I admire how Rory Feek worked at being the best husband he could when his wife was still alive. His love for his daughters is also admirable, and these relationships are all documented openly in his latest book. However, I found it quite hard to read and enjoy as the timeline goes back and forth.

Otherwise, Once upon a Farm is a nice family story.

Such a beautiful insight to Rory and his thoughts and life. He and his family have went through hard things and he shares true emotion and feeling within this book. It is an encouraging and honest read.

Wonderful, inspiring book! Well-written with lots of heart and made me wish I could leave everything behind and move to my own little farm and live off the earth. My apologies for not reviewing it in a timely manner! Thank you!

I have followed Rory since they were on the singing competition show. The journey has been beautiful even though it has had heartache. The fact he can still sit down and write. Being transparent through the pain is wonderful. It was a great look into his world. I’ve shared this book with my family.

What a truly sad but loving story. It was quite an amazing story and one in which I spent many a worthwhile reading hour with. I so enjoyed hearing the voice of both Joey and Roy come through in this tale of life, loss, and family.

Recommended to those who so enjoy a story of faith, courage, and family.

Author Rory Feek is a well-known songwriter and famous for going on CMT's "Can You Duet". When his wife passed away from cancer, he became determined to carry on her legacy, especially for their little daughter, Indiana. He writes in a straightforward but emotionally compelling way about his life and thoughts.

This book was harder to get into and read than the first. Although it was a good book, I didn't enjoy it as much. This book was about the farmhouse they currently live in and their lives ow that Joey has passed away.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson- W Publishing for providing me with a copy of Rory Feek's memoir, Once Upon a Farm, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Rory Feek reflects on his life after losing his wife and singing partner, Joey.

LIKE- Nearly a decade ago, I had the most amazing concert experience and actually met Rory and Joey Feek. They opened for the Zak Brown Band during a sold-out concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in California. The show was amazing and at the end of the concert, with a crowd of over six thousand, it was announced that the performers would head to the lobby to sign autographs for anyone who wanted to stick around. I've never seen something like that happen at a concert, especially one with so many people. Prior to that night, I had not heard of Rory and Joey, but I did recognize their songs. I waited about an hour in line to meet the performers and when I got to Rory and Joey, I was given the warmest handshake and smiles. They both were kind and humble, just happy to meet with fans. I was immediately smitten.

A few years ago, just weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Indiana, Joey was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical cancer. Rory shared their journey through her illness and eventually death, on social media. I followed Rory's posts and was heartbroken. Truly, I was surprised by how the life of these strangers impacted me. I feel that it is a testament to the way that they opened up their lives through their art.

I was thrilled to come across Once Upon a Farm on Netgalley. Feek's memoir is a constant affirmation of his love towards Joey and his three daughters. He does not shy away from discussing his grief or speaking about difficult times that he has had in his past. 

A chapter that hit home was one in which Feek discusses love languages. Joey experienced difficulties as a stepmom and when they gave it more thought, they realized that it certainly wasn't for lack of love, but that Joey and Feek's daughters spoke different love languages. They had a communication problem. I read this book as we were in the middle of our summer visit with my step-kids, a visit where I was feeling very overwhelmed. Reading Feek's words made me consider that perhaps I needed to figure out a better way to communicate. It gave me perspective.

Once Upon a Farm is a Christian memoir. I did not know this prior to reading it and although many of my family members are Christian, I am not religious. Although I did not always agree with Feek's perspective, I did appreciate hearing a different view point. He is certainly a man with strong convictions and even had a local church move into the barn on his property. Feek's entire lifestyle is polar opposite to mine, which is part of the charm of his memoir. I love hearing about different lifestyles and views. The Feek farm does sound like an idyllic slice of heaven. 

DISLIKE- A majority of the book is a polished memoir, but a few chapters rambled and were repetitive with regard to content already mentioned in previous chapters. 

RECOMMEND- Yes! If you're a fan of Rory and Joey this is a must-read. I can imagine that some readers may find the Christian aspect to be off-putting ( and some will find it right up their alley!), either way, I encourage you to give Once Upon a Farm a read.

Rory's memoir is full of beautiful moments. It captures his life, his grief and his passion for family and faith in a very real and readable way.
My only disappointment in this book was the lack of background regarding Rory's story. For anyone who I doesn't follow Rory and Joey and their lives, the book would be a little confusing at times.

I truly enjoyed this book. It fills in some of the gaps that were missing from his first book yet does catch you up on what his and Indy’s life has been like since Joey’s passing.

