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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Book Review - The Books They Gave Me - Jen Adams

The Books They Gave Me: True Stories of Life, Love, and Lit

Title:       The Books TheyGave Me

Author:  Jen Adams

Review:  This is a book about books.  Books that people have been given and how their lives were changed or touched by these books.  I enjoyed reading about the different books, especially the ones I had read and how they affected their lives.

I was given the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, when I was younger by my Aunt Pat.  I loved that book and read it every night until I had every poem there memorized.  This book really opened my eyes to the funny things that people say, do and other peoples imagination.  I read and I laughed and I loved that book and the others that followed it.  What a wonderful gift that I have now given to my children to enjoy.  I love books because they are gifts that keep giving…year after year after year.

This book reminds me of the Post Secret Series of books, which I love.   This is a book about books that anyone who reads and enjoys the written word will also love.  I may not have agreed with everyone’s ideas of why the books were important, but I respect their opinions and enjoyed the insight it gave me into those books, even the ones I have read.

Publisher: Published November 6th 2012 by Atria Books
ISBN: 9781451688795
Copyright: 2012
Pages:  256
Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)
Why I Read It:  I thought it sounded interesting.
Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent by the publisher for review.

Synopsis:  THE GIFT OF A BOOK BECOMES PART OF THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE. Perhaps it came with a note as simple as “This made me think of you,” but it takes up residence in your heart and your home. The Books They Gave Me is a mixtape of stories behind books given and received. Some of the stories are poignant, some snarky, some romantic, some disastrous—but all are illuminating. Jen Adams collected nearly two hundred of the most provocative stories submitted to the tumblr blog TheBooksTheyGaveMe.com to capture the many ways books can change our lives and loves, revealing volumes about the relationships that inspired the gifts. These stories are, by turns, romantic, cynical, funny, dark, and hopeful. There’s the poorly thought out gift of Lolita from a thirty-year-old man to a teenage girl. There’s the couple who tried to read Ulysses together over the course of their long-distance relationship and never finished it. There’s the girl whose school library wouldn’t allow her to check out Fahrenheit 451, but who received it at Christmas with the note, “Little Sister: Read everything you can. Subvert Authority! Love always, your big brother.” These are stories of people falling in love, regretting mistakes, and finding hope. Together they constitute a love letter to the book as physical object and inspiration.

Illustrated in full color with the jackets of beloved editions, The Books They Gave Me is, above all, an uplifting testament to the power of literature.
Image of Jen Adams 
Author Biography:   After a decade and a half spent in Chicago, where she worked as a freelance writer and served as a founding contributing editor of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, Jennifer Adams moved to New York to be closer to The Strand. She is at work on a variety of projects, including a zombie novel for middle-grades readers. She blogs sporadically at Jen-Adams.com. She lives in Astoria, New York, and is the mother of two boys.

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