Rick's Reviews > The Living Room

Amy has, from a young age, visited a place in her dreams called the “Living Room”. This is a room that she has drifted to in her sleep that provides her with peace and comfort over decisions in her life. That is, until now. Amy has used these visits to help her with her writing and has successfully written two novels. The money from these books help, but aren’t enough for her to give up all thoughts of working a second job. When her replacement at her old law firm leaves on a maternity leave, Amy is asked to come in and work just while she’s gone. Knowing the extra money will help, Amy agrees. As Amy begins writing her third book, her trips to the “living room” take a different twist in the fact that some of them can be directly linked to happenings around her. Her best friend’s son is saved when Amy suggest that her best friend attend a field trip and keep him safe. She sees a vision of a client from the law firm but doesn’t act on it. When it winds up that she should have, she becomes more confused. Meanwhile, back at home, her daughter is swooning over a new teacher at school. Amy and her husband pursue every angle with the new teacher, trying to find any ulterior motives he may have with the students. Throw in a nasty inheritance case at the firm that may or may not involve a new friend of Amy’s and her life begins to unravel. Will she finish her 3rd novel? Will she have to make concessions to her faith background to get the book published? Are the attentions given by the new teacher truly innocent? Can the friendship that she has started be saved or will the inheritance case put it at risk? Tons of questions and no answers from me until you GO BUY THE BOOK!
DISCERNMENT - 1: the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure : skill in discerning. 2: an act of perceiving or discerning something

I think this one word does a great job of summing up this book. We all practice some form of discernment when it comes to thoughts, feelings, dreams, etc. Can we use that to help us or to benefit us in our everyday life? Mr. Whitlow does a fantastic job of wrapping this story up as a lesson in discernment. He has written his novel in a way that is very fluid and transparent. While Amy seems to “have it all figured out”, her husband struggles with his day-to-day walk. Both of the parents, though, model a great Christian home in the fact that when there is turmoil, the both pray it and talk it through first. Again, Mr. Whitlow provides us a glimpse into how to use discernment in shaping our every day lives. We must be diligent in our thoughts and prayers and remember to focus on He who provides us with the discernment.

Is this a "guy's book"? There aren’t any overtly “guy” themes in this book. There aren’t dangerous car chases, city-leveling explosions or OK Corral gun fights. What this book does have, though, is an honest look into a typical family and how they work around all the different decisions and changes that come their way. I know that while I was reading it, it made me stop and reflect on how I may not always interact with my wife the way that I should. For that reason alone, I feel this is a book that every man should read.