1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, August 11, 2007
This review is from: The Innkeeper Tales - Modern-Day Canterbury Tales to Entertain, Enlighten & Empower (Hardcover)
In my world of reviewing, I find some authors that just have that certain touch in their words that grabs hold of you and won't let go. Our author John Herman posses such and I am glad that I have had a chance to taste of his words.
In his book, "The InnKeeper Tales," we become one of the guests at Abarcrombie Bed and Breakfast. Stranded by a last minute winter snow, we settle in and begin to enjoy good food, good drink, and hours of storytelling from our fellow travelers. Our peers of isolation at first maybe reluctant to open up, but after a while it is as if their hearts become bare with perhaps deep seeded long lost emotions of their life coming forth, almost relieved to have a chance to share their heart;and with each story we hunger for more.
Listening to these stories we sit in awe, share some laughter and joy, shake our heads in understanding of certain situations and happenings, wonder if others are true, and often feel the tear of perhaps a long lost hurt that for a brief moment was allowed to surface. The stories of each traveler are both entertaining and enlightening in so many ways. Life issues and moral values are discussed as we share victories and defeats and come away perhaps a little wiser by listening to our fellow man.
However, what our author says at the end of the book was a total surprise and one I am not going to reveal; truly the icing on the cake, if you will. If you like storytelling at its best, that promises to be truth told, get this book and settle back for an enjoyable reading and life experience.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Modern-Day Canterbury Tales, October 3, 2007
This review is from: The Innkeeper Tales - Modern-Day Canterbury Tales to Entertain, Enlighten & Empower (Hardcover)
As an avid reader, B & B lover and traveler, this book appealed to me on many levels. Herman is truly a modern-day Chaucer who weaves such an artful tale that you feel like you're at the table with him. I only wish I had gotten to stay at the now famous Abacrombie before it left his hands! Anyone who enjoys a great story will love this book!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Each story's character finds a place in your heart, March 20, 2007
This review is from: The Innkeeper Tales - Modern-Day Canterbury Tales to Entertain, Enlighten & Empower (Hardcover)
Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader View (12/06)
One look at the book, "The Innkeeper Tales," and you know that you've come upon an establishment that offers nothing but class. The hunter green hardcover, etched with gold lettering seems a shame to cover up; but, the beautiful sleeve that takes the wear and tear reiterates the classiness of the book itself.
Open the pages and enter a life of complete relaxation as you meet the guests of the Abarcrombie Bed & Breakfast, while stranded in a winter storm that insists upon you staying one night longer.
Presented in a fashion that makes the reader truly feel like a guest in the B&B itself, you are gently introduced to many of the characters that have frequented the B&B over the years all while tucked away safely inside the walls of the Abarcrombie and served a continuous flow of spectacular food and drink. The many characters you meet will show the absolute diversity of characters the house itself serves. Starting with Enzo, the man who encompasses what work ethics once truly were and ending with the author himself, giving you an inside look of his own world.
Characters gather around the table to share their stories, some much more flamboyant than others. You learn some often very well-kept secrets as the characters open up to each other, knowing that this once-in-a-lifetime moment will never happen again and they will never have to truly ever save face with any of the other guests so why not tell it all. Nothing is held back as they easily let the stories of their life and dreams flow from their lips sometimes without care as to if it's being told properly and with taste. After all, this is the real world and their real life they're talking about and sometimes proper things don't really happen.
I found myself ready to shoot Randy, the very long winded businessman but every time I thought I was going to lose my mind he came up with yet another twist in his long but interesting story. Randy becomes the butt of a few jokes as he continues his life long history, making you somehow appreciate him as much as the guests he's with seem to learn to do. The touching and romantic story of the innkeeper's step-son and his newlywed wife will end the story with a smile. You will quickly appreciate their young love and determination as they work together to make the B&B a success. Laugh with Burt and sympathize with his wife as you hear about his escapades as a baseball team "owner," realizing that truth be told, nobody could make up these stories!
Each story's character finds a place in your heart as you cheer him on to win this race called life. Hardly a life situation seems to have been missed as the characters share their story. You'll find a womanizer, a businessman, a romantic couple, an aging builder and so much more as you open the pages of this wonderfully written book. Canterbury Tales move over, you have a more modern and just as classy competitor at your tail! Kudos to Mr. Herman, for a job well done, in his book "The Innkeeper Tales." And did I mention the ending? Let's just say it takes a little twist you weren't exactly expecting!
Book received free of charge.
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