Well, this was an exhausting read for me, what with all of the mischief and misunderstandings and huge jumps to outrageous conclusions. Even knowing the comedic intentionality of making some of the characters over the top, I still got rather fed up with them.

And after two series, having a feel for the particular kinds of characters this author creates, I can see how there likely wouldn't have been much more to do with the characters after this book. I mean, the technical details of next events in their lives could be different, but I suspect the overall tone and quality to them would feel redundant, with the author sending the same basic messages through them, probably. Illustrations that have already been drawn in both series.

Yet...I was still quite entertained reading this novel. Exhausted and entertained simultaneously. I had a nice share of laughs, including a few big ones, and I'm not sorry I at least satisfied my curiosity to get a look at Sam's life after Harmony.

While I'd personally have little reason to reread the Hope series, I may return to the Harmony series sometime. Even with its own share of frustrating characters and scenarios, I got something warmer out of it on the whole. ( )

Loved the Harmony series. The Hope series is a complete letdown. So disappointed. ( )

Philip Gulley has done it again -- he has lifted my spirits and made me laugh at the antics of his Quaker congregation! In this "episode"a deceased parishioner has left their Quaker church a million dollars and minister Sam has to try to keep everyone in line as they decide what to do with the money. A few of the group decide that they should build an addition onto the church. But when they apply for a building permit, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) finds that the church attic and surrounding trees are filled with endangered Indiana brown bats. And when someone in the church kills over 100 of the bats and someone else cuts down two of the trees that the bats were living in, the DNR is not happy, and Sam must try to keep his little church together and try to keep them from going to jail!
So funny! And also apropos in the area where I live, as only 30 miles away reconstruction on a fairly large bridge had to be delayed because the endangered Indiana bats cannot be disturbed during their mating season: April 1 - October 1. So work had to be stopped until after October 1st!
This is another good book by Philip Gulley and I highly recommend it! :) ( )

While I miss the reading about the members of Sam’s congregation in Harmony, there are enough unusual members in the congregation at Hope’s meetinghouse to keep us entertained. An unexpected windfall donation has some members wanting to expand the meetinghouse, but their efforts seem stymied, not only by other members of the congregation but also by a colony of protected Indiana bats. The bats may not be in a belfry, but they are in the attic and in the trees by the meetinghouse, and they are mating and cannot be disturbed. The members cannot even meet there! Sam has his hands full, trying to find alternative accommodations, and informing every one of the latest problem. But just when Sam thinks he has the bat crisis sorted out, disaster strikes. It’s a wonder Sam just doesn’t resign from his ministry, grab his wife, and high-tail it out of town. And when an over-zealous agent of the Department of Natural Resources talks about people going to jail, it may just seem like the thing to do. This highly entertaining novel, liberally laced with humor, will have you wondering about the sanity of some of Sam’s congregants. But it’s all in good fun, even if some of their misdeeds range from the daring (Sam’s elderly parents bike riding) to the thoughtless (Sam getting drunk) to the illegal (ridding the meetinghouse of the bats). It’s a slice of life in a small town, and author Philip Gulley, besides giving us a humorous novel from his fertile imagination, has given us some pearls of wisdom to think on, interwoven into the story. ( )