Rating: 
Summary: minds and hearts opening soon
Review: I was initially resistant to reading this book, no matter that I loved Billie Letts' first novel, _Where The Heart Is._ My hesitation, snobbishly, had to do with what I considered to be a "silly" title, somewhat like _Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle-Stop Cafe_ by Fannie Flagg. I only read THAT wonderful book after falling in love with the movie. You'd think I'd have learned._The Honk And Holler Opening Soon_ begins bleakly, introducing characters one by one, some of whom have yet to meet. Caney Paxton is a wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran and owner of the strangely-named diner (due to a drunken misunderstanding with the sign-maker). Molly O, a woman who helped to raise Caney and also helps him to run the cafe, is dreading Christmas without her country music-singing runaway daughter and is over-compensating by forcing Christmas cheer on Caney and the Holler's regulars. Vena Takes Horse, a beautiful young Crow woman and drifter, rescues an injured dog while thinking of her sister; and Bui Khanh, a Vietnamese immigrant, searches for a new home after an unfortunate car accident. Both Vena and Bui wind up at the Honk and Holler, turning the small-town Oklahoma diner into a veritable melting pot and the lives of Caney and Molly O upside down. Letts brings to life even the book's more minor characters, causing the reader to feel part of a large and mixed-up extended family. The use of foreshadowing and symbolism might seem heavy-handed in a book of this type (an oriental-looking baby Jesus in Molly O's nativity display; a gelding terrified by the sound of gunshots), but instead lends magic and a not-unwelcome feeling of security due to fate (or the hand of a Higher Power) stepping in where it is most needed. There are a few minor faults, but they seemed insignificant as I was eventually unable to put the book down for fear the story would move on without me. As it catapults to its perfect conclusion, Letts' writing is sure to bring tears to more sensitive readers, including myself. _The Honk and Holler Opening Soon_ is not such a silly title after all, for the "opening soon" applies to the broadening of the characters' minds, the building of new lives, and the irrelevance of race in true caring and friendship. A feel-good story with a universal message, this book shouldn't disappoint anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: This is a real 'feel good' book despite some of the unpleasant situations. The characters were as real as they get as were the true to life dramas played out in this small town. A thoroughly enjoyable book, one I would read again if I hadn't already passed it on.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book About Down to Earth Folks!
Review: Wonderful story of perseverance and caring when two strangers meet in strange circumstances. Wheelchair bound Caney opens the Honk and Holler Cafe in Oklahoma. He offers a job to a strange woman and things happen from there on. Down to earth, true to life happenings in a cafe just down the road from us. Tender, tough, funny and moving story. A must read!
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl Books One - Three
Rating:
Summary: The Honk and Holler Opening Soon-GREAT book
Review: This is a really good book. I could not put it down. I have read it 3 times. I recommend this book to anyone. Billie Letts is a great author. She is one of my favorites. So if you are looking for a really good book, you should choose this one because it is wonderful. I LOVE this book!!!
Rating: 
Summary: I think I know this cafe!
Review: Ms. Letts tells us yet another tale of America. I find myself picturing local cafes that I have been to and thinking I've met these people, they are THAT real! An excellent read, and an inspiration for me to get my journal out and hang out at the cafes and write!
Rating:
Summary: Did not want it to end
Review: The characters in this book are both adorable & very realistic. I loved the book just as much as "Where the Heart is". I would highly recommend this story - I've lent it out twice so far & both people loved it. The ONLY thing is that there are loose ends at the very end. I don't want my review to spoil the ending for anyone - but although I enjoyed it very much, I felt I still wanted to know what happened to certain characters & plots. Also, despite the author acknowleding the loose & unexplained ends (not the main plot though - that had an end) at the end of the book - it still made me mad.
Rating:
Summary: Hope in Small town America
Review: People from every walk of life entered this diner, some looking for a job, some for company and some just for a place that feels like family. Caney is the owner , who is a Vietnam vet who lost legs in the war, Molly is a boisterous widow who raised Caney and
now runs the diner, Vena takes horse is the Indian who shows up in town looking for work and seems to come from nowhere and Bui is a Vietnamese immigrant that somehow sought Oklahoma was the land of dreams come true. Letts has each character tell their
story in their words and then she spends a wonderful tale of four misfits who come together to make a better life for them and the townspeople who come to eat at the diner. The foursome open their hearts to us the reader and make us feel their pain and joy. This
is a tender look with the rough edges of living in a small town in the middle of nowhere and making a success of their life. At the end family rifts have begun to mend, love has been found and the future holds many possibilities for these characters who were so down in life before meeting each other.
Rating: 
Summary: Small Town Cafe
Review: Honk and Holler Opening Soon is a small roadside café in a small town in Oklahoma. Although twelve years the "opening soon" is a town joke. The café is ran by Caney, a Vietnam vet confined to a wheelchair after losing both legs; and Molly O, a boisterous widow woman who helped raise Caney. Life in the usually quiet small town café turns a 180 when two out-of-towners show up looking for work. The first is a Native American woman, Vena Takes Horse. Vena hitched a ride with a trucker who drops Vena and a wounded dog off at the café. The other is a Vietnamese immigrant, Bui, who is saving so his wife can join him in America. The plot includes twists and turns including the budding romance developing between Caney and Vena, the secrets each of the characters are harboring and a local's dislike for Bui. Letts, an Oklahoma native, creates a true picture of the happenings in a small town café.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I read this book because I enjoyed Where the Heart Is so much. This book isn't quite as good as that one, but an enjoyable read just the same.
Rating:
Summary: " Feeling Blue? Read this book!"
Review: THE HONK AND HOLLER OPENING SOON is a book that leaves you feeling good about the solid ethics of Middle America. During a time of internal and external and threats from ceo's and foreign groups, this book provides a feeling of the ability to survive. The characters are who they are, made by their past, the problems they face, meet and solve. Sometimes they must live with the adversity and adjust. But they move on.
Billie Letts brings the people of America into the hearts of us all. This is how the so called "average" American lives. They help each other. They open their hearts and accept the frailties of people doing the best they can with what they have. Somehow we all find a place to call home and eventually accept each other for who we are. I loved this book! I laughed, I cried, I recognized the American spirit. I recommended this to my book club and am anxiously awaiting the discussion. I'm also anxiously waiting for Billie Letts' next book.
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