The ratings for our group ranged from a 2 to a 5, most rating it in the middle. Someone described it as being a bit \"rabbit-down-the-hole\" like, a la Alice in Wonderland. It generated a good discussion about the future of books and there was much agreement on the quality of Clay\'s friendships. One likened them to a band of super heroes, each with a super power.

A Land More Kind than Home is about family and each member\'s response to the circumstances which life presents it. I\'m a fan of southern literature and its gothic appeal, but this novel\'s incredibly slow-moving first half disappointed me. The writing is good and the use of alternating voices works. There\'s more to this book than just snake handling, but if you\'re interested in reading others in a similar vein, try Flannery O\'Connor\'s Wise Blood or Saving Grace by Lee Smith. Both better.

I recommend as a book club read with reservations. It's an easy book, slow at time, but an interesting take on a much-read tale. My reservation is that there isn't a lot of material for discussion or at least I didn't think so (our club did use it as a springboard for a talk about women's positions at the time). A good story.

A touching friendship/love story. Very convincingly written and lovingly done. We read this as an adult book club read, but I can see why it has been given such good reviews as YA fiction. It touches the heart without being maudlin and ends on a realistic note.

I wish there would have been an "It was OK" rating because that's what I would have given this book. I also needed a middle ground for recommending it for a book club, although members of ours (aside from me, I think) liked it. The book didn't have enough material, as is, to be a fully-fleshed and interesting memoir for me. In the current world of great memoirs, this one is pretty mediocre. I lay this at the feet of the book's editor, not particularly the author.

It's a sad, gentle period piece, somewhat like Downtown Abbey, the television series. I gave it a thumbs down for book club because there's not really much for a book club to discuss unless it wants to dwell a lot on class distinctions.

Started out rather interesting, but the further I read, I just thought it to be silly. Difficult to find the social commentary that is so often quite transparent in other Atwood books, which I typically love.