BEST BOOK EVER! WHO DAT!

Ok, so I am embarrassed to say, I am not much of a reader, but I could not put this one down (Rick gave it to me for Christmas, and I swear it may be the best gift ever)! Sean Payton's Home Team, Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life. No joke, I had to pace myself while reading this, because I didn't want it to end. Coach was so candid, funny, real, serious, and so much more when he wrote this book. I laughed, I cried, and so many times I got chills. He talked about the oh so bad days of the Saints, which were so much a part of my childhood, that made this book so special to me. If you are a Saints fan, I PROMISE YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK. He also talks about trying to get these amazing pro athletes to move to an abandoned city, just after a major disaster, the things I personally didn't think about. That disaster was just life to me as it was the rest of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Louisiana Coast, but to move to these areas AFTER the storm, no way. I could go on and on about this, but I will just say this book is AMAZING! I LOVE COACH PAYTON AND I LOVE THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS! Now go get this book, then tell me what you think. WHO DAT!

HORN ISLAND DREAM: A Gulf Coast Novel

Let me start by saying I am not big on reading. I know, I know, really horrible thing to say, and pretty embarrassing, but there is a reason I am making that point. I just finished this book, another embarrassing fact since I am good friends with the author, and it is WONDERFUL! I do not really enjoy reading, just can't ever really get into it. Well, this book got me! I loved it and it really sparked my interest in reading. The book is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!! I strongly suggest that EVERYONE read this book.

Here is what the back cover reads:
Eight miles off the Mississippi Gulf coast, Horn Island, whose tree lines are visible from shore on clear days, casts its spell over a sixteen year old loner, Jimmy O'Connor, who dreams of the mystery and adventure the island seems to promise. But the island might as well be a hundred miles away, and its distance is only one barrier Jimmy faces in this coming of age story. He must also work to find his place in this blue collar community where Horn Island Dream is set, a coastal town blessed with both natural beauty and industrial resources. That tension, between nature and industry, between art and business, as well as the barrier island's mystery, becomes a backdrop to the questions Jimmy has about his own identity, questions he feel increasingly compelled to answer after he discovers a secret about his long-deceased father. In his search for truth and experience, Jimmy finds surprising clues in the wisdom of two strangers: the artist Walter Anderson and a mysterious mentor. Anderson's visions, vividly depicted in his Horn Island Logs, and the keys he needs to begin unlocking the mysteries of his own identity, and help reveal a path he never could have imagined.

So, with that said, go out and get this book! Seriously, this is my mom's favorite book EVER! She reads non-stop, and just can't stop talking about this novel. She brags and brags about Wes all the time. She is such a big fan that last year when Wes and his wife Jacquie, came to stay with my parents and I at our lake house in Hot Springs, AR, he brought her the manuscript for his next novel (not to be shared WITH ANYONE, and now she is rubbing it in my face). She cried she felt so honored. So, in exchange, she had a mutual friend of hers and ole Jimmy Buffett give Mr. Buffett a copy in hopes he would love it just as much and send it to a publisher. Sad to say we have heard nothing from JB, but it was worth a try. Sorry to keep rambling about this, but I am really passionate about the book. If it can spark an interest in reading with me, everyone should love it! Let me know if anyone reads Horn Island Dream.


Oh, you can google it, and find it at Amazon.com or somewhere else online.