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In her first non-fiction book, best-selling author Debbie Macomber tells her own life story while encouraging her readers to follow God’s pattern for their lives and make their dreams come true.
Knit Together (which isn’t another one of Macomber’s knitting books, by the way—though it does make plenty of references to the craft throughout) is divided into 12 chapters that look at 12 different areas of life—like searching for a purpose, taking risks, balancing relationships, and growing in faith.
I have to admit, though, that I had a difficult time reading this book. In fact, I set it aside a couple of times, read something else, and came back to it.
I think my greatest problem with the book was that it often felt rather self-centered. I definitely understand the importance of setting goals and reaching for them—but I can’t exactly say that I support her no-matter-what attitude. Macomber talks about how, before she was published, her family was in so much debt that her husband asked her to find a job to help pay the bills—but, in the end, she decided that she couldn’t do it because she felt that God really wanted her to be a writer. She also tells about how she spent her last ten dollars to mail out an unsolicited manuscript, even though it meant that her kids wouldn’t have lunch money that week. Though her determination paid off in the end, it’s hard to believe that the end justified the means. While faith is definitely important (as are happiness and success), sometimes you need to make some sacrifices to support your family, too.
In many cases, Macomber also seems to contradict herself. She talks about the importance of friendship, but she says that lunch with friends falls very low on her list of priorities. She also talks about having the “right” friends. While I completely understand (and agree with) the need to stay away from “toxic friends,” it’s hard to agree with Macomber when she tells the story of her “worst lunch ever”—when she went out with a friend who had been having such a bad day that it left her feeling exhausted and depressed in the end. If her friend was always a downer, I understand. But dumping a friend for having one bad day seems unreasonable. Who’s to say that Macomber never had any bad days that she once shared with her friend? Isn’t that the point of friendship—that you’re there for one another?
I will admit that Macomber does make some good points—especially toward the end of the book. But many chapters in the book didn’t seem to fit—or they didn’t seem to have a purpose. In fact, the whole book felt rather disjointed—and I’m still not entirely sure what its overall message was supposed to be.
If you’re a fan of Debbie Macomber’s fiction, I recommend sticking with that—because her first work of non-fiction is a rough read.
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