Home to Harmony

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Place to Visit!
Review: Harmony, a small town pastored by Quaker minister, Sam Gardner, is a wonderful place to visit! One can only hope this is the beginning of a series by author Philip Gulley about this little town and its endearing minister. I picked this book up because (1) I have been feeling homesick for a visit to Jan Karon's little town, Mitford, and hoped Harmony might ease that homesickness; and (2) because the back cover compared Mr. Gulley's writing as "part Mark Twain and part Garrison Keillor." Well, on points (1) and (2), I was not let down. Mr. Gulley has a humorous and gentle writing style that is easy on the spirit as he draws you into the hearts and foibles of Minister Sam Gardner's parishioners. At the end of each chapter, he has a subtle and thought-provoking way of challenging his reader to reflect on (1) God's grace in our lives; (2) recognizing the blessings in our lives that we so often take for granted; and (3) dropping the pretenses that so often separate us from both God and one another. This sounds like heavy stuff -- and yet Mr. Gulley has such a light touch that he doesn't bludgeon us with the lessons he seeks to teach -- but gently leads us into the realization that God is gracious and ever-present. Especially in the everyday ordinariness of our lives. Well done, Mr. Gulley!

Rating:
Summary: Home to Harmony~
Review: Home to Harmony is the perfect book if you're looking for some good, wholesome, clean entertainment, humor and depth. Similar to Mitford in it's southern writing feel, and the small town, where everybody knows everyone, like Mitford it is also a feel good book. However, this is not a Mitford knock-off, it has a completely different writing style that stands on it's own. To me it seemed like a blend of At Home in Mitford and Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarden.

Each chapter can be read as it's own short story, but they build upon one another, completing a picture of life in Harmony. Told in the first person by a Quaker pastor, Home to Harmony is a delightful, charming read about small town life. There are many laugh out loud moments, solid Christian roots, and real perspective on how we should all approach life. Harmony is a town that shouldn't be passed over, but savored with an extended stay~

Rating:
Summary: Comfy
Review: I caught this work via a 2002 Recorded Books feature with narration by Norman Dietz. Surely Gulley has a great talent to speak about simple people and simple truths. Being a pastor's son and even today involved in church work, I can relate to some of Gulley's accounts. I thoroughly enjoyed this work and look forward to other Gulley pieces. Dietz does a great job reading this for audio.

Rating:
Summary: Home to Harmony -- Pure Delight!
Review: I discovered Home to Harmony on the library shelf. I thought it would be a nice, quiet, peaceful book. Little did I know that I would be almost rolling on the floor with laughter! This book is pure delight! My husband, who hates being read to most of the time, just had to know what was so funny. We spent a rainy Saturday afternoon of reading aloud and laughing. The people in this book are just like a lot of people we know! Then, Mr. Gulley would get serious -- but not too serious. He shares his moral and Christian insights with humor and grace. This book is never too "preachy." If anyone is thinking of reading this book, do yourself a favor and get it as fast as you can. It is the most delightful book I have read in quite some time. I can't wait to read Phillip Gulley's other three books as well.

Rating:
Summary: An Unexpected Great Read
Review: I had read many good reviews about the Mitford series so I figured I would veer off of my usual reading material and start with something completely different.

Along the way Amazon recommend Philip Gulley's Home to Harmony so I read this first. I think that this book is easily in my top 10 reads ever! I was laughing out loud at many points in this book. I found that even though the book might be considered a "light" read, I thought that there are many places where deeper meanings prevail and that there was much more "under the hood" than first appears.

So, now I am reading Just Shy of Harmony and have yet to get to, what was my main objective, the Mitford series. I highly recommend Home to Harmony.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I have the audio version of Home to Harmony, and it is a delight to listen to. I tend to play the same chapter over and over right before bed, falling asleep to the comforting, but humorous voice of Philip Gulley/Sam Gardner. My favorite tape contains "Miss Rudy, Wilbur, and Friday Nights" and "Brother Norman and the Bus," my two favorite excerpts.

Gulley offers a warm welcome into his ficticious world, and as you read or listen, you settle in and decide to stay, meeting the odd, quirky people of Harmony, Indiana, and Harmony Friends Meeting. The stories are well-crafted and memorable, staying with you long after you put the book down. Who can resist laughing at Dale Henshaw (if there's a bad idea, it's almost sure to be thought of by Dale Henshaw) or Bob Myers, Sr., a gruff old man who Sam fears will fight for us "to return to the gold standard"? You almost feel sorry for Bro. Norman, "not the brightest bulb in the chandelier" but a compassionate missionary to the Choctaw Indians in Oklahoma. How about Wilbur Matthews, a courageous man with a shameful secret" who is compared to William Allman Wheeler, a man of vision? Then there's Fern Hampton, a critic of Sam's sermons; Asa and Jessie Peacock; and the list goes on.

