorgeous illustrations, that reminds you to notice the small things without judgement.

It has inspired me to keep a notebook of things I notice, something which is adding a lot to my life!

[Thomas Goddard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was shelving this in my little bookshop and just liked the pictures.

Then the introduction broke the fourth wall and so I figured... why not?

I picked it up and gave it a read.

I imagine, back before Haiku, the Japanese poets started just jotting down things they saw. Little moments. Women washing clothes in the river. A frog hopping into the water off the riverbank. A farmer shooing birds away from his fields.

The pieces that worked were the particular ones that stirred emotions in the reader. So after a while, they started to sift out the weaker texts and use constraints to achieve a more consistent success rate.

That's what this author needs. A bit more of a formula.

A handful of the fragments were spectacular. Most of them were just... Tweets... I don't mean to belittle them, but the idea is that a tweet is a small little yelp of happenstance or a thought that you clip off your mind like a fingernail. That's how the whole thing got started, so it's not silly of me to reference Twitter. But there's a reason there aren't more books like this. You really have to have a knack to hit that sweet spot. A bit like telling someone your dream... If you're not good at telling stories, you're just going to bore them. Keeling hit the sweet spot maybe 30 times. 5 times really really well. But its 176 pages...

You share it with the world. 99.9999% of it is just as meaningless as the things we filter out of our real lives. What strangers are wearing. We don't focus on every car passing by. Or the shape of every cloud. Couldn't. Not and still stay sane and get things done.

But every now and then a really amazing thing is noticed. The spoof slogan of a kid's t-shirt. The license plate that reads funny. Which makes up for all the rest of those things you'd hate to have to focus on all the time... anyway...

A lovely gift. A lovely cosy read. You can get it done within a few hours. But I'd be lying if I said it was fantastic and a recommended read.

The message of the book is a good one. Notice more of the things in your life. The reality is... The author edited the things they noticed down to ones they liked and even most of those I thought were just a bit pointless.

It's a cute idea. But it only has mileage if you're less tuned into life generally. Because I already notice a lot and would prefer not to a lot of the time. And you definitely have to live in a decent place. Preferably a rich location. because not everything you notice is fancy coffee, dreadlocks and dogs being friendly.

And maybe part of the true magic is being DRAWN in to noticing by accident anyway? I think so.

[Ormo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book, and it is one I revisit again and again. There is something uniquely beautiful about the seemingly ordinary, but also somehow completely extraordinary observations that Miranda Keeling makes... All those little things you notice when you're going around and about your day - that you wished you remembered but you never do - the author here does, and she's written them all down. The thing I like most about this book is that it can cater for me in so many different moods. I pick it up when I've got a short attention span and just want something to flick through. But I also pick it up when I've got longer to get lost in some of the pictures that the author is painting for you - it enables you to go on a reflective daydream into a world you feel you're just seeing the edge of. It's wonderful in a way that is fairly tricky to describe, but I've bought it as a gift for a lot of my friends, and had similar feedback.

[Rereader · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine. I understand the concept behind this, but I was pretty bored after the first few chapters. Despite that, this was a fairly entertaining, fast read. Read if you have some time to kill and want a quick, easy read.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew of the author already from her social media accounts so it was exciting to see she got a book deal. If you're not familiar with Keeling, she posts observations and snippets of life on her social media accounts, examining the simpler times/pleasures/observations of life.

They're not very long but sometimes they're funny, sometimes touching, sometimes deeply meaningful, etc. Interspersed with these snippets are illustrations portraying some observations. They're not very detailed but are fun bits that add to the text.

That's all, really. It is a very short book that will probably only take you a day at most to read, depending on how you absorb the observations. If you're already familiar with her social media the the style may not be new (I'm unsure about the content because I know she had been around for awhile before I discovered her).

Will these be profound or life-changing? Probably not. Is it a nice fun little book? Yes, I would say so. I've seen some people say they enjoy pulling it off the shelf to look over again. That is not for me since I follow her social media and I know she occasionally repeats snippets.

I bought it used because it was not available through the library and that was fine for me. If you're not a huge fan you're probably fine if just follow her on various social media platforms but if you want to support her work, this might be a fun pickup. I personally think it worked better as fun posts online but I did enjoy this as a compilation with illustrations.

[Holly (2 Kids and Tired) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this little gem of a book on a whim at the bookstore. It's small and easily fits in a purse or pocket.

It's a collection of short, little vignettes that the author has observed in her movements around London. Many of which were probably tweets. But, all of them are experiences that someone noticed. How many of us long to be seen? How many of us move through our lives at a brisk pace, always on a mission to get to a destination.

When is the last time you stopped to notice anything? The clouds A flower A family walking. A child playing.

In the introduction, the author ends with,

"The people, animals, places and inanimate objects in this book are here to make you laugh, wince, smile, agree, think again, see the familiar, raise your eyebrows in surprise, pause and exhale. Read it in any order, at any time. Themes bind the moments together--I know what I see, but you will find your own patterns. May you remember to stop and notice."

