Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Apr 24, 2009

Stacy rated it:

Wow, I can see why this book was Christianity Today's 2008 Novel of the Year. This book took me a while to get through, but not because of the content, but other things going on (relative in hospital, company at our house, etc). I think I would have flown through this book if I had my "normal" time to read.

It is taking me a while to digest this book. I don't think I can give it a review that will do it justice. I enjoyed it. I found it choppy in writing style, but rivet More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Sally rated it:

I got off to a slow start with this book. The main character was hard for me to feel 'connected' with. I couldn't relate to or understand her compulsion to keep buying things to make herself feel better. But as her heart was softened and she began to grow closer to God, I really began to love her! Here's the paragraph that really hit me:
"And when I cut away the rot from a case of oozing tomatoes that came from only heaven knows where, I experienced euphoria like I'd never known. More...

0 comments like

Jun 16, 2008

Kirsten rated it:

This book was voted novel of the year by Women of Faith. The message of the book it great, especially since we live in such a materialistic society where people believe that the objects that they own are what define them as a person. This novel opens both your heart and mind as to how it really should be. Although I didn't find the writing to be great (definitely not to be categorized as novel of the year), the message was. Overall, it was a good read.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 06, 2009

Carla rated it:

This is one of the worst books I attempted to read. I had this on my list to buy, but I ended up just borrowing it from the library and I'm glad I didn't waste my money on it. The book rambled on and on, the main character seemed whiney and quite a bit insincere....if I had not read the back of the book, I wouldn't have figured out what the plot was about. I gave up after less than a hundred pages, and it's extremely rare that I put aside a book without finishing it, but I just could not make More...

0 comments like

Jun 27, 2010

Staci rated it:

Heather is losing it...she thinks she has to be the perfect wife, perfect mom, have the perfect house, and be the perfect Christian. People come into her world that help her realize that life is about so much more than THINGS and that Jesus really just wants your time, not your money(the church wants this!). I grew up without religion or faith playing a role in my life and as an adult, I've found that I have been searching for something and have been struggling with "what" that exactly More...

0 comments like

Apr 08, 2011

Beth rated it:

Heather, the main character, and I are living very similar lives. At least when it comes to spiritual lives. Her journey spiritually in this book is very similar to mine the past few years. It was refreshing to read someone else questioning the same things I question. I realize it is fiction but there's reality underneath the fiction. Again, Lisa Samson hits a home run. She faces life head on and doesn't cloak it with "isms" and such. So refreshing! The journey in this book is " More...

0 comments like

Jul 08, 2011

April rated it:

Heather has everything: the perfect husband, kids and house. Why is she so unsettled? Why is it not enough? What does she need to learn? She gets lost with her husband in a not so nice part of town and meets a nun. Then she has a car accident and meets two elderly sisters, one being a Quaker, both with strong faiths in God. So she spends time that summer with the new people in her life and prays for guidance for her husband's career, her faith and the future of her family.

I tr More...

0 comments like

Jul 23, 2009

Joanne rated it:

Heather has everything, and she's not happy. She knows she should be happy -- she compulsively buys name brand everything, she's got a great family, lives in a a great neighborhood -- but she isn't.

For most of the book I thought Heather needed to get over herself and go do something useful. She eventually came to that conclusion herself. What I did enjoy was her and her supporting characters' description of how God does not work in the ways we expect, and sometimes when we are mos More...

0 comments like

Apr 06, 2009

Justin rated it:

Quaker Summer is a wonderful book I recommend to anyone who enjoys a good Christian Chick-Lit. The main character Heather was nothing short of amazing. She possessed many attributes of the average woman, but to see how she went from being a bit on the materialistic side to letting all the unnecessary worldly possessions go in order to own the more important - spirituality. It was nothing short of inspiring to me.

To follow Heather's journey and know that one can be so moved and f More...

0 comments like

Sep 07, 2010

Lee rated it:

Sometimes, a decent book is made really good by a theme and story that connect with the circumstances of the reader's life at that moment in time. For example, when I read "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert for the first time, I have no doubt that I appreciated it so much more because I was recently divorced and could relate so much more intimately to the things she wrote about.

Reading this book, I had the same type of appreciation. I'm at a point in life where I real More...

0 comments like

Oct 04, 2008

Sherril rated it:

p. 173
The Friends Peace Testimony

"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretence whatsoever. And this is our testimony to the whole world."

From "A Declaration to Charles II", 1660

p. 220
"Of course my nose has started to run, and every sniff sounds like the winds of a hurricane here in the silent gathering. Most sit with their eyes closed, expecting a More...

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2008

Virginia rated it:

Lisa Samson has quickly become one of my all-time favorite authors. In this 2007 Women of Faith Novel of the Year and Christy Award finalist, Heather, the main character, is a well-to-do shopaholic with a terrific kid and married to a handsome surgeon who is nuts about her. She lives in a house that most people only dream of, furnished with the best of everything. On the surface, life is grand. But are all the ‘things’ merely anesthetic for a pain too deep to be faced? In order to find the peace More...

0 comments like

Aug 20, 2008

Weavre rated it:

I decided to finish this after all, since my brain was spinning after finishing The Black Hole Wars. This is a treacly-easy read that hasn't gotten any better, but for whatever reason I decided I might as well just see it through. The characters have all the depth of the manufactured stock people from the management books, only the insights shared through them aren't anything remotely novel. The incredibly wealthy bored suburbanite housewife and her even wealthier friends aren't satisfied with a More...

0 comments like

Nov 13, 2007

Kim rated it:

Randomly picked this up at the library the other week. It is part of Thomas Nelson Publishers' "Women of Faith" fiction series. Of course, the "Quaker" in the title grabbed me. Then I noticed reviews saying that it spoke to our culture's addiction to consumerism, and talked about the radical gospel of Christ. Then I opened it and saw the chapter titles are titles of Beatles songs. SOLD.

