The Dream Shelf


Fiction - Drama
219 Pages
Reviewed on 09/17/2015
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jessyca Garcia for Readers' Favorite

Jeff Russell’s book The Dream Shelf is a story that made me want to get to know my parents better. Sam Archer’s father, Robert, suddenly dies. That is when Sam realizes he never really knew his father and his past. Sam then starts trying to put the pieces of his dad’s past together and ends up meeting Gus Henderson, a veteran who may have worked with his father. Gus holds the key to all the answers to his father’s past but refuses to give them up easily.

I really connected with The Dream Shelf because when my own father died I did something similar to what Sam did. Russell takes the reader on a journey to discover who Robert Archer really was. This was no easy mystery to solve. It involved the government, which makes everything more difficult. This book also reminds the reader of the past and how people felt about World War II. Sam was truly a gentlemen and I love how polite he was with Karen. Gus was also a very lovable character. I understood why he held on to his secrets. I know it must have been hard for him to do so. The little puzzles he gave out were very complex to me and I would have never have solved them myself. I like a book that makes the mystery hard to solve.

Overall, I liked The Dream Shelf. It reminded me that sometimes when people do something wrong it is actually the right thing. It also made me want to go through my father’s things to see if he too has a mystery that needs to be solved. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to solve secrets from the past.

Connie M Anderson

This is a very moving story. It is about a man who had just lost his father, who had kept his early life quiet. The son, Sam, laments his father's passing before Sam could take his father on a trip to both coasts. Sam grew up seeing, but never able to touch his father's memorabilia on his "dream shelf".

When Sam realises he really didn't know who his father was before Sam could remember, he seeks to find answers. After going through his father's file drawer, he finds his dad's Senior High year book, and doesn't remember his father ever looking so happy. What he finds next takes him on a quest of the likes he never knew possible. I love that the story evokes the full gamut of emotions and allows one the hope that with enough time and patience, all things are indeed possible.

Thank you to Jeff Russell for giving me a free copy of this book to read and give my honest review.