Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Virtues of Oxygen, Susan Schoenberger ~ book review

* I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review and a copy will be provided to my giveaway winner. I was not compensated for this post and all expressed opinions are strictly my own. *

reading, fiction, book review, review, recommendation


I'll fess up right off the bat. 

I really enjoyed this book. 

There are two primary characters and they're so intertwined that I forget who we met first. 

Vivian is a woman who has lived many years past her polio diagnosis. Her life exists in an iron lung, and all of her interactions come from her horizontal view of the world. 

Holly is a widowed mother of two, struggling to find her way and trying hard to balance her finances, her life and her heart. 

We meet them separately, and together, and it really is just a powerful set of stories.

Much of Vivian's story comes to us through her unpublished podcasts. Her history, reflection, memories, they come to life through her voice - the voice we see and hear through Schoenberger's written word. 

We see Holly and Vivian struggle in different ways. We see Vivian without a family, without contact, but with oh-so-many connections. We see Holly yearn for connections and long for resolutions. 

This book was just a really good read. I have no complaints about it whatsoever. I wouldn't say it was an easy, fly-through read, nor would I consider it a difficult one. I'd definitely recommend it. 

And I'm lucky enough that TLC Book Tours is giving me a copy to give away. Just leave me a comment below and you could win! That's it. No requirements beyond that. And if you'd like an extra entry, feel free to tweet out this post with my twitter handle of @goodgirlgonered so I can see it. Leave me the URL of the tweet in a separate comment and I'll enter you twice!

OR - buy your copy today. You should absolutely read The Virtues of Oxygen get the paperback or download for your Kindle. I'm guaranteeing you won't regret it. It's a good read. 


* I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review and a copy will be provided to my giveaway winner. I was not compensated for this post and all expressed opinions are strictly my own.  There are affiliate links throughout this post. *


11 comments:

  1. This sounds like a great book! I would love to read it.

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  2. Great to see another NC blogger. I'm up in High Point. Please enter me in the giveaway.

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  3. Thanks for your kind words, Andrea! I'm from New York, too, and lived for two years in North Carolina.

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  4. Sounds really good. I can't say I have ever read a story from a character's point of view from inside an iron lung.

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  5. This sounds like a book I would enjoy very much. Thanks for the review and the giveaway. Cathy

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  6. Sounds interesting and what a great review!

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  7. Sounds like an interesting book. Love the review.

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  8. You've intrigued me with your review! I would love to read this book. Kathe with an E sent me to visit you and I love your blog!

    hugs,
    Linda

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  9. Wow, no complaints at all?! That's pretty amazing!

    Thanks for being a part of the tour.

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