Book Review: A New ME by Barry John Evans

This is the first time I've written a book review on this blog. In fact it's the first book review I've written since school when it would be set as homework. But having read this book, I felt I had to review it and share it. It just had to be done. So here goes:

A New ME by Barry John Evans.

This book is written by a young ME sufferer and describes his experience with the illness; the years leading up to a diagnosis and the ways he's found to cope in the first year. The adaptations he's had to make to his life and the limits that have been placed on him due to ME.

I downloaded the book on my Kindle one afternoon, and began reading it in the evening expecting it to take me a good few days to read. But as soon as I started reading I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. For the first time in months I sat and read a book for a few hours, cover to cover (can you say that if it's on a Kindle?!) This just goes to show how well written the book is. At no point was I tempted to put it down, in fact I struggled to pull myself away from it to get a much needed drink, that's how hooked I was.

As someone with ME I can relate to a lot of what is described in the book. The loss of friends and feeling it must be something about you that's caused it; not knowing how to answer that innocent question of 'How are you?' that comes to be dreaded. Not only can I relate to it as a sufferer but the way in which the book is written, people without ME who read this book will gain an insight into what ME is and the things sufferers have to cope with; not only the symptoms of the illness itself but all the other things that come with it; adapting to the limits it imposes, the lack of understanding from the medical community, government agencies and society as a whole. This book gives a valuable insight into all that and more.

All in all this book is a fantastic read for anyone interested in reading about ME and the experiences of a sufferer. I can imagine the energy it must have taken to write and the symptoms that had to be fought in order to ensure the end piece was as well written as it is. For that the author deserves a massive well done and virtual pat on the back (I'm sure a real pat on the back would hurt too much). So Well Done Barry!

A New ME by Barry John Evans is available at:

If you want to read Barry's book, it is available from Amazon in paperback or on Kindle via the following links:

United Kingdom 
 
Paperback http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-New-ME-Looking-future/dp/1499585497/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1403374862&sr=8-1

Kindle http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-ME-Barry-Evans-ebook/dp/B00L1LIT6E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403374862&sr=8-1&keywords=a+new+me

United States

Paperback http://www.amazon.com/A-New-ME-Looking-future/dp/1499585497/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1403375040&sr=8-6 

Kindle http://www.amazon.com/New-ME-Barry-Evans-ebook/dp/B00L1LIT6E/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-6&qid=1403375040

The book is also available in other countries too, just search the Amazon site for your country for 'A New ME by Barry John Evans'

If my review isn't enough to convince you, Barry has created his own video explaining about the book on YouTube which you can find here.

Plus 10% of the profits go to the ME charity Invest in ME

A final few words from me...

I can't mention enough how much I enjoyed reading this book or how much I can relate to a lot of what is written. I'm proud to be able to call Barry my friend and wish him all the best in the future!