Hearts on Fire by Jill Iscol and Peter W. Cookson Jr.

**This review is part of the Amazon Vine Program**

I love the idea of this book but wasn't as fond of the execution. Any book about people out there doing good is sure to draw me in, and it doesn't take much to keep me hooked, but this one I had some trouble with.

Hearts on Fire takes the stories of fourteen different people (three are combined into one story) and tells what they are doing to change the world. It ranges from working in the medical field, helping provide education in the prison system, to many other acts of charity and volunteerism and organizations that the people interviewed are either in or have founded. It starts with an overview of what the person is doing, and then allows the person to tell you what their inspiration is in their own words.

I didn't really feel connected to any of the people in this book. They are all doing amazing things but it was kind of lost in translation. Some of the people weren't native speakers of English so their narratives were rambling and hard to see the real person in them. Still, they are all doing wonderful things and are very inspirational in that they want to help people. It was the total theme across the book and all of these people must be wonderful and caring to do what they do. I'm sure it was tough to just pick out the few that were in this book with all the other people doing amazing things in the world.

The format of the book is what made it tough. As said before, the visionaries parts, in their own words, were rambling and hard to follow and at times I was confused as to what they were actually doing to help people. If it weren't for the short introduction at the beginning of each chapter I would have been completely lost. The introductions were extremely well written and a pleasure to read. And each chapter was so short. This is a brief book to begin with, but I would have loved to learn more about each charity and each person and more on their goal in general. I did appreciate the links to the different charities and sites related to the person's goals at the end of each chapter. It was a way to do more research and I learned about some charities I'd never even heard of before. And there were plenty of nice pictures so you could see the people they were talking about and maps of the different regions they worked in.

This was an interesting book and it had a lot of good points, but I wish it was more reader friendly. It could do a lot more for the causes if it were a more engaging book. But for those that love to read about people making a difference, it will still be a good read.

Hearts on Fire
Copyright 2012
137 pages

A Dose of Tia by Dina Mauro

**This book was received as a free advanced reviewers copy**

I've always wanted to do more volunteering. But work, commutes, and other things have led me to believe that I just don't have the time. Which is false, I do, but I need to find a volunteer opportunity that I'm passionate about. Which is what Mauro explains and lives in this book. She shows that if you have passion, it's not an obligation, but rather a way of life.

Through little stories and vignettes, Mauro tells about how she adopted Tia, her dog that goes with her on volunteering jaunts, stories of the patients they visit, and just different lessons she learns about life while volunteering. Sometimes she relates conversations that she has with patients while other times she shares the musings in her head as Tia visits with them and she waits quietly. At the end of the book, she provides resources for those looking for volunteer opportunities.

Although short, the stories offer a look into different patients lives and while we don't know medically what's wrong with them, we get to see a different side. A side that tells about pets at home, family life, or just old stories that they feel a need to share. And even though the stories are short, they are detailed enough that you get an idea of what the volunteering time was like. About herself she shares her feelings and her goal to try to stay positive, and even a small glimpse into her family life. So you know the person who's working with the dog Tia, even if everyone they visit is more interested in Tia (which is fine by the author).

The book is almost like a series of short stories and thoughts. And it jumps around a little bit, but it's still highly readable. I was a tad disappointed that there wasn't more about Tia herself. The volunteering was more of a main focus than the dog, which somewhat belies the huge picture of Tia on the front of the book. But for those looking for an inspirational book about volunteering, this fits. My only other complaint would be that the conversations Mauro had with people seemed more simplistic than they would be in real life. I'm sure this is partly because they are recalled from memory, but I just picture conversations as having more detail than what they are portrayed here as. Still, it's not that distracting and having a warm, happy read is nice when there are so many books out there that focus on the bad instead of the good.

If you're interested in volunteering or enjoy stories about animals and people working good deeds, this is probably a good book for you. Short, sweet and simple, it expresses why someone would volunteer their time for a good cause.

A Dose of Tia
Copyright 2012
142 pages