The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays

by Eileen Button

We all spend precious time just waiting. We wait in traffic, grocery store lines, and carpool circles. We wait to grow up, for true love, and for our children to be born. We even wait to die. But while we work hard at this business of living, life can sometimes feel like one long, boring meeting. Even today, with instant-gratification at our techno-laced fingertips, we can't escape the the waiting list. Somehow, in between our texting and tweeting and living and dying, we end up there again and again.

In the voice of an old friend or a wise-cracking sister, Eileen Button takes us back to the days of curling irons and camping trips, first loves and final goodbyes, big dreams and bugger reality checks. With heart-breaking candor she calls us to celebrate the tension between what we hope for tomorrow and what we live with today.

Chock-full of humor and poignant insights, these stories will make you laugh and cry. They'll challenge you to enjoy-or at least-endure-the now. As Eileen has learned, "To wait is human. To find life in the waiting place, divine."

Come discover miracles in the mundane. Come celebrate life in The Waiting Place.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Christian, Religion, Self Help, Book Club, Faith

229 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2011

About the author

Eileen Button is an author, columnist, runner (well, sometimes), adjunct professor, mama, and committed java junkie. She believes in the goodness of God, the power of laughter, the inspiration of words, and the beauty of life.

Her essays have been published in Newsweek, Christianity Today's Gifted for Leadership, Holy Bible: Mosaic, and other online and print publications.

Eileen takes delight in stumbling on the miraculous in ordinary spaces - the repose of a child, the miracle of a garden, the face of a stranger. Through writing and speaking she encourages others to truly live and make room for the sacred.

Reviews

[kwesi 章英狮 · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you heard the words waiting place, what pops in your mind?

Me, it will always reminds me of my piano bench. No matter how tired my body, I always sit in front of my piano thinking of the day that passed and those hours that I find difficult to accept. Everyone have their own waiting place, we don't know how far can it be or how lousy the place is. Our waiting place will always be the place we can regain our strength and work as an individual. To think and to remember.

This is me playing sonatas in one sitting. Kidding, I can't even play beautifully and never tried hard pieces. I'm a big joke, a question mark. Tsk. Tsk. I want to go back to the province.

In The Waiting Place by Eileen Button, she shared her experience as a mother, as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a friend, a student and most of all as God's child. No matter how difficult life is, Button shows greatness, because in the end of the day she always learn new lessons to apply in the future.

The book contains 22 short essays that tackles about life with god, her family, her experience and her past and how she manage to challenge herself to subdue her present life. The essays were quite unique to each other, telling the truth and sharing humor that every reader will enjoy and feel the light of a simple writer. Because to wait is human. To find in the waiting place, divine.

The essays are touching in my own opinion, I never read such candor essays that really touch me inside. Although, few were quite uninteresting and nothing to do with my life. I find them clear experience that are not common but very dramatic in ones person's life. Eileen also include her thoughts towards those people, such in a sense that I enjoyed her vulgar point of view especially when she talks about God and the church.

I think sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of the problem, we talk and think on how we adjust or to move forward, same with the case of this book. I recommend this book to those people who enjoyed reading inspirational works and essays about God, light and as a normal person and I think everyone will like this. I guarantee. In the end of the day, you will always see the light.

I like this photo, this reminds me of the pictures taken last full moon show. I think last February? I don't know. The black background and the yellow light really penetrates the heart.

Review posted on Old-Fashioned Reader .

Rating: The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays by Eileen Button, 4 Sweets

Challenges:
Book #192 for 2011

[Caryn Rivadeneira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much I could hardly stand it. It's beautiful, honest, and hilarious. Get it now.

[Dana Feenstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This type of book is something that I don't normally choose to read. But when it was suggested to me, I thought I would give it a try. And I did not regret it! This book was so good! It consists of many mini stories about times of waiting during Eileen Button's life. She has such a great perspective on our times of waiting that I think everyone should think about. "Instead, I've concluded that to live is to wait. It's how we wait that makes all the difference." Through hard times, stressful times, and even the good times, we are in times of waiting, but God provides us with gifts through these times.

