It feels a little unfair counting this book towards my reading goal and unfair offering a review, since Lisa Browning’s Telling Your Story, Speaking Your Truth: a path to empowerment is essentially a promotional book for the editorial services and publishing house One Thousand Trees.
The slim volume (just under 60 pages or so) is a collection of short essays, generally clocking in at about two or three short pages, from local authors published by One Thousand Trees. The thirteen authors tell their personal stories of finding their voices, meeting Lisa Browning, and coming to be published in book or online form. To the end that the book is promotional material for Lisa Browning, it does its job. The authors cite e-mail exchanges, personal discussions, and so on, all singing the praises of the editor in offering encouragement and opportunities.
From the standpoint of an essay collection, it reads a little thin. The essays are often vague and general. Brevity is the soul of wit and the bane of writers. To try to condense your wisdom, advice, and personal reflections into just a few impactful pages is extraordinarily challenging. As a result, it feels like each of the entries is less about inspiring others than it is about self-promotion, sometimes explicitly so with references to published works.
Given the repetition, it’s clear that the authors were asked to write these reflections independently of one another. The titles of the essays are things like “It Is Never Too Late” (Brenda Cassidy), “Never Ever Give Up” (Marilyn Helmer), “Be Brave, Be Limitless” (Amber McAuley), and “Write Your Story” (Danielle Hughes). I am pleased that so many people have found their strength through writing and have been able to find such success in working with Ms. Browning, and some of their other projects sound great, offering lots of support to others in need.
The true value of the book is not so much in the essays themselves as it is as a vehicle towards other works. If you’re looking for writing advice and how to refine your craft, I don’t think the book will have much to offer. If you want some general optimism and you’re reasonably local, it might be worth a read. The true proof of One Thousand Trees, though, will only be seen if you opt to read the full length projects only alluded to here.
Happy reading. Happy writing! Good luck!
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