Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly
Modern-day career woman and homemaker Bender tells of the compulsion--for Amish dolls and quilts that seemed to evoke a simpler life--that took her from New York State to Iowa and Ohio, where she lived with sympathetic Amish families and began the journey of self-discovery here described. The unvarying rhythm of "plain" lives, the importance placed on every day's manual labor and the absence of contemporary distractions such as telephones and microwaves proved revelatory; the one-time Californian was awed by "an aesthetic leanness, a paring down that I have come to appreciate." In her graceful tribute to a community of people who value the ordinary as an end in itself, Bender allows us to sojourn vicariously miles away from the frenzy of contemporary urban life.


The New York Times Book Review
"An account of a quest that leaves [Bender] content and, magically, has the same effect on the reader. . . In prose that seems to echo the rhythm of Amish life, the author kicks around some old questions--What really matters? Is there another way to lead a good life?--with surprising freshness. . .Listening to her gentle voice consider the questions is charming and, somehow, invigorating."

Released on Monday, August 16, 2004 at Metuchen Public Library, Middlesex Avenue in Metuchen, New Jersey USA.

On book cart for donated books -- near the elevator.

I couldn't resist this one when I received the release alert. The Amish, their lifestyle and their crafts fascinate me.

I Found it right where MsLadyLib put it. I discovered that Metuchen Library has some great Friends of the Library book sale shelves, so I bought a handful! Thanks MsLadyLib.

Reserved for ramson as part of the Another World is Possible relay.

This wasn’t a bad book, but it was also not quite what I expected. The premise behind it is pretty simple; disorganized artist and family therapist from California becomes enamored of Amish quilts and dolls, and decides to try to stay with an Amish family to learn more about the Amish life and to simplify her life.

During the course of the book, she stays with two Amish families. Her findings are not surprising: she's not Amish, not all Amish people are the same, and she still needs to simplify her life.

This book is more about the author than the Amish, even though there are quite a few interesting snippets about the Amish way of life. The book is not really cohesive as a whole; it's more like a collection of diary passages. The author talks about how this parallels the Amish Quilts, but I don't quite buy that as an argument for the broken structure of the book, which apparently took over 3 years to put together. Maybe it took her 3 years to try to make out what exactly she had learned from these people.

Bender must have had a very supportive family to be able to make these extended trips, although they are hardly mentioned at all. It made me wonder whether she'd consulted them at all before making her decision.

Still, it's a quick read, and there was enough information about the Amish to hold my interest.

Just arrived in the mail. Adding to the TBR for now.

This arrived this afternoon. Thank you, ramson!

RELEASE NOTES:

releasing to a member of www.paperbackswap.com (who I think is also a bookcrosser!)

Thanks for this book! I am just YEARNING for some of the simplicity that this book has to offer... but I am selfishly not willing to give up my self-indulgent spontaneous ways,...well, not just yet. I enjoyed hearing about the simple but deeply sacred ways of the Amish. I've revisited my earlier opinion and overall-- I am feeling like this was a genuine introspective journey. I am a bit envious I think. I would like to be able to do something like this but I couldn't imagine putting my life on hold to do it. I was just told there is a sequel to this book... Something like "The Everyday Sacred"...I was talking about this book to my sister-in-law and she has read and enjoyed both. I will see if I can get ahold of the other one now. If I had to venture a guess, i would say that the book "Home Comforts" is a secular response to a desire to return to this simpler way of cherishing the home and family.