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Something Old (Plains City Bridesmaids #1)

by Dianne Christner (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 94 ratings · 38 reviews

Travel to Plain City, Ohio, to witness the Mennonite and English culture clash. As Katy Yoder accepts a new job and struggles to define her place in the world, childhood friends and a past romance get in the way. Even when her friends try to help her change her judgmental attitude, Katy is certain that seeing things as black and white is the only way to please God. But as...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published August 1st 2011 by Barbour Books

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Seek Me with All Your Heart by Beth Wiseman

2011 Best Amish Books Read

18th out of 36 books — 40 voters

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Dec 30, 2012 Jennifer rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, wrote-review

Finally finished it and I can say it was the worst book I've read this year. If possible I would give it a 1.5 because I liked some characters, like Lil, but they weren't the focus, Katy was. And she is just so self righteous and judgmental through almost the whole book. It is grating! Talk about remove the plank from your own eye! She can't fathom through almost the entirety of the book that just because people can be different from her that they could be good & have their own relationship...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Ibjoy1953 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Katy Yoder is 19 and doesn’t date anyone because of the heartbreak she experienced with Jake Byler joined the Englisch world, meeting worldly girls and doing things she doesn’t approve of. Their last time together, Jake was drunk and pushed himself on her, so she has hated his since. But she still just can’t get over him enough to date anyone else. But what a surprise she gets when Jake shows back up in town, and it seems like everywhere she goes, he is there. Not only that, everything she is in...more Katy Yoder is 19 and doesn’t date anyone because of the heartbreak she experienced with Jake Byler joined the Englisch world, meeting worldly girls and doing things she doesn’t approve of. Their last time together, Jake was drunk and pushed himself on her, so she has hated his since. But she still just can’t get over him enough to date anyone else. But what a surprise she gets when Jake shows back up in town, and it seems like everywhere she goes, he is there. Not only that, everything she is involved in, Jake is involved in it too. She just can’t shake loose of him. All she was interested in now was moving in with her childhood friends for a while.
Jake Byler’s life changed while he was away and he wants to come back to the church and try to win his only love Katy back. But this will be a challenge because of her hatred and bitterness over him leaving her.
I enjoyed this Mennonite story as I met Katy and her best friends Megan and Lil, and was in on the excitement of their moving in with each other. The author created a cast of characters that played their parts so well in the story and it was fun getting to know them, even though at times some of them were irritating.
The main character Katy sometimes acted like goodie-two-shoes because she was always judging others. And Lil really got on my nerves when she was trying to nose into Katy’s life, pushing her to go back with Jake. I wanted to scream at her sometimes and tell her to tend to her own business. At first I didn’t like Jake, but as I got to know him, I really liked him because he was real. He had accepted the Lord and his life had definitely changed for the better. And David, well I couldn’t figure out if he really liked Katy or he was just being a jerk because Katy’s dad kinda forced her to go on three dates with David. And then he was so jealous of Jake, but that could have just been a male thing, right? I was proud of Jake for finally speaking up to Katy about her attitude, she really had that coming.
Over all this was an enjoyable read and I hope there is a second book to follow these characters further in their lives. Though I do think this could be a YA book too, it just seems like something younger people would enjoy reading. Which is a good thing, we need more YA books! I encourage you to grab a copy of this book, read and enjoy it. You will not be disappointed.
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Sep 18, 2011 Flame rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian, not-bad-but-not-good, other-romance

I didn't really like this book. Sure, I did like the plot, the Christian part of it. I liked some characters too. But seeing as I utterly hated the main heroine and she was in 90% of the book, I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the book. I give this book 2.75 stars. Just for the heroine, I would give this book a 1. But I think the plot deserves a 3.5 star and the other characters all deserve about a 4 star. Yes, I know it doesn't add up to 2.75! Just pretend:)

The only reason why I didn't enti...more I didn't really like this book. Sure, I did like the plot, the Christian part of it. I liked some characters too. But seeing as I utterly hated the main heroine and she was in 90% of the book, I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the book. I give this book 2.75 stars. Just for the heroine, I would give this book a 1. But I think the plot deserves a 3.5 star and the other characters all deserve about a 4 star. Yes, I know it doesn't add up to 2.75! Just pretend:)

The only reason why I didn't entirely hate this book and think it was a waste of my time, was because the heroine finally changed in the end. And because she changed, and that was a true change, could I actually say that after about 300 pages of me hating her, I actually started to not hate her. I wouldn't go so far as like. There are 300 pages to tell me why I shouldn't.

