I’ll be the first to admit that I love good romance stories — stories that tug at my heart and transport me to another place and time. I love stories of people who, like me, are looking for love and end up finding it right in front of them. But most of the time, those stories entertain me but don’t touch me deeply. Those stories make me happy momentarily but usually they just create a longing for more romance stories.
That’s why I’m hesitant to call Andy Andrews’ new book, The Noticer, a romance story, but in fact, it is the ultimate romance story because it does what truly good stories are supposed to do — they satisfy you deep in your heart and make you long to be a different and better person because of the story.
The Noticer is about the power of choosing to change your perspective. It chronicles the lives of a handful of individuals and their encounters with a man named Jones, who just keeps showing up and helping them to see things from a different point of view. Jones somehow knows things he shouldn’t know about the people he runs into and then he invites them to see their lives differently and create a different outcome for themselves. One of those people he has an encounter with is the author, Andy Andrews. Andy’s life is changed in ways he never would have imagined.
As I started reading, I kept wondering if this were a “true” story. I’ve read other books of Andy’s and so I know the front of the stories is at least “somewhat true” (that sounds like an oxymoron!). But after reading the book, I decided that I actually don’t want to know. Because what makes it a great read is that it doesn’t matter… it feels like it could be true and that inspires me to think differently about people (and situations) I “randomly” meet along life’s way, not unlike Andy and the other folks in The Noticer.
The Noticer is a quick read… but I realized when I was finished that I wanted to read it again. Because I knew that if I read it again, I would read it with a different perspective. And that’s what a truly good romance should make me want to do.
For what it’s worth…the first chapter of “The Noticer” IS true….to me, that’s the power of the book. NO ONE has ever had a better reason to use a double personal tragedy at a young age as a life-crutch than Andy Andrews…and yet, he did just the opposite…”The Noticer” grew out of that experience, as did, to a certain extent, “The Traveler’s Gift.”
I agree. Andy’s life is one that so inspires! After reading the book, I started wondering who the “Jones” were in my life — those people who help me look at things from a different perspective and love me just where I am. I’ve been fortunate to have a few!
I couldn’t agree more. What a shift it made in my own thinking. And after I read it, like you, “I realized when I was finished that I wanted to read it again. ” Well done.
Your downtown buddy,
Gail
Thanks, Gail! I appreciate your friendship and advice! You are one of my “PC’s” — perspective changers!!!