More Stuff I Read in 2021 but Didn't Get Around to Reviewing - In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, The 2021 Short Story Advent Calendar, and The True Believer by Eric Hoffer

Last of the 2021 reads!

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren was a buzz read in 2020 and the reviews I read were all positive. So, when I happened across it during one of my mid-year purchases, I tossed it in the cart. And, I'm glad I did. 

A Christmas version of the movie Groundhog Day, In a Holidaze has a heroine named Maelyn, who has just made a terrible mistake (kissing an old friend while drunk). And, then her family finds out that the friends who own the home where they meet up twice a year with the same group of college buddies from her parents' university days are selling the house. While driving to the airport to leave their annual Christmas get-together, everyone in her family is upset about the house and the uncertainty of what will happen to their gatherings when something happens and Maelyn finds herself back on the plane, on her way to the Christmas gathering that she just left. What happened?

When things happen exactly the same way they did the first time she experienced the holiday, Maelyn is stunned. But, when she keeps getting thrown back onto the plane and reliving her Christmas vacation (each time lasting a bit longer before something happens to return her to the past), she realizes it's up to her to make changes if she wants to break free from the time loop in which she's stuck. 

Loved it and recommend it. Like Groundhog Day, In a Holidaze is basically a romance (it eventually gets a bit steamy) in which the heroine must figure out how to win the man she loves. But, she also has some other challenges to figure out and some reflecting to do on her life and what direction she wants it to take. I totally enjoyed In a Holidaze and will definitely read more by Christina Lauren if I get the opportunity. 

This is my second year of purchasing and reading The Short Story Advent Calendar, this year edited by Alberto Manguel with an "around the world" theme so that each story's author came from a different country. Oddly, I just now realized that I didn't think of this as a "book purchase". It didn't even occur to me that I was buying reading material! So funny. And, I think it's fine because it's an advent calendar. I'm always looking for some sort of advent calendar to usher in the Christmas season.

Well. This is a nice new tradition that I'll definitely keep going. I absolutely loved popping the seal on a new short story, every night. And, this year there was a bonus. Two friends let me know that they'd bought their own copies of The 2021 Short Story Advent Calendar after reading my review, last year. Brittanie was one of them and we texted regularly about what we thought of various stories. That honestly doubled the fun. 

As with the 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar, there were stories I loved and some that didn't thrill me. Some of the authors were well known (Oscar Wilde, Muriel Spark, Hans Christian Andersen), some I'd never heard of. I didn't take notes on them, this year, because I won't be buying many books so it's pointless to write down favorite new authors but I know Brittanie did. Loads of fun and highly recommended!

The True Believer by Eric Hoffer is subtitled "Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements". It's about the kind of people who get involved in mass movements, the characteristics of a mass movement's leaders, what factors keep a mass movement going, and how they end. 

I don't know how I found out about The True Believer but I must have read about it somewhere. It's a classic, published in 1951, and therefore dated in some ways (he talked about the Iron Curtain and why he believed the Soviet Union would continue to exist for at least another 30 years, which turned out to be correct . . . closer to 40) and the slow rise of Communism elsewhere. 

But, what's most astounding to me is how comparable our last president was to Hitler. I have resisted comparing anyone to Hitler because he's pretty much considered the penultimate evil bad guy that everyone wants to use for comparison. But, throughout the reading, I realized that the former president did, indeed, parallel the actions of Hitler, Stalin, and other dangerous fanatics — holding rallies, declaring himself the only arbiter of truth, discouraging trust in experts and government entities (and successfully dismantling some of them), choosing a sector of the population to demean, and encouraging violence. 

Interestingly, the author also talks about why a quieter, more competent leader cannot maintain the following of a radical who is not as well educated but has the ability to stir up the masses to dangerous anger, even when there's really little to genuinely be angry about. 

I highly recommend The True Believer but it's not an easy read. Still, it's relevant in spite of its age and kind of scary, although there were rays of hope. 

Okie dokie, then! This is the end of my 2021 reads! I will post my full list of reads and links on Saturday, since tomorrow's kitty pic day. Then, I'm hoping to finally write a post about favorites, although it will not be a Top 10, as most people do. I'm too eclectic a reader to narrow down to 10 books, so I'll probably do it by category. 

Happy reading!

©2022 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

I love Jenny Colgan's writing, so I jumped at the chance to read The Christmas Bookshop during the holiday season. And, I was every bit as charmed and heart-warmed as I expected. 

Carmen has been working at a department store for years but it's been slowly going downhill. When it closes permanently, she's at loose ends and has no choice but to return to her parents' home. Her sister Sofia lives in a perfect house in Edinburgh with a perfect husband and they have lucrative jobs, both lawyers. Sofia is expecting her fourth child and when their mother asks Sofia if she can possibly find a job for Carmen, Sofia realizes that Carmen might be the person who can help a small bookstore owner, Mr. McCredie, at least get his business in enough shape to sell it as a going concern instead of an empty storefront. Mr. McCredie is more of a bibliophile hermit than a businessman and has frittered away his entire inheritance. He's about to lose everything. 

