cj24's review against another edition
4.0
Book club pick. Review to be left following the meeting.
This book is for those like Hallmark movies...predictable and unrealistic.
This book is for those like Hallmark movies...predictable and unrealistic.
ghumpherys's review against another edition
4.0
Another quick read from our vacation. This one had some good messages about enduring through the trials of life.
papi's review
3.0
Generally I like Richard Paul Evans' books. I'm coming to realize, though, that they are a bit of a conundrum for me. I spend much of each book depressed and sad about the terrible things that are happening to the main character, only to be totally turned around in the last 30 pages of the book and left happy and thrilled for the good ending. I'm not sure the last 30 minutes are worth the 3-4 hours of sadness. Sometimes it feels to me like the guy was repeatedly pounding his head against a tree. When asked why he was doing that, he replied, "because it feels so good when I stop." That was what reading The Carousel was like. Nonetheless, I found some thoughts worth of pondering:
1. "It is possible to learn more about compassion in one quiet act of selflessness than in a hundred fiery sermons." Agreed!
2. "Nowhere is our vision more distorted than when we turn it on ourselves." Yup, that one resonates with me too.
3. "If variety is the spice of life, routine is the bread of it." Never heard that thought before, but it is certainly true in my life. I like occasional interludes of "spice" -- travel, new projects, etc., but most of the time, I appreciate a life bounded by routine. One semester in college, I had tuna & noodle casserole every night for the entire semester. By the end...I still liked it and could have kept up the routine. I truly am a creature of habit and routine, I suppose.
4. "I have come to believe that we do not walk alone in this life. There are others, fellow sojourners, whose journeys are interwoven with ours in seemingly random patterns, yet, in the end, have beenc arefully placed to reveal a remarkable tapestry. I believe God is the weaver at that loom." Me too...I have been blessed tremendously by some of those fellow sojourners. I hope that I have been able to do the same for some others.
5. "Though adversity is the fertile soil in which the human spirit best grows, we loathe it still. I do not see how it can be otherwise, for no rational being seeks out pain and misfortune. Still, I cannot help but wonder if it is not somehow wrong to enjoy the fruit of the tree but curse the tree." Indeed.
6. "There would be less suffering in this world if humanity would learn this one truth: It is not what we receive but what we give that heals us." An important truth, and one I must often learn anew.
And my favorite...
7. "I have come to believe that the defining moments of most lives are not acts of courage or greatness, rather they are the simple acts: expressions of virtue or vice that are tossed carelessly like seeds from a farmer's hand, leaving their fruits to be revealed at a future date."
To me, the most profoundly important moments are those that occur one on one, one heart ot another, one need met by another, one sorrow assuaged, one expression of love and caring to another human being. We best live our lives not in programs or institutions, but heart to heart, hand to hand, in service to one another. I'm glad to see another book that reinforces that message, even if it was a little bludgeon-like.
1. "It is possible to learn more about compassion in one quiet act of selflessness than in a hundred fiery sermons." Agreed!
2. "Nowhere is our vision more distorted than when we turn it on ourselves." Yup, that one resonates with me too.
3. "If variety is the spice of life, routine is the bread of it." Never heard that thought before, but it is certainly true in my life. I like occasional interludes of "spice" -- travel, new projects, etc., but most of the time, I appreciate a life bounded by routine. One semester in college, I had tuna & noodle casserole every night for the entire semester. By the end...I still liked it and could have kept up the routine. I truly am a creature of habit and routine, I suppose.
4. "I have come to believe that we do not walk alone in this life. There are others, fellow sojourners, whose journeys are interwoven with ours in seemingly random patterns, yet, in the end, have beenc arefully placed to reveal a remarkable tapestry. I believe God is the weaver at that loom." Me too...I have been blessed tremendously by some of those fellow sojourners. I hope that I have been able to do the same for some others.
5. "Though adversity is the fertile soil in which the human spirit best grows, we loathe it still. I do not see how it can be otherwise, for no rational being seeks out pain and misfortune. Still, I cannot help but wonder if it is not somehow wrong to enjoy the fruit of the tree but curse the tree." Indeed.
6. "There would be less suffering in this world if humanity would learn this one truth: It is not what we receive but what we give that heals us." An important truth, and one I must often learn anew.
And my favorite...
7. "I have come to believe that the defining moments of most lives are not acts of courage or greatness, rather they are the simple acts: expressions of virtue or vice that are tossed carelessly like seeds from a farmer's hand, leaving their fruits to be revealed at a future date."
To me, the most profoundly important moments are those that occur one on one, one heart ot another, one need met by another, one sorrow assuaged, one expression of love and caring to another human being. We best live our lives not in programs or institutions, but heart to heart, hand to hand, in service to one another. I'm glad to see another book that reinforces that message, even if it was a little bludgeon-like.
brittanytbiggers's review
3.0
This love story is more "real" than most books where the characters are caught up in a whirl wind romance. However, it makes it difficult to really like the characters. All is well that ends well I guess.
purplespecslms's review
4.0
This book was excellent... Well written and definitely worth the reading. It entertained me and it was a good story... a little sad though...
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