#BookReview : The five people you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination, but an answer. 

Another year , I have stuck to the ritual of starting the year with Mitch Albom . Unlike other years , I picked the one , I had not read before  - The five people you meet in heaven. All these years , I avoided this book thinking that this would be about people from the central character's life and would not mean that much for me. Perhaps I doubted Mitch Albom is his brilliance , in his magical lessons and making each story valuable to the reader.

This year , I learned about sacrifice and choice ; how every action of ours is linked to even people we do not meet ever in our lifetime. I learned of forgiving the loved ones for their actions, no matter how much it hurt. Most times , there always is their version of love and care that remains unexpressed in all the silence. I felt at peace reading the story of Eddie , like it gave some meaning to reading , to my life at the moment and to my hopes for myself.

This is a beautiful story and I think we all can have some take away from the people Eddie meets.

Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.” 

“The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.” 

My rating : 5/5

#BookReview : Have a little faith by Mitch Albom

From the last 4 years , I have been reading "Tuesdays with Morrie" in the first week of Jan. And being someone too used to rituals, I never tried another book or author. This year God had other plans so I happened to come across this book "have a little faith" by same author.

This is a true story of Mitch's Rabi and their conversations in differed settings over a period of 8 years. In those eight years, Mitch gets a chance to rediscover faith , his roots and also some of the human emotions he had lost touch with. The book also has the story of Henry , a convict turned into Christian pastor. And for me that story was some how more inspiring.

The book no where wants you to believe in God but more than that it makes you aware of the ways we have tied our self to meaningless pursuits and how our joys are always linked to what and how much we give back to others. It is a lot of stuff you already know but put in context of real people - people who are flawed yet the goodness survives even today.

When i started, I was not aware of the reasons this book was my first read of 2016 but once I was done with about half, I knew that like Mitch this was my chance to re discover my faith and define my actions going forward 'cause

Faith is about doing. It is how you act , not what you believe. 

I personally liked this book though many sceptical readers might not enjoy it as much. Still this one I feel has something for all of us.

My rating : 4/5

Here's wishing you a glorious year in all you do and read. Bless you !  

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom.

Author – Mitch Albom.

Synopsis.

On his eighty-third birthday, Eddie, a lonely war veteran, dies in a tragic accident trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his – and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden but place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. There people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed his path forever.

Words of AT.

The book starts with Eddie, the worker in an Amusement Park i.e. Ruby Pier. He dies saving a little girl of whose name he is unsure of. He dies and wakes up in a different place. He there, meets a big Blue Man who is the First Person he meets in Heaven.

                                                      There are some parts in all books, the ones you want to read again and again, adore it and just quote them up in your notebooks and all. This book has only one part as such and the one part is whole Book. Its so beautiful. The only right word to define it is Beautiful. Even though it has lot of philosophical pieces its not put in one grand soliloquy to get bored. Its steered through dialogues. The plot and the idea of afterlife itself is one of the greatest heights of the book. Eddie's five people are most unexpected and the lessons they teach are the lessons which life     teaches us. The end products of Anger, Love and Care are projected in it.

                                                            If you love fables with just great things packed in it, this one's perfect for you. The connectivity of the five members, their lives and Eddie's is like really God's work. None of the five would be there if Eddie wasn't. Eddie wouldn't be there if the five wouldn't. Its really a great network of beautiful things.

                        This has no Particular Religious claim. I would just go one talking about this one because it's really worth. A very great book which every one must read.

My Rating – 4.6/5.

tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom

As you can see the cover says , "Bestseller that changed millions of lives". I, beign one of the last person seen reading autobiographies , agree to this. It might not have changed my life, but it indeed changed some of my thoughts.

This is one book that I have bought and gifted most number of times. And every time I read it, I feel I start a new page in ym life. I actually read it evey time I am in need of answers. It gives you a fresh approach and a wise perspective to any sphere and phase in your life.

Synopsis :

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague.  Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder.  Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance.  He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life.  Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college.  Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

 

Sample Front Page

Quotes from the book:

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark.

If you stayed at twenty-two, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth.

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.

"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

We should be looking at our potential, stretching ourselves into everything we can be come.


Need I say more ?  Just read it !

Ratings : 5/5

Other Details:
ISBN:  0751527378
ISBN-13:  9780751527377, 978-0751527377
Binding:  Paperback
Publishing Date:  12/01/98
Number of Pages:  210
Price : 170 @ flipkart