[Diana Nagy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it was okay. Readable. Some people like stories about others life more so than I do, which may impact their decision on whether or not they find this book enjoyable or not so you may want to read it yourself to determine that. I prefer non-fiction books based on facts rather than books that have a lot about other people's lives. This book is about a preacher's wife and her true feelings about the mistress his wife has, which is nothing more than the church. She talks about all the waiting places we encounter in our lives and what we must do to embrace the place we are in as we are going through that time in our lives. Some places we must wait longer, other times it doesn't take as long. Either way, we always get through it. No matter what. Each page has a little excerpt about God which I found inspirational, part of the reason I found this book to be an alright, 3 star read.

[Angie Fehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection of essays, the title inspired by a portion from Dr. Seuss' The Places You Will Go, newspaper columnist Eileen Button takes us into the daily routine of her hectic life and shows up where she found the beauty in the chaos. It took work and dedication, moments of forcing herself to stop and be still, but over time she came to learn how to work past her daily life gripes and see the gifts in the small moments.

"The Waiting Place is for people like me who get stuck in their precious, mundane, gorgeous, absurd lives. It is for those who work hard at the "business of living" only to find that they seem to be caught in one long, boring meeting...It's for those who wake up one day and find themselves repeatedly sighing and thinking 'This is so not the life I dreamed of living.' It's also for those who wonder what is worse: to remain in the day-in, day-out lives they have created or to risk it all and make a change, even if that change results in falling on their faces. The waiting place is never cozy. In fact, when we find ourselves there, most of us try like heck to escape...The following essays breathe life into common (and not so common) waiting places. I hope you find yourself in these pages and conclude, as I have, that some of the most priceless gifts can be discovered while waiting for something else." ~ from Chapter 1

Her essays cover pivotal moments throughout her life where epiphanies slipped in under the mundane. Sometimes it wasn't right in the moment, but years later as she reflected on cherished memories. Some of the highlights: reminiscing about fishing trips as a little girl with her father; comical wedding mishaps (that were likely not so comical in the moment lol); recalling the beauty in her grandmother's hands , seeing all the life lived that showed there during family Scrabble games; revisiting her childhood home as an adult and the emotions that stirred up, turning that glass doorknob and taking in the hush of the place. Eileen also recalls lectures her grandmother would give her about her nail-biting habit, something my own grandmother rides me about to this day!

Eileen also discusses the struggle that comes with sometimes being defined by your spouse's occupation, in her case being the wife of a Methodist pastor. She defines various doubts and fears that unexpectedly came along with the position of a pastor's wife as well as the he pressures and expectations that your congregation can put on you. Button reveals that she often feels she has a "dysfunctional, co-dependent" relationship with the church.

Additionally, there's the strain of trying to figure out what to do, how to make things work when the household income barely covers the monthly bills (Button recalls the day she swallowed her pride and applied for WIC).

"I reach for my daily stack of mail. Today's includes a Rite-Aid weekly flyer, the water bill, and a credit card offer that features three crosses and the message "Jesus Loves You" on the card. The credit card company writes, "Express your faith with every purchase!" There is something deeply wrong with a world in which you can own a credit card with a full color picture of Christ's object of torture printed on it."

She describes added emotional fatigue worrying over her youngest son, who was born with a condition where the upper and lower portions of the esophagus didn't connect. Speaking of her children, one thing I noticed that I found a little disappointing is how she seems to take pride in fixing meals over playing with her children. I mean, yes, it is definitely admirable that she takes the time to make nourishing meals for them, I was just a little surprised when one essay illustrates how one day her kids genuinely seemed shocked when she finally, grudgingly agrees to fly a kite with them. But it is in this moment that she has one of her revelations which she can now share with readers -- why honest presence is so important to her children!

This collection also touches upon the topic of depression. Button shares moments where she deeply hurt for loved ones who had fallen into immense emotional darkness and her inner aggravation at feeling helpless to save them. Here again, she shares the calming takeaways she eventually came to realize are born in life's harder moments. For readers reaching for this book at a time when they find themselves saying, "This is not the life I signed up for," she offers this to marinate on: "To live is to wait. It's how we wait that makes all the difference." Hang in there long enough, you'll find your way to the brass ring.