Hmm, so the plot and all were ok, but I found it really dry and boring most times. How would I say it? Its like the plot wasn't moving on and the author was just bugging on one point over and over again. I was really annoyed. Simply put, the pace was way too slow. And inconsistent.

From the start, I was already kinda bored by the book. I like the Christian aspect of it, but as I have never read about the Mennonites, I could not understand that at first. But later, as I read more and understood more, I couldn't stand Katy's actions. She was soooooo conservative, it was annoying. There was one thing I just couldn't get. She thought dancing was bad, and by dancing I mean, ballet. But she found kissing all right??? That just doesn't make sense to me.

I guess the plot was fine and all, it just couldn't catch my attention. To be honest, I have no idea what Jake was doing with her. I mean, she can't even forgive him for something that he's already repented for... Argh, I just can't stand her character. She likes to categorize people. Mennonites and outsiders. People who wear the prayer covering and those who don't. The way I figure it, she should let them have their own choice. If she thinks its right, then just encourage it, not force it on people. Sigh, I dunno, I just felt that she was way too conservative and it didn't make her her an appealing character.

I don't really know what to say about this book. All I can say is that I just couldn't enjoy the book. Other than being rather dry throughout, there just didn't seem to be anything that the book was talking about. Like, I couldn't get the plot, it didn't really make sense. Sigh, I know that at last she finally accepted and forgave him but I felt it came too late. Normally, I love it when people fall in love. But this time, I just feel that they aren't a good match at all...

All in all, I didn't like this book. I didn't hate it, but it just couldn't catch my attention. I won't be reading this book again, that's for sure. I know I said I would give it 2.75 stars earlier? But after writing this review, I realised that I just couldn't give it that much. So I decided to give it 2 stars. Honestly though, I felt that the book was ruined by Katy. She just wasn't a likable character and though I loved her transformation, I felt that it came too late.

This ebook was provided by Netgalley!

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Oct 13, 2011 Camille rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-and-a-half-stars, christian-fiction, mennonite-fiction, net-galley-reviews

Something Old by Dianne Christner

I received a copy of Something Old by Dianne Christner free from NetGalley. I am under no obligation to write a positive review, just an honest one.

Something Old, rather than being Amish fiction, is actually Mennonite fiction. We meet Katy Yoder, a young Mennonite girl whose favorite work is cleaning. Katy has recovered from a bad heartbreak caused by Jake Byler who left her and went to the Englisch world, and the last time she saw him he was drunk and almost ass...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Nikole Hahn rated it 5 of 5 stars

“Katy Yoder lives a simple, sheltered lifestyle ensconced in the traditions of the Conservative Mennonite church and holds a naive black-and-white worldview.” – Back Cover

At first, the prologue held my attention with some difficulty. Then, the story grabbed hold of me and I finished the book in about two days. The characters fascinated me, especially Katy Yoder.

I could relate to Katy. She holds very tightly to tradition and to her prayer kapp. Her worldview is indeed black-and-white with very li...more “Katy Yoder lives a simple, sheltered lifestyle ensconced in the traditions of the Conservative Mennonite church and holds a naive black-and-white worldview.” – Back Cover

At first, the prologue held my attention with some difficulty. Then, the story grabbed hold of me and I finished the book in about two days. The characters fascinated me, especially Katy Yoder.

