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"The Noticer" - A Review

The good folks at Thomas Nelson recently sent me a free copy of Andy Andrews' latest book, "The Noticer." I must confess, I was not familiar with Andy Andrews, nor his previous books. Reading the author's small bio on the book jacket, I learned that Mr. Andrews was dubbed a "modern-day Will Rogers who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America" by the New York Times. That's high praise for sure - especially the Will Rogers part! In exchange for the free book, Thomas Nelson asked me to write a brief review. With that in mind, here are my thoughts about "The Noticer."

Undoubtedly, the most powerfully influential messages are often wrapped in small packages. "The Noticer" would be one such message. Reading Andrews reminds me of yet another very influential author, Og Mandino. In fact, I would venture to say Andy Andrews is Og Mandino's clone. Like Mandino, Andrews knows how to tell a story. More importantly, he knows how to weave a powerful message throughout the story. The result is contagious - a book that is equally entertaining and deeply motivational.

Without giving away the plot, the premise of "The Noticer" is based upon true events. The story, set in Orange Beach, Alabama, intertwines the lives and struggles of its residents with an enigmatic figure named Jones (not Mr. Jones, just Jones). Jones has a knack for showing up at a critical juncture in a character's life and dispensing words of wisdom he calls "a little perspective" resulting in a life transformation for the better. Everyone in the community knows Jones, but nobody really knows Jones - which is a great literary technique to keep the reader interested.

The dominant theme of "The Noticer" is influence. Andrews uses this book as a vehicle to make a powerful statement - everyone has the capacity to influence the world. Small choices, made deliberately with passion, do not result in small changes in the lives of others. Again, without giving away too much, Andrews does a masterful job of detailing the influence of a simple choice that ended up saving the lives of millions of people many, many years later. This particular revelation is quite eye-opening!

With that in mind, Andrews has started The Noticer Project. The effort of this project is to encourage people to "notice" or pay tribute to the five most influential people in your life while you still have time to do so. Often, such tributes are saved for occasions such as weddings, graduations, or even funerals. The Noticer Project aims to get people to slow down from the busyness of life and take time to praise those who have impacted your life in a meaningful way. For more information about The Noticer Project go here.

I will highly recommend this book to my friends and family. I am also going to take the challenge issued by Andy Andrews to "notice" the five most influential people in my life. If you don't read this book, I'd still encourage you to become a "noticer" too.

P.S. If you read this book and liked it, I'd highly recommend reading "The Greatest Miracle in the World" by Og Mandino.

1 comments:

Steph said...

i did not know you had a blog. enjoyed your review. i love to read. i mean really love to read. so let me know if you have any good titles i should check out. take care.