I'm finding myself reading more and more women's Christian fiction these days. More...

0 comments like

Dec 09, 2011

Jen rated it:

I had a hard time getting into this book. But I was determined to get through it since it was clean and had a "Women of Faith" award. I was interested by those two things alone to continue on. The main character, Heather, seems a little exaggerated in the beginning--I wanted to shake her and say "get a grip!" But during the last half of the book I started to identify more with Heather and could see her as a real character. It is an inspiring story for women, so I would still

0 comments like

May 03, 2009

Jessica rated it:

I give this book 3.75 stars, although I can't bring myself to round up to the four-star rating. First of all, 401 pages was WAY too long. The story could have effectively been told in 300. Secondly, I think part of my let-down is because it was one of Publishers Weekly's Top Books of 2007 and the Women of Faith Novel of the Year that same year, so I totally expected it to be phenomenal. While I enjoyed the ending immensely, the rest went in spurts ranging from sweet to dragging.

Over More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2011

Judithosc rated it:

I had some difficulty getting into this book. I picked it up at the library because I saw that it was a "Women of Faith" Novel of the Year. I found the premise challenging once I got into it. The main character, Heather, won my heart because she was not afraid to ask difficult questions. I would love to read a book centered around her son, Will. If you are looking for a book that asks Gospel questions, here is a good one.

0 comments like

Dec 25, 2008

Joyce rated it:

at first i didn't know why i was reading this book. but then there was a turning point in the book and i could relate. she had some of the same obstacles in her life that i have in mine and then i did't want to put the book down. at the end are group discussion questions. i enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who tended to be materalistic or needed forgiveness for something way in their past or needed to forgive someone

2 comments like

Sep 26, 2009

Melissa rated it:

What really makes Quaker Summer stand out from other Christian Fic titles I've read is that Samson focuses not just on individual beliefs or spiritual journeys, but on the importance of LIVING a Christian life, as opposed to simply claiming a set of beliefs. That's a real gap in the genre. I'm always on the look out for Christian fiction that isn't preachy, sappy or plain old poorly written. Quaker Summer is probably the best CF I've found.

0 comments like

Apr 03, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

I appreciated the honest struggles of the main character and the growth she had over time. I was disappointed that a few important things that were brought up were never resolved, but overall, I liked it. For me, its depiction of spiritual struggles and growth felt real, i.e. not neat and tidy, but shifting, complicated, and a little mysterious.

0 comments like

Jul 10, 2011

Meg rated it:

Women of Faith Novel of the Year 2007: I think the bar is pretty low. The story kept me interested enough to read to the end, and it's a good message (help the less fortunate), but the writing isn't much. This was sort of a fill-in book between books. It has inspired me to spend the money to buy something to read on my kindle...

0 comments like

Jan 15, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

It was a sweet Christian, God loves you, it will all be okay kind of book. I was hoping for more quaker-ness and that she would learn more from the Quaker ladies. I am coming to some the same decisions as Heather about eliminating extra stuff and spend my time with people and activities that truly fulfill me and bring me joy.

0 comments like

Jul 19, 2010

Taija rated it:

"I guess, for me, I'd rather use more grace for having tried and gotten it wrong than for not having tried at all." -Jace

Strong internal conflict- what does it really mean to follow Jesus' teachings about sacrifice, selfless love, and caring for "the least of these" in America? Authentic, genuine, and real. I loved it.

0 comments like

Oct 02, 2010

*HOLLY* rated it:

What I liked:
I liked the overall concept of the plot and main character (Heather). Heather is a wife to a cardiac surgeon. They have a son and she is a stay at home mom. They have plenty of money, which is mostly spent on crap they don't need. She spends money to buy STUFF as a way to fill a void she seems to have in life. After a lifetime of trying to fill that void, she realizes she cant do it with material possessions or social status.

What I disliked:
The constant conve More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 30, 2009

B rated it:

2.5 stars? 2.75 maybe? I picked it up at local coffeehouse free book exchage... glad it was free. beach read maybe? Not what i'd expected from the synopsis.
Storyline moved quickly, but I found it hard to relate (sympathize?) with the main character's identity crisis, and thought the writing was average at best.

0 comments like

Sep 17, 2011

Lisa rated it:

This is a bad book. I am supposed to like the main character, but I don't. The "spirituality" in this book is very surface-level, like "She dresses all in grey. Therefore she is a quintessential Quaker." I am trying to get through this and maybe my opinion will change later. Right now I am not impressed.

0 comments like

May 21, 2011

Abby added it

I really liked this book. I read it over the summer a while ago, well not over the summer, it was more like one perfect sunny day. It was about a lady who believed her "stuff" was weighing her down and making it difficult to lead a productive, meaningful life. She sought out help from two old quaker ladies.

0 comments like

Jul 29, 2010

Beth rated it:

This was a great book club book on so many levels. Great story, great discussion, lots of characters to realte too. This was a book club favorite (especially for a church book club). There are a lot of religion aspects to discuss in this marriage (especially questions of how you live your life).

0 comments like

Oct 07, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Heather seems to have it all. She has a loving, successful husband and an adoring son. They live on a mansion on a lake. However, inside Heather has a void that she attempts to fill with compulsive shopping. Her journey to find her purpose in life is difficult and a bit long but I was relieved when she finally figured it out.

0 comments like

Feb 20, 2010

Renee rated it:

This is another phenomenal work by Lisa Samson - boy can this woman write. It's no surprise this book was chosen as the Women of Faith Novel of the Year in 2007......
Great story about a woman learning about the true important things in life even when it seemed as if she had it all.

2 comments like