I could relate to Katy. She holds very tightly to tradition and to her prayer kapp. Her worldview is indeed black-and-white with very little grace. In typical story formula, the woman is always right in women’s fiction and the men are wrong. In Amish fiction, I normally see the men and women portrayed very chaste-like. However, Dianne Christner spins the story that seems a cross between women’s romance and Christian romance. I might even tip-toe over to edgy (though I really hate that word). It’s edgy in a good way.

Katy notices Jake’s tight jeans and how the tool belt hangs over his waist. There’s a physical tension between Katy and Jake complicated only by her own predjudices against him for mistreating her years before. Her father disapproves of Jake. He thinks Jake is wild still and wants Katy to date David as a condition to her moving out on her own with her two best friends. The book becomes quite complicated. The reader can relate to the characters; at least, I can.

Right away, Katy’s black-and-white way of seeing things, her quickness to judge and her lack of grace eventually come out in the book making for an interesting plot as quickly Jake becomes the good guy and Katy the self-righteous and overly pious wrong one. Christner manages to keep the reader totally connected to the characters in spite of the role switching. In the end, I see how the prologue was very necessary. It’s not just a romance story, but a story about friendship, family and traditions. It digs into the controversial issue of the prayer kapp.

All in all, I give it five stars! A friend is borrowing the book, but I am keeping it in my permanent library.

Book was given by the publisher to review. (less)

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May 29, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Title: SOMETHING OLD
Author: Dianne Christner
Publisher: Barbour Books
August 2011
ISBN: 978-1-61626-231-0
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary romance/Mennonite

Katy Yoder is a conservative Mennonite girl, and she takes her beliefs very seriously. She and her two best friends, Lil and Megan, plan to rent an old Amish house, remodel it, and live together. Her parents are against it, but then finally agree if she agrees to date a young man named David. Katy has been in love with Jake Byler since she was t...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Sherri rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I couldn't stop reading it, I quickly became addicted, and it when everywhere with me in case I found myself with a few minutes where I could read.
So well written that you often forget that it's a fictional story.
Christner has just become one of my favorite authors!

I enjoyed being able to have a look into the Mennonite lifestyle. I really enjoyed the issue of a prayer covering that the book brought up, and has me researching some of that on my own now.

I enjoyed reading abou...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Martha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first novel that I have read by Dianne Christner. "Something Old" is filled with a lot of wonderful characters which a
reader will be able to connect with throughout the novel. Christner is writing from a Mennonite background which I appreciated and
since I have read mainly Amish novels I discovered details that provided me with becoming more aware of the differences between the
two cultures. In my opinion, this is a wonderful "Coming of Age" novel for every age level reader because th...more

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Apr 14, 2013 April Suter rated it 2 of 5 stars

Katy is pretty judgmental or is she just taking a stand defending what she believes? What a fine line it is between the two, on one side you are following what you have always been taught and trully feel but on the other side someone else is telling you that you are wrong.
Katy is allowed to move out of her parents' home with her other two friends after she goes on three dates, maybe that will be enough to forget her childhood love. She also must decide what to do when her job outside of the Men...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Aislynn (Stitch Read Cook) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-s-to-review, netgalley-read, ebook, read-in-2011, contemporary-romance

This was my first Mennonite Christian Romance - I've always been intrigued by them, but hadn't picked one up until this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this story - getting a more in depth look into a society I normally would know very little about.

Katy cleans houses for several families outside of her community. She is surrounded by temptation - like TV's, pop music, dancing, romance novels.. all the things she taught to avoid. Brought up in a very traditional household she hold true to her values a...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: forpleasure, forreview, christianfiction

More like 4.5 stars but close enough to round up.

I was pleasantly surprised at the many deep spiritual themes in this book. The most compelling had to do with the consequences of festering anger and unforgiveness. It truly made Katy difficult, unattractive, and I daresay, downright ugly at times. In contrast, forgiveness and grace changed her countenance as well. The ordinary becomes beautiful when gratitude and grace result in living at peace with men.

