Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

I need to be honest, I bought this book purely because of the title… and I’m glad I did. It’s a great story, and contains important life lessons. This book will have you laughing and tearing up.

Best summer vacation book I have read in a long time. I was laughing and crying and then laughing again. Will read again. Really enjoyed this book!

A good read. Small town in the South where everyone knows everyone. A Pastor raising his two daughters after their mother dies tragically. Interesting twists in the book.

Loved this! Very relatable and it made me want a Dilly Bar!

"We loved this book by Susan Gregg Gilmore, and not just because she lives in Nashville! Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen is funny, poignant and impossible to put down. Catherine Grace Cline is the daughter of a Baptist minister. Nothing is what is seems in her so called simple uncomplicated life in Ringgold, Georgia. If you liked The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd then you will love Gilmore's Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. Just be sure to have soft serve ice cream available while reading this book!"

I am a huge sucker for good Southern fiction! Even though I now live in Central, PA, I did spend the majority of my childhood living in the South; and maybe that's one of the reasons that I enjoy these types of books so much. When I read the praise for LOOKING FOR SALVATION AT THE DAIRY QUEEN by Susan Gregg Gilmore and saw that this novel was being compared to Fannie Flagg's books, I just knew I had to read it. I absolutely love some of Ms. Flagg's novels and especially her characters, and I can definitely say that LOOKING FOR SALVATION AT THE DAIRY QUEEN did not disappoint me (even given that big build-up). I treasured each and every page of this book! I read this book in almost one sitting (which you know is hard if you are a stay-at-home mother of two.) There are just so many things that I loved about this novel, but I think what I appreciated the most were the characters -- and especially Catherine Grace. This book is really a coming-of age novel about Catherine Grace growing up in the South in the 1970s, and she is just one of those characters that you can't help but fall in love with. She was smart, sassy, stubborn and even a little vulnerable; and reading about her actions both as a child and an adult were just so much fun. I loved seeing how Catherine Grace handled the various challenges in her life, and I enjoyed seeing her mature into an amazing young woman as a result of them. The supporting characters in this book were wonderful too from Catherine Grace's sister, father, and even the various citizens of Ringgold. I especially loved Catherine Grace's colorful neighbor Gloria Jean who provided the much-needed woman's touch in Catherine Grace's life. Not only did Gloria Jean teach her about boys, clothes, and nail polish, but she also taught her so many wonderful life lessons about acceptance and forgiveness. Her support of Catherine Grace, even when Catherine Grace wasn't always appreciative, was such a heart-warming form of kindness. Another thing I really liked about this book were the many messages about life that Catherine Grace learned while growing up. Many of these messages seem obvious to me now, but I can remember being young like Catherine Grace and not yet being able to see the bigger picture. There were also many lessons in this story that I still haven't quite figured out, and seeing how Catherine Grace was able to forgive the people in her life that harmed her really caused me to take a step back and think. I love it when I can take messages from books and apply them to my real life! I am so impressed that this book was Ms. Gilmore's debut novel. Ms. Gilmore has written articles for numerous newspapers as well as a weekly column on parenting in the South; however, I am very glad that she decided to apply her writing talents to a novel. I loved her writing style -- it was so real to me; and I think the characters she created are very memorable. And while this book deeply touched me, I also found myself laughing out loud

When I was 5 or 6 years old I told my father that I invented the term "dad-gummit" and I truly believed it. What does that have to do with this book? I grew up in the south, too. Instead of a Dairy Queen Dilly Bar, my ritual treat was a popsicle from the "popsicle truck" eaten with friends in the summer shade leaning against side of the house. And I left to get away from home too, but eventually returned just like Catherine Grace does. I love the characters and how the story makes me remember and feel. I highly recommend this book!

I knew this was one of my all-time favorite books when I couldn't put it down the first day I got it. But then the owner of a bookstore compared it to To Kill A Mockingbird -- then a radio producer mentioned the same thing to me when she finished it -- Catherine Grace (the main character) is the voice of Scout in a different time. I laughed as I read the way Susan Gregg Gilmore (author) described, people, feelings and places. Then I cried when Catherine Grace faced decisions that seem insurmountable to an 18-year-old. Somehow I was right back there with her at that age (even though that was nearly 30 years ago!). By the end I was laughing and crying. This book is an onion. You can skim it as chick-lit, if that's you're wanting out of it. You can feel it to the core of your soul if you want to take a journey back to the time just between being a child and an adult. Or, you can argue the finer points of the book as an allegory. If you do, guess what Dairy Queen is? - Heaven. For this first time author to connect so genuinely with each and every reader (the best reviews have come from male book reviewers so far), I think we've got a new author to follow.