As a whole, these essays are so enjoyable largely because Button writes in the tone of a good friend who speaks in soft tones but still makes it clear she's been through the wringer in her day and, at least on some level, knows of what she speaks. It's also a kick to see her East Coast upbringing infused into her wording: "wicked dark' "wicked ugly". Her humor balances the heavier bits and I give her bonus points for working in a "Come On Eileen", a nod to my favorite 80s song :-D

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me laugh and cry. Such sweet and thoughtful stories about different "waiting times" in our lives. Loved it.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful narrative of the meaning of everyday life. The Waiting Place is written with fun, relatable humor, and touching stories and takeaways from memories of a woman growing up.

[Sarah McConahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this book so much.

" We can wait all our lives for the next stage to come. Or we can choose to see the waiting place for what it is: unexpectedly magical and holy."

[Laura Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed when I needed it

I was led to this book for a reason, and Eileen’s voice and sincerity spoke to me throughout my experience reading the book. I was able to connect with her in so many levels, and her authenticity and encouragement was so meaningful. Thank you, Eileen.

[Kelly Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this sweet book about finding joy in the waiting.

[Jud · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times beautifully written and at times full of cliché, The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life’s Little Delays by Eileen Button is a worthwhile read if only for its powerful honesty.

Button – an adjunct professor, newspaper columnist, and pastor’s wife – is a competent writer, but she relies a little too much on trite sayings like “too much month left at the end of the money” (pg. 65) that she seems to think are clever.

She also leans too much sometimes toward corny sentimentality – “When we listen closely enough, we think we hear the angels cry.” (pg.121) Button is at her best when she simply tells the stories. These are stories that don’t need sentimental embellishment to bolster their power (good stories rarely do!), and the book falters when she tries to do so.

There’s little that stands out in her writing style, but I found her honesty so courageous that the book’s flaws were forgivable. Indeed, the beauty of The Waiting Place is found in her honesty. Most of us know that church people often expect complete perfection from pastors and their wives, but Button is brave enough to talk about the struggles of a white, formerly middle-class woman who finds herself applying for WIC, a mother suffering through her child’s horrific birth defect, and a pastor’s wife on the receiving end of both the grace and the venom of the church. Some of these struggles are born out of her self-centeredness, and that is what’s so refreshing about The Waiting Place. She is honest about the struggles and about where they come from.

One of my favorite passages is found in chapter 13. Her description of the church is powerful: “She is loving and life changing; she is malicious and overbearing. She is beautiful; she is ugly. She is as light as day, capable of astonishing kindness and generosity; she is as dark as night, capable of unspeakable evil.”

There is not a great deal of theological depth here, all of the stories in The Waiting Place come back to one thing. Eileen Button and her husband had wonderful dreams about where their lives were going and what God would do with them, but it’s never quite looked the way they’d hoped. That is the waiting place – the place where you wait to become. The problem is – as Button discovered and shares with us – that we spend most of our lives in that place. Button tells us that the trick is to find the beauty – the workings of God – in the waiting.



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.”

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays
by Eileen Button

Synopsis



A collection of essays describing the beauty and humor that can be found in what often feels like a most useless state-The Waiting Place.

We all spend precious time just waiting. We wait in traffic, grocery store lines, and carpool circles. We wait to grow up, for true love, and for our children to be born. We even wait to die. But amazing things can happen if we open our eyes in The Waiting Place and peer into its dusty corners. Sometimes relationships are built, faith is discovered, dreams are (slowly) realized, and our hearts are expanded.

With humor and heart-breaking candor, Eileen Button breathes life into stagnant and, at times, difficult spaces. Throughout this collection of essays she contends that The Waiting Place can be a most miraculous place-a place where beauty can be experienced, the sacred can be realized, and God can be found working in the midst of it all.

Includes stories on waiting for:


the day to end
a place called home
the fish to bite
a baby's healing
church to be over
a husband's return
children to grow
a mother's acceptance
a loved one to die

As Eileen says, "To wait is human. To find life in The Waiting Place, divine."

Review

I enjoyed this book. It was honest and endearing.

