L.B. Johnson has followed up her first book, The Book of Barkley, with Saving Grace, A Story of Adoption. This memoir meshes very well with the stories in Barkley, and expands on Mrs. Johnson's early life as a child of adoption, as well as her journey as the mother of a child that has been adopted by someone else.

Johnson is a consummate storyteller and scene setter. I swear I could smell the dirt and grass as she described playing in fields and woods as a child. When she described the sights and smells of the delivery room, it took me back to when I was there for the birth of my own children. Be prepared to see almost everything discussed in this book in your mind's eye.

This book covers some pretty heavy subjects, including her own adoption, her decision when it came to her own daughter, and the death of her brother. Just as with her first book, I found it an easy read, but not a quick one. I stopped every so often to think about what she was trying to say, as well as my own memories that her writing evoked.

That's not to say that this is a sad book. It's not. Her story continues to be a celebration of life and her love for it. There was a lot of humor mixed in with the tears, and Mrs. Johnson was able to blend the two in a very artful, but not overplayed, manner.

While this book deals with a lot of adult concepts, I have already promised Girlie Bear that she can read it now that finals are over. Most young adults will 'get' this book, and probably enjoy it.

I'd recommend Saving Grace to anyone who enjoys a poignant, personal memoir.

This is a great story. It was repetitive and made for a longer read than necessary. It gives a different prospective on adoption.

Too wordy for me. Some parts were really good, but she takes a long time to get to the point. Secretive too in that dates and places almost always left out....so hard to tell where she was in the story at times. For style she gets an "A". For content, "C"

While I was reading this book, I commented based on a partial read on Facebook: The book excites in me a weltschmertz of nostalgia that, at my age, is probably not healthy for the human spirit, for all it's a benison. The cliches of advancing age always include a poignant looking-back. It's beautiful, but it hurts. You have to be alive to be glad to experience it.

Now that I've finished it, I'm searching for a simple, distilled way to express my reaction to it. I want my friends and family to read it and, even should they have a different take than I, I want them to "get" me when I say, "This is I." A friend uses the phrase "witness marks" to describe the lesions and abrasions of wear left on an object, or a human heart or soul by contact in motion with another object, heart, or soul. This book is full of familiar witness marks. The related story( and the constant worrying at the themes of it) of the childhood the author shared with her beloved older brother rings true to me, even still given all the differences one who knew us both could tick off on his fingers -- I was more-or-less a solitary kid, with few friends at any sage of my life. I spent my Tom Sawyer days in New Jersey and later in Omaha -- nearly ten years earlier, as it relates to events on the distant world stage -- LB's childhood eventuated in Montana. I drifted from my teens to my retirement, rudderless and reactionary, whereas LB made the most of every opportunity, it seems and lived her life purposively and with meaning. And on and on. But still there is so much identity and simpatico between our two lives. I really do feel the story told is of my life, for all the events related and the relationships explored are so different.

Later on in my reading, the book kept me up into the night. Not unusual in a senior citizen, to be sure, for one of us to be found awake at three or four in the morning, mind racing, unable to sleep for the neverending thoughts. But for all the pain, and all the relatability in the story and my reaction to it, it was GOOD pain. Worth being alive to feel. I am better for having read Saving Grace. And I thank you, Mrs Johnson, for your labors in bringing this work to light the world.

Ms. Johnson is very poetic. Her writings flow like a stream babbling over rocks and stones. Beautiful at times, so heavy at others that I felt weighed down by the sheer volume of it. It was too long and I couldn't figure out where we were going. Throughout I never felt like it was a story about adoption per se, but a story about life in general? The referrals to her career: pilot, medical flight person, who knows? We never found out and it was annoying at best. I was so exhausted with the entire story 56% into it that it took all my effort to finish. Felt like this story could have been told in half the time and words.

A combination of a diary and an autobiography, written for a daughter, given for adoption and with whom the author was later reunited. A story of a life well lived, with regrets and love. This chronicles one woman's life path. You can feel her sorrow as she gives up a baby to a better life than a 16 year old can give, at the loss of a brother; joy at finding love and reveling in the quiet company of friends. A quiet book that, at the end, is one you can close with a smile and feel that you've found a new friend. I think all of us are looking for a home, this is the story of how one person found hers. An excellent read.

Chaotic, time frames jumped all around, very hard to follow and I'm not really sure there was a point of the story. Wouldn't recommend, but bought it to donate to an animal rescue.

Being adopted myself, I really related to this book. I thought the writing was beautiful, almost lyrical, but the copy/text editing was absolutely atrocious (grammar, people, grammar!). Sometimes it truly got in the way of my ability to enjoy the story because I had to stop to figure out what she was actually trying to say. Yes, the copy/text editing was that bad--extras of the same word added multiple times in the same sentence happened frequently. That said, I enjoyed the storyline even though it did meander. I think that's what it was meant to do and that is what added to its beauty for me. I found it very heartwarming.

A great read thanks L.B. Johnson for sharing.