Authors We Love, Part V – Who Jessica Loves

 Today I have another special treat for my readers. As you know I’ve been doing the “Authors I Love” series here on A Life Among The Pages. Well things are changing a bit with that. First of all, it is now called “Authors We Love.” Why the change? Well simply put: I’m not the only one who loves authors. You, my readers, also do and I want to include you all and even a few strangers. For most on this change see my announcement made earlier this week (click here)

Oh yea, back to what the special treat is. Well if you guessed cookies…it’s not cookies. Nor is it cake, nor ice cream. What I have for you is still very sweet, so don’t run away please. For this installment of “Authors We Love” I have a guest post from the very talented author Jessica Fortunato. For those who’ve been with me the last few months, you have already met Jess through an interview I did with her, I’ve reviewed her book, The Sin Collector, and she gave us a brief post in this series as well. You can find links to her prior visits at the end of this post. So onto that treat. Here is what Jess would like to share about an author she adores, please enjoy and feel free to leave your thoughts with us 🙂

There is an author I adore, that I’d nearly given up on! Mitch Albom hasn’t released a new book in over three years.  The other day I was tweeting quotes about ghosts.  There is a beautiful quote at the beginning of his novel For One More Day so I went to his homepage, and there it was.  His new novel, due out in August, The Time Keeper! I was so excited, my hand reached for the phone to call my Grandma, who adored him as well and was the first to introduce me to Albom in 2002.

Don’t you hate those moments? When you realize you can’t just call someone up anymore.  I once again hoped that above all things there is an incredible never–ending library in heaven.  (With no late fees)

Mitch Albom has a gift for storytelling.  He became popular with his biographical novel Tuesdays With Morrie, a great book in its own right, but my least favorite of his work.  There is a running theme in Albom’s work, and that theme is death.  It may at first sound depressing, but it’s the life that could come after death that Albom chooses to focus on and weave into tales of hope.

In 2003, my Grams died, and like a lifeline, my Grandma handed me Albom’s newest book, The Five People You Meet In Heaven. Albom tackles the notion of what dying and going to heaven could mean.

“There are five people you meet in heaven. Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth. This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for. Scenery without solace is meaningless.”

Laced with emotion Albom forces the reader to ask themselves hard questions.  What is the point in dying and going to a shiny sterile place in the sky?  I don’t know about you, but if I get to heaven, I want to know the meaning behind the plot of my own story. Why some days were nearly too hard to bear, while few others could feel like miracles? The burdens thrust upon us and the people we lose and miss so greatly that we know they took a part of us with them. The mere thought that it could all be explained to me, is a precious and tempting notion, one I am constantly holding on to.

Albom released For One More Day a few years later. My Grandma never got the chance to read it, and it took me a long time before I could get past its first line. “This is a story about a family and, as there is a ghost involved, you might call it a ghost story. But every family is a ghost story. The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone.”

Once I could read that line without tears blurring my vision, I was all the better for reading it at all.

Albom is one of those authors who won’t leave your mind for weeks after putting his book upon a shelf.  He speaks of things I think we all know within our souls are true. That we are indeed connected, and hate is a burden not worth its weight. His wisdom is only amplified by the beautiful and human characters he creates.

If you haven’t heard of any of his books, you can find the list and descriptions here. http://mitchalbom.com/books I fully incite you to read at least one.  Faith is hard to find these days.

Below are a few of many favorite quotes. For the bitter and the sweet. Thanks for reading!

“Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they would be here forever? If so, then you know you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.”
― Mitch Albom, For One More Day

“You have peace,” the old woman said, “when you make it with yourself.”
― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

“Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hold on too long.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

 “If you could pack for heaven, this was how you’d do it, touching everything, taking nothing.”
― Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith

As promised here are some links to find out more about Jess:

• My interview with Jess
• Authors I (We) Love Part IV (featuring Jess)
• and to find more about The Sin Collector: My review of the book