Review: Without a Word: How a Boy's Unspoken Love Changed Everything

Title:  Without a Word:  How a Boy's Unspoken Love Changed Everything

Author:  Jill Kelly

Genre:  Memoir/Christian Biography (September 2010)

About:  Football star Jim Kelly and his wife Jill find out their infant son has a rare, fatal illness and is expected to survive for only 14 months. This is the story of how Hunter Kelly, who succumbed to Krabbe Leukodystrophy at the age of 8, changed their lives forever.

Thoughts:  Absolutely loved this story. Jilly Kelly does a fabulous job of opening her heart, her life, her marriage, her struggles, and her reality to readers. Several pages of pictures are included, which is always my favorite part. I'm a visual person, so to be able to read the story and see the pictures made it all the more heartbreaking and inspirational. The book is faith-based, and I enjoyed reading about Jim Kelly's transformation from philanderer to faithful servant.

Source:  Library

Why I Chose:  This was everything I love in a book all wrapped in one - medical-related, sad but inspirational, lots of pictures, memoir, sports.

Recommend?  Yes, definitely.

Rating: 5/5

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Review: Glimpsing God

Author:   Rachel Alkire

Genre:  Listed as Biography/Autobiography

About:  The author tells of several tragedies in her life:  her own near-death experience, her daughter's skull being crushed by bullies, a car accident in which her oldest son is rendered unconscious, and the diagnosis of three of her five children with an irreparable genetic brain disorder.

Descriptive Words:  Enduring faith, unbelievable trials

Thoughts:  Most of us go through trials in our lives, but thankfully not to the extent that Rachel Alkire has. 

One incident after another left this Christian author questioning God's purpose and reasoning.  Why was she being tested so severely?  What did He want from her?  First her heart stopped during a C-section.  Then her daughter's skull was broken when a child hit her with a baseball bat.  Then she was in a car accident with four of her children and her son was left unconscious.  Soon after, three of her children were diagnosed with a genetic brain disorder.  What next?

I enjoyed this honest, heartfelt story.  The writing flowed and was easy to read.  I felt sympathetic towards the author and connected with her.  Her courage to question God while enduring one incident after another - yet remaining faithful, knowing God is omniscient - was inspirational. The only aspect I didn't like was the dialogue between her and God.  It worked at first, but soon became monotonous.  "Is he dead???  No, this cannot be!  NO!  He is our promised son!  God, you didn't give him to us to take him away like this!"  Take the seat belt off. (God's voice).  And when she wasn't talking to God she was talking to herself, which, again, was fine at first but became slightly annoying by the end. 

For the most part, though, Glimpsing God was enjoyable, and I liked her conversational writing style.  I would read this author's work again. 

Source:  Arielle Roper at Bring It On! Communications -  I was not paid for this review but was given a free copy of the book.

Why I Chose:  I enjoy reading about others' misfortunes and how they are strengthened by them in the end.

Recommend?  Yes, if you like to read about others' tragedies and how their faith helps them through.

Rating:  3.5 / 5

Author's Blog

Review: I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy

Author: Angie Smith

Genre: Memoir (2010)

About: The author finds out when she is 18-weeks pregnant with her fourth daughter that the baby, Audrey, has conditions which leave her "incompatible with life." She decides to carry the pregnancy to term for as long as the baby lives. Angie Smith is the wife of Todd Smith, a singer in the Christian group Selah. She has a popular blog called Bring the Rain.

Descriptive Words: Cope, loss, hope, peace

Thoughts: I ordered this book from my library just because of the title. I had no idea that the author was the same person whose blog I found a while back. You know...one of those you find by clicking on one blog who mentions another blog, so you click on that, and so on? In her blog Bring the Rain, Angie Smith chronicles her pregnancy with Audrey and the devastation of finding out the baby would not survive. The blog was so popular - and her writing so beautiful - that it's not surprising she turned her story into a book.


Boy, did this make me cry. I know my blogger friends won't be picking this one up any time soon, but I loved it. The pictures, the scripture, the writing, the love, the honesty, the emotions... Mmm... Beautiful. I like reading books that make me cry. To me it means the author did a great job. Obviously the premise of the book is sad, so to most people it wouldn't take much to make them cry, but I'm a tough cookie because of all the memoirs I read. Angie Smith is talented. If you like books that are sad but inspirational, this is a good one.

Source: Library

Why I Chose: The title of the book sucked me right in.

Recommend? YES, if you can "do" sad. (Don't you like a good cry every once in a while?)

Rating: 5/5

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