Ordinary Time is a collection of essays that explores what it means to stay when everyone else seems to be going. Annie B. Jones writes about the often-overlooked experience of being the one who remains. It’s about what we hold on to, what we let go of, and how we grow when we choose to stay rooted in one place.

This book contains a patchwork of Jones’ personal stories: moments of loneliness, longing, and deep contentment. It’s about living a life grounded in community, faith, and the small-but-profound routines of everyday life. Jones writes for the ones who waved goodbye, who stayed behind, who hosted farewell parties and quietly carried on. For the “in-betweeners” who didn’t chase big-city dreams but somehow built full lives in unexpected ways. For those of us navigating complicated relationships, messy middles, and quiet seasons of faith.

I appreciate her honesty about her own shortcomings, yet hopeful about the possibility of becoming better, more present, and more rooted through connection.

However, this book wasn’t quite what I expected. I was drawn in by the subtitle: Lessons Learned While Staying Put. I was truly anticipating this book’s release, thinking it might speak directly to my quiet, introverted nature and my slow-paced way of seeing the world. But what I found inside was less of a cohesive reflection on staying put, and more of a loosely connected series of essays. Some of which touch briefly on the theme, others that wander into random various topics. At times, it read more like a blog compilation than a focused memoir.

My Favorite Bits

To be human is to know what it feels like to sit all the way down for the long haul, to stand all the way up and leave rooms that no longer fit, and to carry the sorrows and celebrations that may accompany both.

Annie B. Jones, Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put

Life requires a lot of opening. And I am not so good with the opening, the starting of something new.

Annie B. Jones, Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put

Take the pressure off ourselves and the people we meet. Let’s allow surface to be enough.

Annie B. Jones, Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put

Author: Annie B. Jones

Publication date: 22 April 2025

Number of pages: 240 pages