This is not going to be a complete review on this book by Jennifer Luitwieler because I CANNOT get through this stupid book. I was so excited to receive this book from Amazon. It had great reviews and great hype. Wow have I been disappointed. This book is an unorganized, scatter brained account of a lady (Jennier – the author) and the process of trying to find herself. It occasionally touches on running and how she relates it to her finding herself and easing her struggles. The style of writing reminds me of an old Gilmore Girls episode gone terribly wrong. Trying to be witty and quick, she falls short. She tries to be funny but to me, she has failed miserably. I have had 1 page so far (I am 75% of the way through) that I have dogearred because it has a quote from SOMEONE ELSE that I like. Nothing to do with her. I usually am very drawn to these light and fun reads but this has been miserable. She does a fair amount of church bashing although she is starting to come around, so it seems. She will start a story and how it has helped her grow, change, whatever, but never follows through. It lacks details and the element that makes you want to keep reading. Usually I can immediately find a connection with the main character in a book but I am still stuck looking for ways to form a relationship with Jennifer. My perception of the book must be terribly wrong given the raving reviews on Amazon. Best of luck if you try and read this book. I am off to read something else that will hopefully suppress my literary appetite.
I'm so sorry you did not enjoy Jennifer's book. I found it both touching and hysterical - that passage about pockets - holy cow! I was laughing out loud.
ReplyDeleteI found her unwillingness to wrap up life lessons in tidy bows to be refreshing. Life doesn't do tidy - it does messy and hard and repetitive, but never tidy.
I wish you had been able to find some joy in the book as so many of us have.
Hi Jordan Family,
ReplyDeleteI'm with Andi - I loved Jennifer's book as well.
I think memoirs are subject to a phenomenon we face in everyday life: We like, dislike, or are indifferent to people we meet in real life all the time. Because memoirs are so personal, I wonder if this tendency applies to the written word as well.
I know Jennifer personally, and she is an immensely likable person with a salty, spirited personality and give for gab and word wizardry. In other words, perhaps if you met Jennifer in real life, you might not naturally gravitate toward her. I say that not as a criticism, of course. We meet people that do not make sense to us - who seem "scatterbrained" to us - but to others there is a beauty in the creative chaos.
I also think it's entirely possible for two people to read the same book and have polar opposite responses to it - with both responses being valid. This is especially true when a book is popular, well liked, and built up by expectations.
I do hope the page you dogearred was the page I wrote. That was one good page. :) That's my final comment. ;)
Be well, Jordan Family. As Jennifer's friend and sometime-PR rep, I salute your right to review her book negatively. I stand by my enjoyment of her writing all the same. ;)
Most Sincerely (Indeed),
Chad Thomas Johnston
I read Run with Me by Jennifer Luitwieler, and find myself wondering if you read the same book. My advice to the author would be to investigate copyright infringements because some dastardly rouge author has written a bad version of her book.
ReplyDeleteMy second piece of advice to the author would be to ignore this blog entry. Although it is doubtful she will ever read it, let alone anyone else beside me and my friend Andi above.
However, if someone else stumbles upon this little gravel road in the internet, I'm sure they will cease reading after the first sentence of pathetic grammar and sentence structure.
I am off to read real book reviews that will hopefully have an opinion that actually matters; to others besides me and my pal Andi.