The story did a great job at illustrating...more

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Oct 10, 2011 pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: amish, netgalley

i really enjoyed this book it amazed me how different the mennonite is to the amish. Like they must go though high school because Katy and her friends always wanted to live together after high school.
I did not realize they are more simmlar to the english than they are to the amish.

The book started out Katy and her friends was going to rent a dauti house and katy had to ask her parents if she could. Her father said yes but she had to go on three dates with David because David was a nice guy. Kat...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Maureen Timerman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-read

I enjoyed this book! The story is about young Katie Yoder a Mennonite woman, who wants to move in with some of her friends. One of her friends is cousins with Katie's old love Jake Byler, and she doesn't like Lil interfering in her life. Lil has been helping Jake by putting them together.
Jake had gone kind of wild and Katie fears that he had a fling with Jessie. What brings this all together is some of the changes that are happening at their more conservative Mennonite Church.
Katie holds on to...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Paula-O rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love is rarely Plain and Simple....

This is book by Dianne Christner of series Plain City Bridesmaids, book#1 "Something Old"

Katy Yoder is just a young girl of 10 when a little boy, Jake Byler, is always pulling her pony-tail and teasing her-she decides then -she will marry him. ahhhhh young love.
three young girls bond and become best friends that will last a lifetime-Megan, Lil and Katy -as young girls they have a dream to live together when they finish school and always to be there for one anot...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Jodie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, net-galley

Katy told her two best friends at camp one year that she would one day marry Jake. But, when Jake got to his teenage years, he questioned his relationship with God, went off to college, and met another girl. Now, Jake's back, but Katy has promised to give David three dates as part of a deal with her dad. On the dates with David, she soon realizes that he's not as bad as she thought. But, she can't stop thinking about Jake and being jealous of who he was with while in college. And, she can't forg...more Katy told her two best friends at camp one year that she would one day marry Jake. But, when Jake got to his teenage years, he questioned his relationship with God, went off to college, and met another girl. Now, Jake's back, but Katy has promised to give David three dates as part of a deal with her dad. On the dates with David, she soon realizes that he's not as bad as she thought. But, she can't stop thinking about Jake and being jealous of who he was with while in college. And, she can't forgive him for hurting her so deeply when he took off. Can Katy learn to forgive or will she need to just move on with someone new?

I am so used to reading Amish fiction, that reading from a Mennonite perspective, was very interesting. I enjoyed learning some things about how they differ from the Amish. The characters in the story were all around 19 years old, so this would be probably geared more towards young adults. I'm not really quite sure that I found the story line very moving through the first 200 pages. But, when Katy took care of Jake's grandmother Minnie for a day, the story seemed to pick up a little bit and finished out rather nicely.

Some young adult books I can get through with no problems, others, well, they just don't seem to have enough of a character struggle. For me, it was a good book, just not a real page turner as most of the story revolved around Katy dating David and Jake with really no other attention getting story line except her struggle with forgiveness. However, since it's been quite a while since I've been a young adult, this book may be just what young adults are looking for. The writing was good and had humor, emotion, and frustration for the characters, and I would recommend it to a young adult who may be struggling in trying to find their perfect match.

DISCLOSURE: I was graciously provided a free digital version of this book from Barbour Publishing in partnership with NetGalley to review it. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.
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May 03, 2012 Abbie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amish-fiction, 2011, barbour-books, blog-reviewed, netgalley-read

3.5 Stars

Katy is a conservative Mennonite and she takes it very seriously. Her goal is to move out of her parents home and into an apartment with her friends Lil and Megan. They have been friends since childhood and this has been their dream to share a home together. Katy is a housekeep and loves to clean and keep things neat. The only thing missing in her life is love. Her old flame Jake left her a few years back as he fell of the wagon and distance himself for his faith and Katy. One of the s...more 3.5 Stars

Katy is a conservative Mennonite and she takes it very seriously. Her goal is to move out of her parents home and into an apartment with her friends Lil and Megan. They have been friends since childhood and this has been their dream to share a home together. Katy is a housekeep and loves to clean and keep things neat. The only thing missing in her life is love. Her old flame Jake left her a few years back as he fell of the wagon and distance himself for his faith and Katy. One of the stipulations put on her by her father in order for her to live away from home is she has to go on three dates with a young man named David. On the first date her old flame Jake returns and claims he is a changed man and is returning to the church and wants a 2nd chance with her. Katy still has feeling for Jake but is bitter because he dated another girl while they where apart and she feels betrayed.

