Buffalo & Erie County Public Library users borrowed Jill Kelly’s memoir, “With- out a Word: How a Boy’s Unspoken Love Changed Everything,” more than any other nonfiction book.

The library recently compiled and released a list of the most popular borrowed books in 2011 within each genre, including the new eBook genre.

For adult nonfiction, Kelly’s memoir of her family’s journey with their terminally ill son and brother, Hunter, rose to the top.

“It was definitely a surprise,” Kelly, an Orchard Park resident, told The Bee. “It’s just another blessing from God. He spoke to our hearts that he has a bigger plan in all our suffering and pain.”

Published in 2010, the book tells the story of her meeting and marrying then Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly; the birth and death of their son, Hunter, who had the disease Krabbe leukodystrophy; and the eventual forgiveness in and reconciliation of a broken marriage.

But their story ultimately is one of hope, and Kelly makes that clear in her media interviews.

“It was [also] a shock when I found out it made the New York Times Best-Seller List, but at the same time, that’s great and that’s wonderful, but the fact I know is this: It was done out of love for God, and that’s all that matters.”

She adds, “It was a very vulnerable thing to do, but I knew the truth had to be told. I had to fully trust God and put my pride aside. Jesus says, ‘The truth will set you free,’ and we wanted others to be encouraged by what we shared. ... People have found hope because of our circumstances.”

After a positive reception to her memoir, she’s now working on another nonfiction manuscript, tentatively titled “Etched Upon My Heart.”

“It’s a compilation of moments “we never forget.” These unforgettable moments showed her more about the nature of God, about who he is, she says.

“It’s really about recognizing God’s over-arching love in life,” she said. “In doing that we can live out the moments we have before us with even greater joy and hope, because you can look back and see how he was teaching you all along.”

Kelly’s grateful she journaled her way through her journey with Hunter.

“If I didn’t, much of what God showed me would have been lost,” she says. Journaling served to preserve her thoughts and feelings during what was a joyful and yet, at the end, an excruciatingly difficult time.

She says that although she journaled — and is a big advocate of the practice — she never before considered herself a writer.

“The gift God gave me is to share,” she said. “It’s for those who don’t know him yet, for them to grasp who he is. That helps me, to know that it’s not about me, it’s about what he’s going to do for the sake of someone else’s journey with him.”

Kelly also published two other books: “Prayers for Those Who Grieve” and “Prayers of Hope for the Brokenhearted.”

The books don’t end there. Kelly and her two girls, Camryn, 12, and Erin, 17, are working together on a three-part book series titled “Hot Chocolate With God.” The first book came out in September. The second book was recently finished. And the third will be written soon.

They’re written in Camryn’s voice, with the help of her mother and sister.

“The passion [of this project] is to encourage ’tween girls to know who they are, that God has created them specifically for a purpose,” Kelly says.

For more information on “Without a Word” and other books, visit the website www.jillk.org/author/. For more information on “Hot Chocolate With God,” visit www.hotchocolatewithgod.com. email: nspencer@beenews.com