Today, I'm reviewing two books by Karen Jones Gowen - Farm Girl & Uncut Diamonds.
Farm Girl is a family history about Lucille Marker Jones (the author's mother) who lived in Nebraska during the 1920's. If you're a history or biography buff, you would truly enjoy this book. From Amazon.com:
Farm Girl, the heart-warming journey of a girl coming of age on a 1920's Nebraska farm, is an authentic account of that era. It is a story told with warmth, gentle humor and amazing detail. Many cherished remembrances helped to shape the young girl into an educated, gracious woman--one of the worst dust storms in history when people got lost in their own yards, a beloved cousin who came to a sad end, the father who carried a burning kerosene tank out of the house with his bare hands. Be transported to another time and place as you visit the Marker farm in western Nebraska. Where horses were back-up transportation for cars. Where children were educated in one-room schoolhouses. And when no one ever heard of television. If you like the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder or Willa Cather, you will enjoy Farm Girl. It is set in the locale of Willa Cather's Nebraska novels, and there is even a chapter in the book about the Marker Cather connections. Richly photographed throughout with over 60 authentic photos documenting the people and places of the story. This historical, easy-to-read small book is suitable for use in the classroom from fifth grade up.
Uncut Diamonds is a fictional tale of a couple living in Illinois during the 1970's. From Amazon.com:
Uncut Diamonds by Karen Jones Gowen is a breakthrough LDS novel, with everything you ever wanted in the genre, it's Steel Magnolias with LDS characters.
It is the late Seventies. Gold medallions and disco dancing, bell bottoms and bushy sideburns, Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever are all the rage. Jimmy Carter is President during a frightening recession, with mortgage interest rates at 13% and fuel bills higher than house payments. In the heartland of the nation, a young Mormon couple, Marcie and Shawn McGill, struggle to save their home, family and marriage, during these uncertain times. And they find help in unexpected places...
Follow the lives of Marcie and her two sisters as their lives intertwine. Beautiful Cindy who is single and dating, often the wrong guy. Linda who married rich and lives in Denver with her husband and young daughter. And their parents, the kindly Methodist minister and his cheerful wife, who do what they can to help everyone out.When I read the book, I really didn't get much of the 70's disco generation feel & definitely not the Steel Magnolias (which I love). What I did find interesting was the economics. It was interesting to read what others did during the economic hardships then. I came away with some good ideas of things to try here at home.
Give Away
I have two sets of Farm Girl & Uncut Diamonds. If you would like to win a set, please leave a comment on this post. I will draw the winner on September 19th.
