I was pleasantly delighted by how much I enjoyed The Rural Diaries. Hilarie Burton Morgan, of One Tree Hill fame, takes us inside her life living on a farm in Rhinebeck, NY. The book spans from about the time Hilarie meets Jeffrey Dean Morgan until shortly after the birth of her daughter, George, with some snippets from her earlier years dispersed throughout. The majority of the book focuses on Hilarie and her family's life living in a small town. You get to know Hilarie (who, from reading her book, appears to be charming, hard-working, and generous), her son, Gus, her husband, Jeffrey, her close friends, many of whom she makes after moving to the farm, and later on, her daughter, George. You hear about her home renovation and other projects (and the struggles, and laughs, as a result of them). One of the major stories focuses on when Hilarie and a few friends buy and revitalize Samuel's Sweets Shop, a local town treasure. You also get taken along as Hilarie works with a group of volunteers to renovate Astor, a historic building that provides services to families and children, many of them with abusive pasts and mental, emotional, and/or developmental issues. You also get a glimpse of Hilarie's experiences as an actress, including her involvement in the #MeToo movement.

An overarching theme of the book is Hilarie's fertility struggles when trying to have a second baby, and her relationship with Jeffrey. Hilarie is honest about the effect that her fertility issues had on her relationship with Jeffrey, and how they overcame those issues together.

The one criticism I have of the book is the inclusion of a handful of homemade recipes dispersed throughout. I understand the rationale for including them, but for me they actually took me out of the narrative in which I was so engrossed.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's ever thought about living on a farm (or in a small town), or even anyone who's curious about what it's like to live on a farm or in a small town, and any woman who's struggled with fertility issues.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I would have never thought I’d hear myself say that I’d like to live on a farm, raising chickens and other farm animals, renovating a farm house, making things like Dandelion wine, building things with power tools. But after reading Hilarie Burton Morgan’s book The Rural Diaries, a love letter of sorts to a life and small town in the Hudson Valley, I found myself longing for a change of scenery.

I don’t live in a big city, but rather a suburb of that city. But it is still a fairly large town. Living in the downtown district I don’t know my neighbors well, in fact I had a run in with one of them that was very familiar to Morgan’s own experience of her neighbor in LA mistaking her for the new owners after having lived in the house five years. In my case it was a neighbor introducing herself to me and trying to tell me how crazy the town can get during a festival. I in turn said that I had lived here for three years and knew what to expect. The neighbor then said no more and walked away. When Morgan talked about the people in LA not being her people, it really resonated with me.

I was excited to read The Rural Diaries because Hilarie Burton played Peyton Sawyer on One Tree Hill and Sarah on White Collar, two shows that are still on my list of favorites. I remember getting excited when I saw that she was in The Secret Life of Bees and again when I’d hear about a new Christmas movie she was doing. She’s a great actress. But after reading her book and getting a glimpse of her life on Mischief Farm, I found she’s an even greater person.

In The Rural Diaries Morgan includes recipes she makes (including one for Dandelion Wine) and tips that have helped in her garden & home. Did you know that you can tell the color of the egg a chicken will lay by looking at it’s feet? I didn’t. She talks about falling in love, not only with Jeffery Dean Morgan, but with a place, a town, a community. Her love for the place and the people in it, had me turning pages well into the night. I wanted to know more about this place, it’s people, what made it so special.

Do yourself a favor and read The Rural Diaries, it might change your mind on living on a farm or in a small town.

Hilarie Burton has written an absolute gem of a read, filled with compelling and witty stories of life on the farm. I always liked her as an actress but she might be an even better storyteller, detailing her life with husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan and her son on a working farm, raising animals and all the richness of small town life and the people she meets along the way.

Okay, let me start by saying I adore Hilario Burton, and have since her OTH days.
However, you do not need to be a fan of her character, Peyton Sawyer, in order to appreciate this book!
Her writing style made it feel like I was getting a glimpse into her personal journal, while also feeling like I was having a quality “get to know you” conversation over coffee with a new friend.
I love that her voice is so genuine in this book, and she’s open about her desire to start over someplace new, away from the Hollywood hustle and bustle, and how she found that in a small community that was new to her and her hubby.
As fun as it was to read her chronicles of learning the farming life, and her successes and failures in the process, I enjoyed the other real-life things discussed. Things like the hard work it takes to make a relationship work and keep it going,, fertility struggles, and a look behind the curtain of Hollywood.
This is a great read for these strange stay-at-home times we are living in currently. I don’t live on a farm, but I did feel motivated to turn some of my patio-space into an escape filled with plants and flowers to serve as a place where I can just relax and slow down.

