About the Book:
After a near-fatal bicycle accident in her tiny Alaskan town, bestselling author Heather Lende has an opportunity to contemplate faith and friendship, observe the breathtaking beauty of the northern wilderness anew, and truly come to appreciate the remarkable inhabitants of Haines, Alaska, without whom she could never have recovered. Lende’s idea of spirituality is rooted in community, and her irrepressible spirit and commitment to living life on the edge of the world deepens our understanding of what links us all. Like her own mother’s last instructions, ”Take good care of the garden and the dogs,” Lende’s writing, so honest and unadorned, offers profound lessons to live by. Here she reminds us (courtesy of Ralph Waldo Emerson) that “the proper response to the world is applause.”
About the Author:
Heather Lende, author of Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, has contributed to NPR’s Morning Edition, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Washington Post, as well as National Geographic Traveler and Country Living magazines. She is a columnist for Woman’s Day magazine and also writes an online column for the Alaska Dispatch.
My Opinion:
Life in a small town.
It does have a certain charm.
I was born in a big city but have lived in some small towns so I completely understand.
This book is a serious of essays regaling the reader with the people and quirks of living in a rural area. Weaving them together is the underlying story of Ms. Lende’s accident; she was riding her bike and was hit by a car. She was critically injured and the town pulled together to help her recover. As small towns do – when I had my first surgery my hubby didn’t have to cook, clean or do wash thanks to everyone coming to help. Small towns are great for that.
Ms. Lende’s writing style is so smooth and easy you almost feel like you are sitting across from her enjoying a cup of coffee and a pastry. You never feel like you are being hit over the head with the life lesson put forth in the story. In fact you don’t even realize there’s a lesson until long after you’ve finished and you think back on a bit of what you’ve read and chuckle and suddenly the lightbulb goes off in your head.
I loved reading about the way of life in Alaska present and past and especially enjoyed her insights into the Tlingit culture. Her faith is strong and she made me laugh out loud several times with her writings on religion. In a good way. Her manner of describing the people in her life is gentle but true and you come away after finishing the book like you know the inhabitants of Haines, Alaska. I think it would be a fun place to visit.
It’s a great book to read bit by bit and savor. It’s not all happy and light; she does deal with the issues of death and dying but she handles them as gracefully as she does issues of Christmas pageants. Death is a part of life, merely it’s end and life is to be celebrated. So celebrate the live that Heather Lende brings and as her mother advised before she died, “take good care of the the garden and the dogs.” It IS good advice.
You can find Heather Lende on Facebook
Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs is available at Amazon.com
Disclosure: I received a copy of Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs from FSB Media. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.
