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Recently, I received a free review copy of Life, In Spite of Me:  Extraordinary Hope After a Fatal Choice.

I remember seeing Kristen Anderson on an Oprah show about people who survived suicide.  This book (written with Tricia Goyer) tells the story of how Kristen survived her suicide attempt.  She lost both of her legs in the attempt and went on to live a life of happiness and purpose.

I was fascinated by this book and couldn’t put it down.  I put myself in her situation–how would I go on in that situation?  Kristen eventually finds hope in her faith in Christ.

Here’s more information, provided by the publicist:

ABOUT THE BOOK:
After her fatal choice… extraordinary hope.

Why does my life have to be so painful?
What’s wrong with me?
It’s not going to get better.
It could all be over soon, and then I won’t hurt anymore.

Kristen Anderson thought she had the picture perfect life until strokes of gray dimmed her outlook on life. Once a happy child, Kristen’s world darkened after three friends and her grandmother died within two years. Still reeling from these losses, she was raped by a friend she thought she could trust. She soon spiraled into a depression that didn’t seem to have a bottom.

One January night, the seventeen-year-old made a decision: She no longer wanted to deal with the emotional pain that smothered her. She lay down on a set of cold railroad tracks and waited-for a freight train to send her to heaven…and peace.

Fear coursed through me. I squeezed my eyes tighter.
It’s going to be over now. The pain is going to end. I’ll be in heaven soon.
As the train whistle blew, the vibration of my body stilled.
The sound stopped. The wind stopped. The train stopped.
Am I dead yet?

Amazingly, Kristen survived her suicide attempt… but the 33 freight cars that ran over her severed her legs. Now she not only had to deal with depression; she also had to face the physical pain and life without legs.

But Kristen’s story didn’t end there. After her darkest days Kristen discovered a real purpose for living. Now, in her compelling book Life, In Spite of Me, Kristen shares her journey from despair to hope.

Includes letters from Kristen that share messages she wishes someone would have told her-when she was depressed and struggling with loss, shame from sexual abuse, and suicidal thoughts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-four books including Songbird Under a German Moon, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer’s Conference in 2003. Tricia’s book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005.

In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions.  She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. For more info, please visit www.triciagoyer.com

You can find other bloggers talking about this book here.

DO YOU WANT THIS BOOK?

Leave a comment.  I’ll pick a winner in a few days.

Phillip Done, author of 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny, has written another absolutely delightful book called Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind:  Thoughts on Teacherhood.

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[I wanted to say "Phil has Done it again," but then you'd be saying "Phil Done" (rhymes with fun) instead of Phil Done (rhymes with phone) like I've been doing ever since I read his first book.]

Mr. Done-rhymes-with-phone has organized this book into sections for each month.  Each month has short sections covering stuff like “Yard Duty” or “The Tooth Fairy.”  I opened the book at random while sitting here preparing to write this and tears sprang to my hormonal eyes when I read the section called “The Bell.”  He captures the magic and anguish of third-grade.

Despite my occasional weepiness, mostly I read this book with a smile of recognition and remembrance.  Mr. Done-rhymes-with-phone brings childhood back to life and makes me wish that I’d had a teacher exactly like him when I was a child.  (Although I think Miss Brittingham, my own third-grade teacher was a remarkable human being–she was my favorite elementary school teacher.)

Mr. Done-rhymes-with-phone makes me laugh, makes me cry and makes me remember.  It’s pretty much a perfect reading experience if that’s what you like to do: laugh, cry and remember.

Great book for teachers (hello, Christmas is coming), parents and anyone “looking for a lighthearted nostalgic read.”  (I stole that last phrase from the back of the book.)

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You should know that Mr. Done-rhymes-with-phone himself contacted me and asked me to review this book in my blog.  The publisher sent me an “advanced reading copy not for sale” in exchange for my review. You should also know that I really think this is a wonderful book and that I wholeheartedly recommend it.  And I’m not just saying that because my copy was free.

Click here for a book review of Lisa Tucker’s The Cure for Modern Life.

Tricia Goyer is quite a remarkable writer. She’s written twelve books, both non-fiction and fiction. Her book, Generation Next Marriage: The Couple’s Guide to Keeping it Together, is a marriage manual specifically written for the “Gen-X” generation, those of us born from the 1960s through the 1980s. In nineteen chapters, she deals with everything from unrealistic expectations to romance, from money to parenting . . . and more.

I appreciated the chapter called “Under Pressure: Finding Balance.” Back when I was dating my future husband (in 1985!), he said all the time, “Balance is key.” We have been trying to keep our balance ever since, through my father’s terminal illness, through infertility, through job changes and moves, through parenthood, through everything that happens over the course of twenty years of marriage.

Tricia has some great suggestions for finding balance:

1) Say not to unrealistic demands on others.

2) Realize the impact of fast-paced lives.

3) Make a plan for peace. . . realizing how much your spouse desires it. (Boy, this is true for us!)

4) Focus on one thing. (Loving your spouse.)

While I am nowhere close to finding that elusive balance, I appreciate what Tricia has to say on this topic–and on many others. We are constantly pruning our schedules and obligations to carve out space for ourselves.
Oh, and you can go right here and enter a contest to win a dinner for two.

I am looking forward to reading more of Tricia’s work. It’s always nice to find a good writer with something valuable to say. (More reviews and stuff here.)