The Rural Diaries is so interesting! I'm old enough to remember when Hilarie left TRL for One Tree Hill, and I always wondered what happened to her as she seemed to vanish from celebrity culture after meeting Jeffery Dean Morgan and well, now I know and it was a delight to read about how her life has changed. Really enjoyable and this had been a great year for celebrity memoirs (first Jessica Simpson, now Hilarie!)

I have been a huge fan of Hilarie Burton Morgan since 2003 when One Tree Hill premiered. When I seen that she wrote a book and it was being offered on Netgalley I immediately put in a request for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. So you can already imagine how over the moon I was with excitement when I got approved to review this title. The Rural Diaries is a sweet, fun and captivating memoir written with love and style. I absolutely loved how raw Hilarie was telling her story from her High School days to her every day life with her husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and her two children, Gus & George. I could relate with her struggles and heartaches and her every day joys so much. She illustrated a path of grief into joy and it was something magical. Finding happiness in pain. Growth and inspiration for everyone can be shown within the pages of her memoir. A beautifully written story of love for her family, her community and herself! One thing for sure I’m ready for a Mischief Farm of my very own. I highly recommend this book. I LOVED it so much I purchased the audiobook this morning and spent the day back in the life of the Morgan family narrated by Hilarie. It was even better than reading the book! Looking forward to making some of the recipes within those pages.

Such a honest, heartfelt book from Hilarie Burton Morgan. Loved reading about her beginning with Jeffery (If ever there was a man to give up Paris for), to her finding a better sense of herself, to her finding that community that her family just clicks with, and to her finding her version of happy. Plus, it was so great to get those gardening/farming tips and recipes that work for her; the book is a good blend of life on the farm and personal soul. She goes into the trials and struggles she's dealt with, but you can't help but feel the strength and hope she has. This woman is so hardworking and generous. I've seen some about their family and farm on social media, so when I saw Hilarie was writing a book about Mischief Farm, I was excited to check it out. Learning more about Hilarie and Jeffery in this book just went to verify my opinion of what kind hearted people they are. Such a touching read.

Hilarie Burton Morgan has penned the perfect love letter that every woman needs, 'The Rural Diaries.' She says it is to a town, to a man, and to a farm but that would be selling it short. As a mother and woman it is a heart-string just for us.

You may remember, Hilarie Burton, from One Tree Hill or lately Hallmark Christmas. You may even wonder what a 37 year-old could possibly have to say. Well, it turns out quite a lot.

Hers is a story of more than an actress turned farmer. It is that of a woman finding her path and her strength. Hilarie shares her agrarian triumphs as well as her tragically relatable story of infertility and being a young woman during a time when women were taught to go along and just be one of the guys. It is about finding strength in the vulnerability of needing others - a partner, a family, a home. About thriving with fierce independence cocooned in the support of your community. A community that you curate and build, become a part of and invest in.

Several things happened as I read, 'The Rural Diaries.' The first is that more than once I was brought to tears. By the halfway point my husband was more than a little concerned that I found so many affordable farms only an hour away. And, lastly, I developed a great appreciation for another woman and mom who is not just raising her kids, running a business and farm, not to mention donating time and money to people who need it, but being the kind of woman that other women need.

Women need to know that other women are having the same experiences. It builds our community. It makes us feel part of something and less that we are doing all these things alone. So, 'The Rural Diaries' is not just a book about an actress and a farm. It is a narrative about love, relationships, risk & reward, infertility, community, and that alpacas have the best poop for manure.

5 Stars!! She really lets you in on her life outside of One Tree Hill. I love how she gives her tips and tricks around the farm that she has learned such as "if you have birds or wild animals digging up your garden, pick up a bunch of cayenne pepper.". I highlighted a LOT in this book to always look back on. This is a must read!

“Love is like farm work. It requires consistency and imagination. Your body will ache and you will be fatigued, but there is no greater reward than seeing the fruits of your labor.”
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I didn’t know a thing about Hilarie Burton before reading THE RURAL DIARIES (Harper Collins, May 5, 2020). I’m a farm girl at heart and was drawn in by the title & the cover. But if, like me, you’re into gardening & remodeling, bootstrapping & girl talk, The Rural Diaries will not disappoint.
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Detailing her life with farming & ducklings, alpacas (make the best poop, btw!) & compost, Burton’s memoir is every bit a love letter to the Hudson Valley. Recipes like Dandelion wine and Sweet Hot Corn Cake spill out onto the pages. And she doesn’t shy from recounting her heartbreaks and mistakes… like the time she accidentally crushed a beloved chicken, or the time she laughed it off instead of fighting back when a famous Hollywood actor touched her inappropriately.
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Burton is so unassuming and real that reading her “diary” is like sitting down with a chatty bestie. Whether dishing about the real stuff such as her miscarriages and struggle to conceive or her insecurity about accepting lower paying gigs after One Tree Hill, she’s generous and sincere, funny and deeply personal.
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Hilarie Burton is the busy, friendly Mom next door, the Mom you actually want to bump into at the car line. She may be married to a famous hot actor, and she may be a well-connected starlet herself. But in this autobiography, she’s the small-town neighbor of your dreams. And her story is as warm and lovely as she is.

