Tag: Review

Love Has A Face by Michele Perry

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)3 Comments

A look into war torn Sudan…. and the difference one faith filled woman can make ~ Sheila

aaTermites for dinner. Bombs in the backyard. A nation torn by decades of war still on the brink. Can one life really make a difference here?

Born without her left hip and leg, Michele Perry is no stranger to seeming impossibilities. So when she arrived in war-torn Southern Sudan–with little more than her faith in God’s promises–she did what everyone told was crazy: she opened a home for orphaned children in the middle of guerilla warfare territory and has now become “mama” to over one hundred little lives.

With a deft pen, she recounts unforgettable stories of life in the bush, stories that capture the reader with the stark realities of living in a war zone—and the power of God’s love to transform them. Her own story is just as compelling as the ministry she is living. From working in the slums of India to finding her home in war-ravaged Africa, her life has been a journey deeper into the supernatural power of God.

My Thoughts

Michele shares a story of a life lived for others.  I read this book in its entirety in Honduras.  While I liked reading about how she was able to help the children of Sudan. parts of the book left me feeling a little unfulfilled, but I am struggling to put my finger on it.

There is a point that Michele makes in the book that I have seen for myself in what I do.  She talks of a homeless friend shaing his tortilla with her.  People in the worst conditions we can imagine, yet still living with hope and with happiness.

I was learning who was really poor.  And it was not these people.

I love that line as I have seen this with my own eyes  again and again.  While we go out into the world and see people living in one room homes with no doors or windows,no running water, a barrel outside filled with wood that is their stove, no refrigerator, or car, and maybe one change of clothes…  and then I think how much I have back home that I really do not need….  the things that we pay for and fret over payments on…. the tv shows and music we moniter our children on…. and then I see these people living the simplest of lives and making the very best out of it…

Sorry – went off on my own there for a minute.  This book gives a glimpse into the lives of those in Sudan.  Michele’s courage and what she is doing is remarkable.  There were parts of this book I found to not exactly sit right with me, and maybe that’s just me. aa

About the Author:

Michele Perry is the founding field ministry coordinator for Iris Ministries in Southern Sudan under Rolland and Heidi Baker. Born without her left hip and leg and other birth defects, she endured 23 surgeries by age 13. A native of Florida, Michele studied at Baylor and has previously served in Bangladesh, India, and the inner cities of the U.S. She is also an artist, photographer, and poet. Michele wrote most of Love Has a Face on an old computer by a kerosene lamp in a bullet-hole ridden shell of a building in Southern Sudan.

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

An eye opening read!  A book not to sit on a shelf but to be passed on as it is meant to be read!  ~ Sheila

aaJeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

My Thoughts:

The book opened with this sentence: “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.”

Yowsa.  I had to read it again.  It didnt take long to root myself into this read that was the vision of dysfunctional right from the start.  There are many times throughout the book that I wonder why didnt social services step in… why didnt anyone see this?  I wonder now as people who knew this family as this was happening dnt see Jeanette’s book now and wonder the same thing themselves.

The funny thing is that time and again, people did try to act… and Jeanette’s dad will pull up the family and move – and her mother (and I use the term loosely) just thought life was an adventure and didnt really focus to much on anything that had to do with her children.  Sorry- I am trying to stay even here but I really struggled with Jeanette’s mom.

In our Bookies Book Club discussion of this book this past week, we found the book to be so incredible that it had to be non fiction.  If the book were fictitious no one would find it believable -it would be too over the top.

  • Driving a piano through the house
  • cutting maggots off ham to eat
  • taking leftovers out of the schools garbage and eating it in the bathroom stalls so no one knew…

Jeanette Walls book is written well and Jeanette shares her life story in a matter of fact, occasionally humorous tone.  I dont think I could have made my way through it is she would have written it as bitter and angry – it would have been too heavy.

My book club rated this book as a high 4 rating out of 5.

About the Author:aa

One of four siblings, Jeannette Walls was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1960. Her family lived in various southwestern towns before settling in Welch, West Virginia when she was ten. She moved to New York City at age 17 and graduated from Columbia University’s Barnard College with honors in 1984. She went on to become a reporter for New York magazine, Esquire and USA Today. She has appeared regularly on television, including the Today Show, CNN and Prime Time Live and is widely known as a former gossip columnist for MSNBC.com.

