Everyone has days when things just don't go as planned and life's burdens feel heavier than usual. With more than fifty uplifting true stories, readers will feel embraced by the Spirit and encouraged to be prayerful, forgiving, and appreciative.
This book isn't a novel, but a compilation of short stories of inspiration and faith. Each story takes up three to five pages-perfect for the bathroom. Despite the feel-good factor Walker provides, the book isn't particularly engaging. The stories are predictable and relatively boring. The literary aspects of the book are lacking in expertise; it gives the impression of being written by high school-aged kids, for high school-aged kids. Though I can relate with and appreciate the spirituality of Walker's accounts, I have to acknowledge the simplistic language he uses. Every story begins with a somewhat uninteresting hook, proceeds to tie it to a gospel principle, and ends with the same, uninteresting hook. It's obvious in many instances that he has embellished the past with excessive hyperbole. It makes an adequate toilet read, but inspires little exhilaration in the reader.
I had higher expectations for this book. While I enjoyed the format of very short chapters and individual stories, many stories seemed very underdeveloped. Although I could draw my own conclusions about the moral of each story, it seemed like the author could have spent more time drawing parallels about the gospel principle he was trying to teach instead of just telling the story. While some stories were thoughtful and inspirational, others just seemed more ordinary. But it was still a decent little book that was a quick read, but I think I mostly didn't care for the author's writing style or sense of humor.
This is a fun, quick read. Each chapter is a stand-alone story that really does take five minutes or less to read. There are many great messages contained within the stories. I was particularly touched by the story about the little boy who kept "thinging" (singing with a lisp) in his bed and waking up his sister. When dad walks in to discipline him the little boy asks, "Will you thing with me?" That just melted my heart and I wanted to give that little boy a hug!
Everyone needs to be inspired at some point in there lives. This book helps to soften your heart, helps you to see your blessings, and puts a smile on your face.
Fun little messages that can leave an impact on how little things can make a big difference. None are especially memorable, thus the 3 stars. Great for when you need a little pick me up.