One of the best books of 2020! In a time when our world is looking kind of sad comes a book that reminds us about all the small, and good, things about the world. These small things make up the biggest parts of our lives and provides some pretty wonderful adventure; and Hilary dishes it all. I laughed out loud on a plane reading this. I nearly cried at some parts. Needless to say, it gave me all the feels! I'm not brave enough to move out onto a farm and/or crafty enough to make my own decorations, but if I was I would, wholeheartedly, take advice from her. I absolutely adore this book. I'm hoping she will write many many more!

From the start, Hilarie is able to paint you this picture of her life, that you think you are living it with her. The rich, descriptive tone of her words is like artistry, and you begin to envision her story played out on canvas. It was interesting to see what happens to a girl I long so idolized, from being on a show I fan-girled super hard for, that she is real, she is human, and she wants to live her life on her own terms. You get the feel of the love she has for her family, and for her community. You want to jump right into this Norman Rockwell town, and absorb it all. To read this book makes you evaluate your own life, and what is complicated and beautiful about it. Highly reccommend!

I didn't know much about Hilary Burton before I read this memoir, but decided to pick this title up due to it's focus on settling back into a rural lifestyle. Living in a rural area myself, I was interested in the author's story of building a life in the country after having lived in more urban areas. I found it to be an honest, heartwarming read that left me feeling hopeful about plain old life in general.

The author discusses her life as she started a family and found a salve for her worries on a little farm in New York. As she grew in life and love, so did her farm with a delightful array of animals finding their way onto the homeplace. As Hilary and her family became a part of the local community, she chronicles the care that was poured into a beloved local candy store and the Astor Home for Children. Her story reveals how much a community can become your family and offer support through all of life's ebb and flow.

Not really knowing much about the author starting this book, I can say that I enjoyed this memoir. I rated this four stars. It exceeded my expectations most charmingly. The author has a simple, straightforward, conversational writing style. No grandstanding or fluff here. Just a woman telling you her journey of trials and triumphs however life-changing or sweetly simple they may be. She doesn't mince words, but leaves you finishing the story with a persevering optimism for your own life. Lovely, heartfelt read.

I would like to thank NetGalley for an e-copy of this title.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ebook advanced reader copy for an honest opinion!

I’m going to admit I never read memoirs but I’m trying to branch out of my normal reading genre.

This was not was I was expecting and I mean that in a good, positive way! Honestly, I’m not sure what I was expecting. I don’t really follow the author and know very little of her life. Just a few tidbits here and there.

What I can say I love about this book is that it isn’t a book to shock you or drag people down and spill every little sordid detail of one’s life. I like how the author shares the good and bad throughout her life whether it’s the professional or personal aspect of her life. There heartache and happiness and how she handles it with the people around her. She talks about motherhood and the issues on trying to get pregnant, miscarriages and communicating the fears that come along with that. I feel readers will be able to connect with her. I appreciate her honesty about her success and failures and how she changed the narrative of her life.

Most of all I love how she shared her love for her new town! How the people have come to mean so much to her and her family.

I honestly have never watched anything with Hilarie Burton before; I only recognize her name because of her husband, so I had no idea what to expect from this book.. Burton is warm, engaging and funny - I loved this book!

As a girl from a small farming community, it was refreshing to read that Hilarie embraced and loved the farming life, even the hard parts. Reading about her life in Rhinebeck and on Mischief Farm was like going home in a way, and she writes like you're talking to a good friend - very genuine. By the end of the book I felt like I knew her and so many of the people in her community that she clearly loves. The Morgans are truly active, contributing members of their community and it's obvious that their neighbors love them, not for their celebrity status, but because they are kind, genuinely caring people.

