Monday, February 10, 2014

REVIEW: A HOUSE IN THE SKY BY AMANDA LINDHOUT

Sorry for the long delay between posts!  I am off on reading business/personal development books for awhile, and back to reading fiction and such.  This particular book has been on my radar for a few months, and after giving it to my Mom for Christmas, she said she loved it and passed it on to me.
Amanda Lindhout is a fellow Canadian, who was a budding journalist with a penchant for travel.  She went from avid backpacker serving drinks in Calgary (my home town) to raise money between trips, to buying a camera and trying her hand at photojournalism.  Through a few turns of events she travelled to Somalia to cover the life of the people there.  Within three days of arriving, she was violently kidnapped by masked men along with her ex-boyfriend and fellow photographer Nigel.  What follows is an unbelievably riveting tale that will have you flipping pages well into the night, but I caution you that it is not light reading and some people are unable to read it before they go to sleep.

What Amanda went through is truly unimaginable.  Even as as I was reading her accounts, I felt like throwing up half the time from the true brutality and savagery of the way that she, in particular, was treated.  I can't believe she didn't kill herself a million times over in the 463 days that she was held captive.  FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY THREE DAYS.

You will be inspired by her story, and how she has chosen to live it afterward.  You will be sickened by the depravity of humanity.  You will be humbled by your complaints in your own life such as traffic jams, your debt load, or whatever.   What I'm saying is this.... after reading this book,  you will have perspective, as stories like this tend to give you.

It is heartbreakingly un-put-down-able.

Below is a photo of Amanda and Nigel the day they were rescued:

And here is where you can visit the nonprofit, The Global Enrichment Foundation, she founded six months after returning from Somalia.

 RATING:  5/5