Hattie Big Sky

I just finished reading "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson. I never quite know what to expect when I read a book selected by a book club, which is what this book was for me, because everyone always has different tastes, styles, and opinions about what constitutes a good book. It is always an adventure to say the very least, but this one was a winner in my book, "The Opinions of Jenn Dermody."
Yesterday afternoon I headed off to the library and checked out "Hattie Big Sky." I have to admit that I decided to read it more out of obligation or maybe even a tinge of guilt, rather than true desire. I am, after all, hosting the book club at my house Thursday night and it just seemed, to me, a bit of bad form to host for a book that I never bothered to read. So, I reluctantly cracked open the book and started to read between loads of laundry, olympic coverage, and my three kids that were up past their bedtime. It didn't take long for me to be completely captivated. I did stay up until 2 AM reading through the first 18 chapters. I really wanted to finish it, but the last 5 chapters had to wait until this morning. I just couldn't hold my eyelids open anymore.
Since I had a Dr appointment this morning with my "Lupus" doc, BTW...I am doing very well with my lupus right now, I had plenty of time to finish it off. Someone should have warned me that a box of tissue would be appropriate for the last 5 chapters. I LOVED this book and would highly recommend it for one last, quick summer read. For me, it had it all. The characters were easy to love and easy to hate. They truly seemed like real people. The book has tragedy, love, triumph, humor, friendships, politics, and inspiration. I adore this book and I will read it again. It is well written, and it is clean. There is no foul language or steamy love scenes to muddle the experience of this great book. I won't continue to rave about this book with anymore details. You should read it for yourself.
The book even includes a couple of recipes from two of the main characters, Hattie and Perilee. I think that I will just have to try those recipes and serve 'em up to the book club. They sound interesting, Perilee's Wartime Spice Cake and Hattie's Lighter-than-Lead Biscuits. Like I said earlier, book clubs are always an adventure.

"For most of her life, sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has been shuttled from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she summons the courage to leave Iowa and move all by herself to Vida, Montana, to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim.
Under the big sky, Hattie braves hard weather, hard times, a cantankerous cow, and her own hopeless hand at the cookstove on her quest to discover the true meaning of home."
Excerpt from the inside cover of "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson