Life Goes On

March 1, 2004
Like Signs and Wonders
, the previous book in the popular series featuring Pastor Sam Gardner and the colorful parishioners of the Harmony Friends Meeting in Harmony, Ind., Gulley's fourth installment unfolds through a series of warm, lightly comic anecdotes. Readers will know they're in cozily familiar territory from the get-go, when Dale Hinshaw—the vigilant, long-winded, self-appointed guardian of doctrinal purity—seizes an opportunity to take the pulpit on Easter Sunday (Pastor Sam has laryngitis) and rant for 45 minutes without a single mention of the Resurrection. As the book strolls along, Sam presides over a funeral for a fellow who—oops!—isn't dead, experiences a couple of home-repair mishaps, gets validated for another year of preaching, contracts head lice and bemusedly recounts the antics of his fellow citizens. Tiffany Nagel, the "Sausage Queen," is unmasked as a vegetarian; the town's 29-year-old spinster, Deena Morrison, finally meets her Prince Charming thanks to ringworm; and Dale Hinshaw keeps causing trouble, even for his own wife. By the time December rolls around, Pastor Sam is fed up with every "narrow-minded kook" in town, and it's time for some soul-searching and a re-evaluation of his job as pastor—if those kooks don't get him fired first. This is sweet, homespun storytelling, as comfy and reassuring as warm socks in a wet spring. Gulley's growing number of fans will relish this funny and occasionally hokey novel. 8-city author tour
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April 1, 2004
In Gulley's fifth "Harmony" novel, Quaker pastor Sam Gardner (e.g., Home to Harmony; Just Shy of Harmony) has plenty to deal with in his little Midwestern township, including church elder Dale Hinshaw's constant interference in church matters, mutiny in the Sunday School class, a Sausage Queen who is dethroned when it is discovered that she is a vegetarian, and parishioners who just don't seem to understand Sam's spiritual leadership. Caught between old timers who resist all modern thinking and progressives like the feisty Deena and Mabel Morrison, Pastor Sam tries to be the voice of reason and keep his congregation from killing one another. When a small group of church members plot to replace him, Sam becomes more determined than ever to keep his flock together. Gulley's delightful series is reminiscent of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days and will, once again, delight his fans. It will also appeal to all readers who enjoy the charms and perils of small-town life. Recommended for popular fiction collections as well as all libraries that own the "Harmony" series.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.