Ahem.
I finished Sense and Sensibility and once that was done I decided I wanted something a little bit different before diving right back into the world of Jane Austen. So I took Heaven is for Real from my sister's shelf and read it in a day. It's quite liberating to read a book in a day after reading a book that took you much longer than that (my own fault, let me assure you).
I was updating my goodreads.com account when I noticed that one of my old teachers gave Sense and Sensibility 5/5 stars. I was suddenly struck with a lack of self confidence. But I stuck with what I planned to give it when I first logged onto the site, 3/5 (meaning I liked it, it was better than okay, I just couldn't bring myself to say I REALLY liked it or loved it). Here's why. First of all, from the very beginning, the book was competing with my love for Pride and Prejudice. There were a few times during the book where I thought, "This just isn't as good as Pride and Prejudice." Perhaps that's not entirely fair, but it's the truth. I did like it more as it went along, and having only seen Emma Thompson's movie rendition of the tale, I enjoyed a lot of the background details and insights that the book provides that aren't as clear in the movie. On that note, I found myself commending Emma Thompson for her work on the movie. She did a very good job in my opinion trying to include all the important aspects of the original work. That's not an easy thing to do. I have a feeling that given time I will come to love this book. You may recall that the first time I read Pride and Prejudice I hated it and now it's one of my favorite books of all time. It is a good story with some memorable characters, but I felt it a little slow at parts and while some characters are memorable, I thought some of the main characters needed a little bit more (meaning more of the love interests than say the Miss Dashwoods).I first heard of Heaven is for Real while I was attending the Publishing Institute in Denver. I saw it on a shelf at the Tattered Cover (which you should go to if you're ever in the Denver area!) and my roommate mentioned how she'd wanted to read it. By the time I saw it on my sister's shelf, I'd heard a little more about it and thought I'd give it a read. It relates the story of Colton Burpo who had an emergency appendectomy back in 2003. He was lucky to survive. Over the next couple of years, he related to his parents the experiences he had during his surgery...when he went to heaven and back. It's a touching story. It made me tear up a few times. And it's a quick read. It's a story of a family who was blessed with the life of their son. It's about faith and trust in God and that He loves us more than we can imagine. Colton's experience hasn't just affected his family, but he's been able to offer comfort to others because of his experience. If that's not enough to get you interested, it also has pictures! What more could you ask for :)
