The Bookworm Wife Recommends…

Bloom, by Kelle Hampton (image from this Amazon link)

Ah.  It’s been awhile since we’ve had one of these, hasn’t it?  I haven’t updated my Good Reads profile in forever either, but that’s also on the to do list.  I’ll hope you’ll forgive my recent absences if I promise that shortly, I will have much more to blog about.  Exciting things are brewing around here and I have a lot to catch you up on!

So, on to the review.  You all know I love Kelle Hampton and her blog, Enjoying the Small Things. She is a beautiful writer with a gorgeous family, and I love the way her blog gives a snapshot of their daily lives.   Her daughter Nella was born with Down Syndrome, and while it’s a part of their lives, it’s not their WHOLE life, and I love that about this family.  If I ever have a special needs child, I hope I will be able to react the same way—in a beautiful, honest, open way.

Obviously, you can imagine how excited I was when I found out Kelle was releasing a book.  Bloom:  Finding Beauty in the Unexpected is a memoir about the year after Nella was born.  If you’ve ever read Nella’s birth story, you know the anguish and fear that the Hampton family felt those first few days.  Bloom tells the stories of how they conquered those fears and realized what great joys and blessings would come out of their experiences with Down Syndrome.  Bloom also gives you a wonderful backstory of Kelle’s life—things I certainly didn’t know just from reading her blog.  She tells the story of her parents divorce, of miscarriage, of finding love…and how those stories shaped her to take on one of the greatest challenges of her life.

One of the neatest things about this book is the layout.  The book is actually printed in color, rather than your normal black and white, because it’s filled with beautiful pictures, mostly taken by Kelle, during that first year.  The photos are such a great addition to the stories as you read, and they really help to draw you even more into their world.

I laughed, I cried, I finished the book in less than 2 days.  It’s a wonderful story.  So if you’re looking for a book that will give you a lift, and let you know that you’re not alone in facing challenges in your life, Bloom would be a great one to pick up.

What have you been reading lately?