You'll love Gulley's characters and his soothing storytelling style. I highly recommend this series!

Rating:
Summary: A close second to Jan Karon!
Review: I loved this town. I thought all the characters were wonderful and I couldn't put it down! I need to read more books like this!

Rating:
Summary: Harmony-a Place Close to Your Hometown & Heart
Review: If you ever read Sherwood Anderson's 'Winesburg, Ohio' or tuned-in to Public Radio for a night of Garrison Kiellor's 'Prairie Home Companion,' you would certainly take a liking to Philip Gulley's down-home tales in 'Home to Harmony.' Gulley takes us back to a time when we were all young and small being with loved ones-in a small town, sitting on the front porch after supper, watching the sun go down on another day. The sky in beautiful hue of orange and pink. You can hear the crickets serenade. In the distance you can hear a neighbor's door shut. The porch is a time of the conversation-listening story after story. Gulley takes us the again into every season of the year where life shimmers at every corner. Gulley reflects on his own life experiences some told by his grandfather with all the warmth and humor in each story. Imagine a tiny town where you bearly notice on a road atlas. Gulley portrays himself as Sam Gardner, a Quaker pastor of Harmony Friends Meeting. Sam's life begins as he's chose by the folks of Harmony after the passing of their former pastor. Sam speaks of his first year leading his hometown church.

From there the reader and Sam join in some of the most heartwarming and funniest characters and situations you'll ever know. Makes you wish there was a Harmony near you. Experience life and adventure in small-town revival and the laughable incongruity of Billy Bundle, former wrestling champ billed as the "World's Shortest Evangelist." Get to know every cherished and sometimes oddball letters printed in Bob Miles Jr.'s Harmony Herald's controversial "Bobservation Post," much like the Reader's forum in some local newspaper you know of. When the day slows down visit the Legal Grounds Coffee Cup where a painting of the Last Supper hangs on the wall behind the buffet. Just think, Jesus and His disciples gazing over the salad bar. There's always some fish story to fry at the Coffee Cup. Namely the swordfish that appeared in Vinny Toricelli's pond-referred to the Loch Ness of Harmony. Sam's best friend from childhood, Uly Grant a direct descendant of Ulysses S. Grant whose son settled in Harmony, married a Quaker and opened the Grant Hardware Emporium. According to some historians, whether it was all true or not-we leave that to your opinion. Each place in Harmony town square has it's own reminiscences through every page. Each one entertaining to bring back some old memories of your old hometown. Reminds one of simple and ordinary moments of life that are treasured sacred gifts of faith, hope and love we have in family and friends. If you want to settle into a gentle, heartwarming, faith-inspired world and escape the rat race-then come home to Harmony. Here you'll meet colorful characters, hiliarious mishaps and a moral to encourage you. If you love 'Home to Harmony' you'll equally be smitten with 'Just Shy of Harmony,' 'Signs and Wonders: a Novel,' 'Christmas in Harmony,' 'Hometown Tales,' 'Front Porch Tales' and 'For Everything a Season.'

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ
Review: MR. GULLY HAS WRITTEN ON OF THE BEST BOOK I THINK I HAVE EVER READ. I ABSOULTELY LOVED THIS BOOK AND I AM NOW PASSING IT ON TO OTHERS SO THAT THEY CAN ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DID. IT MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD AND I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS CHARACTERS. IT WAS A EASY BOOK TO READ AND IT MADE YOU WISH THAT YOU COULD LIVE IN HARMONY WITH THE REST OF THEM. I HOPE THAT HE WRITES A SEQUAL TO THIS BECAUSE I WOULD LOVE TO GO BACK TO HARMONY AND VISIT THE LITTLE TOWN AGAIN. BEING A CATHOLIC I LOVED THE IDEA BEHIND THE QUAKERS AND WHAT GOD MEANS TO THEM AND WHAT HE DOES FOR THEM. ( I LOVED THE REFERENCE ABOUT THE POPE ). I HOPE MORE PEOPLE CAN ENJOY THIS AND GET AS MUCH OUT OF IT AS I DID. THANK YOU MR. GULLEY FOR ALLOWING US TO GO TO HARMONY.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: The whole Harmony series is very enjoyable, and it among my favorite in the fiction genre. They are all light-hearted and full of wonderful and entertaining characters. The books follow Sam, a pastor in a small-town Quaker church, and the eclectic group of individuals who are members.

You will likely find yourself laughing out loud at the antics of Dale, as he undertakes his scripture-egg project or his salvation balloons. Fern Hampton may drive you nuts, but you'll learn to love her.

Many reviewers compared this to the Mitford series, reading this one because they enjoyed the Mitford series so much. I tried reading the series after this one, and found it dry and dull.

These books are easy, pleasant and clean reads. Enjoy!