The Waiting Place is the perfect title. We spend half of our lives waiting for things to happen. Life is want happens in the waiting place.

You get a very personal look into Eileen's life. Her thoughts and feelings she makes her self a open book. She puts the reader in her shoes. You feel the feelings that she felt or close.

A great read.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Waiting Place by Eileen Button
Thomas Nelson, 2011
229 pages
Non-fiction; Essays; Inspirational
4.5/5 stars

Source: Received a free copy from Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review.

Expectation: I hoped for a companionable writing style and I got that in spades as Button drew me into her life. I got that in spades.

I wanted to read this as I am currently in my own waiting place; trying to figure out what I should do now that I'm graduated, submitting loads of job applications and hearing nothing in return, feeling like I should be out on my own instead of living with my parents has been really tough for me.

Thus while not every essay was as powerful for me (I sympathize with Button's worries over her youngest son's health but I haven't had children yet and can't quite grasp the experience), the overall message of the stories rang true for me. Some left me teary-eyed; some left me smiling in recognition; but all left me wanting more of Button's writing. Immediately she engaged me and drew me into her life with her family and Christ.

I had expected more to read more about her relationship with Jesus but that is not the focus as she looks at the people in her life and especially her relationship with her pastor husband and his commitments to his mistress, The Church. But she does see some higher power involved: as the back says, "To wait is human. To find life in the waiting place, divine."

I will definitely keep this book to reread over the years as I mature and learn firsthand some of the insights that Button shared about marriage, children, and adulthood.

[Kaity-Jane Culbertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Waiting Place was a remarkable book that will be staying in my shelf forever. It was absolutely amazing. Button's humorous writings made me laugh continuously while the impact of each lesson hit me full force and caused me to step back and take a look at my own life.

The main message of this book was found in a few simple words -- "In life you have to wait. Its how you wait that matters."
What a profound statement! Truth rings through it, and it really makes a person step back and evaluate their life. Especially mine, as I find myself waiting for a lot at this stage of life -- mainly to move back to the place I call home. But, as Button so wonderfully puts, sometimes you life's unexpected joys in the waiting place.

The content was mild.

Sensuality:

Button mentions on a few occasions being tangled or snuggling in her husband's arms, and also a part where she's discussing her kids and how her and her husband won't have to worry about the kids hearing them "making love" after they're out of the house.
There is a card she reads that says "Do your boobs hang low, do they wobble to and fro, can you tie them in a knot, can you time them in a bow?" off the old "Do your ears hang low" song.
Something minor that I thought I should mention is that Button calls the chuch her husband's "mistress" because she has to fight for time with him(her hubby is a pastor).

All in all, this was an amazing, incredible book that I HIGHLY recommend!

I received this free book in return for an honest review from Book Sneeze. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that I have received free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review program is "The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays" by Eileen Button. Before I read this book, I shuffled/flipped through the pages thinking it was going to be short quotes or/and poems. To me, it looked like a chapter book (which it is), but it was something much more then just a regular and normal 'chapter book'. This book is amazing because throughout every chapter you read, it feels like you grow closer to the author (Eileen Button). There are twenty-two chapters in the book alone. In the table of contents, underneath each content title, Button put's a little sentence or even sometimes something that she is waiting for. I really like how this book is presented. After every chapter that you read, the book makes you want to flip each page without
stopping. This book is a MUST READ!! Yes, I would recommend it to everybody. :)

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.”

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago, I realized that it seems I'm always waiting for something. Waiting for a new phase of my life or for something that I'm looking foward to or even something that I'm dreading. So the premise of this book drew me in: Eileen Button writes twenty-two short essays about the waiting times in her life, and about how we can find beauty in the waiting places if we look. This was a sweet, deeply honest and personal book. Some of the essays are hilarious, and others are heartbreaking. Some of my favorites were: Love Is... (I am waiting for a sign), the ones about the birth of her son Jordan, Redeeming the BVM (I am waiting for my father-in-law to dispose of Mother Mary), Windblown Tails (I am waiting for my children to grow up), Wigmom (I am waiting for my mother to accept me), and Letting Stella Go (I am waiting for a ride). The one and only qualm I had with this book was in one essay where the author says that being a wife and mother wasn't enough for her, and her "career was sitting in the basement in a cardboard box." I believe that being a wife and mother is about the most important God-given job any woman can have, so I was a little disappointed with that.

