Joyfully Retired

Synopsis From the Publisher:  Pam and Mark Walker are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with a week-long family reunion and a ceremony renewing their vows. Mark breezily dismisses Pam’s misgiving about temporarily closing Montis Inn and heads off to the county fair, to try his hand at both chainsaw sculpting and sheep shearing, with chaotic — and hilarious — results.

Meanwhile, Pam juggles her thrill-seeking mother, who has a new “friend with benefits,” and her non-conformist niece, who posts family secrets in her online blog. Then Mark’s brother-in-law starts broadcasting his radio talk show live from Montis Inn. His remarks disparaging small-town life cause immediate rifts, especially when he sides with a real estate developer who wants to turn Lumby into a Las Vegas version of Aspen. As the controversy pits family against family, and neighbor against neighbor, will the spirit that defines Lumby triumph once again?

My Thoughts:  I enjoyed the first book, The Lumby Lines, so much that I wanted to read them all. But, this fifth book came out before I had a chance to read numbers 2, 3, and 4, so I just jumped right into number 5. It’s definitely okay to do that as they are stand-alone books.

Lumby On The Air is just the book for any veteran of family reunions. This family is a riot. It made me think my own family is a bunch of snore-ables. Actually, my heart went out to several of the family members as they were reminders of loved ones of my own.

Mark’s adventures at the county fair are very humorous and make him such an endearing character along with his friend Joshua. They both believe they can do the most impossible feats and they have a great time trying.

The family reunion and the county fair made for fun reading but, underneath it all, it made me think about various relationships I’ve experienced and/or observed. It definitely reminded me of our own parent/teenage struggles. I liked watching the new love relationships of the senior couple.

Every Lumby book has a section in the back that I enjoy. There are little tidbits about the characters and questions that are good for discussion or just to ponder alone. I always like the recipes. There is one for Crab Cups I want to try. The art work (folkart) by the author’s husband adds a very nice touch to the books.

The Lumby books are more than just books to read and put down. These are go-with-me-books. I’ve had them in my kitchen, the car, my outdoor lounge chair, my bed and my indoor reading chair.  Every book is like meeting a new community of friends and neighbors. Pick up any one of them and see what I mean.

If you’d like a list of all the books by Gail Fraser, you can find them here at her website. Be sure to watch for the little moose who walks all around the web-page. While you are there check out her photo album. I like the pictures of the farm.  It is so serene and beautiful.

Be sure to check your local library for a copy of this book. This one is available at Amazon. (I am an Amazon Associate.)

Thanks to Caite at FSB Associates for my review copy.

Lumby On The Air by Gail Fraser  -  New American Library, 2010  -  My Rating: A