At Home in Mitford

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon, 446 pages

Father Tim is the rector of a small church in Mitford, North Carolina, a quaint town where everyone knows everyone else and the biggest controversy seems to be who in town makes the best apple pie. The book follows the 60-year-old rector through what he deems a crisis of faith (but the rest of us would probably just call overwork) brought on by caring for a fifth grade orphan, helping friends deal with illnesses and the arrival of a huge dog that can only be calmed by the recitation of scripture.

I would not have read this book if I didn't have to read a Christian fiction title for class, and I can't say I'm any better off having read it. It was boring, saccharine, and while not all-out preachy, just too stinking religious for my taste (see: the thief who confesses to his crimes from the altar during a Sunday service and then asks to be baptized; the aforementioned dog; and the off-hand reference to specific Bible verses). I'm neither old enough nor religious enough to enjoy this, and I'm very much looking forward to the next genre we tackle in class: horror. Some good old-fashioned blood-and-guts-filled scary stories should be a nice palate cleanser.