BLOG TOUR: Pump Up Your Book Presents, Borneo Tom

Good morning everyone!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.  It's Wednesday and you know what that means.  We've reached the halfway mark for the week AND only about 31 hours and 40 minutes until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is released.  Oh so excited about that although sad too....I mean it is the LAST movie and all but cie la vie, his character and the world J.K. Rowling created will live on forever in her books.  But I digress....let's get back to today's featured title.

Our guest today comes to us from a land far FAR far away and is a memoir...of sorts.  Without further adieu, courtesy of Pump Up Your Book promotions, today's book of choice and blog tour guest is...

Borneo Tom, In Story and Sketch:

Love, Travel, and Jungle Family in Tropical Asia

by

Tom McLaughlin

From Pump Up Your Book....

The story of ‘Borneo’ Tom McLaughlin, a US expat now living in Borneo and sharing his stories of life in a vastly different country. All the proceeds from his books go toward supporting the Matang Wildlife Center, which is a place that rehabs orang-utans and other amazing wildlife.

This could easily be called the life and times of a man with jungle fever....or a serious case of cabin (condo?) fever.  We journey with Tom from the shores of Erie (okay...Maryland) to the wilds of Borneo.  Native cultures and thriving wildlife are just two of the many interesting aspects explored within the book.  When we're not looking back at his life with the Peace Corps, we're looking around at the myriad of adventures just waiting outside his door.  Readers are exposed to his varied experiences in the workforce, his journeys into nature on both an ecological mission as well as self serving (at one time he gathered and collected insects for pay), and his greatest adventure of all....life, complete with family and a second marriage.

For me, it was when he met his "soon-to-be" wife that my interest in the book kicked in....up til that point, not so much.  I mean, it's not that his life wasn't interesting until then because with the amount of traveling he did, gleaning information from both places visited and cultures encountered was both enjoyable and convenient for all parties.  I think what really struck me about the first half of the book was the lack of connection from thought to thought.  It's almost like it was written using journal entries with each thought encapsulating a new paragraph but never quite picking up the torch.  Then we have the awkward size of the book.  It's true, the size allows for the illustrations to be an integral part of the series, while still letting everyone investigate who's who and what's what....but it's definitely not one you can take anywhere with you. 

In short, a look back on all the craziness that is life with a love story at its heart.  Though a younger audience may be hard to come by due to the subject matter and level of interest, this is certainly one for those that enjoy biographies as well as other works of non- fiction, but also the armchair traveler.  It's a great way to see a bit of the world for better or worse without ever having left your house.  Was it for me?  Not so much....but that doesn't mean it won't work for you.  One thing I do know, but I'm packing my bags and getting ready for the next adventure...*glances at book shelves*...hmm, where shall we go today?

Review copy courtesy of Jaime at Pump Up Your Book and author Tom McLaughlin.  For more information on the book promoter and their upcoming tours as well as the author's whereabouts, feel free to click on any of the links I've embedded above and you'll be whisked away in no time flat. 

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to make SFIR a part of your routine.

Until next time....happy reading!