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154th out of 600 books
—
1,405 voters
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
by
Susan Gregg Gilmore (Goodreads Author)
Sometimes you have to return to the place where you began, to arrive at the place where you belong.
It’s the early 1970s. The town of Ringgold, Georgia, has a population of 1,923, one traffic light, one Dairy Queen, and one Catherine Grace Cline. The daughter of Ringgold’s third-generation Baptist preacher, Catherine Grace is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and d...more
It’s the early 1970s. The town of Ringgold, Georgia, has a population of 1,923, one traffic light, one Dairy Queen, and one Catherine Grace Cline. The daughter of Ringgold’s third-generation Baptist preacher, Catherine Grace is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and d...more
Hardcover, 293 pages
Published
February 12th 2008
by Shaye Areheart Books
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The surprising turn in this book made for a very interesting read.
If you mixed Hee-Haw and a biscuit you'd get this book. I lost count how many times "dad gum" was used and resented being hit over the head with that and other cliches.
17 likes · like · see review
I enjoyed the simplicity of this book. It has a Fannie Flagg feel to it and is a very quick read. There is a little bit of Catherine Grace is anyone who grew up in a small town. The desire to see what is out in the world but the decision to leave is a hard one to make especially when you are 18.
9 likes · like · see review
Apr 09, 2008
Lisa
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone
Recommended to Lisa by:
Omaha World-Herald
A nice read - very real characters. The voice of the narrative character, captured with youth and a charming southern drawl, was almost audible. Story twists keep you interested and the citizens of Ringgold leave you wanting more.
3 likes · like · see review
I was expecting a little bit more from this book. It was a fast enjoyable read, but nothing too memorable. The best part of the novel was a secondary character, neighbor Gloria Jean.
A Review of Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
I read Susan Gregg Gilmore’s novel Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen just on a whim, but I am glad that I read it. It gave a new meaning to going for your goals. I learned from Catherine that if you don’t succeed at least you tried. She improvised her dream and it all worked out.
Gilmore gives hope to people that read this novel. After I completed this book I felt a little better about my own goals. The classic humor that turns sadness...more
I read Susan Gregg Gilmore’s novel Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen just on a whim, but I am glad that I read it. It gave a new meaning to going for your goals. I learned from Catherine that if you don’t succeed at least you tried. She improvised her dream and it all worked out.
Gilmore gives hope to people that read this novel. After I completed this book I felt a little better about my own goals. The classic humor that turns sadness...more
Apr 22, 2011
Carol
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Carol by:
booksonthenightstand
Shelves:
fiction
I love when I'm so in tune to my mood that I choose my next book to read just right. I couldn't have been more on the mark with Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. Generally I'm a thriller reader, thriving on blood and mayhem. Too much of this sparks a need for a sprinkle of laughter in my life, and sends me seeking lighter fare. This was just the ticket.
As soon as I started Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, I felt a whole world deprived as I've never had a Dilly Bar at the DQ. I...more
As soon as I started Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, I felt a whole world deprived as I've never had a Dilly Bar at the DQ. I...more
7 likes · like · see review
Looking For Salvation is a delightful read, and when we first meet Catherine Grace she is a pint-sized philosopher, ruminating at the age of 10 on how she knows God could not possibly be listening. After all, she prays every day to get her out of that little town - whose name is larger than its population - and every day she wakes up in the old same place.
Not content to dream about leaving, Catherine Grace begins earning her way out by making strawberry jam - but not before taking time to reflec...more
Not content to dream about leaving, Catherine Grace begins earning her way out by making strawberry jam - but not before taking time to reflec...more
2 likes · like · see review
Nov 10, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
trt-gold-star-award-winner,
trt-posted-reviews
Reviewed by JodiG. for TeensReadToo.com
It's the 1970's, and Catherine Grace Cline is stuck in the one place she knows she doesn't belong - her hometown of Ringgold, Georgia. It's a town that just doesn't fit her. It's too small and too quiet. She spends every Saturday eating Dilly Bars at the Dairy Queen and plotting her escape.
