Rating: 
Summary: A nice break from horror and suspense.
Review: As a avid reader of authors Stephen King, Jonathan Kellerman, and the like, it was nice to read something without death and mayhem. I was given this book to read by my godmother who told me it was okay. I loved it. I didn't want it to end. Needless to say, I'm ordering the whole series. What a nice breath of fresh air. I am only 29, and the characters in the book seem to mostly be elderly, but I wish I lived in Mitford. What a lovely thought.
Rating: 
Summary: The Too Quiet Life
Review: First off, I want to say that I did enjoy this book to a certain extent. It is pleasant to visit a place where neighbors know and care for each other. I especially liked Father Tim; it is rare to see a positive portryal of clergy in fiction books these days. Yes, Mitford is a pleasant place, nice and quiet. Too quiet. Near the end of this book, I must say the story was becoming dull and too sugary sweet. There are now seven (?) of these books--which proves you only need one idea to make a living as a writer.
Rating:
Summary: The Simple Life
Review: The simple life, oh how we all long for it, in Mitford you will find it. Jan Karon writes with a style similiar to James Herriot in his "All Creatures Great and Small" series. Jan also weaves her Christian faith throughtout the book in a way which is relevant to her reader. Put the kettle on, make some tea, sit down in a cozy chair and become acquainted with the people who live in Mitford.You'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Would have put 10 stars if I could!
Review: I absolutely adore this series of books. Very refreshing, clean, easy to read, interesting... Wow! Good stuff. I highly recommend them for anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: A visit to a charming town. Norman Rockwell was here.
Review: This is an incredibly simple book about small town life. Told from the point of view of a preacher in a mythical town in the hills or mountains of North Carolina. Everybody knows everybody else, and not much happens. This is the perfect book to curl up with for some summer porch or beach reading. Yes the story is so simple there is almost no plot. You basically follow a 60 year old preacher through his travails. Since he is a Christian man there is a bit of bible quotation, but otherwise the story is not about his church so much as his efforts to keep life in order and cope with being a single man, past his youth yet surrounded by a small town that loves him - sometimes too closely. One warning..this is very much a "sweet" book. It challenged me to forgo my natural skepticism. I put this in the category of a read that won't tax the reader all but may instead impart a little smile.
Rating:
Summary: Slow as molasses on a cold morning....
Review: ...applies to this writer's attempts to evoke a 'folksy' ambience in her Carolina mountain town. Unfortunately, what little plot there is seems very contrived; attempts at representing vernacular speech are awkward; paper doll characters plod through the standard "village locales".
The premise of following villagers' daily lives is similar to the PBS tv presentation of the series 'Ballykissangel' but without any of the hilarity, pathos or conflict which that series so ably portrayed.
I'm pushing through to the end, reading aloud sections in the evening, during which my husband invariable drifts off to sleep.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoy Visiting Mitford BUT The Main Character Is Boring
Review: I have read the first three books of the Mitford series and I am more interested in Cynthia, Miss Sadie, Rose, Billy, Puny, and the group at Main Street Grill than I am in Father Tim. I think Tim spends too much time wallowing in self-pity. Tim even admits to wallowing, but does nothing about it - except say thankful prayers for having Cynthia and the others who put up with him...then he continues to think of himself. Tim is a weak main character that has yet to gain any strength.
I do enjoy the Town of Mitford - I hope Jan Karon gives Cynthia, Puny and the characters at the Main Street Grill a voice - I am tired of hearing about them through Father Tim. I highly recommend the Miss Read series of which J. Karon has spoken. Miss Read is a strong main character with that wonderful English wit - that only the English can master.
Rating:
Summary: At Home In Mitford (and all the books in the Mitford series)
Review: My wonderful sister-in-law sent me this book, saying she thought I would like it and I can honestly say that I LOVED IT!
I immediately ordered the rest of the books in the series (as well as Jeremy Bunny for my daughter) and could not put them down...never wanting the story and the characters--whom I came to love--to leave. How refreshing to be captivated by such wholesome and heart-warming material. Thank you,Jan Karon; you have a true gift and I'm so glad that you share it with us. Please write more...I miss Mitford!
Rating: 
Summary: great book
Review: My mom got this book from a friend, read it, and passed it on to me, saying "It's a great book, you'll like it." As a college student who alternates between reading literature and reading "brainless" romance books for study relief, I was skeptical of the book at first. Then I started reading it. I throughly enjoyed the story! It was well written and fun. I found myself alternately racing through chapters to see what would happen next, reading slowly and enjoying it, or laughing out loud because of something funny the characters said or did (which earned me strange looks from my roommate)! My only complaint from the book is it flowed a little too perfectly. Everything worked out perfectly in the end. Normally, I love books like that, but tthe ending was a little too perfect. That aside, this book was fantastic. I intend to finish reading Karon's series, she has something good here! I wold recommend this book to anyone who needs a fun, lazy day read. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, enlightening...and annoying
Review: This well-written book, the first of a series (actually the first of a small cottage industry, apparently!) has much to recommend it. The writer has a keen eye and a good ear. The story (what story there is) is engrossing. Issues of spirituality and faith are handled with insight and real illumination, and without condescension. The author likes her characters and the town she writes about. At the same time I found myself annoyed as I read on. The time presented in the book is clearly the present, though one can only tell that by the occasional reference to things like cordless telephones and contemporary television shows. The town and the people living in it have little or nothing to do with the way life is actually lived in America at the turn of the 21st century, even in small towns. It is the present seen through a nostalgic haze, as if the writer is projecting her idea of a past America onto a present situation, a past that never really existed outside of 1950's television shows. In Mitford, everyone is NICE, even teenagers. Problems are solved as they were at the end of '50's sitcoms: all's well that ends well. There is no character who is not a Christian. There are no atheists. Everyone is white, and the only character of color is presented as a stereotype: a maid, who calls her employer "Miss" in the Southern manner of fifty years ago. NO one seems to have a sex life. There are no gay or lesbian persons in this town, of course, not even closeted ones. And there certainly are no Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists in Mitford. However much this book has to recommend it (and there are considerable pleasures here) I could not escape the feeling that I was being manipulated, and that my worst prejudices were being catered to and taken advantage of, rather as they are in contemporary movies. "Titanic" comes to mind. The book is not story driven or even character driven. Situations are set up by the writer and then resolved in the most superficially satisfying way, again, like bad "50's" television shows. However if you want a good "escapist" read, then certainly this book, and the series that follows, is enjoyable, if you take it on its own terms.
| 