*I received this book free for review from Booksneeze. I'm only required to write an honest review, not necessarily a positive one.*

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Waiting Place by Eileen Button (I get free books from Thomas Nelson Publishing for agreeing to review them on my blog through BookSneeze.com)
I thought this was going to be a book about practical things to do to endure/enjoy/redeem the moments of life that are spent waiting; kind of a self-help book. Well it wasn't that at all, but I was by no means disappointed. The Waiting Place is more of a memoir of times that Eileen has had places she calls waiting places. These places are gut wrenchingly painful, funny, and normal; about death, health, friendship, life and love (I was reading one a night, but a few days I couldn't put it down and read more but the night of our 10 year anniversary was the one on her falling in love-really cool).
It is beautifully written; will make you laugh and make you cry (or at least it did for me). It was interesting that while we are all different (many situations I had experienced or agreed with, while others weren't in my realm of experience or had an issue with), there are common things to all women, parents, Christians (she did a great job of incorporating her faith in real life) and humans.
Highly recommended, especially to those who enjoy real life, slices of life stories.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: THE WAITING PLACE
Author: Eileen Dutton
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
June 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8499-4625-7
Genre: Essays

We all spend time just waiting. We wait in traffic, grocery store lines and carpool circles. We wait to grow up, for true love, and for our children to be born. We even wait to die. But while we work at the business of living, sometime life feels like one long, boring meeting. We just can’t escape the waiting place, so what do we do while we are there?

Eileen Button has written a bunch of well-written, humorous essays that address the waiting place. Filled with adorable stories and antidotes, this book is sure to amuse you and even make you cry at times.

I requested this book from the publisher, as I am often in a waiting place—have been in one for years. Since this is a Christian publisher I expected there to be some mention of how God meets us in the waiting place, especially as the genre is listed as Christian living/spiritual life on the book. The only mention of God in the book is where the author mentions she was punished for using God’s name in vain. That is it. So while this book was an excellent read, it is not at all what it was promoted to be. I’m giving it 4 stars. $15.99. 229 pages.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays [Paperback] By Eileen Button is a collection of short essays about waiting, whether it’s waiting ‘in traffic, grocery store lines, waiting to grow up or waiting for true love.’
I really enjoyed this book and liked the short essays as it made it easy for me to understand where the author was coming from. There were times throughout this book that I felt for the author especially chapters nine and ten.
Being from the UK I had never read anything by this author before as she writes for the Flint Journal. The book is about discovering things while waiting for something else. At times I was confused as there was language in the book which I didn’t understand. This book made me think about my own life and that true love really is worth waiting for. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

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.”

[Christy Hovey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Waiting Place, Learning to Appreicate Life's Little Delays was such a wonderful read! This book is more than a devotional, it is a a collection of personal essays by the author using her real life experiences to show the reader that amazing things can happen in the places in life where we are forced to wait. It is immediately easy to identify with the author as her essays are honest and relatable. She laments that sometimes in life we think, "this is so not the life I thought I'd have", but then she shows the reader through her own life where God has met her in those places. In the waiting place she is shown that by waiting on what she wants now or what she wants to be finished with or what she THINKS life should be like, she may be missing out on what God has for her. She shows the reader by her stories to treasure life right now, and the people and relationships of the moment, the way they are now, not the way you think they should be or want them to be. I loved how candid the author was, and I loved reading every page in this book. This book really touched my heart, and reminded me to wait, watch, remember, and LIVE! I highly recommend this book! http://christianmombookreview.blogspo...

[Karie Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always considered myself to be impatient, so this book really helped me to enjoy every minute of life, or 'appreciate lifes little delays'. Most of these essays are written with notes about God (Eileens husband is a pastor), but not all essays are, so even if you are not religious, you will still enjoy this book. This book will make you laugh and cry, but most importantly, it teaches you how to value every minute of every day.

