A Million Miles In A Thousand Years – Donald Miller

Donald Miller is my favorite author and in his new book he doesn’t disappoint. A Million Miles In A Thousand Years is another memoir style book. Basically, the premise is this. After Blue Like Jazz did real well, Don had trouble figuring out what to do next. His goal in life was to be able to the pay the rent with his writing. Now that he was able to that, he wasn’t sure what happens next. As a result he lost motivation to write and spent the next couple years dodging phone calls from his publisher.

Miller’s saving grace came in the form of a movie company who wanted to turn Blue Like Jazz into a movie. However, in order to do this, changes had to be made to the Don in the book, essentially because his real life wasn’t interesting enough to make a movie about. While writing the screenplay, Don attended a seminar to learn the basics of story. It was then that Don learned what it is that makes a story interesting. What it is that makes people care what happens to the main character in a movie. And he wonders if we can apply those same basics into our real lives.

So the rest of the book is Don trying to live out the basics of story within his life. It really is another brilliantly written book. Don is always a funny read, and at the same time, always says a few things that really make you think. Everyone tells a story with their lives, Don says, and the story you tell is contagious. This is a book about inspiring people to live better stories. Another great read from Donald Miller.

Same Kind Of Different As Me – Ron Hall and Denver Moore

So here’s the deal. I’m a member of Thomas Nelson Publishing’s blogger review team. This is something new I’m doing, and basically, I write reviews of books on my blog, and after I have written my review Thomas Nelson sends me another book for free. Well, the first book they sent me was a book called What Difference Do It Make, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. After doing a little research, I found out this book is a sequel to a book written a couple years back called, The Same Kind of Different as Me. I decided it would be best if I read this first book to give me a better understanding of what is going on in the second one. Luckily, my roommate had a copy that I was able to read.

Same Kind of Different as Me was a fantastic book. It is the true story of two men. The authors, Ron Hall and Denver Moore, tell the story of how their lives were intertwined in ways they could have never imagined. Denver grew up, essentially, as a modern day slave. The grandson of sharecroppers he knew nothing different. Meanwhile, Ron Hall was a millionaire art dealer. Not to give too much away, Denver ended up as a homeless man in Dallas, where Ron and his wife Deborah lived. Even though Ron and Denver are the authors, the story is really about Deborah. Drawn to work with the homeless, she insisted that Ron try to make friends with Denver.

The book is fascinating. Opening your eyes to some of the problems that still exist in America that no one tells you about. It is also a fun story about a friendship that no one expects, and what can happen to people when they allow God to run their lives. To me, it is a must read. If you would like a copy of it, you can get it right here.

As soon as I have finished reading, What Difference Do It Make, I’ll be putting the review up on here. But first things first, Donald Miller’s new book. Miller has turned into my favorite author, so I’m gonna read his new one, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. So you can look forward to that review coming up, too.