This Book Brought Me Home
922520
Steinberg addresses all of my concerns and confusion, one by one, and I am grateful. I was confused about what We actually believe and aspire to, and I now know that my birth religion is all that and a bag of chips, thanks to this short, well-written work.
141766
My son may be a bit old for this book, but when he left for boot camp last year it overwhelmed me and I was so lost.  I found this book and it made me smile and laugh.  I had to purchase it and send it to him for Christmas.  My husband thought I was nuts, I guess, but my heart feels better!
800522
God met me in big ways in this book which took me by surprise.  I realized, reflecting on my childhood table experiences as a one of 9 kids, that the table was not a welcoming place.  Many heart wounds were revealed that I am praying through.  The table in my home is becoming a welcoming place where hearts are free to express themselves and be heard.  I am challenged and asking God to grant me courage to invite the lost and hurting to our table.  Kudos to the author, well written!  The recipes are an added bonus.  Yum!
4348227
This book allowed me to leave my home for distant India as seen from the eyes of a young man. I found myself touching,feeling,smelling and tasting a country I have yet to visit. I learned more about culture as it relates to the global travel many immigrants experience. This was a great escape.
892784
I was really down and somewhat depressed about my separation and divorce.  But this book has made me feel much better and more confident about myself as I go my way alone now. Seeing how someone else felt badly- just like me- but how they could recover and grow to be a better person helped me to move on too. This book has shown me that there are, in fact, many new and positive things to do to enjoy in this second chance at life for me. I have just a couple more chapters left to go, but wanted to share how much this book has helped lift my spirits and see the many positive sides of my divorce. I'll definitely recommend this book to my friends and relatives!
323774
I have been reading Brite's blog for ages and for some reason I just kept putting off reading the Liquor books (at that time only Liquor and Prime). I have no idea why, I did like her early work, but like her I've outgrown that genre as well so it's not like I wanted to keep reading that kind of book from her.

I finally got over it and bought the dang book, and you know what, from that first page it was like I was home.  I used to live in New Orleans (no I'm not from there, there is a difference) and I love and miss it.  The minute I started reading Liquor it was like I was back there, Ricky and G-man were like old friends, probably because I had many friends who worked in kitchens across the city.  It hooked me, and I'm still hooked by the characters, New Orleans, and most definitely the food.

I sincerely hope that Brite gives us more of these characters, but I definitely won't hold it against her if she doesn't because I'm happy to have been able to visit them at all.
2116085
As an ex pat for 18 years, this book took me home!  The characters come to life, and the story made me laugh, made me cry and made me miss 'home' more than words can say.  The author (or should I say, Delbert) has such a wickedly dry sense of humor that I found myself laughing out loud more than once.  Can't wait for the next one...GIVE ME MORE!
2075006
I really need to go home from work, but I will tell you that I read this book within 24 hours of arrival.
90321
Tom Miller's book reminded me of all the reasons I'll never be able to move back to Chicago, much as I love Sweet Home.  He knows the border towns and back roads better than most, and tells stories of those places and the people who live in those towns and on those roads like both a journalist and a poet.  I thought I knew the history of some of the places he writes about, but now, I realize how much I still have to learn.  Learning from Tom Miller is a pleasure.  And this book is a treasure.
962548
While reading Cassies story, I kept recalling lines I had scribbled down years ago while reading Andrew OHagans Be Near Me.  Theres a way of feeling homesick, Hagan wrote, not for any house, not for any particular place, but just feeling homesick as a manner of being alive, every day a sense of existing in exile from a place where you might belong. The Germans have a word for it: Heimweh.  Like OHagan, ONeill uses words to actualize a feeling that troubles so many of us who have struggled to find our place at different times in our lives.  As we travel along with Cassie through a journey that is at once both raw and comforting, we recall all of the twists and turns our own lives have takenthe moments of confusion, the times we drove away quickly thinking oh holy hell, what was I thinking?! wondering if wed disappointed others as much as we had ourselves, the moments of weakness and those of courage, the times we avoided mirrors and the times we forced ourselves to look in them.  Cassies sense of exile and of not belonging is one that can resonate with all readers, but in bringing us home again, she reminds us of the importance of movement, of continuing, and of the agency we all possess in the story of our lives.  This was a wonderful first publication.
3438170
This book allowed me to feel that I was there. Provided so much insight on where our country was and where we are now.
3842779
Let me start by pointing out that I take claims like "life-changing" with a grain of salt. When I put this book on my Christmas wishlist, I figured it would contain some good advice and might help me out a bit, but I didn't actually expect it to be life-changing.

