Sometimes reading just comes natural to me and sometimes things are very slow. I intend to write about the books I read on this blog because of the fact that it forces me to reflect on books just before I put them back on the shelf.
I tend to have a couple of topics for books that I like to read. I blend them together with autobiography types of books. Generally you can learn a lot of people who take the effort to write down what happened to them.
As part of the Thomas Nelson Book review blogger initiative I got the chance to read the book “Through the Storm” by Lynne Spears, the mother of Britney, Bryan and Jamie Lynn Spears. This book has given me an peek into the hectic life of a family that went into a world not suited for them nor even made for them. As Lynne tells herself in this book they were just a middle-class small-town family.
The book is very well written. It is an easy read but not boring at all. Balanced and with tension are words that come to mind. Two things really stand out after reading this book:
1. Stars are just ordinary people not prepared for the things that come with stardom. In a sense the Spears family didn’t ask for a lot of things that came with the tremendous success of Britney. They just have a place where they grew up just as all of us. They come from the same planet. The people and the media treat stars as if they are from a different planet.
2. Your life is greatly affected by the choices you make. Thinking about big decisions in your life is really, really important. I see a sad combination of wrong choices, wrong people and bad luck as the factors that attributed to the trials this family went through. Lynne sums it up quite nicely somewhere in the book when she writes:
“I wish now I had trusted the professionals a little less and given myself more credit for my own instincts.”
Together with the fact that she puts here hope on GodI makes this book a strong story because not all whent well. In the end a glimpse of hope is evolving and I sure hope and pray that life will bring more joy for the Spears family.
Title: Through the Storm, a real story of fame and family in a tabloid world
Author: Lynne Spears with Lorilee Craker
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Book review as part of the Book Review Blogger initiative by Thomas Nelson (http://brb.thomasnelson.com)