She currently lives in northern Virginia and is married to writer John Taylor. Her memoir, The Glass Castle (2005) was a New York Times bestseller with movie rights optioned by Paramount (but as of October 2009 there is no sign of the movie entering production). Her next book, Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel, was published in October 2009.


This book was purchased by me. I am an Amazon Affiliate and by clicking on the link to the books above, I will receive a small percentage of the sale should you make a purchase.

I would rate this book PG

White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner w/ giveaway

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)35 Comments

Old secrets that open new wounds…. are only the beginning of healing in this captivating read.  ~ Sheila

aaWhen her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless, and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands– in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm–and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a “normal” life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.

Seventeen-year-old Chase Janvier hasn’t seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn’t expect her arrival will affect him much–or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams unbeknown to anyone else.

Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won’t make them go away.

Will Tally’s presence blow apart their carefully-constructed world, knocking down the illusion of the white picket fence and reveal a hidden past that could destroy them all–or can she help them find the truth without losing each other?

My Thoughts

The book had me at the cover… it was the first thing that caught me, but certainly not the last.  I like first lines of books and this one opening at a funeral was a great line, it left me wanting more.  “Who died”,  Is the first question that comes to mind followed closely by, “and what happened?”  I found myself in a book that tries to make up for lost time and hurts.  When Neil and Amanda take their 16 year old niece in to their home a shake up occurs that could not have been predicted.  This book was a good example about how secrets have a tendency to surface and when the past hits the present it can cause life turmoil.

This book is a wonderful example of how things that can look perfectly wonderful from the outside are now always that way on the inside.  The title of this book is a prefect reflection of this.  Layered in plots, I enjoyed the different happenings in the book including a surprise that left me unable to put the book down.

This book is labeled Christian but I would say light Christian and if that label was not on the book I dont think you would read it and say this was a Christian fiction read.  It is a clean book with a good story line.  This was my first Susan Meissner book and I enjoyed it very much and would like to read her again.

About Susan:

“I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t driven to write. I attribute this passion to a creative God and to parents who love books and aamore particularly to a dad who majored in English and passed on a passion for writing.

I was born in San Diego, California, and am the second of three daughters. I spent my very average childhood in just two houses. I attended Point Loma College in San Diego, and married my husband in 1980. I had been majoring in education, thinking I might like to teach kindergarten, but I would have been smarter to major in English with a concentration in writing. The advice I give now to anyone wondering what to major in is follow your heart and choose a path that you know you already enjoy.

I didn’t do a lot of writing in the years my husband was on active duty in the Air Force, when we were living overseas, or when the kids were little. When my little heirs were finally all in school, though, I became aware of a deep, gnawing desire to write a novel; a desire I managed to ignore for several years.

Finally when I could disregard it no longer, I resigned in 2002 as editor of a small town newspaper, and set out to write my first book, “Why the Sky is Blue.”

Giveaway!!!

Woo hoo!  I have an extra copy of this book to giveaway!  Here is how you can enter!

1.  Leave a comment here with where you would live if you could live anywhere.  *You must answer the question to have your comment counted!

Bonus Entries!!!

Blog or Twitter about this giveaway and let me know on a separate comment and you will have an additional chance to win

Subscribe to receive email posts from me (upper right side) and let me know on a separate comment and you will have two additional entries

Giveaway will be open until December 1st.  USA and Canada entrants only please!

Have fun and good luck!

This review copy and giveaway copy was provided by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Jantsen’s Gift by Pam Cope

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

This book tore into the very center of my heart and planted a seed there.  At times I found it hard to breathe as I read about these children with little hope – yet they still had a flicker… and I couldnt close my eyes to shut out the vision…. ~ Sheila

aaNine years ago, Pam Cope owned a cozy hair salon in the tiny town of Neosho, Missouri, and her life revolved around her son’s baseball games, her daughter’s dance lessons, and family trips to places like Disney World. She had never been out of the country, nor had she any desire to travel far from home.

Then, on June 16th, 1999, her life changed forever with the death of her 15-year-old son from an undiagnosed heart ailment.

Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend’s invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the moment she stepped off the plane, everything she had been feeling since her son’s death began to shift. By the time she returned home, she had a new mission: to use her pain to change the world, one small step at a time, one child at a time. Today, she is the mother of two children adopted from Vietnam. More than that, she and her husband have created a foundation called “Touch A Life,” dedicated to helping desperate children in countries as far-flung as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana.

