Friday, July 01, 2011

Plain Wisdom

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect upon reading this book. Other descriptions/reviews inferred that it was a book of short stories, but I think vignettes would be a better term as they weren't exactly "stories" but just snippets of the authors' lives.

Sometimes I felt that one author said, "Hey, this happened to me one time. Did it ever happen to you?" The second one said, "Yea, it did. Great, let's write about it and put it together in a chapter."

And so on.

And so on.

And so on.

Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing, but it did get a little tedious and felt more "back and forth" than progressive. I kept wanting it to tie together in a "big picture" kind of way, and it kept disappointing me.

What it DOES do well, though, is give an interesting insight into how a typical Amish woman might react/feel in a given situation, and it does show that despite tremendous philosophical/religious differences between the Amish and non-Amish, there are many things that are very similar, if not exactly the same.

Overall, it is not a bad book, though I can't bring myself to pick it up to read again and again. I imagine some will really like it, though.




(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review)

The Band That Played On. . .


I am fascinated with the story of the Titanic, and I am a musician (or former one) so I thought this book would be a neat twist. Also, very little is written on this topic, so I was looking forward to learning some new information.

I did learn, within just a few pages, that I had never heard much about this aspect of the Titanic because not much is written. In that respect, the author is to be commending on his obvious extensive, and time consuming, research. I was left with the impression that he had to do some serious digging to get the tiny morsels and tidbits that he was able to find. However, for me, it didn't make a very fluid reading for me. I felt like I was being given tiny facts, and that the author was filling in with speculation to fill up the book. At times, I wondered if the publisher had established a minimum length and the author was simply trying to fill it up.

And then, at the very end, the author began a discussion of a possible violin that had been recovered and how the value of it would be increased substantially with the 100 year anniversary of the sinking. For me, I was also left with the feeling that perhaps that is why this book was also released at this time -- to cash in on a significant date.

Overall, it was fairly easy reading and was somewhat interesting. I did learn some new things, and the book isn't all that bad -- especially for the Titanic enthusiasts.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”