Hutterite Diaries-Wisdom from My Prairie Community is the latest release from Plainspoken, a division of Herald Press Publishing. This is the second book I have read from Plainspoken, and I think it is great that people from Plain communities are publishing their writing.
Hutterite Diaries is written by Linda Maendel, who has been a part of the Hutterite community in Canada her entire life. In this book, she lets us into life as a Hutterite member with stories, information, and her insights into the lifestyle.
The book is divided into four parts, each with several chapters. The four parts are Fellowship, Celebrations, Values, and Heritage. There is also FAQs about the Hutterites, Author's Note, About the Author, and "A Day in the Life of the Author", which is a fun hour by hour account of the author's day.
My Thoughts: I enjoyed Hutterite Diaries very much. Linda Maendel wrote her book in a way that makes the reader feel they are visiting with an old friend, sharing stories and chuckling over something funny that happened that day. Not only did the author inform and describe how she lives, she went a step further and explained why the Hutterite people do things the way they do.
The Hutterite people's way of living communally is beautiful, in my opinion. I think it is great that they live simple lives, lives of service, but don't cut themselves off from the world or technology. It seems to be the best of both worlds.
When my family lived in Oregon for a short time, I noticed women wearing black head coverings and simple dresses several times when I was out running errands. I knew they were not Amish, and wondered if they were Mennonite. Now that I have read Hutterite Diaries, and noted that there are colonies in Oregon, I think I have my answer!
Hutterite Diaries is an educational and fun book to read. There are pictures throughout the book, and the author has an easy, entertaining way of writing. I had a hard time putting it down, and highly recommend it!
You can follow author Linda Maendel on her blog and on Twitter.
To purchase your own copy of this book, go to MennoMedia. You can read more reviews of Hutterite Diaries here.
*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment