Rating: 
Summary: Encouraging!
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. I am so inspired by Lisa. The life she and Todd led is very similiar to my own marriage. I had 2 boys and was pregnant with my 3rd when 9/11 occured. Mine and Lisa's children are all the same age and I personally cannot imagine enduring life without my true soulmate. She is a very brave woman for sharing her story and encouraging and witnessing to others.She stated in the book at one time that she feels sorry for those who don't have God in their lives because what an awful way to greive...without hope. I had never thought of that before, but she is absolutely right. The book is filled with Christian love and hope. I only wish I could put my arms around Lisa and tell her how proud Todd must be.
Rating: 
Summary: Author?
Review: Methinks no. She's just making a buck on her loss.
Rating:
Summary: Let's Roll
Review: I thought Lisa Beamer's book was such an outstanding testimony of her faith in Christ. What a blessing it is to know that there are others who love the Lord and know that God is sovereign over all. Yes,it is all about Christianity and not Religion as some have stated. There is a big difference. I for one, found her book an inspiration to those who must go on in spite of their loss here on earth. She does not talk lightly about her loss nor say that everything is o.k. But, I can tell that her foundation is in Christ and that she knows He will be with her in the future, just as He was in the past. I am so thankful for young people who have Christ as their firm foundation, when all else crumbles about them.One of their favorite scriptures quoted in the book from Roman 11, has been such a comfort to me. Thank you Lisa for your timely message and your testimony!
Rating: 
Summary: Platitude-heavy disappointment.
Review: Tragedy has a way of ennobling its victims. Unfortunately, an extended media aftermath, including books like this one, have a way of reversing the effect. Whether you find Lisa Beamer to be a picture of poise and endurance or an overexposed spotlight-grabber, you're not likely to find that this book enhances her reputation. Whereas other famous widows like Jackie Kennedy maintained a private grief that spoke volumes through dignified silence, Lisa Beamer has chosen the opposite course. She might have been able to pull it off if she had the insight and depth of an Isabelle Allende, but (as she would probably admit herself) she is an ordinary person, and not a terribly bright or insightful one at that. As such, this book is not much more than a compendium of expected sentiments and religious platitudes that often come across as trite and preachy. Yes, it is a shame when remarkable events are recalled in a pedestrian fashion that relies heavily on platitudes and banalities. Are we unrealistic to expect something deeper and truer? Perhaps. But if you undertake to write a book, you set an expectation level that you have something to say. Like its shopworn and slogany title, "Let's Roll" shows us that, other than delivering the same lines heard in media interviews, Lisa Beamer really doesn't have much to say.
Rating:
Summary: Product Not Truthfully Presented
Review: I've read the rest of the reviews of this book (NOW, and sadly not BEFORE I read the book) and I agree with "TOO PREACHY". My family lives very close to the crash site so in preparation for a visit, I had to chose a book to read. I read "Among the Heroes" which was a fabulous book that covered all the news-worthy stuff and gave me a great overview of ALL the passengers on the flight and the details that I was looking for. After a very emotional visit to the site, I was interested in getting more personal accounts, so I thought that Lisa Beamer's book would be a good place to start, especially because it was on the best seller list for so long. I have nothing but admiration and respect for her and what she had to go through when she lost her husband, alone and pregnant with two other children to raise. I knew about the "Let's Roll" thing on the telephone and how Todd recited the Lord's Prayer with the phone operator and I thought, 'I'd probably be doing that also, considering the circumstances'. HOWEVER, let's get to the promotion of the book. I think that I'm fairly up on the news, so when I began reading this book I was SHOCKED!!! I strongly believe that Lisa Beamer can write about whatever she wants and if there is