My Favorite New Critic

A couple months ago BZ and I shared our books at The Villages’ Book Expo. We made a lot of plans beforehand. Much of what we thought would be true, turned out to be false. We had a lot of lookers but not a lot of buyers.

BZ did meet the director of a children’s grief camp held in Rhode Island every summer. She suggested that Elizabeth submit her book to the National Symposium on Children’s Grief being held in Kansas City in June. She followed her advice with, “Your book doesn’t smack you in the face but provides wonderful insight. It’s just what they’re looking for.”

A few days later the director followed up on her advice by purchasing seventy books online for distribution in Rhode Island this summer. Her summer camp kids will each receive one.

I had just released my audiobook and hoped to garner public interest in purchasing it. I think listening is sometimes better than merely reading. You gain more of the author’s intention.

I gave away a couple of audiobooks. The recipients promised to write and post a review. A lady named Donnaleigh wrote this. She’s my new favorite critic.

I listened to the Audible version of Pondering Life’s Lessons by Robert Tebo after meeting the author at a live book event. It was a pleasure meeting Tebo and his daughter, who is also an author. Hers is a powerful children’s book.

Each chapter of this book has a theme or story based on a unique experience in Tebo’s life. Many of the stories have memorable lessons which he shares. His remarkable sense of humor sneaks up on the reader when least expected, and I found myself giggling and sharing some of the stories with my husband.

The humanness of these stories is such a needed experience right now when it seems the world is divided, raw, and unrested. These are stories of family, friends, resilience, support, and some good old-fashioned neighbor interactions that have a twist.

We meet Tebo’s wife, Ruth, who we discover through their surprising dating story, and whirlwind wedding, and how he would interpret it as the director of a split-screen version of the movie that might come out about him someday!

We hear quips about the raising of their family, with all the pride and hiccups that happen along the way. Near the end of the book, we learn about sudden unexpected twists and losses that change everything. We will all experience these, and it helps to have a friend along the way. Tebo becomes that friend to us when he needs it most.

Tebo has a true gift with his writing style that comforts the reader while also adding a few snort-laughs when least expected. I felt I learned little nuggets that applied to my own life experience while being entertained by his open, and often humorous, approach to the world. While he writes for therapy, I found that experiencing his story was also therapeutic for me as a reader in many ways.

As the book progressed, I realized I bonded to some of the characters, and their outcomes mattered to me. There was Tebo’s 100+ year old poker pal who enjoyed playing with the “kids” in the neighborhood. Who isn’t a kid to a centennial? And there’s a wild hole-in-one they shared after the author dared him to just “hit the ball like you mean it.”

Tebo also shares a few losses along the way, and how that is digested and processed. This is something we can all relate to eventually, and he tenderly walks this path with great insight. He is vulnerable and raw. I caught myself weeping in these parts as he expressed raw emotions.

A favorite story was when Tebo asked a date to a concert and realized too late that he had a ghastly rumbling tummy, eclipsing his attention to what was happening at the concert.

The author wrote these stories as a way of preserving his legacy for his future descendants. But what I found while listening is that I earned a father figure for myself, who felt like he was sitting at the table sharing memories and lessons with me. Many of these stories are funny, some are sad. Most taught me something important that mattered greatly: life lessons we can all use. I can’t help but think, “What a lucky family he has to have him guiding them.”

Tebo suggests that everyone should live a good story, and he encourages us to share them. As he writes, he encourages the reader to see the same value in our own lives, and to experience life to the fullest while we can.

The narrator of the audiobook version is charmingly imperfect. His voice is expressive and suits the stories well, and he shares them with warmth and wit. Though he stumbles ever-so-slightly in a few spots of narrating, it becomes the “realism” of the book, where I felt it was a live experience sitting with the author as a friend. In the end, it is hard for me to separate the gentleness and optimism in the narrator’s voice with the author’s written voice. The two are a great match for this project, and I applaud them for a sweetly entertaining escape.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to detox from the negativity of the world and remember how sweet it is to experience core family values with nostalgia and community support.

I thank the author for the opportunity to experience this meaningful audiobook, which I found myself pondering long after I heard the stories. Great lessons; sweet life insights.

God bless Donnaleigh.