To Everything a Season

To Everything a Season by Lauraine Snelling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To everything a season...the little town of Blessing, North Dakota is growing as is the hospital. The hard work Ingeborg, her husband, Norwegian farmer, Haakan Bjorklund and their family have put into the community is showing. The small town is thriving, new shelters must be built for the arriving workers and the new hospital will soon have nurses riding the train in from Chicago. But, with growing towns - new issues also turn up such as crime and differences in faith and worship. Will Blessing be fractured or can the differences be resolved?

One of my very favorite series....

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Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Father Tim is back from Ireland and still trying to get used to retirement. There's a balancing act between being bored and overwhelmed when in an emergency he's asked jump back in the pulpit while also filling in at the Happy Endings bookstore. Sammy, Dooley's brother, is causing havoc and the town seems to be falling apart. How can the good pastor find the contentment he is so desperately seeking?

As in all the wonderful Mitford series I tried to slow down(I really did!)and savor each page, but found myself eagerly wanting to read ahead. Many of our favorite Mitford small town characters are back..Helene Pringle, Dooley and Lace, J.C. and Ester Bolick for another memorable novel.

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A Killing in the Hills

A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When county prosecutor Bell Elkin's daughter, Carla, witnesses a triple murder at the Salty Dawg in their hometown of Ackers Gaps, WV, Bell is determined to protect Carla and find the killer. Unfortunately even though the diner was full of people, no one has description of the suspect. As days go by and Carla relives the horrifying event the face with the gun looks like a young man she seen at a recent party - where drugs were flowing easy. How can Carla give the information to her mom but not be grounded for life? In her quest to find the perp and dig deeper into the drug ring surrounding their county, Bell's own life is put in danger as is Carla's.

Full of suspense, A Killing in the Hills contains more than one mystery and readers will find Bell's own life story as the chapters unfurl. Bitter River is the next great read in the Bell Elkins mysteries.

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Big Stone Gap

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ave Maria isn't the person she thought she was - it wasn't until her beloved mother's death that Ave finds in a penned letter that the aloof father she knew wasn't her birth father. She had always felt different and looked different than the townsfolk in Big Stone Gap, a tiny town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The town loved her mother, who served as a seamstress to every wedding and prom over the years. Ave helped her mother, stayed clear of her father, and then went to college to take over the family pharmacy. But now at 35, Ave believes that finding her father's family in Italy is the key to her fear of finding love. In retrospect, Ave will find that there is one man who has loved her since sixth grade and will quietly do anything to help her find herself and her Italian family.

This is a story of waiting on love with the help of funny, quirky characters like Iva Lou, sexpot, operator and librarian of the Bookmobile. What small town doesn't have them including my own. I suppose that's why I enjoy Trigiani's novels so much.

A favorite quote is: “...I've made it my business to observe fathers and daughters. And I've seen some incredible, beautiful things. Like the little girl who's not very cute - her teeth are funny, and her hair doesn't grow right, and she's got on thick glasses - but her father holds her hand and walks with her like she's a tiny angel that no one can touch. He gives her the best gift a woman can get in this world: protection. And the little girl learns to trust the man in her life. And all the things that the world expects from women - to be beautiful, to soothe the troubled spirit, heal the sick, care for the dying, send the greeting card, bake the cake - allof those things become the way we pay the father back for protecting us...”

The novel's sequels are: Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and Home to Big Stone Gap.

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Small Town Girl

Small Town Girl by Ann H. Gabhart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Small Town Girl continues the story of Angel Sister with the same beloved characters but introduces a newcomer, Jay Tanner. Jay, a bit of a roamer and ladies' man, comes to town to be his best and only friend Pastor Mike Champion's best man at his wedding and ends up staying and liking the small town of Rosey Corner. Jay also has his eye on Mike's sister-in-law, independent Kate Merritt but is afraid to commit to a relationship because of his background.

Set on the verge of World War II, Small Town Girl is a sweet, historical and inspirational novel whose vulnerable characters wrap themselves around your heart and won't let go...

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When We Were the Kennedys

When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine by Monica Wood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can't describe what a wonderful feeling this book gave me - whether it's because I too live in a small town that is kept afloat by a nearby paper-mill (New Page to boot) or the sweet childhood camaraderie of the Wood sisters or that many of my childhood friends were Catholic and we grew up in the 60s... A sweet, exceptional memoir written by Monica Wood, "When We Were the Kennedys" is definitely a worthy read.

From the prologue, you will find the pivoting event that all chapters refer to: Monica's beloved father, only 57, who worked as a foreman at the huge paper-mill and biggest employer in town, the Oxford Paper Company, dies from a massive heart attack as he prepares to enter his car and go to his morning shift at the mill. At home still is Monica, nine, with two young sisters, an older sister who teaches in nearby school, and Mom, who had the three younger girls late in life, and is so distraught over her husband's sudden death that she takes to her bed. Fortunately, Monica has an uncle, Father Bob, who suffers his brother-in-laws death severely as well, but steps in until he too succumbs to despair. At the same time, on the national scene, the handsome, young Catholic leader, President Kennedy, is shot and killed and the Wood family is rallied by his brave widow Jackie O. and small children who are living through similar shock and pain. The book ends on a sweet note with an update of Monica's family and friends.

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The Scent of Lilacs

Ann Gabhart wrote that this book was her first attempt at inspirational writing and it is the beginning of a series set in a small town in Hollyhill, Kentucky in the 1960s. A much simpler time and way of life but people faced the same distractions, temptations,and problems as now. Jocie, at only 13 and daughter of the local pastor, prays for her sister to return and a pet dog to love. Her father also is a newspaper editor and Jocie hangs out at the shop and helps out by taking pictures of local events and writing stories. They both share their home with Jocie's stern Great Aunt Love, who loves to quote scripture and handout chores. When Jocie was a baby her mother left in the middle of the night, taking with her Jocie's older sister, Tabitha, finally settling in California and never returning. One night at the beginning of summer, the family returns home from church to find someone sitting on the porch in the dark, waiting for them.

The main characters are so well written and your heart will break for sweet Jocie and the secrets that will change her summer and her life.

If You Could See Me Now

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you've ever read any of Cecelia Ahern's novels, you know that her books are rather endearing, romantic, and sweet. If You Could See Me Now begins with Elizabeth's flighty, unreliable younger sister, Saoirse, stealing the car and taking off for parts unknown, again! Elizabeth, who adopted Saoirese's son, Luke, is left trying to care for him and her angry, aging father. Luke, only six years old and lonely, finds solace in a new, invisible friend named Ivan. Elizabeth, who is a no nonsense, very precise, and controlled woman suddenly finds herself sensing something or someone around the house. Is Ivan really invisible to adults and children, other than Luke and can he help Elizabeth reclaim some fun and spontaneity in her life?



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