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livingpalm1's review
5.0
I devoured the images of seasons and flowers and trees and sky and neighborhood the Purifoy crafted on every page. I wrote a more thorough review at my blog here: http://www.tamarahillmurphy.com/blogthissacramentallife/s6qqbn8mlaoar3zmbdwvglsh7prw8a/2016/5/11?rq=roots%20and%20sky
katieking09's review
5.0
Roots & Sky recounts Purifoy's first year living in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse. With beautifully descriptive language, she takes the reader through the birth of her fourth child just weeks after moving, into a winter of both the outside world and the soul, to the beautiful explosion of life in the spring, and finally into the warm, welcome harvest of summer.
With each observation of the seasons, Purifoy weaves in scripture and a deepening knowledge of God. Her stories invite the reader to linger in the beauty of God's world. I read the book in two long sittings-a rare luxury in these busy days!
If you enjoy memoirs, Roots & Sky will be a joy to read.
With each observation of the seasons, Purifoy weaves in scripture and a deepening knowledge of God. Her stories invite the reader to linger in the beauty of God's world. I read the book in two long sittings-a rare luxury in these busy days!
If you enjoy memoirs, Roots & Sky will be a joy to read.
roseduryee's review
5.0
I loved this book. Christie writes so beautifully. At first I felt it was quite melancholy, and I didn't really like it, but at the same time I couldn't stop reading. I live for spring and summer and I wanted to see if the sadness lifted. As a beauty seeker myself, Christie spoke my language and appealed to all my senses. I live in an apartment in a big city in Spain, and I probably won't ever have a farmhouse in Pennsylvania, but I enjoyed going on the journey with her. My one tiny complaint is that she, like many Christian writers encouraging us to find God in the ordinary, she can't imagine herself as a preacher or missionary. It's difficult to read about how ordinary people can't do such extraordinary jobs (or feel they can't). I am a missionary, and I am as ordinary as can be. I am simply obeying God's call in scripture and on my life. For example, she thought maybe she should send a missionary her money instead of buying seeds. Whichever brings God glory, that's what a missionary wants. It's God's money, anyway. But it was like a throwaway thought, and it twisted the heart a little.
ioanaisreading's review
3.0
This book is very poetic. If you are not at all familiar with Christie this might be surprising. She reminded me a bit of Ann Voskamp and her ability to turn the mundane into poetry. This is what Christie does: she takes the normal, ordinary, every day things and looks at them through a deeper and more profound lens. You need to pay attention to her words, not approach the book feeling tired and just wanting to get this book over with. There is a lot of good stuff in here and she offers quite a few thoughts to ponder.
I liked how she structured the book in four parts, each for one of the four seasons. The first one is autumn because that was the season when she and her family moved into Maplehurst, the house her husband and her had dreamed about for a long time. Autumn is also the time of year when her youngest daughter, Elsa was born. I liked her take on each season and how she relates to them and how these look like in a new city and a new house. I tried as much as possible to read a season in one sitting, or at least to not let too much time to pass before I moved to another one because I wanted to see what she saw in each one. The book reads like a collection of journal entries. A few times she talks in the present tense and I had some moments where it seemed that some ideas made sense to her, but were a bit more tricky for me as a reader to get them and be able to be keep up with them. As I said, the language is quite poetic, you need not rush in reading it. I enjoyed reading her take on some things, although I don't necessarily agree with her completely. I kept imagining what she was describing and I so wish I were able to visit Maplehurst myself!
I received this book a long, long time ago from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
I liked how she structured the book in four parts, each for one of the four seasons. The first one is autumn because that was the season when she and her family moved into Maplehurst, the house her husband and her had dreamed about for a long time. Autumn is also the time of year when her youngest daughter, Elsa was born. I liked her take on each season and how she relates to them and how these look like in a new city and a new house. I tried as much as possible to read a season in one sitting, or at least to not let too much time to pass before I moved to another one because I wanted to see what she saw in each one. The book reads like a collection of journal entries. A few times she talks in the present tense and I had some moments where it seemed that some ideas made sense to her, but were a bit more tricky for me as a reader to get them and be able to be keep up with them. As I said, the language is quite poetic, you need not rush in reading it. I enjoyed reading her take on some things, although I don't necessarily agree with her completely. I kept imagining what she was describing and I so wish I were able to visit Maplehurst myself!
I received this book a long, long time ago from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
cookingwithelsa's review
3.0
This book began as an answered prayer. Each word seemed to have been written for me, right down to the fact that her daughter shares my name. But, as I kept reading, it was no longer my hopes and dreams being voiced. They were Christie's. Still, I'm grateful for the way that this book helped me to hear my own heart's longing for home.
laurathomas's review
5.0
This book made me exhale. An exquisitely penned account of Christie’s first year in her dream house, we witness rich growth culminating through the four seasons—both personal and in her precious gardens. Glimpses of hope shine through this memoir, always pointing to God and His goodness. Honest and vulnerable, this is a contemplative read to be enjoyed slowly with a good cup of tea.
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