Women of Faith president, Mary Graham, recommended The Noticer, by Andy Andrews, in a recent issue of the organization’s bi-monthly Connection magazine Sure, Women of Faith is associated with Thomas Nelson publishers so I suppose it’s her job to promote their books, but the last book she recommended (Same Kind of Different as Me) was excellent so I decided to trust her advice and buy this one. I was not disappointed.
The Noticer is one of the few novels that I’ve marked up with a highlighter for later reference. When I read a “learning book” (as I like to call them) I have a highlighter ready for marks at all times, but generally, when I read a novel, I just enjoy the escape. But, there was just too much “good stuff” in this book NOT to highlight a few spots.
In The Noticer you’ll meet a man named Jones. . . just Jones, not Mr. Jones. The book is an allegory and unless you are doing some serious sleeping during the first chapter you’ll notice that Jones has qualities very similar to Jesus. Though he doesn’t come to the town of Orange Beach, Alabama through a virgin birth, he does seem to know everyone (though they might not know him) and offers wise counsel to the residents. Through the book he encourages people who are struggling with poverty, homelessness, failing marriages, businesses, and dreams. He offers them a little “perspective,” as he calls it.
The Noticer is a quick read, but you won’t want to rush through it. You’ll want to relish each chapter to find a new nugget of Jones’ “perspective.”
I’ll share with you one of the passages I highlighted. “Think with me here . . . everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you’ll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of the mountain. Sure, the view is great. . . . . . . but, . . . . It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life’s next peak.”
And that’s just in chapter one! I concur with Mary Graham – The Noticer is a great read!
That does sound like a great book. May have to get that one to read while in the hospital.
Jodi
That sounds good! I'll have to check it out!
Erin