I’ve taken a slight (OK, not so slight) departure from what I normally read (thrillers, mysteries, memoirs, etc.) and settled into the popular town of Mitford. When I say this, I am of course speaking about “The Mitford Years” series by Jan Karon.
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen these books at garage sales, in flea markets, in traditional book stores, etc., without really giving them a second glance. While at the library book sale this last weekend, I saw a copy of the first book in the series, “At Home in Mitford,” and did give it that second glance. And I’m glad I did!
I’ve been reading a paperback version of the book (turns out I already had one – lol!), and I feel the need to write a post about it because it’s a nice change of pace. The characters are kind of homey, you can relate to and appreciate the town and its people, and it provides a sort of calmness to my day by reading it.
I’m only about 100 pages in right now, but, so far, I enjoy the author’s keen ability to describe settings and people, and give the characters a dialogue that makes sense and sounds good and appropriate. To those of you who follow my reviews, you know that if dialogue sucks, then in my opinion, the rest of the book does, too!
I’ll be sure to post a full review once I’m finished with the book. But, I suppose the main thing I’m trying to get across here is that we should never judge a book by its cover or targeted audience (I’d always thought Mitford was for older women who were lost in life – lol). The same goes with the radio (on the rare occasions I don’t have my iPod plugged in) – I have found myself switching more and more frequently to Air1 (a Christian radio station) as opposed to Top 40 stuff, and I am not even very religious. Sometimes we all need a change of pace, and Mitford (and Air1!) has provided that for me.
Happy reading (and listening!)!
Luke
The World According to Luke 