She writes honestly and openly about her struggles with fertility and the ongoing struggle of making a life work with someone else, raising children, and the often humorous anecdotes of adapting to farm life after moving from the city. Her story spoke to my heart and made me laugh. Sprinkled with recipes such as Hilarie's Magic Potion and jam along with gardening tips and tricks, this book is heart-warming and engaging

I don't know if I've ever come away from reading a memoir feeling like I really know the writer, but Hilarie is so down to earth and so honest, I feel like she could just as easily be a friend from my own small farming town. Her book isn't about her celebrity life; it's about real life, real struggles and sadness along with the joys. What a refreshing book!

I loved this book and great love story of the sweet shop. This was also a love story to her husband and the farm that they have created together. I loved meeting their friends from the Rudd's and the owner of that store. This was a love story of her love of the farm life and making things. I loved that this book had mixture of things to make or not. Great book .

I've always adored Hilarie Burton. This was a fun read to be able to get a glimpse inside her life. I grew up on a farm so it was semi relatable.

I'm not really a "celebrity" person - I don't follow much of the drama and I actively try to distance myself from the pressure that can come from witnessing such fame and success. Hilarie Burton is the exception. When I was young, I very much related to her character, Peyton, on One Tree Hill and now after completing The Rural Diaries, I feel that connection all over again.

To say this read is breathtaking would be an understatement. Burton has taken "down-to-Earth" and "back-to-ones-roots" to another level. She humbly reminds her readers the importance of community, feeling whole and connected, love, pain, growth, and goddamn empowerment. Creatively woven, Burton shares her tricks and loves to life and reinstates the importance to not just live in a community but to give back to community.

I feel refreshed, inspired, and in awe. This is a wonderful read!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. You can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F14THZT/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
This book was interesting in so many ways. I live in upstate New York and this takes place very close to where I once filmed, something that I cannot discuss as of yet. Non-Disclosure agreements and all. My dear friend from college actually lives in Rhinebeck where most of this book is set. This book is so heartfelt and endearing and not a book by some actor who is superficial talking about how hard it is to have so much money! I wanted to hug Hilarie so many times in this book!
This is a story of a small town girl turned famous turned back to farm girl. Hilarie is not only a celebrity that lives on a farm in upstate NY, but a genuine person who gives back to the community. She is someone who not only does things, but she does things with a purpose-one to help others! This is the kind of story we need right now! A good story about a human that has struggled, overcome and helped others with nothing in return! A Hollywood star who is not afraid of hard work like farm work, getting dirty, failing and learning. I love a good story about stars that make them real and this is a true story, as like I said, my friend lives in Rhinebeck and interacts with the family on occasion. I love the story of how she met Jefffrey! There are so many stories in this book that are just so sweet. In her Epilogue, she states that this is a love letter to a town, a farm and a man and it truly was! I learned a lot about planting, failing, succeeding and more through the eyes of this writer!
If you are looking for an escape, a place where the world is right, and people know each other by name- THIS IS THE BOOK YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR! This was such a heartfelt story! This was like a HUG after a long, difficult day!

There were a million reasons why I wanted to read this and it absolutely did not disappoint. I don’t read a lot of memoirs (almost never) and if I have, I don’t recall reviewing them on my blog. It took me a minute to get into the format of this book. It’s not chronological, but rather, it switches between past and present, but also has little snippets added in whether it be a recipe or a story of an animal. I think it would be easier to understand with a physical copy and all of the pictures, but nevertheless, I was hooked from page one.

Hilarie covers every topic imaginable: acting, motherhood, thoughtful (and not so thoughtful) gifts, playing in manure as a child, making pickles, infertility, and stupid guineas. Does that sound odd? Perhaps, but she puts all of her heart and soul into the main narrative, while also throwing in DIY tips, recipes, and insider secrets about farming and animals. As I sit here writing this, I can’t recall a topic she didn’t cover.

So, what did I love about this book? Basically everything. Burton’s honesty throughout this memoir is so refreshing while at times, it’s almost painfully raw. There are no words for the admiration and respect I have for her as a writer, mother, actress, farmer, and a woman. She is loving, selfless, innovative, funny, and never gives up. Besides the wonderful story behind her words, this thing can also be used as a reference! Have a duck with a crooked neck? She may have some advice. Need a recipe for pickles? There’s a few in there. Curious about life with donkeys? She can give you some insight.

But the most important wisdom I gained from reading this: don’t give up on your dreams, do good for yourself and others, and life and love are beautifully messy.

I highly recommend this memoir that is releasing next week and I can’t wait to go back and read this one again. My only regret is not getting my hands on this sooner. There’s a very interesting and yummy-sounding recipe for Dandelion wine, but ironically, all of the millions of dandelions that covered our property the other day are gone. Then again, this gives me time to get all of my supplies together 🙂

*Many thanks to Hilarie Burton, NetGalley, & Harper One for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!