Home Is Where My People Are by Sophie Hudson totally surprised me in so many ways. Once again, I picked a book by its cover. Who does that? Well, I do. The cover is gorgeous and I want a giant canvas of it to hang in my kitchen. The surprise came when I discovered the book was in fact a memoir. I really thought this book was some Christian Living, appreciate what you have, make your home where you are kind of book. It is not! Home Is Where My People Are is a delightful story that will make you laugh, cry, and annoy your spouse as you read it aloud to him while he is watching a football game!

From the back cover:

Listen. It’s easy to go through life believing we can satisfy our longing for home with a three-bedroom, two-bath slice of the American dream, that we mortgage at 4 percent and pay for over the course of thirty years.

Well, you know what? I think what we’re really looking for is a place to belong and to be known. And rest assured, wherever we are on the long and winding road of life, God is at work in the journey-teaching us, shaping us, and refining us-sometimes through the most unlikely people and circumstances. Because at the end of the day, it’s not the numbers on the front door or even the name on the mailbox that says home, but the people who live and laugh and love there, wherever “there” might happen to be.

As author Sophie Hudson walks down memory lane, I found myself doing the same. Through her personal stories, I remembered some of my own. Especially, her stories of college friends turned life-long family. I love Sophie Hudson’s honest and conversational style of penning words. I have never seen so many parenthesis in all my reading life! Her inner dialogue makes this book personal…and hilarious. I could relate to this book on so many levels! While I never wore sweater pants (see chapter 14) I did grow up in the south and these stories so closely mirror my own experiences.  Even if you grew up in California, this story will touch your heart. Five stars from this book blogger!!

The first chapter of this book can be found and downloaded here. You can also find Sophie on her blog, boomama.net.

You can download a free copy of her first book, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, until January 31, 2015 at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and CBD.com.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book by its publisher, Tyndale House, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I have not been compensated other than the joy received from reading a lovely book.