This was an interesting story to read. The premise is the dad of this five-year old girl was dying and he wrote a manual to be given to here on her 12th birthday. Meanwhile she has missed her daddy. The Manual is given to her by her dad's sister. She begins to read and really becomes to depend on The Manual, which she can only read on her birthdays. She can reread any passage, but never go ahead. Meanwhile, her life is changing and moving. She has trouble with friendships because everyone always leaves her...in her view. But it resolves itself at the end. The advice in The Manual is very good. And, of course, at the end of the book, she is beginning her Manual for her soon-to-be little one. This book really touched me and I think it will be one I read at different times during my life to see how I view things differently as I hit the same age or life events as Lois. The book chronicles the life of Lois Bates from age 12 to age 30. At age 5 Lois' father died leaving behind a manual to be given to Lois upon her 12th birthday. Each year has an entry accompanied by miscellaneous entries that guide Lois along her path in life. Lois was, to me, a very real character. She had real thoughts, real feelings, and real problems. Her problems weren't over exaggerated nor were they under exaggerated. Lola did an excellent job creating real characters that I was able to connect with. And I must admit that I cried quite a bit during this book, though that's hardly new for me. I look forward to more from Lola in the future.
Do You like book By The Time You Read This (2008)?
Badly written, boring and written for maybe a teen age audience but marketed for the adult audience
—Angelice
Got better as progressed through but don't really like 'coming of age' books
—raxskyle
I absolutely love this book. It moved me to tears. Could not put it down.
—gijade