Jake has come home to start a new. He has been in love with Katy since he is 10 and want to make up for being a jerk and leaving Katy. Can Katy over come her judgment of Jake and the outside world and find true love or will she not be able to let the past go?

This was a well written book. I grew up in a modern Mennonite church so I was looking forward to reading this book. I read a lot of Amish fiction books where the characters are 19 or 20 just like Katy and have never felt they where YA(young adult) books but this one felt that way to me. As much as I liked Katy I also felt she was very immature and self centered. I understand she was raised with a lot of the values like her Amish cousins but very few of the Amish fiction books I read feel so judgmental. Katy came across as having the view point of outsiders that they where all nonbelievers. I felt her over the top attitude took away some of my excitement for this book.

I really liked Jake. Yes he made some mistakes but he has returned with his faith renewed. I could not help but feel sorry for him a little as Katy was acting so badly towards him. I also wondered where her parents where during most of the book. In the beginning they made a big deal about her moving out yet we heard nothing from them after that which considering how close family’s tend to be in the Mennonite faith I found that kind of odd. Over all I liked the book and look forward to the others in the series due out next year.

http://abbiesreadingcorner.com/2011/1...
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Jul 28, 2011 Rachel Brand rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teenagers

Shelves: net-galley, barbour, christian, kindle, 2011, romance, dianne-christner, mennonite

GENRE: ROMANCE
PUBLISHER: BARBOUR PUBLISHING
PUBLICATION DATE: AUGUST 1, 2011
RATING: 6 OUT OF 10

Nineteen-year-old Katy Yoder is looking forward to cherishing friendship and the single life when she moves in to a renovated Dawdi house with her best friends, Lily and Megan. Katy is satisfied with her lot in life, working as a cleaner for various local families, and isn’t quite ready to settle down and get married just yet, unlike many other Mennonite girls her age. Still suffering from the hurt she...more GENRE: ROMANCE
PUBLISHER: BARBOUR PUBLISHING
PUBLICATION DATE: AUGUST 1, 2011
RATING: 6 OUT OF 10

Nineteen-year-old Katy Yoder is looking forward to cherishing friendship and the single life when she moves in to a renovated Dawdi house with her best friends, Lily and Megan. Katy is satisfied with her lot in life, working as a cleaner for various local families, and isn’t quite ready to settle down and get married just yet, unlike many other Mennonite girls her age. Still suffering from the hurt she experienced when her long-term boyfriend, Jake, left to join the English world, Katy would rather not entertain thoughts of dating anyone else until she’s sure that she’s completely over Jake. But her simple little world is soon disrupted when Jake himself returns to the church, not looking any worse for wear from his worldly adventures and keen to help get involved in rebuilding the church hall – a project which Katy is also participating in. No matter what she does, Katy can’t seem to avoid Jake, and his constant presence makes her wonder whether she can ever get over their past relationship. Jake is keen to pick up where they left off before he went to university, but Katy doesn’t want to settle for “damaged goods”, especially after seeing his English ex-girlfriend. Can Katy put aside her judgements of the English world and accept Jake for who he is now, ignoring his past transgressions?

