Wednesday, April 30, 2014

It's here! It's here! Something Other Than God is finally here!


So, I've been agonizing over how to review Jennifer Fulwiler's book, Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It, which is now finally in print and on the market. (I think she started writing it when she was five years old? Do I have that right, Jen?)

Then I realized that I all I really needed to do was tell my wonderful readers that if you love the logic and clarity and fun that we have in the Bubble, then this book is for you. And if you hate the Bubble with a passion, well, at least we all love a good story, right?

You will not be able to put this book down. I took it with me everywhere, reading at track meets, piano lessons, during breakfast, late into the night. Jen's is the Lay's potato chips of conversion stories.

Chapter 20 alone is worth the price of the book. Trust me.

Aaaaand in my teensy-weensy way, I was part of this epic project. Here's where I was going to go into all these cool details about how I came to know Jennifer long before I had a blog (gosh, I can't even imagine why she answered my email back then??), and how we finally met in person over three years ago (when her book was in the "final stages of editing", ha ha!) and shared breakfast at the Phoenix airport (picture a six-foot redheaded bombshell in stylish boots meeting short older lady in tennies -- no wonder I insisted we both be sitting for the photo), and more recently how she asked me to read one of the earlier drafts of her book and wanted my thoughts (as if she needed them!), and then how I received an advance copy of the real deal and got all fan-girlie at the fact that my name appears in the acknowledgements (eeeeeeeeeek!), and how my husband was squealing when he saw the book, too, but not because of his wife's name, but because the book included an endorsement by none other than his favorite author, Dean Koontz (check the back of the dust jacket!).

So, you see, I was going to give you all those details, and then I realized that nobody should be spending time reading a long blog post about a book when instead they could be reading the book already!

Oh, but one more thing. As if all this were not exciting enough, Jen fed my narcissism helped me overcome my humble nature by including me in this unbelievably fun and touching video montage featuring a star-studded cast of Catholic writing and blogging luminaries reading excerpts from her book. Though I am ridiculously out of place in that august group, it felt good that Jen's husband was a banana:





My daughter thought I sounded funny (as in, she laughed at me) and not at all like myself (a bit stiff? And hey, the audio skipped), but I don't care because it's just a thrill to be the blip between Abby Johnson and Grace Patton, oh my!

Bottom line… This is a book you will love. This is a book that you will read in one or two sittings and then loan out to all your friends and relatives. Honestly, this is a book that will make you feel more human.

Get this book.









16 comments:

  1. What a great video!! I'm glad you were in it Leila. And I think it is a terrific way of promoting the book.

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  2. I finished it last night. LOVED it. :)

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  3. YOu came out great in the video!!! and so did the other Catholic super bloggers!!! This video finally gave me a chance to see what all of these bloggers, up until this point living solely inside of my computer, actually look and sound like...haha You were wonderful! Amazon finally sent me an email to day that SOGT has just shipped...so I'm eagerly waiting..

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  4. Leila, I was so excited to see (and hear) you on that trailer! You did great and were the perfect compliment to that list of rockstar bloggers/authors. Can't wait to read the book!

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  5. I was so excited to see you on the video! I made my husband watch it but I stopped short of telling him, "see her? She's the reason I am trying so hard to be nice to you you! She the one who told me to read The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands!"

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  6. I loved seeing you and everyone else on the video too. It made me think that all bloggers should have a little video clip introducing themselves so we can see what they sound like "in life"...as opposed to the voice I hear in my head when reading their blogs. Amazon is saying my copy should arrive on Saturday, the suspense!!

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  7. Thanks, guys!! I am not sure why my eyes were open that wide. And Ann-Marie, ha ha ha!!

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  8. Oh my gosh, what an awesome review!

    And I didn't start writing the book when I was *five*, silly! I was four.

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  9. Finished it this afternoon and loved it as well. I agree about Chapter 20...and about 20 of the other chapters as well. Loved the was she articulated her logic as she reasoned it all out. Can't wait to share it with others!

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  10. Book is ordered and on its way!! We leave for the beach in 9 days and I am seriously considering "saving" it until then so I can enjoy it on the beach but that probably won't happen :)
    You were so beautiful in the video!! What a great idea to promote the book!

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  11. Thanks, guys!! When those of you who haven't read it have read it, please come back and tell me what you thought!

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  12. Finished it about an hour ago! I have to say that Chapter 36 was my favorite. The problem of suffering is beautifully addressed.

    I have 33 highlighted quotes in my Kindle edition. Here's one from Chapter 17:

    "Joe put his hand on my shoulder and leaned toward the screen. He whispered words intermittently as he read. 'The Bible nowhere claims for itself that it is authoritative... also the issue of canon, which books to include... if the Bible doesn't provide an infallible index, we can't know what's inspired...'

    Joe stood up. 'He's Catholic, isn't he?'

    'Yes! Isn't that nuts? They all are!'

    'You need to stop messing around with these people. Catholics believe weird stuff.'"

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  13. Welp, just like I thought, I started the book after putting the girls down around 8pm on Saturday evening. 6 hours later, I was finished. I could not put that thing down. WOW! I am still processing it. It was so well written! Such a beautiful story of the hand of God in just one life. And I immediately felt like I could more easily recognize Him in mine.

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  14. My book came on Thursday but I haven't had a chance to start reading it yet. Can't wait!

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