A Wonderful Read...

I don't normally post book reviews (unless of course you count the ones I do for "Fall into Reading"- those wonderful bloggy events that I sometimes start but don't quite finish...) Ahem.

Anyway...I just had to tell you all about a book I just finished reading this very night. (Yes, I just closed it only moments ago!) But I feel like so many of you are real friends that I wanted to share it with you a bit...
It is called Gardenias for Breakfast and I truly enjoyed every page.
It was actually hard to put down...but not in the way of hard suspense, but in the sense that I seemed to befriend the main characters and became so involved that I didn't want to leave them.

This is a book that I may be a little bias about because it happens to be written by one of my favorite authors. I'm speaking of Robin Jones Gunn.
Some of you may know her from the Sisterchicks books, Christy Miller...or my personal favorite, The Glenbrook series.

She also happens to live in my neck of the woods and I have had the privilege of meeting her twice, as well as hearing her speak. Let me just say that she is not only a fabulous speaker from the heart, but she is a friend to everyone she meets.
She writes in a style that is, at times, incredibly deep in it's simplicity. And I always feel just a little closer to God after I've read one of her books.

Gardenias for Breakfast is not a part of a series, but a single story she wrote for The Women of Faith. It is about a woman in her middle years who longs to bring her twelve year old daughter back for a visit to the 92 year old grandmother that had such a positive influence on her. Circumstances present themselves so that this can finally happen, and we follow them on their journey from Maui where they reside, back to her grandmother's place in Louisiana.

Many layers seem to unfold for us as we travel with them...and when they finally arrive, we feel as though we are instantly transported to the small southern town and can almost taste the sweet tea that they share with "Grand Mary," as well as hear their charming southern accents drip from their lips.

If you are looking for a story with huge tragedy, or only crave high suspense or romance (and I love a good romance!) than you might be disappointed. Because although it is really none of the above, it does weave a beautiful tapestry throughout the tale of family love despite failings, and of God's tenderness. And all throughout, it is dotted with both humor and poignant lessons that are learned along the way about the power of generational ties and most of all... forgiveness.

There is so much more that I could say about this book...the way it forced me to re-examine my own still-budding relationship with my little daughters...the way it made me feel grateful to have had such a good relationship with my own mom.
But mainly, I guess I would have to say that by the time I turned the last page, I had not only learned a lot from the characters in the story...but they all had left me with a warm feeling inside...like a sip of hot chocolate.

Pictured (slightly blurry): Myself, Robin and my mom at a tea where Robin spoke in 2004.