As a fan of Amish fiction, it was fascinating to read about a Mennonite community and learn about how different – or similar – their way of life is. The mentions of electricity and cars came as a surprise initially, but some similarities remained, such as prayer kapps and the distrust of the internet. But as much as I enjoyed learning about a new way of life, I did struggle to view the Mennonite lifestyle through the eyes of Katy. She had a very narrow-minded perspective of the world, to the extent that any form of dancing was a sin and drinking alcohol immediately brought about drunken and lewd behaviour. As someone from a church which engages in dancing as a form of worship and who appreciates a good Shiraz, naturally I was a bit bemused by Katy’s black and white view on life. It’s particularly interesting to note that I’m nineteen myself, and have been living away from home for two years and am engaged to get married next year – a lot of similarities to Katy. But despite these connections, I still found her outlook on life to be very narrow-minded and judgemental, and her attitude towards her relationship with Jake very immature. I’m not saying this as someone with a wealth of life-experience who can view events in hindsight, but as someone who’s actually at a very similar stage in their life to Katy. To be honest, if I came across someone like her in a class at my university, I wouldn’t be rushing to become friends with her, particularly if she was going to call me a sinner when I attended a dance class or went to the pub.

That said, Katy does redeem herself. It just takes a very long time for this to happen. In a sense, this is a coming-of-age story, where Katy slowly comes to realise that her attitudes are wrong and gently matures throughout the course of the story. I’m not sure whether this book is being marketed for the adult or young adult range, but I definitely think it would be better suited for girls in their mid-teens, perhaps 14 – 16 year olds. If I, at nineteen, struggled with Katy’s immature behaviour, I’m not sure how someone my mum’s age would react. Maybe they’d have more patience, or maybe they’d be even more frustrated! But as Katy’s attitudes were very typical of a teenager – I’m sure I probably shared some of her limited world-views as a fifteen-year-old – this is probably a book that would appeal more to the young adult market. There are a lot of life-lessons to be learnt from this book, about everything from friendships to living to arrangements to relationships with parents to boyfriends to job-hunting. The friendship between Katy and her house-mate Lily is very typical of the ones I remember from high school, and would probably be easily recognised by girls of this age.

The romance between Katy and Jake was all over the place, and one of those ones that could have easily been made more manageable if the two of them sat down together and talked and actually listened to each other. One pet peeve of mine in romance novels is when everything blows up in a relationship because of a Big Misunderstanding that could be cleared up if the characters slowed down long enough to talk it over. I’m afraid this book had a few BMs in it. Naturally, these BMs can be attributed to Katy’s immaturity, but this doesn’t negate how irritating it was for me as a reader. As pleased as I was that Katy eventually got the guts to talk to Jake about his time “in the world” and forgive him for his mistakes, I couldn’t help but wonder if the book would have been more interesting if Jake had truly rebelled in his time at university and Katy had had to come to terms with Jake truly being “damaged goods” in her eyes. As it was, Jake had merely gone to a few parties, drank a few beers and shared a couple of kisses with one girl. Katy spent a lot of the book worrying about whether Jake had still remained pure in his time at university, and I know from personal experience that a lot of nice Christian girls end up marrying guys who did far worse than Jake in their rebellious periods, so I think the book might have been more interesting if Katy had bigger and more serious relationship hurdles to overcome. Alas, the issue of remaining pure until marriage and then marrying someone who never considered the importance of purity in their youth has yet to be covered in any book I’ve read. But back to Katy – naturally, as this series is titled Plain City Bridesmaids, the book ends in a wedding. Despite my misgivings about the BMs scattered throughout their relationship, I am happy that our hero and heroine put aside their preconceived ideas about relationships and accepted each other for who they are. I just with that the book hadn’t suddenly jumped to a wedding, as I felt that Katy and Jake’s relationship was still quite young and immature, and they needed more time to make sure that they can actually remain a couple without blowing up again over a tiny issue, before tying the knot.

If it appears that I’m ripping this book to shreds, I do apologise. The problems that I encountered when reading this book aren’t to do with flaws in the plot or characterisation or even the writing itself, but the simple fact that this book seems to have been written for a younger audience. I’m sure a teenage girl would adore this book and understand Katy’s dilemmas, not finding her as immature and narrow-minded as I did. I would caution more mature readers to be aware of the very teenage feel of this novel, although those who love YA fiction probably wouldn’t have the same frustrations as myself. Despite my misgivings with this book, I will admit that I did mostly enjoy reading it, although I did want to take Katy by the shoulders and shake her several times throughout the story.

