All That Matters

Rating:
Summary: Very touching, yet uplifting story
Review: "All That Matters" is that you read this lovely story that confirms life with special and unexpected gifts, handed down, with love, from generation to generation. May the spirit of Gabby touch your heart as it did mine, reminding me of my "Nana" and her wisdom and zest for life. It is a very touching, yet uplifting story. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: All that matters
Review: A heartwhelming story of a young woman who tries to commit suicide. However, through an intervention through an unlikely family member she realizes that there is more to life than what she expected.
Easy read, that's well written however I wish it was better developed.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Made Me Cry
Review: As someone who understands well the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, as I have written a book about that bond, I have to say the author got it right. This is a touching book that made me weep, as the amazon review said it would.

Rating:
Summary: What does matter?
Review: From our two main characters, Gabby and Jennifer, we find out what matters and go with them in their search for life and discovery of what is hurting Jennifer and healing her heart. You know from the beginning what is going to happen but so beautifully written I classify it as a tear jerker.

A good reminder of what is important and something is every day. Beautiful story and a wonderful writer to keep an eye on!

Rating:
Summary: Trite, predictable tear jerker
Review: Given the rave reviews of others, I expected an absorbing, thought provoking read. I found instead a book riddled with cliches, superficial character development and a predictable conclusion. Having just read Ian McEwan's Atonement, the contrast was dramatic. All That Matters would be a good fit for the condensed novel section of a traditional woman's magazine. All That Matters is to fiction what Rod McEuan
(Listen to the Warm) is to poetry. Why do I feel that Jan Goldstein is hoping to cash in big with this one?

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: I found this to be a heartwarming book, but it doesn't compare to the wonderful depths I found in "Effective Habits of the Five People You Meet in Heaven." This companion study guide to Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" is a marvelous way to discover the spiritual depths of Albom's classic story. If you ever wanted to delve more deeply into Albom, "Effective Habits" is definitely the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Marilyn Fried
Review: I picked up this book just as I was taking a flight to New York. I was so touched by the story of Gabby and her granddaughter, that I hardly noticed the time pass. As soon as we landed, I ordered three copies of "All That Matters" for my granddaughters.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely and Moving story
Review: I really enjoyed this book (All that Matters). I brought me to tears, but not tears of sadness, tears of joy. Matthew Solomon

Rating:
Summary: No deep characters, average story line
Review: This book is a nice and easy read - but maybe I was expecting more of a story line than I got. Also, the end is so obvious from the beginning that the plot is completely self-contained. The characters are truncated in the sense that they move from ordinary behavior to rage in a sentence (the father, for instance). I liked the description of the dead mother, though - she doesn't say a word throughout the book (well, she is indeed dead) but the feelings and descriptions given to her by both grandmother and daughter were so strong and elaborated that they ended up bringing her as the most real character in the book.

Rating:
Summary: This book touched my soul
Review: While waiting yesterday at the airport for a flight, I browsed in one of the bookstores, checking out the fiction department. A book with a beautiful cover --featuring a scene in the park, with a tree, bench, and leaves changing colors-- caught my eye and I somehow "knew" this would end up being my reading material for my flight home.

Titled All That Matters and authored by Jan Goldstein, the novel's plot centers upon Jennifer, a Jewish troubled young woman in great depths of despair and depression whose maternal grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, seeks to counsel Jennifer, to reach her soul and bring it back to life. I started the book at the airport gate to finish it on my flight.

The book touched my soul profoundly, imparting many eternal truths that so resonated within me... Maybe I should now add that I became teary during parts of the book as I was flying home to visit my own maternal grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, who is currently ill in the hospital. (May God grant her a complete recovery immediately.) My grandmother is also my rock and inspiration, a strong woman of monumental courage, compassion, strength, dignity, and kindness... a true survivor. When I read about Gabby and her many lessons, I thought of my own grandmother constantly.

I marvel at the Divine Providence that I should discover and purchase this book at the airport bookstore while preparing to visit my own beloved grandmother... as if God was using this book as His agent in providing needed soulfood.

In reading this book and encountering its unforgettable characters, especially Gabby (there is nothing quite like the power of a Yiddishe Bubie), you will inevitably learn a great deal about living, coping, joys, and gratitude. You will surely be granted much perspective, your life enriched.

Thank you Mr. Goldstein.