someone out there agreeable to publish it, so be it. HOWEVER, there is NOTHING on the outside or inside cover to let me know what I will be reading within the pages of this book. I have to really stretch this, but the only thing that I can find that could be interpreted as a religious reference is inside the cover where it reads, "Let's Roll! is their story - a message of character, courage, and faith in the face of horrifying tragedy." There is no reference to God, to scripture reading, to repeated mentions of religious beliefs. Not that there is anything wrong with that, BUT, if I'm going to spend ... on a book and I only read the covers and the inside flaps (which is usually all you are supposed to do in a book store), I see nothing to indicate to me that I'm going to get a bible lesson along with my hard-earned money that I spent on this book. Whatever was Lisa Beamer's intent in writing this book, perhaps Ken Abraham or Tyndale House Publishers had another plan. To publish on the cover of the book the intent of the writer might have turned off potential readers so they figured that they would just give the reader a religious lesson along with the price of their book. NO THANK YOU! A very famous singer pulled the same sort of stunt on his audiences back in the late 1970's. He suddenly became born-again and wanted to go on tour to make some money, be it for himself or his religion, there was no excuse. He sold tickets for his concert in a city that hadn't had him perform in over two decades. For those who paid dearly for their tickets, anxious to finally hear their favorite singer's hits, they were shocked to see their idol come out on stage and state that he was going to sing Jesus songs and if the audience didn't like it, they could leave. Never did he mention that they could have their money back if they weren't happy with his choice in music. I won't even go into the quality of the writing of his book, especially since it was "helped" by Ken Abraham. However, I do not agree with selling a book to make a best seller on sympathy or curiosity of a tragic event while hiding the real agenda from the buyer until they have already bought the book and are well into the first chapters of of the book. Why wasn't Lisa Beamer on a media junket to speak loud and hard of her strong belief in God (I'm talking general media as I wouldn't be tuning into a religious station)? Why did we have to wait to find out her real beliefs until we were surprised within the pages of the expensive book that we bought? That is so unlike born-again Christians who seem to want to share their religion with anyone who doesn't want to hear it. I'm sure that Lisa wanted her beliefs to be advertised on the cover of her book. If these are her true words, it seems like she would want to shout them from the top of whatever platform she would be able to stand on. So to keep these strong religious feelings a big secret until you read her book just doesn't make any sense except that books wouldn't have sold if the true content was published on the cover.
Rating:
Summary: Light and Trite
Review: Young JFK Junior saluting his dad's funeral procession - touching. A photo of a young sailor standing in awe as the Arizona explodes - unforgettable. Let's Roll - clichéd and trite. Lisa Beamer qualifies as a bereaved widow and little else. The predictable narrative is devoid of insight and full of stock phrases. The incessant Christian theme is beat into the reader to the point of exhaustion. While others quietly mourn their loss, the nation is force-fed the new national brand of grief - Lisa Beamer. Pass the private label.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring!!
Review: I didn't know much about Todd & Lisa Beamer before I read this book. It was recommended to me by a friend, who said that Lisa's faith was "inspiring". Based on that, I bought this book, and I feel so fortunate to have had a chance to look into the lives of these wonderful people. The thing I love the most about the book, is that Lisa doesn't pretend that Todd was perfect in life, however she tells so eloquently how he tried to correct his wrongs, and how her family overcame obstacles such as the death of her beloved father, and Todd's excruciating work schedule. The book WAS inspiring, and their faith leaves me wanting to become more faithful myself. What a wonderful, beautiful read!
Rating:
Summary: Shallow and packaged ¿inspiration¿.
