In This Mountain

Rating:
Summary: Not a 10, but I would still buy the next in this series.
Review: I know that many readers are going to disagree with this review, but I felt I had to say that IN THIS MOUNTAIN by Jan Karon is not her best work. While reading this novel, I felt, over and over again, that Karon came "back to Mitford" because her readers demanded it, not because she was full of inspiration to continue the storyline. I closed the book the other night feeling as if I were reading a religious/inspirational piece. Will librarians place it on those shelves? They should. There is no fire in the relationship between Cynthia & Father Tim, that I could see, but I was delighted as everyone else to see what has happened to Dooley and the rest of Mitford since the last time we visited. I know, in order to write these particular books, and have overcome such stupendous odds in life, Jan Karon has to be one of the nicest people the world has ever produced, but I'm sad that this book is ho-hum. Will I buy another in this series, if there ever is one? OH, YES. I can't lose my old friends.

Rating:
Summary: This One Is Not To Be Missed!!
Review: If you ever doubted that these books are divinely inspired, then I urge you to read this book!

If you have ever suffered with depression, I urge you to read this book!

If you have ever felt yourself waver in your faith, I urge you to read this book!!

In this installment of Jan Karon's glorious Mitford series, we, "Come Home To Mitford", again, and oh what a happy reunion it is!

This book takes us from the valley's to the mountaintops, as we see Father Tim struggling with certain issues in his life.

We are reunited with Uncle Billy and Miss Rose, Hessie Mayhew, Dooley, Jessie, Poo, and most of the other characters that we've grown to love.

I found this to be a much deeper book than the others in the series, and we see these characters grow, through their struggles!!

This book will have you laughing and in tears, and it will leave a lasting impression on your heart and soul!!

If you've ever felt in need of a soul-satisfying, divinely inspired book, READ THIS BOOK!

A Devoted Fan, and Mitford Cheerleader!!

Becky Carden, [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I just truly love family sagas. I like the tales that take you on an emotional ride and never let's up. I love stories that make you laugh, cry, and that just plain make you think...and most of all make you feel the very feelings that the characters within are having throughout the book.

This book does all of that and so much more. I was pleasantly enthralled from beginning to end.

Rating:
Summary: For Your Summer's Best Read
Review: In This Mountain, by Jan Karon, is my pick for this summer's reading. I strongly recommend this book to family and friends, because of the lightheartedness and touching moments presented alongside the realities of day-to-day living. Set in a small town in the foothills of western North Carolina, the residents of Mitford are guided through their daily lives by Father Tim Kavanagh and his wife, Cynthia. This book, in my opinion, is the best in the Mitford series written by Ms. Karon. Her books bring Christian values and spirituality back to the forefront of adult literature, where they are greatly appreciated in this world today. I enjoy Jan Karon's books because of the homespun small-town characters, the comical and serious situations that can pop up unexpectedly, and the ability of the characters to persevere through their trials. For your best summer read at the beach or in the mountains, please take In This Mountain with you. Read it and enjoy what life and God have to offer in a small town!

Rating:
Summary: This one is the very best of the series!
Review:

Jan Karon has cornered the market on 'gentle fiction' and with IN THIS MOUNTAIN, she has written the best book of her career.

I am so glad Father Tim Kavanaugh and his beloved wife Cynthia are home again in Mitford. I savored each word of this story, took an entire week to finish it because I knew I would be sad to finish it.

This time around, Karon has given herself a real chance to develop a myriad of story lines and let all the delightful characters in Father Tim's life grow into people we'd all like to know....well, with the exception of that wicked witch Edith Mallory!

Questions to be answered:

Will Father Tim face facts and re-gain control of his diabetes?

Will Cynthia and Dooley have a great adventure in New York City when she goes to accept a prestigious literary award?

Will gizzards sell at the Main Street Grill?

Who will the win the war over haircut prices?

Will the small town accept the presence of an rehabilitated criminal into their midst?

Will Uncle Billy find just the right joke at just the right time?

Will the Bishop realize his dream of building a new cathedral?

Will Father Tim enter the hi-tech world and get a computer so he can finish his planned book of essays?

Will Dooley be reunited with his lost brothers and sisters?

Will Father Tim survive his crisis of faith?

Get this book....turn off the phone and the TV....set aside some time for yourself and travel to the enchanted world created by one of today's most talented, gentle and thoughtful authors. I guarantee you a pleasant trip.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: pure small town
Review: I grew up in a small town back in the 60's and 70's and I raised my own children in the same small town. This series truly captures the essence of small town living and makes me want to get back to my roots. Jan Karon makes me want Mitford to be a real place that I can move to. I already know most of the people who live there, so the transition would be a piece of cake. Keep it up Jan. I personally would like to see more Mitford books. This is one series I have not and probably never would get tired of.