Pam Cope’s story is on one level a moving, personal account of loss and recovery, but on a deeper level, it offers inspiration to anyone who has ever suffered great personal tragedy or those of us who dream about making a difference in the world

My Thoughts…♥

It has taken me several days to put this review into words.  When I opened the book to read about Pam Cope’s experience I found her words easy to read and I fell right into the pages on her story.  A story that soon had my heart wrenching as I has in Honduras working with kids who lived in a dump – and I was reading about Pam Copes own heartache and how it led her to Vietnam and working in a similar situation, trying to help kids who have nothing…. no home, no food, and looking them in the eye and trying to give them hope.

As I read this book and made me think about why I do what I do… and knowing that my story hits close to Pam’s story.  I felt a kinship with Pam… a need to do more.  I understood her and appreciated her sense of humor and her heart that held so many.  Pam writes in a real tone that lets you know she is just one of us – struggling day to day making choices right or wrong… sometimes goofing it big time and occasionally getting it right.  I loved that about this book.

As I came home on the plane I finished this read and the kids that haunt me from this book are the ones who are still out there – the ones who they were unable to save.  They are the same kids that cause me to waken in the night.  Thank God for people like Pam…  As I neared the end of the book I openly wept – and not for the first time during this read.   This  is an important book for all of us to read.  My recommendation could not come higher.

Last week while I was away, Alison guest hosted here and shared her thoughts on this read.  She also at that time offered up a giveaway for a copy of this book.  Link here for that giveaway that is still open until November 20.

About Pam Copeaa

Pam Cope is a frazzled mother of two ten year olds named Van and Tatum and an accomplished, independent 21-year-old daughter named Crista Austin. She is the Co-director, with her husband Randy, of the Touch A Life Foundation.


This book was sent to me for review by Hachette Book Group

The Magic Warble by Victoria Simcox

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

For those who love all things Narnia… along comes the Magic Warble  ~ prepare to be amazed…  Sheila

aaDwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals, and an evil queen – all these and more can be found in The Magic Warble, an enchanting tale of adventure and friendship.

Twelve-year-old Kristina Kingsly feels like the most unpopular girl in her school. The kids all tease her, and she never seems to fit in. But when Kristina receives an unusual Christmas gift, she suddenly finds herself magically transported to the land of Bernovem, home of dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals, and the evil Queen Sentiz.

In Bernovem, Kristina not only fits in, she’s honored as “the chosen one” the only one who can release the land from Queen Sentiz’s control. But it’s not as simple as it seems. To save Bernovem, she must place the gift she was given, the famous “Magic Warble” in its final resting place. And she must travel through the deep forest, climb a treacherous mountain, and risk capture by the queen’s “zelbocks” before she reaches her destination. Guided by her new fairy friends, Clover and Looper and by Prince Werrien, a teenage boy, as well as an assortment of other characters, Kristina sets off on a perilous journey that not only tests her strength but her heart.

My Thoughts…

Occasionally a book comes along that seems to be the right book for the time.   This was that book for me.  In laymans fairyterms, this book hit the spot.  I was taken in right away by the magical motion of the book as I swept into the pages and actually felt myself relax into the words. The Narnia feel to this book gave me a sense of thrill, knowing I was about to embark on an adventure.

For a little while I was in another world of fantasy… and I do enjoy a good fantasy read!  The pages I swear turned themselves as I followed Kristina to Bernovem to a place that she no longer is the missfit….

Two words:  Loved it.

Who Is Victoria Simcox?

Victoria, known as Vicki, was born in 1966, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant aafather. She has one older sister, Jeannette. When Vicki was 7, she moved with her family to British Columbia. In her early twenties Vicki moved to Western Washington and now resides in Marysville WA. She has been married to her husband Russ, for nineteen years and they have three children; Toby, who is fifteen, Kristina, thirteen, and William, eight. She has home schooled her children for the past nine years, and she also teaches elementary school art. Vicki’s other family members are, a Chihuahua, named Pipsy, two cats, Frodo, and Fritz, and two parakeets, Charlie, and Paulie. She did have a pet rat named Raymond when she started writing The Magic Warble, but sad to say, he has since passed away of old age. Vicki enjoys writing, painting watercolors, watching movies, hanging out with her family, and chauffeuring her kids around to their many activities. Her favorite author is C.S. Lewis, and one of her fondest memories is when she was twelve. She would sit at the kitchen table and read The Chronicles of Narnia to her mother while she cooked dinner. These magical stories were very dear to Vicki and she remembers wishing, If only I could go to Narnia like Lucy and Susan. Vicki hopes that maybe, she can touch someone with her story in a similar way.

