Bygones

Bygones

by Kim Vogel Sawyer

If you are a fan of the Amish fiction by Beverly Lewis and others, you are going to love Bygones, which takes place in a Mennonite community. Twenty-three years ago, Marie Koeppler left her Mennonite family and faith in Sommerfield, Kansas. Marie met a truck driver at her job and ran off to Cheyenne, Wyoming, later marrying Jep Quinn and giving birth to their daughter, Beth.

Upon leaving, she really hurt her family, especially her father and ex-beau Henry Braun, who never stopped loving her. Events lead up to Marie eventually coming back to Sommerfield and her relationship with God and her family.

I am looking forward to reading the second book in the Sommerfield Trilogy, Beginnings, coming in October.

-Debbie

Stormy Weather

Stormy Weather

by Paulette Jiles

A tale of the trials and triumphs of the Stoddard family, Stormy Weather is set in the oil fields of Texas during the Great Depression. The four women in this family bind together through the hard times that befall them.

After the death of Elizabeth's husband, she and her daughters return to the abandoned and run-down family farm. Together they must rebuild the farm and their lives. This is a beautiful story of determination, courage, and resourcefulness.

- Kathy S.

The Island

The Island

by Victoria Hislop

An absorbing novel of a young woman’s search for the truth of her mother’s past, The Island is the story of leprosy's touch on an extraordinary family, set in the Mediterranean during World War II.

- Lynn

Home to Harmony and Just Shy of Harmony

Home to Harmony and Just Shy of Harmony

by Philip Gulley

I enjoyed these homespun stories about life in a small town. The characters are sweet, quirky, and so believable that I checked to make sure it was fiction while I was reading it! It makes me think of Garrison Keillor and his News From Lake Wobegon. I'm hooked now - I'll be reading all of his books.

- Dixie

Cooking with Fernet Branca

Cooking with Fernet Branca

by James Hamilton-Paterson

I have many guilty pleasures. I love culinary snobbery, biting satires and witty characters. Cooking with Fernet Branca has this in spades with Gerald Samper, a ghostwriter for celebrities living in Tuscany. He fancies himself a culinary genius of great daring. His neighbor, Marta, has arrived from Voynovia, a fictitious ex-soviet region and is an earthy composer for an Italian avant-garde filmmaker. What follows is a comedy of manners told in the first person of each character.
Truly outrageous, this is one of the wittiest of contemporary novels.

-Holly

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War
by Joe Bageant

Available through CLEVNET, Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War, a new book by Joe Bageant, is an eye-opening story of the author’s return to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia after a 30-year absence. Besides introducing readers to colorful characters, Bageant gives an educational (and heart-wrenching) account of how our society’s unacknowledged class system came to be.

- Linda B.

The Last Chinese Chef

The Last Chinese Chef: a novel
by Nicole Mones

Maggie McElroy, a California food critic, travels to China to settle a paternity claim against her late husband's estate. While there, she also covers the story of Sam Liang, a rising culinary star. As Maggie uncovers her late husband's past in Beijing, she is drawn into the sensuous world of Chinese food, and the history and meaning of each dish through the eyes of Sam Liang.

By the author of Lost in Translation, this is an intelligent love story full of culinary and cultural detail.

-Holly

The Prince of Nantucket

The Prince of Nantucket
by Jan Goldstein

Teddy Mathison is the front runner to be the new U.S. Senator from California when he is called home to Nantucket to care for his ailing mother. As a man who "doesn't do relationships", he must figure out how to reconnect with his estranged daughter and come to terms with his past. A quick read full of emotional ups and downs.

- Nancy

The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ

The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ
by Sylvia Browne

If you were intrigued by the premise put forth in the DaVinci Code, you will find Sylvia Browne's book very interesting and enlightening. She explores the controversies surrounding the birth and life of Jesus.

-Pat

When Joy Came to Stay

When Joy Came to Stay
by Karen Kingsbury

When Joy Came to Stay is an inspirational story about Maggie Stovall and the lie she has carried and hidden very well throughout her life. Depression overcomes her and while she's in a mental hospital, Maggie's husband desperately goes in search for answers in her past. Interwoven in this plot is the story of a little girl named Amanda Joy who is lost in the foster care system and is in search of a family that will love her. Grab some kleenex and enjoy this book!

- Ann

Virgin River

Virgin River
by Robyn Carr
After suffering a tragedy, Melinda Monroe decides she needs a change of scenery. She leaves Los Angeles and accepts the position of nurse-practitioner/midwife in the small rural community of Virgin River, where she finds more than she bargained for. If you enjoy small town settings, likeable characters and good storylines, you will enjoy this book. Virgin River is the first book in the Virgin River Series. Shelter Mountain and Whispering Rock round out the trilogy.
-Patti

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
by Barbara Kingsolver

Food is near and dear to us. Barbara Kingsolver, in teamwork with her family, has produced a fascinating look at our cultural food habits as her family commits to a year of eating only what they can raise themselves with a few inputs from their neighbors. She chronicles the ironies (beginning the process with a trip to fill up with gas and junk food), the joys (special times with family and friends) and frustrations they encounter along the way. The book is seasoned with pithy articles by her husband and delicious recipes by her daughter. This book is written with the same spirit and style that pulls us into her works of fiction.

- Sue

Sweet Land

Sweet Land
DVD

Sweet Land is a love story set in rural Minnesota during the 1920's. When Olaf Torvik sends for a mail order bride from Sweden, he is unaware that Inge Altenberg is German. The Lutheran minister refuses to marry the couple following years of anti-German sentiment after World War I. Eventually, as the two work their farm together, they fall in love.
Beautifully filmed and a delightful story - is that rare film the whole family can enjoy together. Rated PG and available on DVD at the Burton Public Library.

-Holly