There is no Good Card For This: What to Say and Do When Life is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love.

There is no Good Card For This by Emily McDowell and Kelsey Crowe, PH.D. is one of the best and most useful books I have read in ages. Seriously, if you only read one book this year, it ought to be this one. If you pay attention and apply what it says, it could be a life-changing read for you- literally.

The presentation

This book is great on multiple levels. From a design perspective, it’s cheery yellow cover and fun cartoonish text immediately draw the eye. When I put this book away while working in the library, it’s bright colors made me take a second glance. Thanks to Emily McDowell being a professional greeting card maker, there are many fun (and useful!) illustrations scattered throughout.

Beyond that, each chapter is laid out in a way that makes it a fast-paced and easy to understand read. Included are example dialogues for empathy do’s and don’ts in conversation. There also are a number of handy tables that give dialog ideas to replace the often unhelpful things that may come out of our mouths.

The lessons

There are many great takeaways in this book. The best part? The authors have compiled many of the most useful ones into easy-to-find charts and lists! Here are a few examples:

While these images alone can be useful, don’t just assume this is all you need to know. This book is filled with great tips, real-life stories of empathy wins and fails, and advice from people who have gone through really awful times. This isn’t just a book of guesswork; it was compiled over a number of years with massive loads of research. The things said in it have come from interviews, huge surveys, and support groups, as well as the life experience of the two authors.

Learn more and find a place to buy it.

Check this book out (as well as greeting cards and other great merch) at Emily McDowell Studio. Here you can learn a bit more about the authors, read more snippets of the book, and get a feel for their writing style.

There is No Good Card For This gets 5/5 stars from me.

Read the book. Be encouraged. Become a better friend.