Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler, by Jamie McGuire

Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I won this book from the Goodreads Giveaways program; sign up with Goodreads, find their Giveaways program (at the down arrow next to the Explore link) for your chance to win cool books!

Have you ever browsed through a bookstore, found an interesting looking book, read a page or two, bought the book, then found that either: a) you happened to pick what apparently were the most brilliant two pages of the book and that the rest left you cold, or b) the rest of the book was as good as, if not better than, the two pages you read and that you now have to buy every book by this author? C'mon, if you're anything like me, you know that both scenarios have happened to you at least once. And while certain edited compilations have been interesting, while leaving out long blocks of texts, they're not quite what you're looking for.

Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler, by Jamie McGuire is a wonderful way to read more than that page or two of several books without overwhelming the reader. The premise is that the reader gets a decent section of the book, ranging from four pages of one chapter (Colleen Hoover's Slammed) to a fourteen page segment of two chapters (The Sea of Tranquility, by Katja Millay). (The other book segments in this sampler were fro Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster, Love Unscripted, by Tina Reber, Naked, by Raine Miller, and One Tiny Lie, by K.A. Tucker.)

Each segment was enough to really get a feel for the book that it came from without overwhelming, leaving the reader either wanting more, while knowing that yes, it would be worth the price, or thankful that it wasn't a longer segment. However, the samples were chosen in such a way that each segment prompted me to want to buy the entire book that the segment came from.

Both Atria Books and Jamie McGuire have a hit with Atria Books: A Booklovers Sampler. I look forward to reading other samplers from Atria Books, as well as the entire books that subsequent segments are from.

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When Katie Wakes, by Connie May Fowler

When Katie Wakes by Connie May Fowler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Connie May Fowler since reading Before Women Had Wings maybe ten years ago. Blame it on Oprah Winfrey: this was one of the books Oprah mentioned that I decided to read. After reading Ms. Fowler's heart-wrenching book, I was instantly hooked on her writing.

In When Katie Wakes, Ms. Fowler tells her amazing story of breaking free from years of abuse with the unconditional love of her dog, Katie. While Before Women Had Wings was fiction dealing with domestic violence, When Katie Wakes is Fowler's memoir. In it, she chronicles the emotional and physical abuse she endured growing up. However, the majority of the book deals with the abusive relationship with a man thirty years her senior and how she managed to escape.

Early on in the book, she adopts Katie, a wonderful dog who, as dogs are known to do, gives unconditional love. It is this love that eventually gives Connie the strength to leave.

Many who read this memoir might be tempted to ask "What did she (Ms. Fowler) do to warrant this abuse? Why didn't she just leave?" Both are the wrong questions, no matter who is being abused, the age of the abused and abuser, the gender(s) of those involved, etc. The first question needs to be replaced with "Why did he/she abuse him/her?" The second question has many answers: financial, emotional, family situation, lack of services (including shelters), as well as a number of reasons. Rather than blaming the victim, we should marvel at the courage it takes for the victim to leave.

Courage is what Connie May Fowler eventually shows in this stunning memoir. While Katie's unconditional love helps her gather her courage, Ms. Fowler was also fortunate to have someone who, near the end, gave her hope. Between the two, Ms. Fowler was able to fully gather the strength and courage to escape.

This memoir is a must-read for anyone who wants a reason to cheer someone discovering her bravery.

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