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Looking for Me
by
A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
Beth Hoffman’s bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now her unique flair for evocative settings and richly drawn Southern personalities shines in her compelling new n ...more
Beth Hoffman’s bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now her unique flair for evocative settings and richly drawn Southern personalities shines in her compelling new n ...more
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Hardcover, 354 pages
Published
May 28th 2013
by Pamela Dorman Books/Viking
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An exceptional story that will leave antique lovers drooling, nature lovers longing for the outdoors, animal lovers running to make a donation to their local animal shelter or humane society, and hopeless romantics swooning.
I seriously can't believe that I waited a whole month to read this novel. I should have picked it up immediately. Looking for Me is storytelling at its best. Teddi and her brother Josh grew up on a farm in Kentucky. While she loves to give new life to old things like furnitur ...more
I seriously can't believe that I waited a whole month to read this novel. I should have picked it up immediately. Looking for Me is storytelling at its best. Teddi and her brother Josh grew up on a farm in Kentucky. While she loves to give new life to old things like furnitur ...more

Some early reviews:
“It is calmly delivered … packs a hefty emotional punch … a completely original story line.”
- FREDICKSBURG FREE LANCE-STAR
“Hoffman’s novel of a woman putting the pieces of her family’s secrets together combines a deep dramatic impact with Southern charm.”
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Beth Hoffman is a master at crafting a gentle story fierce with emotion.”
- SCRANTON BOOK EXAMINER
“Intelligent and brilliantly written … a deceptively complex story.”
- Heather Christman, Warwick’s
“[A] lyrica ...more

When I read this authors first book, Saving Ceecee Honeycutt, I read it in one sitting and was then disappointed because I'd finished it.
With Looking For Me I decided to take my time, reading a few pages a day and making it last. But...by the time I'd read about a quarter of the book I realized that this was not one of my better ideas. I didn't feel any connection to the characters.
So...I went back to the start, immersed myself in the story, and didn't come up for air until I read the very last ...more

Talk about a quiet book that manages to pack quite the punch. Teddi is works with antiques and restoration, embodying the concept of hard work and dedication. We see her family through her eyes–her war veteran father who firmly believed in family and freedom, her glass-half-empty mother who always had a bone to pick, and Josh, the light of her life little brother who was enigmatically one with nature. When Teddi’s mother suddenly passes away, both she and the reader get exposed to the secrets th
...more

Looking for Me by the author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt has much to recommend it, and yet....
What I liked: great ambiance in the settings of the family farm in Kentucky and in Charlston, S.C.; lovely Southern charm and flowing descriptions; nature and wildlife; the love of junk picking and quality antiques; the feathers and the notes from Josh; gardens; and near the end, Teddi's refusal to sell her father's old Allis-Chalmers tractor. ( All of the above are things I personally love, and my fathe ...more
What I liked: great ambiance in the settings of the family farm in Kentucky and in Charlston, S.C.; lovely Southern charm and flowing descriptions; nature and wildlife; the love of junk picking and quality antiques; the feathers and the notes from Josh; gardens; and near the end, Teddi's refusal to sell her father's old Allis-Chalmers tractor. ( All of the above are things I personally love, and my fathe ...more

"Never tie your happiness to the end of someone else's kite."
The patches and quips of wisdom within the pages are part of the charm of Teddi Overton's story found in Beth Hoffman's second novel, LOOKING FOR ME. The voice is another, so engaging and powerful that the story is unputdownable (if that can be a word).
In the opening pages, the reader gets a glimpse into the heart of the main character: a scrappy and endearing Kentucky farm girl as she learns to cope with the world, her difficult fam ...more
The patches and quips of wisdom within the pages are part of the charm of Teddi Overton's story found in Beth Hoffman's second novel, LOOKING FOR ME. The voice is another, so engaging and powerful that the story is unputdownable (if that can be a word).
In the opening pages, the reader gets a glimpse into the heart of the main character: a scrappy and endearing Kentucky farm girl as she learns to cope with the world, her difficult fam ...more