Review title provided courtesy of Barbour Publishing.(less)

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Jun 05, 2012 Janie R. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: amish-books-read

I very much enjoyed reading this first book in the series, and I look forward to reading the next one, and the next one. Learning about the Mennonites and their lifestyle,and their faith was very interesting. The characters portrayed strong convictions about their faith, and each one demonstrated different opinions, and some had strong emotions about them. The main characters as well as the congregation of their church,went thru some struggles, trying to keep from getting split,and still remain...more

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Jun 27, 2011 Tillie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley-review

Here's a little secret. I typically cannot make it through Mennonite fiction. Y'all know I adore Amish fiction, but the mennonite ones don't grab me…I miss the buggies, the lack of electricity, the plainness that the Amish provide. With that said, this book had me from nearly the beginning (it didn't instantly grab me, but about a quarter of the way in I started loving it). The main character, Katy, had such an amazing transformation in this book. I loved her character development. She grew so m...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Jane Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a story of a Mennonite woman getting her first experience with life, beyond her sheltered sphere. It is amusing how she struggles with things most people take for granted. It is a wonderful story of forgiveness. It also gives insight into the Mennonite lifestyle.

I found it better than most because it didn't just put a bonnet on a normal romance plot, but actually made the character real, even if not always likeable. Very real.

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Jul 22, 2011 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love the heroine, Katy and her relationship with her girlfriends. I especially enjoyed reading about the Amish doddy house. I grew up Mennnonite and I thought Christner gave an authentic look at the Mennonite faith. I would recommend this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

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Jul 29, 2011 Readers Roundtable rated it 3 of 5 stars

Something Old by Dianne Christner is a powerful story about forgiveness and ultimately, love. It is also a fascinating and informative view of the Mennonite faith. To view this review in its entirety, please visit http://thereadersroundtable.com/inspi...

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Jun 12, 2011 Ruth rated it 1 of 5 stars

DNF: Just didn't grab me and I have too many books in the tbr stack to stick with ones that don't grab me. I think the heroine was kind of young for my tastes, more of a YA book than anything.

Thanks to NetGalley for review copy

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Sep 19, 2011 Misty Tyndale rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was my first Amish fiction. I found it fascinating. Although Mennonite is different from Amish. I look forward to reading more of Christner's novels. I'm going to check out Keeper of Hearts next.

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Aug 14, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

There were parts during this when I wasn't sure who she was going to choose. She has to make decisions and get her life straight. And once she does, things fall into place. Great read.

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Feb 09, 2013 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a must read book. For a complete review check out my blog.

tinassnitzpiebookreview.blogspot.co

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Oct 02, 2011 Kim Justice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

At first was not to sure rather or not I could get into this book. Yet the more I read the more I was able to see myself in Katy Yoder. A sheltered, naive, black and white, conservative lifestyle. I Could Not Put It Down. Read it in two days.

Was brought up in an old fashioned Christian home. So reading about Katy's way of believing in only black and white with no gray hit home with me. The plans as a young girl, the temptations as a young lady, the changes in life and how Katy and her friends, a...more

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May 24, 2012 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars

I would have enjoyed this book more, if Katy hadn't been so unlikable.

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Sep 19, 2011 Patricia Gunther rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love Amish books. This one was one of my favorites.

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Jan 02, 2013 Barb rated it 2 of 5 stars

Poorly written, but I did finish it!

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About Dianne Christner

Dianne Christner's writing has evolved into what she calls the dramatic romantic comedy. Her current series falls in the Amish fiction sub-genre. Raised in the Mennonite church, she brings authenticity to "The Plain City Bridesmaids" series. While Christner addresses the joys and struggles of the Mennonite lifestyle, she tosses in plenty of humor to entertain.

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Something Old (Plains City Bridesmaids #1)

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