Rating: 
Summary: I found it depressing
Review: I enjoy reading inspirational stories occasionally because they usually leave me feeling uplifted and hopeful. This book is well written but reading it left me feeling depressed. Eddie is an amusement park maintenance man who is killed one Sunday afternoon in an accident at the park where he works. He then awakens to find himself in some sort of heaven where, one by one, he is encountered by five people whose lives intersected with his at some point in time. Three of the individuals are people Eddie never actually knew and sadly, he discovers that he was inadvertently responsible for the deaths of two of them. Eddie did not have a charmed life by any stretch of the imagination. He grew up with an abusive father, he was taken captive and then crippled during WWII, he gave up dreams of becoming an engineer in order to help his widowed mother then worked years in a low-paying job, he and his wife were never able to have children and lived their entire married life in a small apartment, then his wife died at an early age and he was left alone - depressed, lonely and in pain. Unlike some other tales where people are shown how their lives affected others ( It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol) "Five People" doesn't really leave you feeling inspired or better about your life. The people Eddie encounters in heaven often do not make him feel better about his life, they make him feel worse! In the end Eddie does understand that there was indeed a "meaning" to his life but even that struck me as being sad and pathetic. I hope that Mitch Albom's version of heaven is true only in his imagination.
Rating:
Summary: As Peggy Lee sang...
Review: ..."Is that all there is?" Very disappointing; I am amazed at all the worship this book has inspired. Overly saccharine story and unsatsifying ending. I did like the scenes where the main character is reunited with his deceased wife, but that's not enough to recommend the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Spiritual and Uplifting Book
Review: In my opinion, this is a feel-good book. It's a fast read and leaves you with a peaceful feeling. I'm the kind of person who often wonders what life is all about and can worry whether or not my time on Earth is going to make a difference. Sometimes it seems that good people die young for no apparent reason and that life is not always fair.
It helps to put these questionable things into perspective and helps you to stop the worrying and the wondering and to "Let Go and Let God". All of our answers will be given to us when we die and, therefore, we should not dwell on it during our lifetime. When one of our loved ones dies unexpectedly or too young for our personal comfort it helps us to realize that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Although we may feel earthly pain, frustration and maybe even anger, the death should be viewed as just one piece of a giant puzzle that is being put together in a preplanned manner. We have no control over certain things and in order to enjoy our lives to the fullest extent possible we need to accept it and wait for our answers which will be given to us in due time.
If we waste time dwelling on the "why's" and the "why nots" we will be disappointed in the end when we finally realize that it all makes sense and we should have just gone with the flow the whole time. Although some days it may feel that my job or my simple life are not that important in the grand scheme of things, this book opened my eyes and told me that I do make a difference and that all things are entwined and meant to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Good parts and bad parts
Review: I found this book to have both good parts and bad parts. I thought the story line was interesting but, Heaven seemed a little like hell in this book. The things that he had to go through with his five people were not peaceful at all. A friend of mine gave it to me, hoping that it would give me the same warm feeling as it did her. I am glad she gave it to me, but it shows that people can have two different opinions about things. This book depressed me.
Rating: 
Summary: Is that all there is?
Review: I am really disappointed because my friends really talked this book up. I keep waiting for this to get better, but it isn't. I have 100 pages to go, but am not impressed - it is just so Bridges and Cheese. I am glad I didn't buy it. There is such a plethora of good and sustaining literature out there, I just don't understand how books like this get on the best seller list other than it is short and I guess the majority of people don't get introspective about their lives so therefore need books like this and the Cheese book to show them what is right in front of their faces. It bothers me when I have wasted my valuable reading time on a book like this. One point for the dedication. The best part of the book is the dedication to his uncle. My suggestion is to pick up the book in the store, and read the dedication standing there, and look at the picture in the back, but don't buy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Like a chocolate souffle
Review: Well, if you just want to entertain yourself for a couple of hours, this will do it. Nothing profound here. A lot like "Who Moved My Cheese" or "The Present."
Rating:
Summary: A must miss
Review: I found Albom"s writing graceless and tiresome. His short, declarative sentences make for very choppy reading. The repetition gives the narrative a sing-song feeling. In reading it, I suffered through 12 of Eddie's birthdays and seven countdowns to his death. The author's so-called profound statements (i.e. ..."because sons will adore their fathers through even the worst behavior".) are false and annoying to read. I find nothing to commend in this book. If I hadn't had to read it for a book club, I never would have bought it, much less finished it.
Rating: 
Summary: A light read
Review: Very nice to read. I was excited to learn who each of Eddie's 5 people were, and what lesson they had to teach him! Some things weren't fully explained, for example, how the Captain died, stepping on a land mine? For the sake of the other soldiers? Not sure. But I was happy to learn the answer to the underlying question Eddie had, at the end of the book. I found him a likeable character, even though he was rough on the outside. I admired the way he loved his wife. It was an encouraging and hopeful book...nice way to think about heaven, learning the answers to our life questions. It did talk about God in parts, so that was good. The focus was after Eddie got to heaven, (assuming he had accepted the gift of Jesus) and some possible explanations for those questions in life that we feel we'll never have an answer to. It was a neat perspective to think that all people are interwoven into each others' lives...kind of like the 6 degrees of separation, and that premise. (That all people know each other through 6 people or less) But the message was a good one, that we all are sharing the same story. Our life may have meaning that is beyond what we know while living it.
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Summary: The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom
Review: This book is a must read for everyone. It will touch you in so many ways, and each of its chapters will make you think about those who have touched your life. It will inspire you to think about how you act, love, live and treat others. An inspirational and feel good book. I now wander who my five people will might be.
Rating:
Summary: Makes You Thing
Review: All I have to say is WOW! The entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking it needs to be made into a movie, and I hope it does! I am in high school and although this is a short book, I was hooked and couldn't stop reading it. My mom was reading the book and then my dad picked it up to read it too (which is pretty rare). My dad actually finished before my mom. Anyway they both suggested that I read it, and I wasn't hesitant, but didn't know when I would find time (through homework, church activites...). I started reading it one night and when I got home from school the next day, I had to finish it! The amazing this about this book is that it really makes you think about your own life. You ask yourself questions such as (without giving events away), "Who do I need to forgive?", "Has my life been spared at the expense of someone else?", "Who's life have I affected?", "Who's life has affected me?", and most importantly, "Who would I meet in heaven?". Some people may not like this kind of a book, but I would still highly recomend it to everyone.
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