Review: the gift of an ordinary day

the gift of an ordinary day by Katrina Kenison
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 2/5

 

Summary (from goodreads): The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition-boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, an attempt to find a deeper sense of place, and a slower pace, in a small New England town. It is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers--holding on, letting go.
Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all.
The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.

the gift of an ordinary day may be well written and insightful, if one has a viewpoint like Kenison. I, however, do not. I believe that God governs our lives and plans what will happen in them, and that He is the one that puts our inevitable changes into play. I couldn’t relate to Kenison at all through the part of this book that I read, and because of that I felt nothing compelling me to continue.

I was unable to get very far into this audiobook. Sometimes the author of a book is the best reader for the book, sometimes not. Katrina read this audiobook, and it was very slow—almost too slow to follow. She didn’t read with much emotion, which disappointed me since it was her memoir and her heart displayed through the writing.

I hope other people will enjoy this one more than I did.

Thank you to Hachette for providing my review copy!

~Haleyknitz