I really really want to like them, but I just found them too darn slow (at least the first one).  I've heard so many good things, but I've tried to read the first book twice, and found I wasn't motivated to pick it up and read at all. 

I have several friends who love the Mitford books but I just can't get into them.  I made it through the first book but never read any more of them.  I can't even tell you what I didn't like about them I just couldn't get interested.

I read every one of them, and loved them! I guess everyone is different though. :)

I loved them too.  Sometimes I like a read that is easy paced (slow?) and I loved that each time I went back to the town of Mitford it was like visiting with old friends. 

I also loved them. I found the characters charming, the humor good, and the stories touching. Definitely a series I'd wouldn't mind rereading.

I really tried to like them too and couldn't get into it.  :o(

I'm reading through them for the first time right now, and I am loving it!  I'm about halfway through A New Song, and I just received A Common Life this week from a PBSer! 

I want to live in Mitford; I grew up in a small town and I miss it.  = )

~Jori

I personally love them too. When I started reviewing, I stopped reading them, so I haven't read the last couple. But I do want to go back and read all of them in order from start to finish someday.

Melissa

I really wanted to like them, also.  My best friend loved them.  I read quite a bit of the first one, but I decided I'd rather read other books.  Maybe I'll try them again some day.

I really enjoyed the Mitford series and have read the first  book in the Father Tim series, but I think you have to be in the right mood for them.  Sort of like curling up with a cup of cocoa and visiting your quirky friends.  I spent my high school years in a small town and can relate to some of the characters, so it may be a touch of nostalgia.  Anyway, if you like the Mitford books, you may also enjoy the Harmony series by Phillip Gulley.

I didn't like the Mitford books at all UNTIL I got halfway through the 1st   book.  Then I fell in love with them.  Have now read the first 2 books and have ordered the third one. 

I've read several of them and loved them, but I think they begin to seem the same after a while.  That might be okay if you took a break for awhile and came back to them.  I think I also felt kind of sad after a few books, like eventually I'd have to say goodbye to these folks, and....I JUST COULDN'T HANDLE IT, OKAY?!?

;-}

Mary Ann,

I have the following ,if your interested. You may have it and another book for 1 credit. PM me if interested, and check my profile for other offers.

These High, Green Hills (The Mitford Years)
Jan Karon - ISBN-13: 9780745937410 - ISBN-10: 0745937411

I have read and loved all of those books.  Sadly I gave them to a friend to read and have never gotten them back.  I would recommend them highly.  They are about a ministers life in a small town, his congregation and friends.  These books leave you with a good feeling.

Eva

Jan Karon is my 2nd favorite author (right behind Elizabeth Goudge who Karon says is one of her major influences). I love the Mitford books, I read through the series at least once every couple of years. The beginning of the first book is slow going, but once I got through about the first 100 pages, I found I didn't want to put it down. Since that first read, I've been buying them the day they hit the shelves!

Didn't like the Harmony books much, but then again that may just be because I have some issues with Gulley's theology.

Hi Bren, I just started the Mitford series and am enjoying the first book.  I am wondering about the books by Elizabeth Goudge.  I would probably like them too.  There were quite a few when I looked them up.  Can you recommend one to start with?  Thanks, Carrie

Certainly the story starts slowly and doesn't fall into traditional categories, but Karon has constructed a complete world in her books.  I, too, could hardly get through the first few chapters, but I was glad I perservered.  After I was immersed in the happenings of Mitford, I could appreciate the foundation Karon built in those slow chapters.  The characters she built are all folks I knew in my childhood in the area of South Carolina just south of the North Carolina mountain locale of the book.  It wasn't the orange marmalade cake that everyone wanted to eat at the church dinner, though; it was Mrs. McMahan's macaroni and cheese casserole!

Adrianne the Opal Lady

I love the Mitford series. I am from a small town and I identified with so many of the things in the books, LOL. I was so upset when I got to the last book of the series- it felt like losing a dear friend.

I enjoy this series as well - do you think it may be an age thing? Since the main characters are near retirement age, maybe  20 and 30 somethings don't relate to the characters and their relatively calm lives. I find that these books are a very smooth, and uplifting read - hey but I am only a 40 something!

I'm only a 30-something, and I LOVE them!  But I grew up in a small town as well, so maybe that's my draw...

~Jori

I'm a 30-something who grew-up in a small town also.  However I didn't get into the series.  I may give it another try sometime.  There are just to many books and too little time, to make myself read something I'm not really enjoying.  :o)

I've read a few of them out of order and loved them. I like the pace, the character development, and the setting. Yes, they can be slow to start but patience paid off and I fell in love with them. I too grew up in a small town, allbeit not one quite as pleasant as Mitford.  I've decied to begin again and read them all from the first one...well, that's the plan anyway. ~ c