work at a small public library in Ohio and am in charge of programming for adults, About a month ago, we received this book from a local Ohio author, This is Ryder's first book and she was donating them to local libraries to get her book in people's hands, I was the first one to read the book at our library, I was hoping that I would like it so I could contact Ryder and have a book signing at our library,
The book has an interesting concept, It starts with a Prologue, Chapter before zero, and Chapter zero, These three "chapters" introduce us to the author and her life, Part of this book is an autobiography chapter before zero and chapter zero as well as memories recalled during Ryder's story, We learn what moved Ryder so much to write her first novel, As Chapterstarts, the reader is now actually reading Ryder's book that she is writing, . . an interview with Jesus.
Jesus answers Ryders questions throughout the remainder of the book, Some chapters are lighthearted. Some chapters make you think, Some chapters bring a tear to your eye, Some chapters have you making connections with relationships in your own life, Ryder and Jesus travel through time and go to various places for Ryder to understand the answers to some of her questions, We see her camping as anyear old girl, we see her in the streets of ancient Jeruseleum, we see her as a young woman starting her career in an office where she meets her husband, we see her on a cruise ship, we see her in the Garden of Eden.
In all these locations, Jesus is always with her and recognized by her but not necessarily those around her,
As the book goes on, we hear how Ryder believes Jesus would answer questions such as: "Is it a sin if you don't go to church", "Why do some people have all the luck", "Where is heaven", and finally, "What is the meaning of life".
I would like to point out that this is how Ryder believes Jesus would answer, She has created a book that allows the reader to think about some of these deep topics, This book had me trying to figure out what I truly believe on some of these issues, This is not a book that forces any certain set of beliefs on you, This is a book that tries to open your eyes,
I did enjoy this book, For me,is a very good review, The only issue I may have had with this book is that at times it bounced back and forth between her interview with Jesus, a memory Jesus brought her back to, and present day.
I sometimes felt like connections weren't made between these different periods of time, However, none of this took away from the takeaway I got from the book, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Shack! Jackie is an average, Midwestern housewife, concerned with family finances, an overworked husband, and three teenagers who are on their way to leaving the nest.
While she waits in the car for her daughter Layla to buy her new school
wardrobe on her first solo shopping expedition, Jackie discovers a book that fires her imagination and sends her on one of the strangest, most insteresting and insightful journeys ever experienced.
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