book review #2: peace like a river

book review #2: peace like a river, by leif enger

i picked this book up at a used bookstore last summer in chicago for 1$. i think a good find! i had heard of it before, read the back, and it looked like a good read, but the cover wasn't as intriguing to me (i do judge books by their covers. you're lying to me if you tell me you don't.) so it took me until this summer to pick it up and read it (and the promptings of sara, who told me it was one of her favorites!).

it's a fictional novel, about a young boy named reuben, his sister swede and his father, who end up on a quest of sorts, to find their outlaw older brother who was controversially charged with murder. the story weaves in quite a few miraculous happenings, as the family and the father in particular, has very strong faith. it's an exciting story, a quest, a love story and a tragedy all rolled into one. it took me a little bit to get into the story fully, as i'm a sucker for the love story aspect much more than the questing, but once i was half-way through it, i read the remainder in a day. overall, i think it was a good read. it was well written, not predictable, and i'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. read it if you especially have a fancy for westerns (or in this case, mid-westerns).