Catherine Grace is the daughter of a third-generation Baptist minister. Her father leads his flock through the joys and sorrows of their lives, the same way he has led hi...more
It's the 1970's, and Catherine Grace Cline is stuck in the one place she knows she doesn't belong - her hometown of Ringgold, Georgia. It's a town that just doesn't fit her. It's too small and too quiet. She spends every Saturday eating Dilly Bars at the Dairy Queen and plotting her escape.
Catherine Grace is the daughter of a third-generation Baptist minister. Her father leads his flock through the joys and sorrows of their lives, the same way he has led hi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was a favorite of my book club's. In fact, since I live in Nashville, Susan came to our monthly book club meeting to discuss the book. She is a lovely person and to have her at our meeting was quite impressive. The book is entertaining - several giggles, but also has some life lessons we can relate to and can learn from. I'm looking forward to her next book.
ahterine Grace is a girl growing up in a small town, and wanting to leave asap. Unlike the girls in her town she wants different things in her life, she just doesn't want to marry (right after high school) and tend her garden. She wants bigger things than what a small town can deliver, she wants excitement of the city lights. She wants a promising future.
Like any other good character she has issues, layers, if you will. In each layer, we see her try to fit in. Trying to be a good daughter, a sis...more
Like any other good character she has issues, layers, if you will. In each layer, we see her try to fit in. Trying to be a good daughter, a sis...more
I was looking for a light read in between some heavier books. This one fit the bill. The story is simple but well done. It is a coming of age story of a young woman and her sister who are raised by their preacher father. The neighbor Gloria Jean plays the role of mother to the girls and is the guiding light of the book. Her joie de vivre was the most uplifting part of the story, and she provides the real world influences that the girls and particularly Catherine Grace crave. From little on, Cath...more
Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I got this one for Christmas, and I really, really needed a very light, fluffy read. I zoomed through it; and I admit that the main character, who narrated the whole book, was fairly compelling. Unfortunately the ending was soooooo obvious--the big surprise hook at the end was not a surprise at all. The author did, blissfully, stop short of having the main character get married and live happily ever after, but it was so trite and sexist that it hurt me. You have a young woman who d...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I don't know if I would say that this book was amazing that the 5 stars claim it is, but it was really good. Read it in like 4 hours.
It's about Catherine Grace who is a the daughter of the preacher in small town Ringgold, GA who's mothered died when she and her little sister were very young. The first part of the book is about her life growing up in a small town with a preacher for a dad and her joy for Dairy Queen's Dilly Bars. Maybe that's what I should've gotten when I went there today instea...more
It's about Catherine Grace who is a the daughter of the preacher in small town Ringgold, GA who's mothered died when she and her little sister were very young. The first part of the book is about her life growing up in a small town with a preacher for a dad and her joy for Dairy Queen's Dilly Bars. Maybe that's what I should've gotten when I went there today instea...more
This story is about Catherine Grace Cline, the daughter of a preacher in a very small southern town (population 1923 depending on who was coming or going). From the time she was born, Catherine Grace knew she wanted to get out of Ringgold, Georgia. It was all she dreamed about her entire life. She and her sister, Martha Ann, lost their mother when Catherine Grace was six and Martha Ann, four. Their preacher father does his best with the girls, but they grow up knowing more about football than af...more
When I sat down to read this, I was not enthused. I’ve never been a huge fan of “coming of age” stories, but Susan Gilmore won me over. The reading is light, witty, and full of all the angst that comes with growing up.