I'm stunned and thrilled to report I was completely wrong.

It's been a month since I devoured this book in two short sittings and after following its advice, I feel like my life has come into sharp focus after suffering in a fuzzy, confusing existence. I don't just have less stuff, but I treasure everything I own and my house has never been more effortless to keep clean. I'm no longer misplacing important things and I'm not overwhelmed by doing the dishes or the laundry. Anything having to do with upkeep feels like a piece of cake.

I feel better too. I've never been prone to anxiety, but what little I had, usually revolving around things I needed to get done, is now gone. It's easy to get things done on time and get them out of the way now that I'm living in a more productive environment. I feel serene in my space, even pampered. I love looking around my clean, spacious world and admiring my beautiful things, all of which now have breathing room in which to shine. I'm reading more, cooking more, and I'm taking up new hobbies.

I gave the book to my best friend as soon as I was done with it. The amount of stuff she's already purged from her space is mind-blowing. Even though she's only halfway done, she's already rediscovered and refined her sense of style (probably 80% of her excess stuff was clothing), and she has a visibly happier and more upbeat attitude. She says she has no idea how she managed to accumulate so much crap, but after taking on the Marie Kondo philosophy, she's vowed never again. And so have I.

I seriously can't recommend this book enough.
2508899
Rec'd book and read it last night...what a delight to read. Could not put it down. I felt like I came home.
4637278
I am an avid reader, and even as I say that I can hear my ego saying - yeah thats right you are super knowledgeable ha ha but I say that because this is one of the BEST books I have read to this date.  It hits home, in a way that makes you feel similar instead of separate from so many on this awesome journey we call life.  I have a better understanding of why the choices I have made have helped and hindered the ease of the experiences I have walked through!  I recommend having your complete attention to the words and meanings Ryan writes about. This is definitely a book I will go back through and read when the confusion hits home and my ego is trying to keep me small.  Thank you so much for this book!!
4085886
I have read and reread this book. Whenever I am feeling a little down I can pick up this book and it is like coming home. Growing up in the north and waiting for spring was the worst and this book brought back those memories and the hope that each spring would bring and the hope and the newness that would await a young boy who just wanted to play ball.
3844998
Beautifully written.  I read it on vacation in Asia and it made me feel like I was home (when I was homesick).  An easy read and touching.  Takes you back to simpler times. Insightful and relevant.  Can be read in a few hours if you have the time.
2141418
I am now 54.  For the last 40+ years I have felt I have never belonged. I felt like a visitor to this world.  Since my late teens I knew something wasn't right.  That started years of on-again/off-again counselling.

Never having been able to have any close (intimate) relationships and always using my work as an excuse I didn't marry until my mid-30s.  In hindsight I wanted to have a family of my own, to be a great mother and wife.

I knew somewhere in my heart I would not be like my mother. Thats all I knew!

My marriage turned out to be one of psychological and verbal abuse (unrecognised at the time as domestic violence).  When I finally left, my mother sold her house to enable me to buy in with her to provide a home for me and my children. Little did I know then, I made a deal with the devil.

My ex-husband was awarded custody of our children and during the last five years of trying desperately to protect them from him, I educated myself and had counselling - and was on my way to healing.

In my quest for further information for a friend, I came across My Parents Keeper - I ordered it, and read it and finally all the pieces were put together.

My daughter has had to be a mother/wife to her father for the last 4 years.  Unfortunately, she is still too young (17 years) to appreciate this book - but it is up there as something she needs to read and recognize.

My life was with a mother who was never there for me emotionally (and still isnt) - she is a narcissist.  My ex-husband is one too but he is an abuser.

This book put all the pieces of the jigsaw of my life together.  I believed I was no-one.  But I am lucky - I have already done a lot of the work suggested.  Now Im more determined to face my fears.

This book has helped free me and reinforced that I am someone who is worthy and deserves better.