Days Like These: Even in the Darkest Moments, Light Can Shine Through by Kristian and Rachel Anderson {Book Review}

My friend Megan recently posted a review on her blog of a book that she had received free through a website called Booksneeze.com. I was all over signing up for this as well because you all know that I love to read. I am happy to write a review of books in exchange for receiving them for free!

My first book arrived in the mail recently and I read the whole thing in just a few sittings. The book is "Days Like These: Even in the Darkest Moments, Light Can Shine Through" by Kristian and Rachel Anderson. I chose this book because the story was familiar and one that has hit home for my family as well as the Anderson family: Kristian, like my brother-in-law Chris, was a young husband and father who lost his fight to cancer in January 2012. His story became well known after he posted a Youtube video of a birthday tribute he made for his wife in the middle of his cancer battle. After posting the video, it went viral and people all over the world sent him messages through the blog he was keeping during his cancer journey. It became so famous that Oprah Winfrey heard about it and invited Kristian and his wife onto her show while she was doing a series of shows in their native Australia. They were under the impression that they were going on for a segment of Youtube videos gone viral, but really Oprah and other donors presented them with $250,000 so that Kristian could quit working and spend time making memories with his family. This book is a compilation of the blog posts that Kristian posted, plus thoughts written after the fact from his wife. This is an inspirational book that I would say is great for anyone looking for a faith-filled story.

I thought that the book was inspiring and very touching. It was really interesting to be able to see into the thought processes of the person going through cancer, because I think I have often heard more of the care giver's perspective. Kristian grew in his faith in God through the process and shared numerous spiritual and faith-filled thoughts throughout his blog posts. He prayed and pled for a miracle, but even when it became clear that the specific miracle he hoped for was not going to come, he continued on with unwavering faith. I usually don't highlight books, but I did highlight a few thoughts he shares in the book because I liked them so much. This is perhaps my favorite:

"I feel like faith comes from my belly, not my head. It's something planted deep within me, and it has deep roots. So when my humanity kicks in and I worry that maybe I won't be able to go the distance, my faith is there to reassure me that not only will I go the distance but I will do it well. I won't limp over the finish line; I will finish strong. And since my diagnosis, my faith has ruled over my humanity. A gift I sorely needed and gratefully received." (p. 67-8, emphasis added).

The few minor complaints I have about the book are mostly organizational things. The book is divided into chapters, but there are multiple blog posts within each chapter. Occasionally a date is given as to when the post was written, but for the most part, the posts are undated. I did not like that because it was difficult to piece the time frame together well. I know Kristian had cancer for over two years before he passed away, but I don't know exactly when each thing was happening because of the lack of dates on the individual posts. I think adding those would help a lot for clarity and for keeping the story flowing chronologically. Second, there are QR codes throughout the book (cool!) to link directly to his video, songs that particularly touched him at specific times, etc. and sometimes the codes didn't work. Maybe it was just my phone, but sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't. It was a cool feature nonetheless. 

One additional thing that I would have liked to see is more thoughts from Kristian's wife, Rachel. While it is his story and told from his perspective, I really enjoyed Rachel's voice and experience as well. As we all know, cancer does not just affect the person with the disease, it affects everyone around them and many more, but especially the spouse or other primary care givers. Rachel shares only a page or two of thoughts at the end of each chapter, and I really enjoyed her additions. I don't blame her for not writing a lot though, as this book came into publication rather quickly after Kristian's death, so perhaps it was too difficult for her to do in the midst of her heavy grieving. 

All in all, my complaints are minor. I definitely recommend this book, particularly to anyone whose lives have been touched by cancer. If nothing else, go watch the video Kristian made for his wife-- it is really sweet. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.