A Reason To Be

It was the great American poet Walt Whitman who once declared in his poem Song of Myself that “I contain multitudes.” While Whitman was talking about himself, it could be said that this applies to all of us: all men and women, all part of an enormous chain and all with our own specific heritage and......more

First sentence from chapter one: As a sunbeam broke through the crack in the floor-length windows of his Fifth Avenue brownstone, falling in a long, bright line across his bed, Douglas McCombs turned away and pulled the comforter up over his head. He was in no mood for such a glaring display of opti......more

My heritage is Scots-Irish, so I liked the idea of slipping back through generations into their world as the main character, Douglas, explores his genealogy. And I did enjoy the stories of his ancestors, though it's not clear how anyone would be able to find out as many details of their lives as Dou......more

*I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.* An interesting read and one I'm guessing is semi-autobiographical. If genealogy is your thing, this is likely the book for you, as the story is driven by a man's quest for understanding about his family's past. It's a nice story, but I kept......more

Braveheart meets Love Actually in this incredible journey of discovery. As this compelling story begins we find the protagonist Douglas McComb distraught, having nursed his wife Hope, the love of his life, with Alzheimer's for the last 5 years, she has died. Grief-stricken he falls into the deepest o......more