I received my review copy from Dorothy of Pump Up Your Book Promotion

Limelight by Melody Carlson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

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A book of lessons that we are never too old to learn… ~ Sheila

Claudette Fioré used to turn heads and break hearts. She relished the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle because she had what it takes: money, youth, fame, and above all, beauty. But age has withered that beauty, and a crooked accountant has taken her wealth, leaving the proud widow penniless and alone.

I used to be a beauty… too good for our dusty little town… destined for greatness.

Armed with stubbornness and sarcasm, Claudette returns to her shabby little hometown and her estranged sister. Slowly, she makes friends. She begins to see her old life in a new light. For the first time, Claudette Fioré questions her own values and finds herself wondering if it’s too late to change.

My Thoughts…

This book covered a great topic that usually hits home for me…. the character of Claudette Fiore’ (doesnt the name even fit the ‘tude?) starts off as this person who is used to getting her way no matter what the cost.  I have to admit – I did not like her.

As the book evolves and Claudette hits things that are inevitable… we see the changes that take place in her.  I liked where the story was going but found it to be a bit predictable.  There were a few “aha” moments as we see the world now through the older Claudette’s eyes and the message of “it is never too late”, rings true.

About our Author:aa

Melody is an award-winning, best-selling author of nearly two hundred books for teens, children, and adults, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the Secret Life of Samantha McGregor series, the True Color Series, and Notes from a Spinning Planet series. Melody has two grown sons and lives in central Oregon with her husband, where they enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping, and biking.

I received my review copy of the book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)4 Comments

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A  look at family secrets and colorful characters that leave you with an important reminder…  ~ Sheila

Piper Wick left her hometown of Pickwick, North Carolina, twelve years ago, shook the dust off her feet, ditched her drawl and her family name, and made a new life for herself as a high-powered public relations consultant in LA. She’s even “engaged to be engaged” to the picture-perfect U.S. Congressman Grant Spangler.

Now all of Piper’s hard-won happiness is threatened by a reclusive uncle’s bout of conscience. In the wake of a health scare, Uncle Obadiah Pickwick has decided to change his will, leaving money to make amends for four generations’ worth of family misdeeds. But that will reveal all the Pickwicks’ secrets, including Piper’s.

Though Piper arrives in Pickwick primed for battle, she is unprepared for Uncle Obe’s rugged, blue-eyed gardener. So just who is Axel Smith? Why does he think making amends is more than just making restitution? And why, oh why, can’t she stay on task? With the Lord’s help, Piper is about to discover that although good PR might smooth things over, only the truth will set her free.

My Thoughts…

I have not read Tamara Leigh before this book and found her characters to have life breathed into them which I really like.  Characters that I can relate to, and find them to be real is always a plus and I enjoyed how Tamara took many of her characters and made them enjoyable to get to know.

The topic centered around family secrets was another plus.  I like to read about how families deal with things they try to bury in their past, especially when it comes in a Christian format such as this one.  I for one find great comfort in letting go of the past and moving on with a sense of known forgiveness and an honest approach to where I have been.  A light easy read that I enjoyed.

What about Tamara Leigh?aa

Tamara Leigh is the best-selling author of twelve novels, including award-winning “Splitting Harriet” (2008 ACFW “Book of the Year”), “Faking Grace” and “Leaving Carolina” the first book in her new “Southern Discomfort” series. A former speech and language pathologist, Tamara lives with her husband and their sons in Tennessee. Visit her website at: www.tamaraleigh.com

 

This review copy was sent to me by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

What Matters Most: Diary Of A Teenage Girl by Melody Carlson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

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A quick written, quick witted book about a teenage girl… loved the green tips!  ~ Sheila

Sixteen-year-old Maya Stark has a lot to sort through. She could graduate from high school early if she wants to. She’s considering it, especially when popular cheerleader Vanessa Hartman decides to make her life miserable–and Maya’s ex-boyfriend Dominic gets the wrong idea about everything.

