The Five Times I Met Myself by James Rubart

What if you met your twenty-three-year-old self in a dream? What would you say?

Brock Matthews' once promising life is unraveling. His coffee company. His marriage.

So when he discovers his vivid dreams---where he encounters his younger self---might let him change his past mistakes, he jumps at the chance. The results are astonishing, but also disturbing.

Because getting what Brock wants most in the world will force him to give up the one thing he doesn't know how to let go . . . and his greatest fear is that it's already too late.

My review:

  I have been a big fan of James Rubart's books ever since reading his first novel, Rooms. His books are always different, and offer a great read and make you think. I have never been disappointed, but I was dubious about this one. The cover isn't one that grabbed me, and the plot sounded a bit bizarre; but he is a favorite author of mine and I was going to read it for that reason if no other.

  I was pleasantly surprised. The plot was definitely different: a man meeting his younger self in his dreams and managing to change the past through these meetings. It made for a fascinating read that I didn't want to put down because I wanted to see what would happen next and how the book would end. It has a lot of twists and turns and you don't know what is going to happen next. There is a lot of bouncing back and forth between dreams and awake and from one timeline to another, but it is done in a way that is easy to keep up with.

  The book is an excellent read, but it also carries a great message. The theme I saw throughout the book was the theme of surrender to God. Complete and utter surrender. And it brought it out in a way I had never seen before. I have always gotten the idea of surrendering my life and future to God, but the book emphasizes the need to surrender our past, our regrets, and what we'd do differently if we could. Most of us probably don't realize how much we are held back by regrets and our past. There is more to be gained from the book, but I'll leave it at that so I don't give any spoilers away; but this is a book that can change your life if you let it.

  Christian fiction gets a bad wrap from some, and there is some that isn't worth reading and some that is just fluff, but this is a book that sets the standard high for Christian fiction. It is definitely worth reading.


About the author: 
James L. Rubart is a professional marketer and speaker. He is the author of the best-seller Rooms and award-winning Soul's Gate, the book that precedes Memory's Door in the Well Spring series. Rubart and his wife have two sons and live in the Pacific Northwest.

The Five Times I Met Myself is available from Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity for the review copy.