Although I've been a long time Sara Paretsky fan, nothing she has written so far is as good as this book. Lots to think about, especally if your are a religious outsider in America today. For Big John's CD bookbox

Going into big John's box to be shipped later this week

into Big John's audio CD bookbox

Okay this was kind of strange.... the way they were doing a bit of shifting in time from mid-19thcentury settlement of the Lawrence, KS area (which I know a bit about from having lived in Topeka for a year and also from listening to Jane Smiley's book set in that time and place), to the present, with stops in the sixties just for good measure.... but although I usually like that kind of stuff (Vonnegut does it with skill and ease) it was just a bit too jumbled up for me, and I got lost a couple times and had to rewind to make sure I understood (of course, not the first time I've had to do that, either, sometimes because I'm listening to these books mostly on the workroom floor). Most of the characters were pretty interesting, some of them a bit spooky.


will pass along soon.....

Am putting this into my "another CD-Only AudioBookBox" for round two! Hope this finds a good home!

Taking this out of BigJohnLefty's bookbox to listen to.

Started listening to this today. It may take me awhile to finish as I don't always have much time to listen.

I listened to one disc and decided that I was not enjoying this book. I didn't like the anger and negative tone. The reader appeared to be yelling. I felt that the author was (at least in disc 1) putting down people of faith and was angry about something. Anyway, since I wasn't enjoying the book, I stopped and I will pick up something else. Maybe someone else will enjoy the book.

Reserved for Iwillrejoices VBB

Enjoy! KTM RABCK to hypen8 to enjoy

Received today as part of iwillrejoice's Audiobook VBB - thank you!

The Grelliers and the Schapens have lived in the Kaw River valley for over 150 years, since before the Civil War, the time of "Burning Kansas" when Quantrill's raiders burnt much of Lawrence over due to anger over anti-slavery activities in the area.

Near the end of the 20th century, bitterness and the Schapen family's extreme brand of Christianity have put them at odds with their neighbors, and this is exacerbated when an out-of-towner moves onto a nearby property. As a lesbian and a Wiccan, Gina Haring doesn't exactly fit in with her conservative neighbors, especially when she and her friends become involved in an anti-war movement.

Then the Schapens discover that they may have the perfect red heifer needed by the Jews to rebuild the temple (thus bringing about the right circumstances to usher in the Second Coming), and things get really wild...

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This went a little slowly for me in the beginning as I tried to figure things out. As BigJohnLefty says, some of the characters are just plain spooky. I'm one of those "Commie liberal" Congregationalists like the Grelliers, so the Schapens are really more than I'm prepared to handle...but I tend to feel that way about fanatics of any stripe.

Interestingly, Sara Paretsky grew up as a Jewish girl living in Kansas, yet she chose to have the Jews be only minor characters in the book, and the Schapens and their fellow church members don't seem to think much of them.

I would have liked to read more about Abigail's time, but I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for that.

I'll count this as book # 48/51 for NancyNova's 2015 MultiYear States Challenge.

Headed out in BigJohnLefty's Another CD-only Audiobookbox - happy listening!

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I'm so glad you've found this book!

Won't you please make a journal entry to let the book's previous readers know that it's safely in your hands? How did you find it? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?

It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!

If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.

(Think of it like Where's George for books...or a little like geocaching - you can follow the book's journey every time someone makes a new entry. Some BookCrossers even leave books *in* geocaches!)

BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!

This has arrived as part of BigJohnLefty's Audio Bookbox. I am restarting this bookring soon!

Being released as part of BigJohnLefty's Audio Bookbox.

This came in the audio book box.