Good News from the Bullpen Cafe

by Robert Ringham

Charlie Finstune is a recent college graduate who comes from a long line of attorneys and is planning on attending Harvard Law School in the fall. But upon the unexpected death of his Uncle Roy—a little known member of the family and the owner of a small town café in Bullpen, Minnesota—Charlie decides to take a year off to run his uncle’s café and blog about his experiences.So who was his Uncle? And why had he chosen to give up a promising law career of his own to run a small town café?Charlie Finstune, whether he knows it or not, is about to find out...

Genres: Christian

424 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2014

Reviews

[Karen Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book club read and we all really enjoyed it. The main character inherits his uncle’s cafe in a small town. It is written in a blog/journal format. While reading I laughed and even shed some tears. It’s a good feel, fun book.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made the mistake of reading a few other reviews when I started this book so I guess I will concur that there are a few extra “topics” in the book that added nothing to the story. That being said, I think we all have random thoughts/logical processes every day —just maybe not to add to the book.
Ultimately, I loved the premise, loved the people/characters of Bullpen, enjoyed the blog format, and thought the writing was top notch. I would give it 3.5 stars if that was an option.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing read. Reminded me slightly of C.S. Lewis with the constant religious/political depth, but light enough to just enjoy and fall in love with!

[Rebecca Konik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bullpen cafe

I liked the way this story was told, as a blog, journal. Very well descriptive in the characters, feelings. Funny sad, romantic, home sweet home

[Glen Painter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read. I think most ppl could relate to some part of the story

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those unexpected fun reads... doing a search on Amazon and ran across this book... sounded interesting... and it was. one of those fun times when you pick a book for no reason and it ends up being a really great read. Loved the setting and the characters, and there were a lot of "characters"

[Deborah aka Reading Mom]

I am not writing a "review" as such, therefore no rating will be logged. I found the book to have an engaging story line laced with humour and passages that touched the heart, but there were far too many errors in grammar, punctuation, incorrect use of words/strangely chosen words/repetition of words, and typos to say that I enjoyed it thoroughly. The red pen of a GOOD professional editor/proof-reader would do wonders. (The fact that the protagonist, Charles Robert Finstune, was a college graduate with a major in English and Literature seemed ironic, but of course Charlie could only say the words fed into his mouth by the author :-)

I do,however, have to give 5 stars to the best EVER typo in the history of literature! Not kidding here, folks.

Note to newly hired editor/proofreader: Please leave this typo in...the readers will thank you. The context is an after church picnic at Miss Maddie's house and the following is a description of the food to be found in the kitchen: "And there was a smorgasbord of foods on that Sunday afternoon that came in a smorgasbord of plastic BOWELS and Tupperware tubs.". Yes, you Kindle readers can verify this by checking out location 1028 of the book. If you want to know more you must read the book for yourselves, but watch out for those plastic bowels!

[Norma Reasor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

It was very hard for me to connect with this book, but I'm glad I persisted. I don't know why, but it took me a while to realize the story I was reading was in the form of blogs from a young man on the brink of life and his impressions of a very small town and its inhabitants. It reads, in places, like a philosophy primer, it has religious elements, refers frequently to scenes from old movies, and makes you fall in love with the quirky people and the town of Bullpen, Minnesota.

[Leora Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writers that touch the emotions of laughing and crying will always get an excellent rating from me. I didn't just chuckle, it was a LOL several times. Same with the tears. It's a good story about following the direction God shows, believing in the power of prayer and forgiveness. I liked it a lot!

[Joyce Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the feel good story

Being a small town girl, I loved this story. The feeling of living in a place where people know and love their neighbors is a great thing. And the fact that people choose a small town life is not due to lack of intelligence.

[Beth Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming. Genuine. Real.

Life in Bullpen is the way we all imagine "small town" life to be. Full of purpose and meaning, along with life stories entertwined with God's Love for us all. Absolutely, the most wonderful book I've read in years.

[Melissa Monk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the end of the book

It was hard to get into the details at the beginning of the book but once he was involved with the people in Bullpen it was a really interesting and good read.

[Dorrice · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so silly that I gave up on it after a couple of chapters.