By the bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. While Saving was a sweet, charming story, Hoffman has outdone herself in her second novel. Her writing now crosses over two genres, popular and literary, and I felt that she wrote this novel for me. Love antiques? Check. Love nature? Check. Love landscape? Check. Love rural settings? Check. Love mysteries? Check. Love art? Check. Love strong women? Check. Love unsentimental love stories and eccentric characters? Check. This novel has everythi
...more

Originally published on my blog My Novel Opinion
First off, I wanted to be clear why I chose to read this book...after being drawn to the delightful looking window display on the cover the one and only other reason was the first 7 words in the synopsis "A Southern novel of family and antiques"! I am a sucker for novels set in the South, I'm not even sure why having never visited or really interacted with anyone from that neck of the woods. I'm also going to throw my hands up and admit that I had ...more
First off, I wanted to be clear why I chose to read this book...after being drawn to the delightful looking window display on the cover the one and only other reason was the first 7 words in the synopsis "A Southern novel of family and antiques"! I am a sucker for novels set in the South, I'm not even sure why having never visited or really interacted with anyone from that neck of the woods. I'm also going to throw my hands up and admit that I had ...more

I am really trying to determine if this is a 4 or 5 star book. I'm leaning more to 5 star. It's not a book that moves quickly or hits the reader with a big "AHA!" but more of a quiet life, moving along that sneaks up on you by a reflection of life through one of the character's passions.
I don't really know how to explain what the book is about except perhaps a glimpse of the way we make our choices and and choose our paths. We don't get to choose for others but we do get to choose our perspecti ...more
I don't really know how to explain what the book is about except perhaps a glimpse of the way we make our choices and and choose our paths. We don't get to choose for others but we do get to choose our perspecti ...more

3.5 Beth Hoffman's writing is lyrical at times, painting a strong sense of place and the strength of this book for me, even more than the story.
Teddi Overman is an artist with a special talent for finding antique treasures and restoring and transforming old furniture into works of art. She lives on the family farm with her hardworking father who she adores, her mother, whose disappointment in life and negativity baffle her, and her younger brother Josh. She and Josh have a unique bond and Teddi ...more
Teddi Overman is an artist with a special talent for finding antique treasures and restoring and transforming old furniture into works of art. She lives on the family farm with her hardworking father who she adores, her mother, whose disappointment in life and negativity baffle her, and her younger brother Josh. She and Josh have a unique bond and Teddi ...more

Looking For Me is the first novel I've read by Beth Hoffman. This is the type of novel that gives the feeling that I should be enjoying it on the porch of some grand Victorian with a pitcher of sweet tea. I loved this book. Looking For Me definitely put me in touch with the summer's I spent at my great grandmother's home in Mobile, Alabama as a child.
Teddi found her life's calling at the tender age of 11 in the form of a beat up chair discarded along the highway. She took that furniture home, r ...more
Teddi found her life's calling at the tender age of 11 in the form of a beat up chair discarded along the highway. She took that furniture home, r ...more

Hoffman has a interesting way of surrounding you with her words. I am not a huge fan of reading about antiques and restoring furniture but her descriptions are not needless - she actually breathes life into her inanimate objects (the furniture) as well as her characters. I found Teddi's store and her profession to be interesting after I settled into the book (resigned myself that this what the book was going to be about). However, I did feel that until 1/2 way through the book that there still w
...more

Hands down this is the best read of the last six months or more. I read "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" as an advanced reader and really enjoyed it.
A new coworker, and new friend, received an advanced reader copy from Ms. Hoffman who is a friend of hers. After she read it she loaned to me. I was hooked by the characters within the first few pages. I told Lesa that the storyline did not matter so much to me as I really cared more for the characters and the writing itself.
I was wrong. The story is wonde ...more
A new coworker, and new friend, received an advanced reader copy from Ms. Hoffman who is a friend of hers. After she read it she loaned to me. I was hooked by the characters within the first few pages. I told Lesa that the storyline did not matter so much to me as I really cared more for the characters and the writing itself.
I was wrong. The story is wonde ...more