To complicate matters even more, Maya’s mother will be released from prison soon, and she’ll want Maya to live with her again. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. And when Maya plays her dad’s old acoustic guitar in front of an audience, she discovers talents and opportunities she never expected. Faced with new options, Maya must choose between a “normal” life and a glamorous one. Ultimately, she has to figure out what matters most.

My Thoughts:

This was a fun, quick read.  I like how it is written in a journal type format.  It seemed to fit perfectly for Maya and brought me back to my team years when I too journaled my days (of course then we called it a diary).  😉

I found the book to be unique with Maya’s Green Tips Of The Day.  Loved it.  Going into this read I did not know this was the third in a series called Diary Of A Teenage Girl.  What I have missed is A Not So Simple Life and Its A Green Thing.  Two books that if I came across them, I would not pass up.

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About Melody…

Melody Carlson has published over ninety books for adults, children, and teens, with sales totaling more than two million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. Several of her books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards, including the Gold Medallion and the RITA Award.

I received my review copy of the book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group


Saving Sammy by Beth Maloney

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

A mothers love so deep for her son that she fights the system to get the answers and help she needs to make him well.  My heart wept.  ~ Sheila

aaThe summer before entering sixth grade, Sammy, a bright and charming boy who lived on the coast of Maine, suddenly began to exhibit disturbing behavior. He walked and ate with his eyes shut, refused to bathe, burst into fits of rage, slithered against walls, and used his limbs instead of his hands to touch light switches, doorknobs, and faucets.
Sammy’s mother, Beth, already coping with the overwhelming responsibility of raising three sons alone, watched helplessly as her middle child descended into madness. Sammy was soon diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and later with Tourette syndrome. Unwilling to accept the doctors’ prognoses for lifelong mental illness and repeated hospitalizations, Beth fought to uncover what was causing this decline. Racing against time as Sammy slipped further from reality, Beth’s quest took her to the center of the medical community’s raging debate about whether mental illness can be caused by infection. With the battle lines firmly drawn, Beth searched until she found two cutting-edge doctors who answered that question with a definitive yes. Together, they cured Sammy. Five years later, he remains symptom free.

My Thoughts:

First of all, what a powerful book and I have to say I am so impressed with Beth’s perseverance.  I really felt for her as she struggled to find out what was happening to her son coming up against wall after wall.  As Beth’s life takes a back burner to put her sons needs in front of all else.  This book is a strong picture of the power of a mothers love.  The fact that she wrote this book is going to be such a gift to others who are going through their own similar battles.

I picked up this book with a thought that I knew what I was about to read.  I had an inkling of what this was about and getting further into the book I found I had truly no idea how deeply emotional this book would be.  Having raised two sons of my own and battling one teacher myself who said that my oldest had ADD to the point that I put him on the medication prescribed by a doctor only to later find out he did not have it…. I barely grazed what Beth’s life must have been like and not even begin to know what it must have been like for Sammy.

A great and important read.

About Bethbeth

Beth Maloney is a successful Maine attorney. In addition to representing writers and producers, her practice has focused on representing the best interests of children as their Court appointed Guardian ad Litem, primarily in cases of neglect and abuse. Before moving to Maine, the author was an executive and attorney in the entertainment business in Los Angeles, where it was her good fortune to work with a number of creative and athletic stars. Her experience includes serving as Vice-President of Legal Affairs for Orion Pictures Corporation, producing motion pictures, and handling matters in private practice for celebrity entertainers and athletes including Johnny Carson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal. SAVING SAMMY is Ms. Maloney’s first book.
My review copy came from TLC Book Tours

Guest Blogger Review: The Rights Of The Reader by Daniel Pennac

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

Recently I had the opportunity to chat a bit with Kath from Insert Suitably Snappy Title Here.  We were discussing her post on the the book, The Rights Of The Reader.  Of course, it was the title that drew me in….   Here is a bit of our discussion, followed by Kath’s review.


Kath, how long have you been blogging?

Kath: I have been blogging for almost 4 years now. My blog started off as a way of finding my writing style but has

 

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Meet Kath!

grown and developed into a book blog. Which is not surprising, given that I’m a complete book nut.

 



Hmmmm…. a complete book nut huh?  I would know nothing about that….LOL.   What do you find most enjoyable about blogging?

