My Review of "In a Different Key"

John Donvan and Caren Zucker's In a Different Key:  The Story of Autism tells the story of a psychological disorder that was ignored for decades, and only recently.  It moves from those early decades in which children were institutionalized, often in appalling conditions to that period in the 1960s and 1970s when "refrigerator mothers" were blamed for the condition.  In a Different Key also chronicles those individual -- families and researchers -- who provided care and developed our contemporary understanding of autism.

In a Different Key certainly focuses on the largely-American narrative of that history, so there are definitely other pieces of the history of autism that are left to be told.  So there are no shortage of rival egos and camps as well as overrated developments that go into the telling of the story of autism.  In the end, then, In a Different Key cannot be the only resource for the telling of autism's story.  But it's certainly a good place to begin.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

My Review of "Unlock Your Dreams"

Philip Wagner's Unlock Your Dreams: Discover the Adventure You Were Created For isn't a bad book -- it's just simply unremarkable for all of the hopes I had in picking it up.

As a whole, Unlock Your Dreams is strong on inspiration, but lacking in the practical aspects that I expect from a Christian book about vocation.  There's nothing here about actually discerning what God expects of our lives, and what God's dreams might be.  In that way, it's really more self-help than it is a Christian exploration of how we "discover the adventure" we're created for. 

Which adds up to my inability to finish the book.  While I made it through chapter 3 -- which really is a good chapter -- I simply couldn't find the energy or inspiration to make it much further. 

So I'll be happy to pass this book along to the local library, but it isn't a book I'll keep on my shelves.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.