Wednesday, August 17, 2011

My Bookshelf Review ~ One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Here is a link to the book and the authors page so you know what book I am talking about first.


One Thousand Gifts Website  


My hubby is happy I have "finally made it through that book!"  Yes, this was not an easy read for me.  I had heard so much about how wonderful this book was ~ talking about gratitude and living with thankfulness in our hearts, etc etc.  
I had nightmares for the first maybe 3 chapters.
Ann is a very vivid writer.  Having experienced similar loses in my young life, it was too vivid as I was reliving my own loses at night.  Maybe if you've never experienced such, the descriptions help you understand the searing pain. 
 My Mom and I were both reading this book.  My Mom was very quiet for days until she finished this book.  She said afterwards... "I don't need to write my book, I think she already wrote it". 
I am a no-nonsense type gal and found all the description a little overwhelming.  Don't get me wrong, I have been striving to invite more "beauty" into my life and as a family we give thanks daily for many different things.  I have many lists of what I am thankful for. I don't believe I take anything for granted ~ I know how quickly it can be taken away.
Ann is a great writer, but my brain had a hard time with the wording...I needed a dictionary to understand some words.  She also doesn't use prepositions "the, a, etc" often so the sentences didn't flow easily to my reading.   " moon glowing" , not "the moon", etc. It was written more as a musical to sound beautiful to your ear.
All in all, it was a good book.  I don't know who I'd recommend it to.  I did let a friend read it before I even got to it.  She told me "it was a hard read".  I concur.
Yes, be thankful in everything.  God is good.  All the time.  He loves us.  
That is my review.  I have given away my copy but haven't heard what she thought of it.  It is very popular.

2 comments:

CAT said...

Thanks for this review. I have been considering getting this book, also by recommendations from others. I am extremely sensitive and prone to getting fearful when hearing tragic stories of others, so I'm guessing if you were having nightmares from it, I would also. I can't even watch movies right now unless they are "fluffy", like romantic comedies...etc. I'm not that way with books, but have a hard time with true tragic stories.

Unknown said...

It was a confusing book to me. I really wanted to love it. It was maybe too personal for me and my Mom. The idea to keep a running list of things you are thankful for is good though. That you could do! Maybe get a list going with your men in your life. A family gratitude list. hummm then you don't even have to read the book. She's very descriptive, but her website has a nice video, etc that isn't depressing. I didn't want to give a 'bad' review, just a honest one.