Kath: The thing I enjoy most about this blog is the fact that it has grown and developed with me. Now that I am in a position to spend more time on the things I love (reading and writing) I’ve really enjoyed making my blog into the sort of thing I’d always wanted to but never quite found the time to achieve.

 



Kath, why are you so excited about this book, Rights of the Reader?

Kath: The main thing that got me about this book is that it’s so true and so applicable. Right now, kids all over the world are learning to read and the accepted teaching methodologies risks turning a lot of kids off reading which is a huge loss not only to their lives but to the world. A more widely read population can only make for a better world, right? I also loved the way this book is written. Pennac uses the most gorgeous language to describe even the most ordinary situations which makes life sparkle.

It does sound interesting.  What are you hoping that people take away from this book?

Kath: I’m hoping that people will take away inspiration and understanding, as well as the tools to ensure that future generations love books as much as many of us have.

Thank you Kath for sharing your review here with us today.  Please be sure to stop by Kath’s blog at Insert Suitably Snappy Title Here and check out what else Kath is talking about!

Image credit: Here


aThe Rights of the Reader
By Daniel Pennac (Trans. Sarah Adams)
Published October 2006
Walker Books Limited
Cast your mind back. You’re seven years old and you’ve just got your very own library card. Surrounded by silence and the smell of words and promised adventures, you run giddily towards the children’s section. You run your hand over the shelves of books, some smooth, some bumpy, all tagged with some weird and unfathomable code. Before you know it, you’ve picked up something that has caught your attention and you’ve settled into the bright red beanbag for the long haul. You forget where you are, consumed by the voices and exploits of Asterix or the Famous Five and you can’t believe it’s time to go already when, an hour later, your Mum comes round the corner to find you.

Every week you come back and you always leave with a pile of books, one of which you’re usually half way through by the time you get home. The need to read consumes you: you sneak off to the toilet to get in a few pages, you read late at night with a torch under the bedcovers. You are, in fact, a veritable addict, looking feverishly along the shelves to find your next hit.

Then, somewhere along the line, something happens. Reading loses some of the joy it once held – it becomes, unthinkably, a chore. A task that has to be completed by next Monday, with an 800 word essay to boot. High school literature studies have come home to roost. English class is now peering over your shoulder, pointing out that you shouldn’t be reading that book, you should read this one, the required text. You know, the one sitting ominously on your desk, unreadable and daunting.

This is where the education system, according to Daniel Pennac, fails our kids. I recently read his amazing book The Rights of the Reader (translated by Sarah Adams) as part of a bookring through Bookcrossing and was very pleasantly surprised. I was expecting something completely different – a fun and lighthearted look at reading as a hobby – but was met with an entertaining and brilliantly written manifesto on the importance of teaching our future generations to love reading and not make it a “should” – a word sure to kill any desire to do something.

Pennac points out that as kids, we loved to hear stories and would beg our parents again and again to read us our favourite books. It is in this tradition of oral storytelling, he argues, that reading is based. It’s our desire to hear new stories and follow new heroes on new adventures that drives us from one finished book to the next new one. But as soon as interfere with our child’s relationship with books and we disturb the private “alchemist’s voice” in their minds, we start to suck their joy out of their reading experience. This, claims Pennac, is a crime of epic proportions. A relationship with books is one of the most consistent and satisfying ones that most people will have in their lives, after all.

The solution? Simple, claims Pennac. Take it back to the basics – oral storytelling. Read to those who have become disenchanted by the hard slog of required textbooks and compulsory reading. Re-introduce that spark. Draw them back in. Before you know it, they’ll have rediscovered that “alchemist’s voice” and they’ll be off in their own private world of books again.

This book was a really fascinating read for me as I recognised that I had suffered a period of book fatigue until pretty recently. As a kid, I was the one hiding under the sheets with a book and a torch. I read an insane amount of books from all sorts of genres, right up until the age of 15 – that’s when it started for me. Required reading to be completed within a ridiculously short period of time, essays to write and not to mention maths homework and geography study…. Luckily, I’ve rediscovered that old spark and have come back to the ranks of the voracious reader – one “right” at a time. If there’s anyone out there that has lost their spark, or knows someone who is struggling with reading – I highly recommend this book. It’ll surely help you bring them back from the brink of a world without books.