| Title | : | Got Here As Soon As I Could: Discovering the Way Life Should Be |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1608935760 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781608935765 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 328 |
| Publication | : | First published April 1, 2016 |
Six years ago, a family from Florida fell in love with "the way life should be," and although they've never seen a moose, the Smileys intend to stay. Because say what you will about the cold winters and the messy mud season, there is no better place to raise a kid than in the great state of Maine.
Got Here As Soon As I Could is a collection of syndicated columnist Sarah Smiley's most-loved columns about raising a family in Maine. In these 100 essays, readers will laugh, cry and nod their head "yes" as they remember a time when all of America was as simple and beautiful as it still is today in Vacationland.
Got Here As Soon As I Could: Discovering the Way Life Should Be Reviews
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3.75 stars
Sarah Smiley’s writing reminded me of a television show that originally aired in the mid-1960’s called “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.” Most people who are old enough to have had a TV during that time undoubtedly saw this show a few times, since … let’s just say, selection was limited. There was no “channel surfing” for something better. But there is the same charm in that character's portrayal that I vaguely recall when I read that same book, also, forever ago, still I remember it best as the TV show of a young mom surrounded by fairly constant chaos with lots of love and almost always a smile on her face.
As Sarah Smiley is telling her story about how a young wife and her military husband manage to end up moving to Maine, of all places, after many years spent living in Florida, and previously “warmer” locations than Maine. She serves him verbal notice that she will go for two years and not a day longer. With three young children, all boys, they pack up and leave their very large Florida home, set in an area where every box store you can imagine is located, where selections are in abundance, and head to Bangor, Maine. Unhappily. Or, at least one of them is unhappy about this. But Sarah Smiley is great about putting on that happy face of a military wife who knows when mom isn’t happy, no one is happy. She wants a happy family.
She’s charming, funny, candid, imperfect and lovely. She loves her husband Dustin, she loves her boys, her extended family, and meeting new people. It doesn’t take her long to realize she has a new love: Maine. The people are friendly, helpful, going out of their way to help. The seasons, which she once feared, she now embraces. What is Spring without the Winter that precedes it? How do you explain to a child who has never seen a leaf change colours and fall off a tree why this happens to other trees in other places?
There’s also some great advice from a mom who’s watched her sons grow up all too soon, but I suspect the young moms that it is meant for won’t remember to mentally document every single moment. It’s hard to keep in mind when your first child is taking their first steps that someday they’ll be graduating from high school and then college, and will no longer be underfoot all day, every day asking “Why?” every few minutes, all day…. Every day.
Some of the writing, in places, seems to be pieced together former columns, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there are minor awkward places where information is repeated a tad bit unnecessarily. Not a major negative, and it doesn’t detract from her story, but, for me, it was a minor distraction.
Many thanks to Rowman & Littlefield Down East Books, NetGalley and to the author Sarah Smiley for providing me with an Advanced Copy. -
Do you ever feel that the place you belong to is not the one you're born or raised?
Sarah wasn't born in Maine, she wasn't raised there but, somehow, Maine became the only home she'll ever know and that's why she got here as soon as she could.
Read more on
The Serial Reader Blog.
*This book was kindly sent to me via NetGalley by Rowman & Littlefield* -
Like Sarah Smiley’s previous books, Got Here as Soon as I Could is told in excerpts from her syndicated column, drawn from her own life as a Navy wife and the lives of her husband and three sons. Her other books are mostly about marriage, deployment, and parenting, all with a military flavor. She makes readers cry by baring her soul and her own insecurities. She makes them laugh out loud without resorting to punchlines or hyperbole.
Sarah’s seamless writing and compelling stories are all here, but her focus has shifted. Her family has reached a turning point common to all military families, the transition into civilian life, but her book isn’t a “how to.” No tips here on choosing a forever home and putting down roots in five easy steps.
Instead, it’s a “hope to” for a nomadic culture seeking a sense of place. Sarah’s story of falling in love with Maine gives military families assurance that home is out there, waiting to welcome us after a lifetime of wandering.
While reading Got Here as Soon as I Could — and you should read it — you may feel the attraction of Maine, because honestly Sarah makes it sound like a little slice of heaven. But her words hold more important attractions: love and marriage, a boy and his dog, neighborhood and family, a man and his coffee cup. This book is a celebration of the qualities and affinities with which a family can transform a strange town into a home, no matter where it is.
Excerpted from my review for Military Spouse Book Review
https://militaryspousebookreview.com/...
