BOOK REVIEW: Road Noise
by DJ Lynn
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ABOUT THE BOOK (from Amazon):
DJ just wanted a life uncomplicated. Instead, she was barely 40 with four failed relationships, frequent panic attacks, and a witty preteen son with ADD. At the root, she supposed, were the men. There was the long dispatched unambitious Marley, who preferred surfing to work while waiting out his inheritance. But she was only 19 then, so stupidity figured in to that one. On his heals was Tom, the Armani-wearing womanizer. Then Jason. She couldn’t hate him. He had more scars than she. But the one that brought her to this point was Jim, a man ten years younger who loved her just as she was. He had just died of leukemia.
She decided to run. Well, more like a tame three-month road trip with her preteen son. She also made a decision about men. At least for now, She would think of them like dessert. She would avoid them except for the occasional short-term indulgence, usually resulting in remorse and quickly taking a digestive enzyme.
It would be about the journey, not the destination. She heard that somewhere…
MY REVIEW:
This post contains affiliate links which means, at no cost to you,
I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase using those links.
I was a given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Here it is…
As a mother of two middle school-aged boys, this book piqued my interest because it’s about a woman who takes her 11-year-old son on a 3-month road trip. The trip is about learning, bonding, and introspection.
I connected with the author even more after reading these two quotes:
On the occasions I had to force social interaction—it was timed and there was always an escape plan. Yet I was in marketing all my life—social interaction was my business.
I had to laugh at this one. I am also introverted and also work in marketing, so I understand the social interaction (and energy) this line of work requires. I can totally relate with the need for retreat.
…in our small old house at the edge of a new housing development near Denver they were calling Cherry Creek.
The author lived in the Denver area for a period of time. I live in the mountains of Colorado, but my brother recently moved to Cherry Creek. This neighborhood which was “new” when she lived there is now very established and well-known in the Denver area.
Aside from my personal connections with the author, I would imagine anyone reading it would connect on some level with her travels and the observations she makes on her journey across the country and back. They pass through Colorado a couple of times, but also 31 other states. They camp, stay with friends, stay in hostels and motels, and meet lots of people along the way.
While I enjoyed the book, on the soul-searching level, I felt there was something lacking. There were times when the author would come off as very anti-religion and/or judgmental about something, and I never felt a sense of closure to some of her issues. It would have been nice to see a little more self-examination there with a follow up of how the trip impacted the author and her son down the road. She does that a little bit, and we definitely know the trip was worthwhile; I just felt there could have been a little bit more there.
