Picture of author.
4 Works 1,107 Members 68 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Heather Lende 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 show more Dispatch. Her Web site is www.heatherlende.com. show less

Includes the name: Heather Lende

Image credit: Photo by Phil Lende

Works by Heather Lende

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1959
Gender
female

Members

Reviews

I'm surprised at the high star ratings for this book.

There's nothing really wrong with it but I found it to be a complete bore. The author writes the obituaries for the local paper so many of her chapters revolve around the death of townsfolk. Where this could be a great opportunity to learn meaningful stories to me the chapters all fall flat and seemed like "Person X lived in a small town, was happy without a lot of money, loved the land" over and over and over.

There are some ruminations about faith and spirituality which felt disjointed. Surprising, since you'd think that type of exploration would work with the overall theme of death.

I also found the author never really told us enough about herself or her family. Even the chapter about adopting her daughter seemed cold and remote to me.

The interspersed snippets from the local paper were annoying too. I guess the details of the local church BBQ were supposed to seem charming but without context of the town they just seemed hokey and made up.

Do not recommend this one.
… (more)
 
Flagged
hmonkeyreads | 29 other reviews | Jan 25, 2024 |
 
Flagged
cathy.lemann | 21 other reviews | Mar 21, 2023 |
I thought this was great! Heather Linde and her husband moved to small town Alaska in 1984. In her book she tells about their life there and also tells the stories of the people they live among. A quote from USA Today: "If you like the stories on Prarie Home Companion or Northern Exposure, you'll love some real news from small-town Alaska." You can go to the Haines, Alaska website to get a visual picture of the places Heather describes. Pretty amazing!
 
Flagged
clue | 29 other reviews | Oct 6, 2022 |
A narrative style expository sort of like the SixFeet Under tv series on HBO, and Northern Exposure mixed together. Not morbid but introspective, so read about the book before starting to read for some framework. Really small town in an extreme climate type stories. Of course, I thought of rugged Grand Marais, MN. Of course!
 
Flagged
WiseOwlFactory | 29 other reviews | Feb 20, 2022 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Statistics

Works
4
Members
1,107
Popularity
#23,220
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
68
ISBNs
17
Favorited
5

Charts & Graphs