On the blog yesterday I regaled you with the story of our epic trip to Mt. Juliet, Tennessee to attend a book signing by Sean Dietrich aka Sean of the South. Sean’s memoir – Will the Circle Be Unbroken – officially releases on March 10th but some of the lucky ones (like me) have early access to reading it. I devoted an afternoon to just sit and read it and I am so glad that I did.

When I read Will the Circle Be Unbroken I felt like Sean was sitting in my office on the couch just talking to me – just telling me his story in his own special way. That is how good this book is. It transports the reader to the exact place and time that Sean is relating and it is so touching. I found myself laughing at Sleep Jamie stories and crying at the heartbreak of realizing a young boy had to suffer so much at such an early age.

But this book is so much more than that. It is a story of a young man finding his way in the world, accepting the fact that he truly is a human of worth and developing his God-given talents of singing and writing to bring joy to others.

I marked pages with stories or passages that stuck out as something of note to remember and as you can see I had quite a few tabs by the end of the book.

I will include my own personal review at the end of this post if you care to read it. You can order all of Sean’s books online but the direct link to the Amazon page for Will the Circle Be Unbroken is located here. Leave me a comment and remember that each comment made on any blog post this month means a 50 cent donation to our Comments for a Cause – Diaper Bank of North Carolina. Read more about that by clicking here.

Have you ever waited for a book to be published for so long that you just want the whole experience to last a little bit longer? That is the case with Will the Circle Be Unbroken by Sean Dietrich. As one of his number one fans for years I have longed for this memoir to be published and finally –here it is. A real copy of it in my hands. I waited to start it because I wanted to read it in one sitting and today was that day. What a glorious day it was!

Meet Sean Dietrich. AKA Sean of the South. Author, musician and all around great guy. Seriously. I knew from reading his blog and daily posts for years that his entire story had not been shared with us yet and true to form the words he penned in Will the Circle Be Unbroken are words that will stick with me for a long time. Sean reveals in his memoir many more details of his life than I had read before and this book made me laugh, cry, get angry and sentimental with every page turn. As a master story teller I believe the story of Sean’s life is the best story he has told. 

Brutally honest and revealing Sean chronicles more than just the tragic suicide of his father in the pages and leaves the reader with such a sense of being a part of his life that I felt like family. A family that hugs necks, that shares tomato sandwiches with Duke’s Mayonnaise and that loves all things bloodhound. This is a family that I can belong to and one that supports one another. 

Sean’s story is a story of struggles and triumphs, disappointments and hardships that give way to success and fulfillment. The book is filled with quotable quotes and life lessons all wrapped up in glorious words. To say that reading this book was a joy is an understatement. I truly felt inspired and motivated as I read the encouraging story of Sean’s life. Perhaps the best part of this story is seeing the transformation of a man who doubted his worth as a man to become an encourager in his very own right. With the support of a loving wife, Jamie, Sean has bridged the gap to become the voice of the overlooked. Giving others a voice and sharing their stories with others is such a gift that he is giving our world in a time when good stories really do need to be shared. Ignoring the advice of an executive at a large newspaper in Georgia Sean continued to write about the good things in life, the ordinary things turned extraordinary, the simple things. I, for one, am very grateful that he chose to ignore that woman’s advice. The world is a better place because of Sean Dietrich. Keep on writing, Sean of the South. Your audience awaits.