As most of you know we’re participating in a blog tour of “The Route” by Gale Sears.  If you comment on this review you will be entered to win a signed copy of the book.  You can also visit the other sites on the tour to comment and enter to win there as well, from Aug. 24th until Sept. 14th.  Some of the other sites have included author interviews, so make sure to check them out!

Zipping along life’s highway . . .
Fifty makes you think. Thirty makes you morose, and forty makes you
panic, but fifty makes you think. Half a century, and what is my life?
Does it resemble anything I dreamed at sixteen, or expected at twenty,
or hoped at twenty-five? What am I doing here? . . . I thought of
climbing to the top of a high mountain in Tibet to consult a wise man,
but I like vacations where there ís indoor plumbing and vegetation.
Since I already attended church, I thought perhaps I could pay closer
attention. Maybe I’d been missing a great fundamental truth. Well,
come to find out, I had been missing something. . . . (excerpt from The
Route)

Carol, a middle-aged wife and mother, is pondering the meaning
of life. On a trip to the grocery store to find some energizing dark
chocolate, she sees a sign asking for volunteers to deliver meals to
the elderly. When Carol decides to take a chance and help out, she’s
in for a life-changing—and route-altering—experience.

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I finished reading this book and immediately went on Amazon to order two more as gifts.  This is exactly that kind of book.  I would compare it to a perfect dinner party.  Carol is our host, sweet and funny- she reminds me of that favorite aunt everyone has.  Her guests are each so quirky and lovable that it’s no wonder she wants all of us to get to know them.  I fell in love with them just as much as Sears wanted me too, and then some.  There are so many wisdom nuggets in this book that I’ll warn you, I had to tear myself away to go and find a pen.  It’s a very quick read, that will warm your heart.

Laura

*********

I’ve always been a little freaked out by old people–their illnesses, their fragility, their needs–so I was a little hesitant when I realized this book centers around a cast of different senior citizens.  The narrator seemed to share some of my fears, but I overcame them just as quickly as she did.  The characters’ endearing personalities and fascinating experiences eclipsed their problems, and I found myself wanting to know more about each one of them (there are quite a few on her route).

Not only are the old folks lovable and realistic, however.  The narrator, Carol, makes the journey utterly enjoyable thanks to her own honesty, compassion and ability to laugh at herself.  I loved how strong and real her voice was.  This book definitely had the potential to be preachy in that it had so many life lesson and spiritually teaching moments, and yet not once did those lessons feel condescending or judgmental.  Carol observes and absorbs with an open, grounded perspective that I found really refreshing.

Julianne

You can find The Route by Gale Sears at:

www.amazon.com

For more information on The Route, visit:

http://walnutspringspress.blogspot.com and/or
http://www.galesears.blogspot.com/