We all have dreams...some are fulfilled, some are not. Teddi Overman knew she had a talent for refinishing antique furniture even though her mother told her there was no future in it. Her mother wanted her to be a secretary.
Teddi didn't want to be a secretary. Teddi pursued her dream but had reservations about leaving her family when she did. She was so far away from them, and since she had left secretly in the middle of the night and on a bad note, there was some regret on her part. Her decisio ...more
Teddi didn't want to be a secretary. Teddi pursued her dream but had reservations about leaving her family when she did. She was so far away from them, and since she had left secretly in the middle of the night and on a bad note, there was some regret on her part. Her decisio ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

I loved this book. It was vividly written with likeable characters. I was able to picture the settings, characters, and scenery so easily because of the vividness of the author's writing. To name a few themes, it's a story about love, hopes, loss, and fulfilling dreams. It's also a story about family life and the ups and downs of life in general. I felt different emotions while reading this book. I like when books do that for me. Even though I would like to discuss parts of the book with others,
...more

Jul 17, 2013
Mary Eve
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
southern charm, fiction, tear jerker, heartfelt
Looking For Me has earned THE top spot as my all time favorite novel. I LOVE this story!! Beth Hoffman, consider me an ultimate fan. Thank you for creating this jewel. Everything about this beautifully written tale of Teddi Overman's search for her life's passion is perfect. I just want to hug my favorite book over and over. LFM will forever more be that book on my bookshelf that, when I glance at it, I will be reminded of not only how great it was but how great it made me feel with each passing
...more

Beth Hoffman is a wonderful story teller, she has a way of making you feel like you are truly in the story along with, her genuine and so likable characters. I just finished reading, "Saving Cee Cee "Huneycutt". It was so good that I could not wait to see if she could follow it with another that had the same enjoyable quality. Thankfully, a repeat performance, this book was a bit more serious but an excellent story non the less.
Teddi our main character has a fire in her belly and refuses to be ...more
Teddi our main character has a fire in her belly and refuses to be ...more

My current audio pick. NOTE: If you are a dog lover there is one brief (mentioned in 2 chapters so far) story of cruelty, but justice is served. A very brief mention is made later in the story of an act of animal terrorism. It is not graphic, just mentioned. I love the way Beth Hoffman writes! The parts of this book on antiques and rare books just SING to me! Her complete authenticity in describing rural Kentucky may even top Barbara Kingsolver's command of the back roads. This book is simply GR
...more

Beth Hoffman's gift for developing characters lures a reader into the world she wishes to portray. As I read the book, I believed Teddi to be a real person...down to earth, kind, honest, and loving. As a reader, I appreciated how Ms. Hoffman unfolds her story much like a blanket is unfolded on a bed. The story was wonderful and took this reader out of reality and into a place full of love. I loved this book!
...more

A brilliant and beautifully moving story. Teddi Overman is a girl who knows what she wants, and what she wants is to restore and refinish the old furniture she rescues from yard sales, and eventually to own her own antiques and restoration shop. Against her mother's well meaning advice, Teddi leaves her home in Kentucky at 18, and heads for Charleston South Carolina.
Teddi's family is broken in ways Teddi doesn't understand. Teddi's mother is perennially unhappy and disapproving of everything Te ...more
Teddi's family is broken in ways Teddi doesn't understand. Teddi's mother is perennially unhappy and disapproving of everything Te ...more

I loved Beth Hoffman's first book, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, so I was really looking forward to this one. I was surprised at the completely different subject matter of Looking For Me.
I do not spend time writing long book reviews as there are always plenty of those listed under all the books here on Goodreads (and because I am always anxious to get on to my next book!), so I will keep my review short and sweet.
Beth Hoffman has a style of writing that I love; it's comforting, entertaining and optim ...more
I do not spend time writing long book reviews as there are always plenty of those listed under all the books here on Goodreads (and because I am always anxious to get on to my next book!), so I will keep my review short and sweet.
Beth Hoffman has a style of writing that I love; it's comforting, entertaining and optim ...more

