Home Front -Kristin Hannah

By the time you’ve finished reading this post, you will think I am insane. There are days when I’d agree with you 110%, and others where I’d argue that I am the definition of “sane.” (…then again that could just be denial…) Who is really sane? We all have a little crazy in us. With that I give you this quote by C.S. Lewis, “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” Two of my “must haves” in life, and things that I go crazy about: tea and books. I enjoy them even more when paired together; fortunately, this combination is quite frequent in my life.

There have been things in my life that have grown, fully bloomed, thrived for many years, and then withered away and died. One constant that hasn’t died, and never will, is my love of reading. My everlasting love affair with books was molded by my parents when I was growing up. (Some of my childhood favorites will be posted later.) Growing up reading was never something I had to be bribed to do, trips to the library for story hour were met with squeals of excitement, and my parents avidly read to me. I was the child with the flashlight under my blankets reading that one more paragraph, one more page, or one more chapter. For those that know me, I’m guessing you are thinking, “her mom is an English teacher, of course she had to read.” If that was your thought, banish it as it’s utterly incorrect. It was never anything that was pushed upon me and nothing my parents ever had to nag me about. Both my sister and brother read for enjoyment as well, although I couldn’t say if they read as voraciously as I do. (Megan? Jeff?)

Last night, right after Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance, I picked up “Home Front” by Kristin Hannah and parked myself on the love seat with a mug of piping hot tea and a fuzzy blanket. I’ve read many of her other novels and have cried my way through most of them, so I knew it was going to be a GOOD read. Hannah’s novels are always well crafted and deeply moving; she’s the female equivalent of Nicholas Sparks. The books aren’t “heavy hitters” in terms of their content, but they’re emotionally powerful and completely captivating. At 1:11am, I was finished. I.could.not.put.this.book.down. OK, there were times when I put it down to wipe the faucet of tears away from my face and to sniffle into a tissue so I could catch my breath. I’m not going to post a review of this book, as I’d probably start crying again; I have tears in my eyes thinking about Jolene and Michael.  

…alright I caved…Jolene is a pilot in the National Guard Reserves who gets deployed and has to leave her husband and two young daughters to fly helicopters in Iraq. It becomes Michael’s (her husband) responsibility to take care of his two daughters; he struggles between switching from city defense attorney into Mr. Mom. Reality then hits, when there is a devastating accident. (I’m not spoiling the story by saying that.) The family is put into survival mode and faces their biggest test. Will they be able to come together after all that has occurred, or will their burdens be too much for them to overcome?

 

Watch out book #9, I'm coming for you...

 

-Keep It ClaSea