Title: Once Upon a Farm: Lessons on Growing Love, Life and Hope on a new Frontier

Author: Rory Feek

Pgs: 248

Genre: nonfiction Memoir

Rating: 3 Stars

Once Upon a Farm is Rory Feek’s newest book that I did enjoy reading though I didn’t love it as much as his first book. This Life I live. Once Upon a Farm read like a series of blog posts rather than one complete memoir, so you are able to read it at your own pace, put it down and come back to it. I did enjoy reading more about Rory’s life and reading updates on Indy.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Written with the deft touch of a songwriter, this book is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. Is Rory Feek one in a million? Perhaps. Very few of us are given the gift of a fairy tale love, and that is exactly what Rory and his wife Joey experienced. Fewer still, perhaps no one, could deal with loss and abject heartbreak as gracefully as Rory after Joey's struggle with cancer and her ultimate death. This book describes his life 2 years after the loss of Joey through the lens of the farm where he built (and continues to build) his life.

Wow,
What a way the author has with sharing his story. I couldn’t put this book down. Inspiring, heartbreaking, and motivating.
This story makes me want to value each and every moment of life.
Loved it

“This isn’t a how-to book; it’s more of a how we, or more accurately, how He, God, planted us on a few acres of land and grew something bigger than Joey or I could have ever imagined,” sums up country singer Rory Feek about life on a Tennessee farm with young daughter Indiana. It has been two years since the death of his beloved wife Joey, whose angelic voice lives on — in his stories, their recordings and Indiana’s irrepressible grin. A heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring story of life, faith and love.

Grateful to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson —W Publishing for an advance copy. Opinions are mine.

#OnceUponAfarm #NetGalley

Once Upon a Farm
Lessons on Growing Love, Life, and Hope on a New Frontier
by Rory Feek
Thomas Nelson--W Publishing

Thomas Nelson
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 19 Jun 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Once Upon a Farm through Thomas Nelson and Netgalley:


Rory Feek is facing life as a single Father of a four year old daughter after his wife lost her battle with Cervical Cancer a couple of years ago.


Rory Feek and his oldest daughters moved into an old rundown farmhouse almost twenty year ago. At the time he could have never imagine the love story that would unfold in the old farmhouse, on a small piece of Tennessee Land. Nor could they imagine the lessons they would learn on the way.


Two years after Joey's passing, Rory shares the joys, the sorrows, the up's and downs, the grief and joy of his life on that Old Tennessee Farm, he talks of raising his daughter Indiana, and he talks about a healing that only comes through Faith.


Once Upon a Farm gives us a raw and vulnerable peek inside Joey's life. The book is filled with stories of love as well as stories of faith, a look inside the life of a man who is both Ordinary and Extraordinary.


I give Once Upon a Farm five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Doing what he does so eloquently, Rory Feek brings us another look into his life as it has progressed, now nearly two years after his wife, Joey’s death. He continues to relate stories of his wife, Joey, his adult daughters, Hope and Heidi from his first marriage, and his and Joey’s sweet daughter, Indiana, now 4 years old. He sees life as a special gift from God that he is trying to live better everyday. Joey’s influence has given him a whole new outlook to the type of father and man he now is striving to be. He relates in such a way that you feel he is a personal friend sharing his heart with you.

I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and Thomas Nelson publishers for the opportunity to read this advanced copy for my honest opinion.

Inspirational, touching, meaningful and loving do not begin to describe this memoir by Rory Feek.

It is the story of how he and his wife, the late Rory Feek, created their lives with their family. He beautifully and seamlessly goes back and forth between present day and his past with Joey while telling his story. It's a must read for sure.

In this follow up to This Life I Live Rory Feek takes us into his “what next” chapter after the passing of his wife Joey after losing her battle with cancer, while also showing us more of what led them to each other. This peek into their personal life is obviously written from deep within his heart and an honesty that’s hard pressed for some of us to find in today’s age. I am hopeful there’s a third book, following Indy (fingers crossed).

As I read this memoir, I felt like I was having a long conversation with the author on the front porch of his farmhouse. I came to know Joey and Rory Feek as they competed on Can You Duet in 2008. It was heartbreaking to learn of Joey's battle with cancer which ultimately led to her death. Rory had to take on the role of sole parent to their two year old daughter Indiana. Single fatherhood was not new to Rory as he had pretty much raised his two older daughters on his own before meeting and marrying Joey. He is determined to do the best job possible in raising Indiana as Joey would have done. His latest project is building a schoolhouse so that she can be educated at home on the farm. I appreciated the opportunity to read this inspirational story thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

Heartwrenchingly beautiful., Once Upon a Farm is an emotional powerhouse of a read. For those that don't know Rory and Joey Feek's story, this book will give you all the feels.. After the loss of his wife, Joey, to cervical cancer, Rory was left to continue on with their young daughter, Indiana, all while keeping their farm up and running, as well as continuing his songwriting. ( Rory also has some daughters from his first marriage, but most are out of the house.)

To hear things from Rory's side is sobering, but the message of this book is :there is always hope. The relationship with Rory and Indy is very special and we see that even in times of great grief and pain, there is always the possibility of a bright future.

I loved this read! You will need some Kleenex, but don't let that stop you. This is a beautiful story that encourages you to live the life you have right in front of you.

Thank you, #NetGalley for the advanced reader PDF.