reader praise

I started reading Carol’s latest book on a flight back from Manila and finished it on my couch by the fire. I loved every story! Each tale is unique, and each is a door to a world of warm relationships, strong faith, and adventurous travel. I was entertained and inspired by what they revealed.
They are a great read for anyone who appreciates a good story, well told.
Kathleen Lauder, Cambodia Country Director
World Renew (Ret.)

This winsome book of “little stories” by Carol Van Klompenburg reminds us anew that household objects are never just meaningless “stuff.” A weaving in memory of a stillborn child, an old scarred-wood piano, a glass mobile in a window above an entry — each item in this book tells a story, and affirms that life, even amid human brokenness and loss, offers us beauty and joy.
Hugh Cook, Author of the novel Heron River

Carol Van Klompenburg has written a delightful book. She provides readers with 52 short stories about some of her special belongings and the memories they bring. Anyone could enjoy spending a quiet afternoon taking this journey down memory lane with her or thinking about their own special belongings; I certainly did.
Dr. Janice Walton, Author of Aging Well

Our possessions hold memories. Carol's vignettes about treasured items in her life made me pause, look at the material things left to me, and remember the people who bequeathed them. That sparked joy!
Valerie Van Kooten, Administrator
State Historical Society of Iowa

A World in a Grain of Sand

Carol Van Klompenburg lets us in on the stories behind the objects inhabiting her home and life—objects she has chosen, cherished, and retained even through downsizing. Each has a unique meaning for her. In telling you those meanings through quick and very readable chapters, she also reveals her interests, and values. Readers will recognize they too have objects in their lives that they retain as reminders—sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle—of who they are and what is important to them.
Bob Hutzell, Ph.D., Retired Clinical Psychologist

In A World in a Grain of Sand, Carol masterfully reveals the richness of life, the power of story, the courage of memory, and the intensity of emotional experiences that can be recalled in both the special and ordinary items gathering dust around our homes. What a delightful collection of anecdotes—I read it cover to cover and absolutely loved it!
Dr. Christy Berghoef, author of Cracking the Pot

A World in a Grain of Sand is stirring, lovely, and delightful. As I sat at my kitchen table reading it, Carol’s stories and photographs made me look around and consider the artifacts in my own life.
Her stories and images transported me back into the lives of my own parents and grandparents. As I looked around, I saw remnants from their lives, now sprinkled in mine—their china, furniture, paintings, and books—and in the garage, all of my dad's tools.
Now I wonder which of their belongings and my own will survive into my children's and grandchildren's lives and perhaps even further generations.
Inspired, I am now considering which of these artifacts have stories I can share.
Dr. Robert Leonard, Anthropologist