Monday, May 2, 2011

Fruitcake Reads: Heaven is for Real


There tends to be very little rhyme or reason to the books I pick up to read.  I like Young Adult, Children's, Adult, fiction, non-fiction.  I like to read and chances are, if a book is recommended to me, I will eventually read it.  A month or so ago, I saw/ heard no less than five people recommend Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo in one week.  I immediately put it on reserve at the library and waited.

Basic premise of the book is that Burpo's son had a near-death experience when he was three or four years old and slowly reveals details to his parents about who and what he saw in heaven.  Hey, you know what?  I like reading about near-death experiences, I like reading things kids say, I'm curious about heaven.  All that should make for a definite "I recommend this book.  Run, buy, and read this! I'm buying 20 copies and giving it as a gift to everyone I know."  But it didn't.

The meat of the story had a lot of potential, but I felt like I was listening to the longest sermon/ homily in the world.  Burpo is a preacher though and not an author, so I understand why it sounded like that.  I just think having someone else help them tell their story and make it more of a story, with details and feeling, would have made for a better book.  The book got 4.5 stars on Amazon right now though so I may be the only one thinking that.  

The breakdown, I wouldn't not recommend Heaven is for Real, but I won't be purchasing my own copy.  I think I had just set too high of expectations for it.

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