Review: While some readers take issue with Lisa Beamer's professional widowhood, I personally have no problem with her writing or speaking about 9/11. However, I found this book unsatisfactory for a number of reasons above and beyond its relentless preaching of Christianity. Namely, Beamer fails to undertake any serious examination of issues about tragedy and God. One would expect that Beamer's experience - having just lost a spouse to a horrific death that left her children fatherless - would lead her to delve deeply into questions about religious faith and doubt. But instead of taking a deep look at how a loving god could passively stand by while thousands of innocents are incinerated and thousands of families are decimated, Beamer serves up simple-minded platitudes like "God is good", "God has a plan" (really? What plan requires the violent death of thousands of people?), "it all works for the glory of God". Since Beamer's own husband is praised for his presumed role in fighting against the attacks, I have to wonder how Beamer can simultaneously praise her husband for his action and praise God for his inaction. Ask yourself this: If a human being who possessed complete power to stop a tragedy had stood by, hands in pockets, as thousands went to horrible deaths, what would we think of that person? We'd call that person a monster. Yet, when her god does the same thing, Beamer pronounces him loving. Such tidy and banal sentiments might be fine for children's Sunday School, and they might pass muster with the unthinking sheep-like devotion of Christian fundamentalists, but anyone who expected a more honest and critical look at tragedy and God will be sorely disappointed by Beamer's apparently blithe and blind faith. There are other examples of head-in-the-sand denials. For instance, in the 40 or so minutes between the start of the hijacking and the crash of Flight 93, many passengers made final calls to their loved ones. Beamer's husband, however, did not call his wife or children, but instead spent between 15 and 40 minutes (according to various reports) talking to a Verizon operator. That a man, who by his own words knew he was about to die, chose to spend his last moments alive talking to a complete stranger instead of his family - that's gotta hurt. But Lisa glosses it over, claiming that she was glad he did this. I found such a claim unconvincing and further evidence that Beamer prefers chirpy, inspirational packaging over honest examinations of pain and grief. Maybe it's Beamer's way of protecting herself from hurt and doubt. But it leaves the reader with the impression that she'd prefer to play the devoted Christian widow chanting "God is good, God is good" instead of opening her eyes and ears to difficult and complex issues.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Testimony
Review: This book was more than I thought it would be. Lisa's understanding of the truth of the Gospel is very clear in these pages. It is an awesome testimony to the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
I cried as she recounted the moments after learning of the plane crash, as she explained to her son that Daddy wasn't coming home and as she arrived at the hospital to give birth to her daughter. Yet through each event, she leaned on the One who can give us comfort and hope. This book is a must read for anyone who is struggling through any type of suffering, not just mourning a death.
I am more impressed with her now than I had been before. God has truly used her as a messenger for His truth.
Rating:
Summary: Let's be realistic
Review: Years ago I worked with a man who was a staunch nonbeliever and who prided himself on being a free thinker. One day I asked him, "If your child chose to believe in God would you consider yourself a failure?" His affirmative response spoke volumes. My pointing out that it should be seen as ultimate victory, that the child had indeed learned to weigh the input and, despite external contradictions, chose a view opposed to him was met with scorn. It was clear that his only desire was to reproduce one no different from him, despite all his rhetoric. "Let's Roll" does not attempt to convince or convert its readers. It is an honest attempt to reveal the ingredients of a man's life that enabled him to act heroically in the most unimaginable circumstances of what had begun as just another day. It seems often that the results of such lives are welcomed, sometimes even demanded, but the motivational factors are tossed aside as so much foolishness. Can it be any less with lives than with computers: garbage in, garbage out. "Let's Roll" does a satisfactory job revealing what went into the making of Todd Beamer's life. We all know the toll that those beliefs extracted. The book makes clear that each of those on Flight 93, if given the chance, would have chosen to return to their loved ones and homes. When Cranbury, NJ, dedicated its post office to Todd, an emotional Lisa said that Todd would have preferred to have been recognized as the Little League coach that he was. Instead of tearing apart the book, and therefore the lives of these two (as well as the others), let's be thankful for the sacrifice such courage took. Which one of us was not relieved when we heard that the final plane had been disabled without the massive loss of life as in the WTC or the Pentagon. Why must the attacks still continue? ... Lisa and Todd are not perfect. That is not the book's claim. If I reduced the message to one phrase it would be "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Think of this book as a tribute to the parents of these two young people as well as a testimony that doing the right thing sometimes has a deep personal cost. Strong belief does not exempt anyone from painful circumstances, but God is a comfort to those who have taken time to develop a relationship with Him when things seem to be going well. For those who were searching for hope when they picked up this book and did not find it, don't stop looking. "Let's Roll" reminds us that finding hope is possible, not that the manner in which hope plays out in Lisa's life is the blueprint for how it must play out in yours. ...
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