This book is about Life. Real experiences. It is both an easy read, and a hard one. Easy, because it is well written, and interesting. Each chapter reads like a short story. Hard, because it deals with difficult situations in life. Situations with which many readers can identify.

Have you experienced difficulties dealing with a parent? A sick child or spouse? The death of a grandparent, or other beloved relative? The church? Yourself? Eileen shares her experiences with these (and other) situations with wit, insight and candor. As an author, she invokes though her sharing, a process of self-reflection within the reader. About Life.These stories are very honest and open, and this book is very delightful and beautiful. Its a must-read

[Abbie Riddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with short essays about just that - waiting. In it you will be encouraged in the time of waiting you are experiencing now. Your perspective might even be forever altered as she read through each essay. I truly enjoyed the honesty and open writing style of Eileen Button. With truth and candor she opens up her heart for others to see. Through it we are invited to savor those times of waiting, to eagerly look for God during these times, to grow with Him and in Him.

I believe this is a book to be read over and over. It is one that will be dog-eared, or marked with sticky-note tabs to mark you favorite essays. Each person who picks up a copy of this book will be able to relate to at least on, if not more, of the essays.

Take time to enjoy your waiting place - look carefully and see what God is doing.

Thank you Booksneeze and Thomas Nelson for this review copy.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reviewing "The Waiting Place" by Eileen Button.

It's a collection of stories from the author's life.

Each story introduces a character that the author has met in her life at one point or the other. The book flows from one scene to the next and before you know it - your done.

The stories are uplifting and motivating.

It showcases the highlights and trials of every day life which any person can relate too.

The author's invites us to dwell on her family life and how it has given her different experiences and has influenced her as a person.

There are many books out there that touch upon family life and family morals.

This book is a delightful read. It will make you laugh or cry, but most times it made me nod as I was reading the pages.

Great read

[Sherrema Oom-Dove · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Waiting Place' is a wonderful read by columnist and Communications professor Eileen Button, who is based in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. She writes endearingly and transparently of her growing up years and early to mid marriage. She shares about heartbreak and triumph and the joys and rigors of sitting in the waiting place, an existential manifestation of life circumstances, relationships in transition, and identity. The complexities of family life, loving sisters, children, husband, packing up to move halfway across the country to Michigan from New York, and religion are all themes that intertwine to create a life.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Waiting Place begins with Eileen Button sitting on her couch, weary and uninspired, waiting for an idea for her weekly column to jump out at her from the pages of Newsweek. Button may not have hit upon the inspiration she needed for her column, but she was struck with the idea of this book. What follows are twenty-one personal vignettes which delve into the joys and frustrations, times of confusion and moments of clarity, that we all encounter in the waiting place.

Continue reading my review here: http://parchmentgirl.com/2011/06/21/r...

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eileen Button’s book, The Waiting Place, is beautiful work that shares sweet vignettes about life and its special in-between places. An enchanting read, it gently entices the reader to travel down the road of her familiar past, while learning to embrace the unique moments where memories can be viewed as gifts.

The Waiting Place has something for everyone. It is inspiring, encouraging, and downright delightful. I loved it!!!

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Waiting Place is a collection of essays inspired by different moments and events in Eileen Button’s life, from childhood to present times.

The book is very well written. Button’s writing is a blend of funny moments and serious life lessons. Once I started reading it I found it hard to let it out of my hands. It was a quick read for me.

Friendly warning: You might instantly fall in love with the book like I did.

Read the full review here: http://bit.ly/2vE8DFP

[Maeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her collection of humorous essays, Eileen Button goes deep into the heart of what we each deal with in our every day lives. The Waiting Place is well-written, and an enjoyable read. Each chapter is a small snapshot of moments that are a part of Eileen Button's life, and ones that we can relate to. this book is a good read if you're looking to find encouragement and inspiration from someone else's life experiences. I hightly recommend this reflective book.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reflections on true to life situations. Down to earth thoughts on the ups and downs of life. Eileen's a beautiful storyteller and has a keen sense of what's real. More books like this please.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had stories in it that brought me to tears and others make me laugh. Lots of right to the heart moments that many of us have experienced. The author has a lot of spunk and made me want to get to know her more.