3.5 There is something so unique in tone that make southern novels special. The gentile manners, the sense of family, women who are feminine but have a backbone and side of grit to them. The humor and descriptions of wonderful houses and gardens and in this book, vintage antiques. Kentucky and the Daniel Boone National Forest, the plight of the wildlife and a young man who did not quite fit in with society but did fit in nature and his sister who loved antiques are the special features of this n
...more

Jun 03, 2013
Lydia Laceby
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
5-star-must-read,
contemporary-women-s-fiction
Originally reviewed at Novel Escapes.
Only Beth Hoffman can make me shed tears within the first thirty pages or so of a novel. She did it with Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt, and she’s done it again with Looking For Me. And the beginning wasn't the only time my eyes leaked during this fantastic, definitely top-5-of-the-year reads.
Hoffman is a word wizard. Her prose is truly simple, yet so lyrical. The end result is an effortless read, with an extraordinary impact. Many times I re-read sentences in utte ...more

Wrapped in the comfort of her childhood home in Kentucky, Teddi Overman had dreams. And adventures. Some that she shared with her younger brother Josh, who had a unique affinity for wildlife, especially the broken and damaged ones.
Teddi's passion for furniture sprang to life when she discovered an old broken-down chair by the side of the road. Studying library books, she repaired and refinished it and finally sold it. To a man named Jackson T. Palmer from Charleston.
Years later, she would go to ...more
Teddi's passion for furniture sprang to life when she discovered an old broken-down chair by the side of the road. Studying library books, she repaired and refinished it and finally sold it. To a man named Jackson T. Palmer from Charleston.
Years later, she would go to ...more

Book Description:
“Teddi Overman found her life’s passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques and opens her own shop in Charleston. Breathing new life into discarded objects gives Teddi purpose but has never alleviated the haunting uncertainty she’s felt since her brother Josh’s mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn hom ...more
“Teddi Overman found her life’s passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques and opens her own shop in Charleston. Breathing new life into discarded objects gives Teddi purpose but has never alleviated the haunting uncertainty she’s felt since her brother Josh’s mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn hom ...more

I think I'll just copy one of my favorite passages and hopefully it will explain why I found this book so gripping. "Tilting her head, she studied me with red - rimmed eyes. Then she leaned forward and ran her hands through her hair, sending droplets of sweat splashing onto the step below us. "It's so hot. I can't take it anymore. Maybe I'll put my head in the oven and just go ahead and finish myself off. At least I'd be out of my misery. Then you could sing at my funeral. How about THAT?"
And t ...more
And t ...more

I will never again look at a red-tailed hawk in quite the same way, after reading Beth Hoffman’s second novel (In fact, while I was reading her story – outside, during a power outage – our pair of resident desert redtails carried on something fierce … something they rarely do, screeching and talking to one another.) I like to think that this story, with its deep connections to nature, was speaking to me that day in the same magical ways it spoke to me from the printed page.
The main character, Te ...more
The main character, Te ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Play Book Tag: [Trim] Looking for Me – Beth Hoffman - 4 stars | 1 | 10 | Jun 05, 2019 08:10PM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Combining editions | 2 | 199 | Jan 04, 2015 05:59PM | |
Anyone want to share their thoughts on Beth Hoffmann new book Looking for Me? | 31 | 141 | Dec 27, 2014 10:25AM |
Twelve days after Beth Hoffman’s first novel was published in 2010, she became a New York Times bestselling author with foreign rights selling to prestigious publishers in Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Norway, Hungary, Indonesia, Korea, Israel, and the United Kingdom.
Following an extensive national tour, Beth returned home to Kentucky and the solace of her writing studio. Drawing from vivid memo ...more
Following an extensive national tour, Beth returned home to Kentucky and the solace of her writing studio. Drawing from vivid memo ...more
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