Click here to read a review of the book, Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son’s First Two Years With Down Syndrome by Jennifer Graf Groneberg. That’s an order. Okay, a gentle suggestion about a lovely book about a mother and her baby born with Down syndrome.

As I read this book, I remembered back to my days with twin babies (Jennifer’s baby with Down syndrome was half of a set of twins). I remembered how desperate I felt for adult company and how I couldn’t relay that feeling to anyone. Jennifer talks about the challenge of picking up the phone and asking for help, even though she longed for help to arrive. I suppose that when our friends go through difficult situations merely saying, “Let me know if you need help!” is much less effective than just showing up on the doorstep with freshly baked goods and an hour or two to spare.

And now, let’s all join hands and promise to help each other out and furthermore, to let other people help us.

These books lined up on my bed were removed from my bookshelf. The bookshelf shows the books AFTER the books on the bed were removed. I was looking for my copy of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. In order to do so, I had to remove the first layer of books to see what was behind. I found some old books that I put into a pile to read again soon, along with a few new ones I decided to read sooner rather than later.

This book reorganization did not result in finding my copy of Into the Wild. Alas. At some point, I must have passed it along to someone else to read and now I regret my generosity. In fact, I’m ordering myself a new one because I simply must read it again before I see the movie version, coming out soon. (Friday?) I read that book back when I’d never heard of the author, nor the story. I sort of feel like I personally discovered Jon Krakauer.

Oh, and just so you know . . . this is just one of my bookshelves. The matching one holds non-fiction and until I decide I simply must find a book I remember owning at some point in my life, that bookshelf will remain dusty and double-stacked.

(I put all the books back. I am going to read them all, even if I have to live to be 150.)

I came across this list of books that answer the question: what book got you hooked?

I’ve read all but eleven of them. This is a nice place to start if you’re looking for books to read to your kids.

Would you like a free copy of Mary DeMuth’s newest book, Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture? If so, leave a comment. I’ll do a drawing Saturday morning.

If you are not the lucky winner, you can purchase an autographed copy of her book here: click here.

Meanwhile, tell me. What are you reading now? I’m in the middle of Mark Helprin’s A Soldier of the Great War.

Last week, I read a book by Lisa Samson (she blogs here). And you should know that my husband purchased this book, Club Sandwich, for me, so I am telling you about it not because it was free, but because you should know about it.

I rarely pick up a light Christian novel to read, but I’ve been reading Lisa’s blog and she seems like the kind of woman you wish would move in next door. As it turns out, this novel was really fun to read and full of faith, as well. I won’t give away any of the plot, but I will mention that it’s written in first person, present tense, which I hear is hip, happening and not unusual, but I’ve rarely read a novel in present tense. I liked it, perhaps because I love to eavesdrop and reading this book was a lot like eavesdropping on the heroine’s thoughts.

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Now, because the box has been sitting on my desk for a week, I will tell you about the Swiffer Dusters that the Swiffer folks sent me to review.

Here is how I reviewed them.

I failed to dust my desk for weeks. Perhaps months. I hate to dust.

Then, I took my laptop on vacation.

When I returned, the dust on my desk reminded me of the lobby in the Tower of Terror at Disney. (If you’ve been there, you’ll recall the thick cobwebs and layer of dust as thick as snow.)

So, a few days after unpacking, I snapped together the plastic handle, slid the disposable duster onto it and voila! My desk was dust-free with just a swipe. The fun of using this duster gave me the urge to dust the rest of my house . . . so I read blogs until that urge passed.

Truly, I probably won’t purchase these disposable dusters . . . I’m kind of cheap like that. However, I will happily use the remaining four dusters . . . sooner or later. They really do work great. (I use an old-fashioned feather duster, which is reusable . . . unless the cats have stolen it away again.)
(This review was not compensated by money, but of course, I did get the dusters to use. Lucky me.)

Last spring, I attended Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference in California. When Mary DeMuth came forward on stage to pitch her workshop, she proclaimed her passion for chocolate (and something else, too, but all I remember about is the chocolate). I looked over the syllabus, asked Barbara what she thought and decided to attend Mary’s morning track workshop, even though I had previously picked something else.

As Mary spoke during the morning workshops, I mentally tallied how much we had in common. We both grew up in the Seattle area. We are about the same age. Our children (she has 3, I have 4) are similar ages. Her husband was a pastor; mine still is. At one point, I took her aside and showed her the stash of dark chocolate I tend to carry in my purse. She wore black Chuck Taylors (Converse low-tops); I’m all about sneakers, I brought lavender and red to the conference. We both sing. Our parents were divorced, our fathers have both died and our mothers were married more than once. Or twice.

Mary has a blog, too, called relevantblog.

I tried hard not to seem like a stalker, but I liked Mary and thought that in another time and place, we would be Best Friends Forever. (She lives in Texas now . . . hey, my husband’s from Texas! See? More in common!)

That is one reason I am thrilled to be a part of a Book Blog Tour on Mary’s behalf. She has written a couple of novels (Watching Tree Limbs, and Wishing on Dandelions), but this blog tour is about her newest parenting book, Authentic Parenting in a Post-Modern Culture. I read it a month ago or so, and while reading it reminded me of my many short-comings as a parent, I like Mary’s writing and her thinking. I felt encouraged by her stories and ideas.