Reviews

Search is the story of a UU congregation's search for a new minister. It was a good book and I'm glad I read it.

Why you might want to read this book:

Huneven does a very good job capturing congregational politics, generational divides, and the difficulties of coming to consensus in a diverse group.
It is not so specific that someone unfamiliar with UU would find it hard to follow - it's just the story of a church committee and focuses on the group's differences and dynamics. Conversely, there are nuances that would stand out to someone involved in UU like the tension between what the various committee members want their new minister to focus on - these are the same tensions you'll see in many UU congregations these days.
The recipes at the end! The various members dine together during their meetings throughout the year and the recipes for what they ate are collected at the end of the novel.

Why you might not want to read this book:

The ending is very frustrating - there really isn't a happy ending for anyone in this book.
The characters are flawed to the point that it is hard to sympathize with most of them. The narrator's stubbornness makes it hard to symapathize with her point of view, even though it seemed like the most reasonable to me. The character steamrolling the whole committee had only been appoited because her parents made a donation to the congregation. There is a committee member who never prepares for the meetings and lets themselves be directed by stronger poersonalities in the group. And what makes reading these and other characters worse is that I know and have worked with people like them and reading this book takes me right back.

sallymentzer25's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is my first novel by Michelle Huneven, and I really appreciated the uniqueness of it. The main character Dana is on a church minister search committee, and she documents the process - from her peers on the committee to their meetings to the prospective ministers. It was interesting to see the group dynamics (almost like a reality show at times!) and how the group would have a consensus when there's no "right" answer.

Having been raised Catholic, I was astounded by how progressive other religions are. This made me want to explore going to different churches.