Looking for Me

Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another winner from the author of Saving CeCe Honeycutt with interesting, quirky characters and a strong, female leading character. Teddi Overman has an eye for restoring old furniture and encouraged by her father, but not by her "Debbie Downer" mother, moves from the family farm in Kentucky to bustling Charleston. She also leaves behind her beloved younger brother, Josh, a true nature and animal enthusiast. After several years of building her business in the city, her brother disappears into the forests surrounding the old farm, and blamed by her mother, Teddi's nightmares escalate. When her mother passes away, during what was to be a brief visit to the farm, Teddi is left the choice of keeping the farm or selling it. Along the path of making her final decision, Teddi uncovers the truth about her parent's marriage and makes her final peace with the loss of Josh.

A quote favorited by me and many others: "Some people run toward life, arms flung wide in anticipation. Others crack open the door and take a one-eyed peek to see what's out there. Then there are those who give up on life long before their heart stops beating - all used up, worn out, and caved in, yet they wake each morning and shuffle their tired legs through another day. Maybe they're hoping for a change - a miracle, even - but runaway dreams and lost years hang heavily on their backs. It's the only coat they know how to wear."



Mark this as one to read!

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A Parchment of Leaves

A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"There is so much writ upon the parchment of leaves, So much of beauty blown upon the winds,
I can but fold my hands and sink my knees
In the leaf pages." James Still, "I Was Born Humble"

Vine is a dark haired Cherokee woman living in the mountains who falls in love with a tall, quiet, freckled, redheaded man named Saul. She moves from her home in Redbud Camp to the home of Saul's mother, Esme, and brother, Aaron, in God's Creek, Kentucky until their own home can be built. Aaron, younger than Saul, and a bit spoiled, also falls in love with Vine and his crush turns into more when Saul takes a logging job away from home.

A lovely, deep book, with dreamy descriptions of the mountains...this novel will touch your heart as well as mine...

A quote to think on: "I walked out to the tree and put my finger to a leaf, smooth like it was coated with wax. I could feel its veins, wet and round. I had always found comfort in the leaves, in their silence. They were like a parchment that holds words of wisdom. Simply holding them in my hand gave me some of the peace a tree possesses. To be like that - to just be - that's the most noble thing of all." p. 218



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Blood Feud: The Hatfields and McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance

Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance by Lisa Alther
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lisa Alther tries to uncover some of the myth and legend surrounding the blood feud surrounding the West Virginian Hatfields and Kentucky McCoy rivalry with a touch of dry humor in her new book. In her quest to discover new information and dispel untruths, Alther discovered that her family, by marriage, tied into the infamous Fighting McCoys. Running on the heels so closely to the History Channel's miniseries, "The Hatfields and McCoys," Blood Feud is a good book to fill in all the spaces.

I was fortunate enough in 1978-80 to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. One of my acquaintances and fellow art students was a young man who resembled Johnse Hatfield in the movie. Guess what his last name was?

Websites to visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield...

http://www.wvculture.org/history/crim...

http://www.history.com/shows/hatfield...

www.trailsheaven.com/

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Clay's Quilt

Clay's Quilt by Silas House

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Such a gritty, beautiful novel of tragedy and the sweet, uplifting love of family and friends, set in the coal mining towns and deep, lovely hollows of Kentucky. Brought up in a coal mining town in Western Maryland - I'm always eager to read of books that share my own area's geological features. This book has been on my "want to read" list for many months.

Young coal-miner Clay Sizemore is surrounded by family - there's the indomitable, faith filled Aunt Easter who raised him, Great-Uncle Paul the quilt-maker and his tiny wife Sophie, and his cousin Dreama who lives right next door with her daddy, Uncle Gabe. But it's his own mother that Clay yearns for - the ethereal, full of life Anneth, shot right in front of Clay when he was only four years old. Clay wishes he could piece together the story of his mother's life - like his Uncle Paul pieced his quilts together and when Aunt Easter finds a box on her back porch, some of those pieces start stitching themselves together.


Complete with a conversation with Silas House, the author, and a Reader's Guide at the end.



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Angel Sister

Angel Sister: A Novel by Ann H. Gabhart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Merritts live in Rosey Corner, a little town in Kentucky during the Great Depression - a time of great loss. Kate Merritt, the middle daughter of Victor and Nadine, is 14, wise and sensible, but is sensitive to the fact that her father has nightmares from World War I and drinks too much. A huge chasm has developed between him and her steady, hardworking mother. Kate also sees the rift between both of her grandfathers - they are stern town leaders who hold grudges, insist on being heard, and can not be pleased. When Kate finds an orphaned little girl, named Lorena Birdsong, abandoned on the church steps, she wants to save and adopt her as her own sister - but the grandfathers have other plans.

A wonderful, heartwarming and inspirational book with great depth that will uplift you. By the end of the book, you'll wish you didn't have to say goodbye to Kate and her family.



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