The world is still full of wonder. We've just been too busy to look. We move through our days half-awake — rushing past the poppies, skipping the concert, ducking in out of the rain and missing the experience waiting around the corner. And then, every so often, something stops us cold. A lilting ballad. A painting in the museum we almost skipped. A friend who holds fast to joy and grace at the absolute edge of everything. In those moments, we remember what it feels like to be fully, achingly alive.

Wonder is a sanctuary for those moments — and an invitation to see them in the middle of our busy, over-scheduled lives. In thirteen lyric essays across four movements, Gary Waddell takes us on a sweeping journey: from a twilight backyard in North Carolina to a Parisian chapel in the rain, from Frida Kahlo's unblinking gaze to a desert sky of breathtaking brilliance, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to a friend's porch at the end of a life well-lived. Along the way, he makes a quietly radical case — that wonder isn't a luxury reserved for grand vistas and rare occasions, but is the very point of it all, available to anyone willing to pay attention.

For listeners who love Anna Quindlen's "A Short Guide to a Happy Life," Ross Gay's "The Book of Delights," Haemin Sunim's "The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down," and the lyric poetry of Mary Oliver, Wonder is a book to keep, to return to, and to give — to anyone who has everything, or would welcome a reminder to breathe deeply and notice what's in front of them.

Wonder awaits. Just look.