Monday, October 13, 2014

Book Review Discussion: Laughing At My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

Book: Laughing at my Nightmare by Shane Burcaw
Genre: NF Memoir
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
For: Review
From:  Received for free from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. (Released Oct. 14, 2014)

Short Synopsis: Shane, the author of this book, was born with spinal muscular atrophy that causes his muscles not to grow or work. This book is his story and how he's lived his life so far (he's only 22 years old or so) with an amazing positive outlook... by laughing and using humor to get through it all. Lots of stories. Lots of jokes. Lots of stuff to think about. This whole thing began after Shane started a blog one day, posting silly and funny things that he has to deal with. It became hugely popular and has now grown into a non-profit organization to help people overcome adversity by using humor.

My Response: I really enjoyed this! Granted, it has some cursing language here and there, and some sex talk and some lewd and crude stuff... but still. It's Shane just saying how it is, you know? And answering, basically, all the hard questions that people will be wondering about. So beware of that if that sort of thing makes you leery, but that being said, the message here is to live your live, no matter what it hands you, with a positive outlook. We all need this message. And the thing is, when all of us "normal" people read this (normal meaning someone who can get up and walk around whenever we want) it will be awfully hard to find ANYTHING to complain about afterwards. It will make you look at your life in a whole new light. And one more thing... can I just say.. his family is amazing. AMAZING I tell you! I mean, he talks about them a lot and you can tell he appreciates them, but I think we need to make a huge deal about how totally awesome they are. 


Bottom Line: I totally enjoyed it and took from it this message... JUST LAUGH! :) 

Let's Talk About: The power of positive thinking. Do you believe in it? Can simply thinking "I can do this thing" really help? Can the opposite be true? If you think so much "oh woe is me, I can't" actually make it come true? I tend to thing so, yes. I think it's an amazingly powerful thing!

Other Reviews:

Shane handles his situation with humor and a "you-only-live-once" perspective on life. From Teen Reads

There are so many morals you can discuss in this book, that I kind of wish I could study it in school. From Boarding with Books


And finally, here's a little look at how this all got started and what made me want to read his book:

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