The story is about Catherine Grace Cline, the daughter of a preacher in a very small southern town (population 1923 depending on who was coming or going). From the time she was born, Catherine Grace knew she wanted to get out of Ringgold, Georgia. It was all she dreamed about her e...more
The story is about Catherine Grace Cline, the daughter of a preacher in a very small southern town (population 1923 depending on who was coming or going). From the time she was born, Catherine Grace knew she wanted to get out of Ringgold, Georgia. It was all she dreamed about her e...more
Catherine Grace grew up in Ringgold, GA, a small town in the South of the US. Her daddy is a preacher, she's got a little sister and a dead mother. All she dreams about is to escape this life, go to the city and become a successful girl. She is planning her escape, sitting on the bench in front of the local Dairy Queen. After graduation she leaves town and her first love and gets herself a job in a big department store in Atlanta. But soon she is to home as a tragedy struck her family. Even a so...more
I don’t know if this book counts as a YA novel since it’s told from the pov of the main character as an adult, reflecting back on her childhood and teenagehood. But the only adult thing in it is found on the last page of the book. It’s the author’s first novel.
The main character, Catherine Grace Cline, grows up in a tiny town in Georgia, Ringgold. She hates it. She spends her entire childhood figuring out ways to get out of there when she turns 18. For example, she learns to make strawberry ja...more
The main character, Catherine Grace Cline, grows up in a tiny town in Georgia, Ringgold. She hates it. She spends her entire childhood figuring out ways to get out of there when she turns 18. For example, she learns to make strawberry ja...more
OH my I did not want this book to end.
Ringgold, Georgia is the last place that Catherine Grace Cline wants to spend her life, tending a tomato garden and having lots of babies for a small town farmer. Somehow, though, it looks like that's exactly where her future is headed.
With her daddy being the great Reverend Cline and no mama around to guide her through the toughest years of her life, Catherine Grace has to rely on help from an outrageous, and loving, neighbor who tends to be the subject o...more
Ringgold, Georgia is the last place that Catherine Grace Cline wants to spend her life, tending a tomato garden and having lots of babies for a small town farmer. Somehow, though, it looks like that's exactly where her future is headed.
With her daddy being the great Reverend Cline and no mama around to guide her through the toughest years of her life, Catherine Grace has to rely on help from an outrageous, and loving, neighbor who tends to be the subject o...more
I was surprised at how lovely this story turned out. Not "perfect", but definitely quaint. It really made me wish that I had grown up in a small-town somewhere in the American South, rather than SoCal (southern California). Not because SoCal was bad, just because I think growin my own tomatoe vines seems like something I'd like to do for the rest of my life. Ah well, at least I can experience it through this book!
While not an incredibly amazing story in and of itself, this novel still left me fe...more
While not an incredibly amazing story in and of itself, this novel still left me fe...more
This book was horrible on so many levels, it pains me to think about it. What was especially frustrating was that it started so strong. I was sure it would garner a four- or five-star rating and be something I would recommend to friends and family, especially those who like Southern charm and humor. The stars began falling as I noticed such inconsistencies as a 1972 prom followed immediately by letters posted in 1975. Despite this glaring error, I continued to hope for a rebound. Instead, the st...more
1 like · like · see review
Catherine Grace Cline spends a few minutes every Saturday afternoon sitting atop the picnic table outside the local, (Ringgold, Georgia), Dairy Queen with her sister Martha Anne, eating Dilly Bars. Catherine Grace uses this time to dream and plan the day when she will get to leave this small town for the city lights of Atlanta. The girls are the daughters of the towns 3rd generation preacher and of a Mama who drowned in the river when Catherine Grace was only six years old. On Catherine's 16th b...more
I had no intention of reading this book, but it popped up on a poll list for my book club and the title grabbed my attention.Once in awhile a book comes along that just makes you feel good.This was one of those.
Catherine Grace Cline is a preacher's kid in a small southern town with big dreams.She knows she is destined for much better things than what is available in Ringgold Georgia.She makes her escape at last when she turns the magical age of eighteen, and while she lands on her feet, she fi...more
Catherine Grace Cline is a preacher's kid in a small southern town with big dreams.She knows she is destined for much better things than what is available in Ringgold Georgia.She makes her escape at last when she turns the magical age of eighteen, and while she lands on her feet, she fi...more
1 like · like · see review
Oct 31, 2011
Amanda
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
goal-list-2011-part-2,
2011-reads
I was hoping to be more wow'd by this book, as it was a very cute cover and a clever title I thought, and was pretty happy to have stumbled upon it at the library when I was literally browsing every shelf for a random book to read. Turns out it was just ok. I was not wow'd and while the title of another of her books sounds good as well I'm not thinking of reading it after this one let me down.