Rating:
Summary: Editor Wanted
Review: I have read all the series books up to this one. There was just enough plot variation to keep me going in this time. But I must admit the series is wearing thin on me.

But even more wearing is the author's need for an editor. I believe that it's difficult for authors to see their own bad habits. That's why there are editors. And I think Penguin/Viking Books has failed Karon in this area. Karon has a habit of repeatedly using little turns of phrase that were maybe cute once or twice, but after dozens of uses they are just annoying.

In a couple of the previous books, the phrase that really stood out to me was "..., meaning it." For example, on p.373 of this book, "'I'm sorry,' [Father Tim] said, meaning it." Sincerity is a valued characteristic in these books and in life. But there must be various ways of describing it. When that phrase keeps turning up, I am no longer struck by the character's feelings, but by my own annoyance.

In this book the description that came up so often I gritted my teeth every time I saw it was: 'thumped down.' I didn't count, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was used as many fifty times. People 'thumped down' on chairs, benches, sofas etc so many times I was wondering if anyone had a sore butt.

I like Karon's community that she dreamed up. I loved her first book. Series fans will no doubt be offended by my opinion, but I think she needs to take a break for her own creativity's sake.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Very much like A LIGHT IN THE WINDWOW, I found this book equally as enjoyable. Even if you haven't lived in a small town you'll be able to "get into" this book. There's so much there. It reminds me in many ways of McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD or even TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in its writing and well-drawn characters. This is a timely and moving tale, sure to please.

Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

Rating:
Summary: Down in the Zero
Review: Reading any of Karon's "Mitford Series" is somewhat like reading about people who have been raised for their entire lives to date in some dark closet. Her characters are absolutely and purely ignorant of virtually any and all aspects of human culture, human civilization or human achievement. Their conversation reveals no inkling of what year it is, or what state they are in, much less what nation or planet they are on. In the real world these creatures would have spent the last 50 years glued to the front of the boob tube, and essentially their entire conversation would be devoted to soap operas, talk shows and televised sports.
Yet apart from a few vague references to a "remote," or the "five o'clock news," there is little evidence anyone even has a TV... much less reads a (non-local) newspaper or books, fiction or nonfiction. [Hope, who runs the local bookstore, does seem to know who Thirkell and Wodehouse are.]

For quite a few years Karon has been mining the vein of "non-books" diligently, rather than supplying new "adventures" (to use the word very loosely) for Father Tim and his fellow prisoners. This is finally the 6th Mitford novel (despite what the publisher claims), and takes over roughly where A NEW SONG left off. As we join the team, Father Tim and wife are getting ready to spend a year living in a tent in Goatbugger, Tennessee doing something the author never bothers to specify, because it is obvious to both author and reader that Tim ain't gonna get there (what would become of Violet, for example!). Instead Tim, in his customary mindless way, manages to seriously injure himself and another minister, and spends the rest of the novel in a deep, brooding depression. It's not that Tim is communing with his inner thoughts, because like all the other characters, HE HAS NO THOUGHTS! And that makes this novel very rough going, to say the least.

As another reviewer noted on these pages, "pray" is almost the only verb in the book, and it seemingly appears about 5 times per page. Otherwise, nothing happens. There is some nonsense about a lunatic who wants to build a log cabin the size of a cathedral, or maybe a cathedral the size of a log cabin, his raving being unclear on this point; continuing villain Edith Mallory makes her customary pointless appearance; Father Tim gets a computer and goes online so he can read his own e-mail; some ex-cons need the good Father's support; one of Dooley's missing brothers turns out to have, gosh, been right there all along; and that's pretty much the size of it. About the only suspense concerns whether or not incidental characters Hope and Helene will become regular church attendees and I wouldn't dream of spoiling that for you!

Rumors are afoot that in a later novel in the series, Father Tim will encounter for the first time in his life a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Jew, or a Catholic, or a university professor, or a scientist, or even an uppity knee-grow, and expire from shock and heart-failure. I don't think loyal readers need to worry.

Rating:
Summary: I agree with my dad!
Review: My dad was the review I first read. This book I think is the best one in the series. Ties in all the things from the first book! I loved it.. Can't wait to find out what is going on with everyone. Feels like I am away from home and I can't wait to go back and catch up!