I chose this ARC and didn’t know what to expect. The title didn’t give much away but it was alluring and so was the cover. Becky offers up a lot of little ‘thoughts for the day’ to make you appreciate the little things. One example was if you were a mountain goat… I loved these but what I wasn’t expecting was the Christianity aspect as there was no mention of it in the blurb. It became more prominent towards the end and by then I was beginning to clench my jaw. Becky has a positive outlook on life and it shows throughout, there were some lessons to be learnt from it but it would not appeal to a largely secular society. I think the blurb needs to be honest about the content. #netgalley #arc

"Turning" is a book that's a little of everything; personal anecdotes, Bible verses, and advice on aging. All of it is good, but it feels like it could use a stronger edit toward a more narrowed focus. I enjoyed this the way I love to listen to older people spin stories and give advice, but I'm not sure the marketing for this is right. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Turning
By Becky Blue

As I am in the second half of my fifties, I was drawn to this title because it promises to show me ways the author has freed herself of the world's perception of aging. It states that the author is approaching sixty. Perfect for me, or so I thought. This does not read like it is written by my contemporary. In fact, she states in the book that she was born in 1952.

While the blurb mentions that she has drawn on her faith and her nursing experience, it fails to mention that hardly a sentence is written that is not a reference to God, Christianity, scripture. Surely this should be marketed as Christian literature, it just says Biographies, Memoir and Non-fiction (adult). At least I might have known what to expect.

"I will ask while clinging to Christ. I will open my ears to hear God's word. God's word will block out my own voice of self-talk and will tune me into the voice of my neighbour"

There are a few practical pieces of advice , some nice quotes from other people and one chapter reminded me of my grandmother's kitchen which was a nice way to pass a minute.

Clearly I'm not the intended audience and the publisher ought to change the catagory to attract the right reader.

Publication date: 1st November 2022
Thanks to #netgalley and #amplifypublishing for the egalley