Shotgun Lovesongs
Nickolas Butler

I read Shotgun Lovesongs instead of my bookclub book (The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk – yikes) and oh, was it worth it.

The story of four old friends in the midwest: Lee, a wildly successful musician; Hank, content with his family and farm; Ronny, an ex-rodeo star with a touch of brain damage; and Kip, a money driven stock broker.

Together again in Little Wing, they share memories, grievances, heartbreaks, beers and campfires. Shotgun Lovesongs is less about plot and more about enticing nostalgia (although there are some rather melodramatic twists.) Lee tours around the world, but still feels the pull of home, and Ronny walks as far as he can before someone inevitably  passes him on the road and brings him back. They are compelled to return home.

And every time I come back here I am surrounded by people who love me, who care for me, who protect me like a tent of warmth.

Little Wing may not have been my hometown, but it made me homesick in the very best way.  Shotgun Lovesongs is full of heart, warm and earnest – I never wanted it to end.