The snapshots in this book do just that. Remind us to notice. Since reading it .I started making note of things I noticed.

"The pretty spider that we scooped up off the office floor and took back outside."

"The line of cars that stopped to let the ducks cross the road."

This is a sweet book that is perfect when you need an uplift.

[Katie Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a glorious book full of sweet, quirky and beautiful moments from everyday life. Divided into the months of the year, the author shares snippets of moments she has spotted whilst out and about. Some made me laugh out loud, some intrigued me, some made me feel quite thoughtful. This book is a great reminder of taking things slower and taking the time to notice. I would have loved to have seen portraits or photos of some of the people described in the book but I appreciate fleeting moments come and go so fast. A lovely, heartwarming book which makes me want to carry a notebook everywhere I go now!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most charming memoirs I've ever read.

Author Miranda Keeling started carrying around a notebook to record her observations of daily life. This book, which is charmingly illustrated, shares a selection of those observations over the course of a single year.

Broken out by month, we see people on the bus, the street, in shops and cafes. Young people, old people, children. All of them capture Keeling's attention in some way and make it into her notebook. Some entries are humorous, others poignant ... and each of them gives us some insight into the human condition.

Highly recommended.

[Laura Spira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have followed Miranda Keeling on Twitter for a long time. Her observations of the everyday world around her have brightened my days through some tough times and I was delighted to hear that she'd compiled some of them into a book, with illustrations. The little scenes, briefly sketched, are often amusing, sometimes puzzling, occasionally poignant, always vivid. Take a breather, dip into Miranda's world and remind yourself that paying close attention to what is going on around you may surprise you.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve followed Miranda Keeling on Twitter for several years, and this small book collects a number of her tweets together. As they are tweets, they are brief descriptions of the world as observed by Keeling, almost all from London, where she lives. You can read this book in one sitting, but you may prefer to space things out—stretching out these playful, interesting, humorous, and melancholic moments.

Favorite Quotation: “An elderly man in a blue suit dances slowly round an empty cafe. On noticing me come in, he looks up, smiles, and carries on.”

[James R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely collection of low-key observations that the author saw as she went went about her day, recorded over the course of a year and retold chronologically. One of my key takeaways was that people in London behave very strangely but the book is more about those little moments we often forget which contain small amounts of joy. Reading this book has made me more attentive to these subtle parts of everyday living and more grateful as a result. Any book that changes your habits and minset for the better has to be a good thing.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little book that goes through the months listing the authors random observations. There's a mix of overheard conversations, interesting tableaux and unusual juxtapositions. The tone is light and humorous. It will certainly encourage me to be more creative in the way I observe the things around me.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Year I Stopped to Noticed by Miranda Keeling

Love love love this little book.. Miranda Keeling stops and takes in her surroundings for a year, this enables her to see and hear little nuggets of joy which she has shared with us.. its an odd book that is separated in her monthly musings.. the book is illustrated and the drawings are lovely.

This is a lovely book that encourages the reader to spend time, just looking and listening.

#beatthebacklog #musings #looking #listening

[Namratha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wee, pretty little hardbound book of the author's observations of Londoners as they go about their daily life. It isn't earth-shatteringly profound nor does it aim to instill valuable life-lessons in the reader. All it does is ask you to take a breather as you scurry through life and its never-ending tussles, watch your fellow travelers and their quirks and remember the small moments that seem unexpectedly resonant.

[Justin Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book, finding myself frequently letting out small grunts and excess air as a form of quick laughter. As the endorsement on the front says it is “an odd, beautiful book.” Miranda Keeling did a wonderful job of observing her world and making a way for me to enter it. She has even made me want to begin taking note of the people, situations, and nature that surrounds me every day. This is a good read to slowly go through or to read in an evening.

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely a book for our time - random one or two sentence observations of everyday life the author felt needed to be shared. Thats the idea, right? If we can’t share something then it’s not worth observing? It is inspired by her Twitter account. And was probably much more appropriate there than in a book.
Maybe if you are familiar with the towns and streets, it adds to the charm. The illustrations are better than the text. Mostly I am just very sad I paid over $20 for this.

[Miss E · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book. Read through in order, pick a page at random, or choose the current month. You’ll find mini masterpieces - some funny, some poignant but all beautiful. Miranda reminds us to see the stories all around us. I’ll be rereading this for years to come.

[Joelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life nowadays flashes by like a bullet train. The snippets captured by Miranda Keeling remind us of the joy experienced when sitting still and observing the world around us. Beautiful and poignant at times, it is a must read when you want to keep calm and carry on.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite lovely and felt very much like reading urban haikus. But the illustrations threw me off. In part because the foxes were repeated. Without reason

We’re all tired, Brian.

Cracked me up.