The Noticer - Simple yet Powerful

The Noticer is a story of an enigmatic sage, called Jones, who mysteriously appears in people's lives at critical junctures, and helps them just when they need it the most. He completely turns around their life by offering them a different "perspective" to their situation. That explains the tag line "Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective".

It consists of short stories that describe how Jones goes around a small town helping people struggling with problems such as poverty, troubled relationships, failing business, doomed career, and hopelessness. I did find the book falling short of expectations in the story-telling department. At times, the stories take you to a high and then drop you abruptly. They were a bit on the shorter side, occasionally a bit repetitive, not so effective in creating visual imagery, and the characters not well carved out well enough. Even after reading the entire book, I hardly have a mental image of Jones. It also left me a bit confused. Was it an auto-biography or a fiction or a combination of two?

Despite the shortcomings, each story offers invaluable insights on dealing with life's problems. I believe it's a great book, and anyone who reads it will find at least 2-3 useful takeaways. I had more -

1. What is it about me that other people would change if they could?
2. There's a difference between a mistake and a (wrong) choice.
3. Whenever you face a problem in life, remember "the best is yet to come".
4. The 4 love "dialects".
5. Life's "big picture" is made of "small things". The small things can make a big difference in the final outcome.
6. There's a difference between deciding to do something and actually doing it. The Seagull example was really effective in conveying this message.

It's a short, yet powerful book, filled with wonderful wisdom. A few hours spent reading this book can make a huge difference in your life. Just a caveat, don't expect it to be an thrilling page-turner. And don't keep it aside after reading it. Spend some time on introspection and see how you can apply the wisdom to make a difference in your life and that of people around you.

Good job, Andy !

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P.S.: I received this book free of cost from Thomas Nelson Inc. under their Book Review Bloggers program. I would like to thank them for offering me the opportunity to review this wonderful book.