April's Buddy Read: The Five Times I Met Myself by James L. Rubart

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Hello! The group buddy for April is James L. Rubart's The Five Times I Met Myself.

Summary:
What if you met your twenty-three year old self in a dream? What would you say?

Brock Matthews’ once promising life is unraveling. His coffee company. His marriage.

So when he discovers his vivid dreams—where he encounters his younger self—might let him change his past mistakes, he jumps at the chance. The results are astonishing, but also disturbing.

Because getting what Brock wants most in the world will force him to give up the one thing he doesn’t know how to let go of . . . and his greatest fear is it’s already too late.

[Kate]

I'm looking forward to this one for sure! :)

[Andrea, Hospitality Coordinator]

I'm hoping to get to this one this month.

[Staci, Book Awards Specialist]

This was my first James Rubert novel. It's not something I'd normally read, but it was book of the year as part of the Christy Awards so I decided to give it a try. I very much enjoyed it!!

[Andrea, Hospitality Coordinator]

I'm glad to hear that, Staci. I was hesitant about this one, but I've heard so many great things about it. Having Mr. Rubart as our featured author is a great excuse for me to try it.

[Charlene]

I'm in for this one... I have to say this author has peeked my interest. I'm very excited to get started :).

[Melina]

This is not a book I would normally pick up, (I’m very much a cover lover) but I’m looking forward to reading along with everyone! This is my first GoodReads book club read along. :)

[Staci, Book Awards Specialist]

Welcome Melina! Glad to have you join.

[Hannah]

I guess I'll skip....too many books demanding my time at the moment! 😬

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Probably goes without saying, but I am reading this one. This will be my first Rubart novel. :)

It's not something I'd normally read either, so I'm glad that it was picked for the read and Author of the Month.

[Andrea, Hospitality Coordinator]

Melina, I'm so glad you're joining in! I hope it will be an enjoyable experience for you.

Hannah, we'll miss you! But we understand.

[Chantel]

The title sounds really intriguing! I'm looking forward to reading this one. :-)

[Agnieszka]

Since I knew this book will be our book of the month and I still had to buy a book in my Christian book club, I got the German edition of this book and will join the discussion.
For a change I really love the German cover:

For those interested in languages: the literal translation of the Geman title Der Traum, der keiner war would be The Dream That Wasn't One. Unfortunatelly the German publishers tend to give titles that reflect the story instead of translating them (if possible) and spoil somethimes the story :-( Luckily this time it wasn't the case since that much information is in the blurb or the original book :-)

[Lila]

I really wanted to join y'all, but my library didn't have this one. :( I'll check again in a couple of weeks, but I doubt I'll get it. (And my husband has banned me from buying any more on Amazon!) ;) Oh, well, it's still on my to-read list, and maybe I can join the next one.

[Sarita]

This was my first read by this author. I really liked this book, so much so that I will read more of his books.

He did remind me a bit of Ted Dekker, but I enjoyed this book more than Dekker's books I have read

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Agnieszka wrote: "Since I knew this book will be our book of the month and I still had to buy a book in my Christian book club, I got the German edition of this book and will join the discussion.
For a change I real..."

Oh, I like the cover of the German edition! It's a bit more eye-catching I think.

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Sarita wrote: "This was my first read by this author. I really liked this book, so much so that I will read more of his books.

He did remind me a bit of Ted Dekker, but I enjoyed this book more than Dekker's boo..."

Glad to hear you enjoyed it more than Dekker's books. I'm not the biggest fan of his books.

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Lila wrote: "I really wanted to join y'all, but my library didn't have this one. :( I'll check again in a couple of weeks, but I doubt I'll get it. (And my husband has banned me from buying any more on Amazon!)..."

Hope you can catch the next one, Lila! Or perhaps try a buddy read sometime. :)

[Karin]

I have ordered this from the state catalogue, so it might take a while to get it, but I'm so happy it's not a romance!!!

[Cheryl]

I really did enjoy this book. For those of us that have those feelings of talking to your younger self to share your wisdom that you've gained, this book will appeal.

[Kriste]

I just started this book. It is my first by this author.

[Christine]

I liked this book a lot. Not what I would normally read but I'm glad I did!!

[Lila]

I finally found it as an ebook through my library's website! I started it on Saturday not knowing how long it was, and I couldn't just stop in the middle. I finished it all in one day! :) Very compelling, although not what I would ever have chosen, either. I'm still mulling it over; it's one of those books that makes you think.

I posted my full review on Goodreads, but do we need to wait for a certain time before we start discussing it in here?

[Kriste]

Just finished.... thought provoking.

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Lila wrote: "I finally found it as an ebook through my library's website! I started it on Saturday not knowing how long it was, and I couldn't just stop in the middle. I finished it all in one day! :) Very comp..."

Lila, we usually try to wait until about mid-month to open discussion with spoilers. However, if you want to post your thoughts and use the "spoiler" feature to hide any spoilers, you can do that.

Once mid-month roles around, I'm okay with posting and not worrying about hiding any spoilers. :)

I'm glad you were able to find it and that you enjoyed it!

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Kriste wrote: "Just finished.... thought provoking."

Christine wrote: "I liked this book a lot. Not what I would normally read but I'm glad I did!!"

Glad you guys liked it! :)

[Beth, Head Librarian]

Finally got to start this one! Definitely enjoying it so far. Very intriguing concept.

[Andrea, Hospitality Coordinator]

I finished the book last night. It was strange, complex, and interesting. The final eight chapters really saved this one for me, as most of the way through it, I wasn't sure what to think of it. Definitely not my normal genre, but I am glad I was stretched to read it by this challenge.

Jim, I was most impressed by these things:
1. The way you created so many realities/places with such few words. The settings really came alive for me swiftly every time the lead woke up.
2. The complexity. I don't know how you kept all the details straight from one reality to the next through the entire thing, but well done on that! Any tips for how to do so?
3. The redeeming quality of those final eight chapters. I was blown away by those chapters and how well you brought the faith thread to a satisfying end.

[Sarita]

I Agree Andrea. That last few chapters were like "Bam - wow!" for me.

[Beth, Head Librarian]

I was also impressed by the complexity! I think I would need a chart to keep all of the timelines straight.

The end of the book definitely made the story for me. I liked that there was not a magical fix. It was much more poignant than I was expecting.

[Sarita]

Beth, I agree. I was glad that he still had to deal with the consequences of his decisions, just like we have to even though we were forgiven for our mistakes.

[Andrea, Hospitality Coordinator]

Exactly, y'all. Reading my mind there. :)

[AlegnaB †]

I can remember reading and really enjoying the book while on a family vacation in 2016. I can remember what the place we stayed in looked like inside and where I would sit while reading the book on my kindle. But I can’t remember enough about the book to discuss it. 🙁