Rating: 
Summary: A Common Life
Review: I fell in love with the Mitford Series and thought of Father Tim and the rest of the town as family. When this book came out, I raced to the book store anticipating another great book - I was so disappointed - I wish she had included this within the series - I didn't like going back (Miss Sadie had died already) I wish it had just continued from the island and included more of Dooley and what happened to him. I really hesitate to buy the one about snowmen - So sad in Indy!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not her best!
Review: I was disappointed that this book was not longer! I wanted it to keep going. It does answer questions that aren't answered in the other books. Next book please!
Rating: 
Summary: B-O-R-R-R-I-N-G
Review: This volume is painfully boring. The reader (not the author)stinks.Way too religious. Un-interesting. As good as the other volumes were this is so bad it may be the last "episode" I listen to (audio book).I actually had to fast-forward the tape just to get through it.
Rating:
Summary: From a very disappointed reader
Review: I just can't imagine WHY Jan Karon didn't write about the wedding in sequence. To write about it now seems strange and needless. I will think carefully before I buy another one of her books.
Rating:
Summary: Do not bother to read this one, it stunk!
Review: This book stunk. It was to mushey. I dont get what took her this long to write it. This book comparded to all her other ones stunk. Father Tim was actting like he could not live witrh out his wife. I like it when she writes about Emma & Dudley, but this book did not have much about thouse two. Also the wedding was weird. Every one was crying to much. So don't bother with this one! I hope her next book is much better and comes out faster!
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the wait
Review: After listening to and enjoying the audio tapes of the Mitford series on my way to work every morning, I was really disappointed in "A Common Life". Too much thinking from the characters and not enough story.
Rating:
Summary: stretching too far
Review: I enjoyed the whole Mitford series as a delightful and enjoyable escape. Therefore I was disappointed after reading Karon's latest. It was entertaining and was a satisfying completion of the series but it could have been included in the previous book instead of stretching it into another book. I read the whole thing in a couple of hours. The pages of this book had wide margins and was obviously straining to fill enough pages to make a book. I don't like feeling that an author is taking advantage of her public. Having said all this, I still enjoyed finishing up the series with the marriage. It was sweet and left me with a warm fuzzy feeling.
Rating:
Summary: Written for commmercial purposes?
Review: Having read all the previous books of the Mitford series, I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the latest installment. When I learned it was to be a prequel telling the story of the wedding, I became a bit concerned. After reading The Wedding Story, I must say that I consider my concern justified. I found the book boring, disappointing, and frustrating. There was no new information, no mystery, no conflict. It was obviously written quickly and did not require much creativity. I can only conclude that Ms. Karon wrote it to capitalize on the previous success of the series -- this is, to make money and to appease fans who were tired of waiting for the next installment. I, for one, am far from appeased. This book did nothing to further the Mitford series or, in my opinion, Ms. Karon's reputation.
Rating:
Summary: I'm really disappointed!
Review: I bought this book without opening it. I love all of the others and I was anxious for a little more Mitford. The margins are large, there are a lot a blank pages in this book -- and -- it is extremely "wordy". It appears that Jan Karon needed to turn in a paper for her "middle school" English class and it needed to have a certain number of words. She must have opened her thesaurus periodically to just write down descriptive word, after word, after word. This book was definately NOT up to the standard of the others. I would not buy it - check it out of the library or borrow it from a friend. It is NOT worth adding to your book library with the other Mitford books. Trouble is, now I'm not sure I want to buy her next book - I'll have to read the reviews first next time.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Many Say
Review: When we first received our copy of this book, we had two thoughts. (1) Hadn't we already read about the wedding? (2) The book is somewhat large for so little text. After confirming that we had not read the wedding story in one of Karon's earlier volumes, we settled down to read her most recent offering.We were not disappointed. The story that unfolds in "A Common Life" is anything but common, to use the vernacular. The author graces us with her vision of what a Christian marriage should be like, and dishes out an uncommon amount of good advice for how a couple should get started in building a successful married life. (Of course, the "common" in the title is actually referring to two people who share one life in a solid marriage.) On the other hand, we would have preferred if the book had been considerably smaller in size. Since we purchased it sight unseen, we cannot complain that its moderately large physical size was misleading. To those who pick it up off a shelf in a store without looking inside, however, there is almost certain to be disappointment. A small volume ("marriage missal" size) that one could carry in one's pocket would have been more agreeable. I hope, however, that this does not keep anyone from buying the book. It is well worth the price!
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