Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf

Take a side road and Holt County, Colorado to get a glimpse into the richness of the people who live there. In this book we follow the life of Jack Burdette as he goes from the town hero to the most hated person in town. See how his actions affect the various people in his life as he rushes toward what he wants out of life.

This novel delivers a powerful story that had me enthralled to the end. Though I found the ending disappointing and kind of heart wrenching. I enjoyed the various story lines that flowed with in the pages and felt a true connection with the narrator. I would recommend this book for those who love a small slice of life with their coffee at reading time. :)

Review by Tesse aka blissful2beme

Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf

Every tale has two sides and what you see may not be the reality of what really happened. Go back in time and follow the story of Eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough and discover why she is in the hospital facing murder charges. Discover the roads that she traveled to become what she is and hear the story from the boy who loved her with all his heart.


I personally love Ken Haruf's books. I first read Plainsongs last month and had to mooch the rest of his books and I must say this one touched me as much as plainsongs did. It made me cry by the end and left me wishing for more. I give it rave reviews and recommend it for anyone who likes small town stories and insight into human nature.

Review by Tesse aka blissful2beme

The Poison wood Bible

by Barbara Kingsolver

Gather your courage and step in to the deep dark jungles of the Congo following the footsteps of the Poison wood preacher and his five wives. The story starts out in the year 1959 with a Baptist Minster and his family headed for the Congo jungle to bring the light of Jesus into the darkness that dwells in the deep the African heart. We meet Brother Price, his wife Orleanna, and four daughters Rachel, Adeh, Leah and Ruth as they are preparing for the trip over to Kilanga to spend a year as missionaries. Once there they discover that their journey will not end with only a year but will extend over a life time as the jungle takes root into their souls. This story is a well crafted combination of the characters journey through life and the turbulent history of the Congo all told in a rich vibrant manner that allows you to hear, see, touch and smell Africa through all the eyes of the family. Each chapter is told in the insightful view of each character by rotating through Orleanna, Rachel, Adeh, Leah and Ruth's personal perspectives of what is occurring at the moment.

The author carefully crafted her characters with unique personalities which causes you to love and hate them at the same time. They become inextricably human as the book progress causing you to feel the joys and sadness each one experiences. You can't help but feel the pull of the jungle and the strife it's people face on a daily basis to survive.

I wish I could put in better words the way this book affected me. It got under my skin and has left me with a warm glow. I highly recommend this book for TBR pile.

reviewed by Tesse aka blissful2beme

Cupcake

by Rachel Cohn

Defiantly not a book on cooking! Let's join our heroine CC as she embarks on the road to adult hood. Fresh from high school CC decides to chase her dreams and move to Manhattan to live with her brother. Only problem is that it is harder to let go of her first love then she imagined. CC learns that life isn't what you dream it to be but what you make it to be. Along the way she discovers her true family in life and what it means to truly be yourself.

I will admit at first I wasn't very enthusiastic about reading this book. The first couple chapters were very hard to follow because the main character, CC was very adolescent in her views and vocabulary, almost like the writer was trying too hard to make her seem like a 18 year old. As the pages turn and you learned more of the characters it became clearer that the writing was not forced but intentional in order for you to see CC's growth as a person and how she was maturing in thought and personality; which made the book more rich and enjoyable.

I enjoyed the odd characters like Max and Mold; whom I would imagine to be actual people living in a town like New York. I couldn't help become attached to the characters and feel the love, happiness and sadness as life took it's hold on all of them. The book ended well and I got a good happy feeling out of my experiences with it. So I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes "journey of life" stories.

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Tesse
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PS... I know this wasn't on my list but I couldn't find my other book I listed as a choice so I just grabbed this one off my pile. I will find the original book and read it too.. :)