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[Following is a volunteer review of "And Then I Met Margaret" by Rob White.]

And Then I Met Margaret by Rob White is a collection of the author’s memories that focus on spiritual growth and life lessons. In it, he chronicles his early years as the son of a factory worker on up to his multiple career paths in teaching, real estate, public speaking, and the restaurant business. His incredible drive and focus led to a lot of wealth and success and an amazing lifestyle of luxury. A mentor in his own right, Rob shares the stories of the people, animals, and situations that influenced his personal rise to the top. Some of his “life gurus” just might surprise you.

There are so many wonderful adjectives I could use to describe this book. Words like charming, touching, endearing, nostalgic and heartwarming come to mind. The author’s early, formative years as a young boy growing up in a factory town reveal his gradual evolution into a successful, self-made man in search of deeper meaning upon reaching the pinnacle of worldly achievement. At some point, Rob reflected on the times in his life that inspired his future success and thinking, and these are the moments he shares with us.

The gurus he speaks of aren’t the ones he paid top dollar to travel the world to listen to. These gurus are the people (or animals) that positively altered his perception and affected his personal growth. One of my favorite stories was his encounter with a distressed doe trapped in a block of ice. It was amazing to read about the lesson he learned from this animal; it quite literally changed his entire life. His recollection of Aunt Theresa actually brought tears to my eyes. I also loved the story about Dr. Tucker, the English teacher known as “the executioner” on campus. Later on, the author recounts a terribly embarrassing event that happened to him in front of thousands of people. I was thoroughly amused as I imagined the poor man’s plight as he struggled to find an escape from his situation. In the end, the lesson he learned was quite inspiring and one we all can benefit from.

This book will absolutely give you insight into how a man of his status thinks. At times, he’s completely relatable. At others, he’s a tad eccentric. At his most successful, he becomes a foolish daredevil. I really enjoyed the entertaining style of this book. Every lesson he shares plays out like a unique episode of a series. It starts with the title and ends with the author’s takeaway from the encounter. It’s a very fun book to read, and I can’t say I was ever bored.

There are a few errors scattered throughout the text, but on the whole, it looks like the author put in the effort to make the book look as professional as possible. I would recommend another round of proofreading just to get rid of the careless mistakes I found, particularly in the latter half of the book.

Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for enjoyment and the quality of the lessons contained. It really made me think and altered my perspective in some cases. I’ll definitely be thinking about how I can apply some of these lessons to my own life.

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And Then I Met Margaret
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Like Momiji1987's review? Post a comment saying so!

Thanks for your review. I too cried when I read his story about his Aunt. What love! I laughed hard at his embarrassing moment on stage. I liked how he described the whole thing. I liked the book and gave it 4 out of 4 stars.

Haha!! Yes, I couldn’t stop laughing imaging the way he tried to scurry around the stage. This book is so great because it hits you in all the feels. I can’t say enough good things about it. Thanks for reading my review!

The book title didn't give out any hint of the author's learning from animals at all. I've expected the piece to focus on its namesake more. Still, thank you for your interesting and insightful review.

This book sounds really inspiring. The stories sound really good. Thanks for the review.

It's definitely nice to have the gurus in the book be everyday people. It's inspiring and uplifting to be sure. Your review is lovely! Thanks so much.

A memoir focusing on the author's spiritual growth and life lessons sounds inspiring. It is good of the author to share the stories and gurus that influenced his rise to the top. Too bad about the lack of sufficient editing. I don't think it is for me, but I am glad you found the book beneficial. Thank you for the review!

Wow I absolutely love this review, so well written. I'm quite curious about Dr Tucker, the "executioner" English teacher, and I wonder how he got the tag. It sure sounds like fun to read about Rob's embarrassing moment on stage too. I love to learn lessons from everything around me so this book seems to be the perfect fit. Thanks for sharing!

Not a bad review. It is shown that White has been an ordinary man with ordinary wants and needs without the way of love. Inspiring is the name of this book and your review shows that you grasped the events and knowledge to pass on to others that need the motivation in a broken down version. Great explaining and understanding.

I also read this book and the stories of his old aunt, his magician uncle, and little Margaret, stayed with me all this time.

This is a motivational non-fiction memoir on the experience and life lessons the author faced. I am not a huge fan of books in this genre but the OnlineBookClub review was superb and sold nme on the book. Irated it 3 out of 4 stars and congrats@robwhitemedia for an amazing BOTD.

The book sounds intersting,and the 4stars is well deserved. I am going to read it right now. Thanks for the good review.
"Our inherent successful nature awaits our release, which can only happen through our active awareness of it!"

"An unwanted life is unnecessary, when you live with love in your heart!' Such simple discoveries are answers to the roaring questions of our lives!"

Spiritual growth and life lessons are topics I'm sure many would find beneficial, and it's good to know that, in this memoir, the author explores just that. I like that the author starts from his youth and shares about the "everyday" gurus he meets on his life journey. I'm glad that you found this book to be entertaining and fun, as well as, heartwarming and endearing. Too bad about the errors here, but it's good to know that the quality of lessons are worthwhile. Don't think this is for me, but I'm glad you enjoyed this memoir!

This book is inspiring and very motivating.I am going to read it right now.Thanks for the good review.

I read this one earlier this year, and I agree with you on the adjectives you used here to describe this book. I liked his “simple” encounters with everyday people that touched his life so profoundly. And when you say he is a daredevil, I think instantly of his running with the bulls story! Great job on this. It reminded me of how good this book is!