Do you read to feed your mind just as you eat to feed your body?  Most people read but like we often eat we don’t consider the “nutritional contents” in reading.  Today I have a book that will nourish your mind.  No junk food in it at all.  It is a clean Christian Amish novel that is engaging, thought provoking, provides information, inspiration, and even recipes.  Are you interested?  Great, I will tell you more.

New York Times Best Selling author Wanda Brunstetter has penned a new series entitles The Prayer Jars.  Book One, The Hope Jar, is a delightful 311 pages that will transport readers between the modern Englisch world and modern Amish world.  The book is much different than any other I have read by author Brunstetter.  Her writing style hasn’t changed but the story and information given has.  This book was extremely well thought, planned, and organized as well as well written.

The book centers around an elderly Amish couple, two twenty something young women, and two young men.  Many tough topics are tackled in this fiction work.  Things in which we can all relate are presented in these pages such as family issues, parental rules, teenage and young adult disobedience, death, deceit, lies, abuse, dishonesty, betrayal, and someone struggling with faith.  It would be an injustice to divulge much about the plot.  Reading it and discovering this delightful story on one’s own is much better.

The characters are lovely and some despicable.  The author does a great job defining them and rounding them so that we come to love or really dislike them.  I became invested in their lives and emotions.  Certain situations were relatable either first hand or through a friend.  Dialog flows smoothly and some Amish words are slipped in with definition.  Readers will learn a few Amish or Pennsylvania Deutsch words by the end of this book.  Much information on the Amish is provided.  It would be the perfect book for someone wanting to know the what’s and why’s of Amish life.

After the story, readers will be delighted to find recipes that were mentioned in the story.  As a bonus there are discussion questions for book clubs or if you want to dig a bit deeper yourself.  Author information, a listing of all of the author’s works and a sneak peak at the cover of Book Two, The Forgiving Jar close out this book.

Definitely I recommend for a variety of reasons.  It provides information some readers may not currently know about Amish, farm life, and scripture. Topics broached are tough, real life issues, and someone might need help with their situation.  Recipes used or discussed in a book and then given are a favorite thing of mine, and this book follows through with that.   Don’t tease me.  If you are going to tempt me with making a delicious dish, then please share the recipe.  The life lessons and inspirational lessons are phenomenal.  Rating this book a 5 out of 5 star is warranted.  This reader is eagerly awaiting Book Two.  A few of author Brunstetter’s works have been turned into plays.  I for one am hoping for a movie next.

A copy of The Hope Jar was provided by Barbour Publishing for my honest opinion.  I can and will give no other.