I did like the southern down home feel. I liked the country phrases and while the characters were relig...more
I did like the southern down home feel. I liked the country phrases and while the characters were relig...more
For my full review, click here: http://www.coffeeandabookchick.com/20...
This heartwarming tale of Catherine Grace in the 1970s in Ringgold, Georgia was a sweetheart read and I enjoyed the evolution of one young girl wanting more out of life. Dreaming about bigger and better beyond her town while spending every Saturday sitting at the Dairy Queen picnic table eating her favorite Dilly Bars, Catherine Grace never knew that by the time she was eighteen, she would learn leaving home doesn't always w...more
This heartwarming tale of Catherine Grace in the 1970s in Ringgold, Georgia was a sweetheart read and I enjoyed the evolution of one young girl wanting more out of life. Dreaming about bigger and better beyond her town while spending every Saturday sitting at the Dairy Queen picnic table eating her favorite Dilly Bars, Catherine Grace never knew that by the time she was eighteen, she would learn leaving home doesn't always w...more
I loved this book ! The author is new, the story is fresh, and it was time so well spent !
Set in the South, Ringgold, GA, is the home of Catherine Grace Cline the first person narrator of the story. Written in the style of Fannie Flagg with southern humor and lots of "Y'alls", we come to love Catherine Grace who loses her mother as a child and is raised by her Preacher Father. She and her sister, Martha Ann, are stifled in this little town of 1,923 characters and Catherine Grace plans her exit h...more
Set in the South, Ringgold, GA, is the home of Catherine Grace Cline the first person narrator of the story. Written in the style of Fannie Flagg with southern humor and lots of "Y'alls", we come to love Catherine Grace who loses her mother as a child and is raised by her Preacher Father. She and her sister, Martha Ann, are stifled in this little town of 1,923 characters and Catherine Grace plans her exit h...more
There is something about the charm of the sweet but sassy southern girl, Catherine Grace Cline, that made 'Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen' a very enjoyable read for me. Growing up in Ringgold, GA, Catherine spends her whole childhood waiting for the day when she can pack up and move to the big city. She and her sister, Ruth Ann, religiously go to the Dairy Queen each week to sit at the picnic table and enjoy their Dilly Bars. It is there where Catherine looks beyond Taylor's Ridge and...more
They say you can never come home again, but for Catherine Grace Cline, that’s perfectly okay. Restless and bored of small-town life, she spends her days plotting her great escape out of Ringgold, Georgia. Every Saturday afternoon, she sits with her best friend outside the DQ licking a Dilly Bar and daydreaming about her new life in the big city of Atlanta. When her dream finally becomes a reality, tragedy brings her back home. Shortly after her arrival, she discovers an earth-shattering betrayal...more
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| Author at an upcoming event - is it worth me going? | 2 | 25 | Jun 20, 2012 12:10pm |
Susan Gregg Gilmore was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1961. Although her artist mother bought her daughter her first easel and box of paints when she was five, it was her fathers love of family storytelling that captured their young daughters attention.
Gregg Gilmore knew at an early age that she wanted to write but was soon drawn to journalism not fiction. While at the University of Virginia, s...more
More about Susan Gregg Gilmore...
Gregg Gilmore knew at an early age that she wanted to write but was soon drawn to journalism not fiction. While at the University of Virginia, s...more
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“It's a funny thing, how much time we spend planning our lives. We so convince ourselves of what we want to do, that sometimes we don't see what we're meant to do.”
—
18 people liked it
“I didn't really think Jesus cared what I wore to Cedar Grove Baptist Church, or to see the governor for that matter, considering the fact that in every picture I ever saw of the King of Kings, He was wearing sandals and bundled up in nothing more than a big, baggy robe.”
—
5 people liked it
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