Carmen is not interested in living with her accomplished sister in her fancy house but a bookshop sounds like a decent place to earn a little money. What she finds is a disaster. The bookshop is dusty with mostly antiquarian books, no organization, and no hint at Christmas decor. Carmen's a little overwhelmed, at first, but then she gets to work cleaning, organizing, decorating and creating events to draw people in. While doing so, she meets two men who appeal to her. One is a famous author with perfect teeth and lots of money. The other studies and lectures about trees. 

Can Carmen draw in enough traffic and sell enough books to help Mr. McCredie's shop keep going? Or, will Christmas be the end of her job and the bookshop, entirely. And, what about those two guys? Will she let the wealthy man who writes inspirational books sweep her away? Or, will she find herself with a sudden interest in trees and man buns? 

Highly recommended - A lovely tale of friendship and love in snowy Edinburgh at Christmas, worth buying to save for next year if you're a Christmas book fan or downloading right now if you need a little upper. There's a lot of tension between sisters Sofia and Carmen so this book fit the "sisters who learn to get along" theme that I love (because I have a sister with whom I have little in common) but there's so much else I loved about this book. I loved taking an armchair visit to Edinburgh. Because she mentioned a lot of sights, I had fun looking things up on my phone. I loved visualizing the quirky little shop and seeing in my mind's eye what Carmen did to make it lovely and grab the interest of people passing by. I loved how Carmen interacted with her nieces and nephew, encouraging the one who was most like her, who was experiencing similar frustrations as a sister and student. And, I really want to see the giant tree that drew Oke, the dendrologist, to study in Edinburgh. I'm pretty sure I've read about that same tree elsewhere (it's about 2,000 years old) and I enjoyed reading about it again. I also adored the relationship between Carmen and Mr. McCredie, a wounded soul whose emotional and work life Carmen improved. 

In fact, I loved the world she built in Edinburgh so much that I really didn't want to leave it. But, The Christmas Bookshop has a perfect, lovely, satisfying ending so I closed it with a smile on my face and I may have shed a few tears. 

Many thanks to HarperCollins for the review copy! I will hang onto this one for a reread. I'm not big on reading seasonal books otherwise, but Christmas is a big YES. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Christmas books!

All of the books shown above are rereads and I have a feeling I've mentioned a couple of them in the past, so just some quickie thoughts about each:

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas is one of my favorite Christmas reads. I only discovered it a few years ago, when I was asked to make suggestions for short reads to discuss at my F2F group's Christmas meeting, and I've read it 3 times, since. 

Our snow was not only shaken from whitewash buckets down the sky, it came shaking out of the ground and swam and drifted out of the arms and hands and bodies of the trees; snow grew overnight on the roofs of the houses like a pure and grandfather moss, minutely white-ivied the walls and settled on the postman, opening the gate, like a dumb, numb thunderstorm of white, torn Christmas cards.

Oh, how I love A Child's Christmas in Wales. Absolutely captivating, humorous, and a pure delight. Dylan Thomas' use of language blows me away. The "fish-freezing waves" and "the gong was bombilating". I'm going to make reading it an annual tradition, along with . . . 

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, a timeless, beautiful story of an unusual friendship between cousins with decades between their ages but a tender relationship. They're impoverished but rich with the ability to find Christmas joy together. A Christmas Memory is such a lovely, meaningful book about the simple joys of Christmas. 

Isabel helped me out with another of my reads (mostly by sleeping next to me), A Little House Christmas: Holiday Stories from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wilder did such a wonderful job of describing where the family was living in each story and that particular year's circumstances (blizzard, life in a dirt home that had no stove, living near a small town where she had an uppity rival) that there's never a sensation that these stories were pulled out of context. 

As in A Christmas Memory, the stories in A Little House Christmas are about simple joy. Laura and Mary even talk themselves into being fine with no gifts at all when Pa needs a new horse, one winter. I haven't read A Little House Christmas in many years but I loved it so much that it made me want to go back and read the entire series. I don't think I ever actually read all of the Little House books, as a child, but I remember those I did read with affection. 

The only book from this batch that I didn't love was The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle, which appears to be a Christmas story written as part of a series, the Austin Family Chronicles. I was unfamiliar with the characters and felt it a bit mediocre, even back when I bought it in the 90s. I'm pretty sure the only reason I kept it was the fact that I happened to be collecting books by Madeleine L'Engle, at the time. It's a nice enough story, just nothing brilliant. 

Vicky is worried that her heavily pregnant mother won't be able to attend the Christmas pageant but when a blizzard blows in while her father's away from home and her mother goes into labor but can't leave the house, she realizes what's really important. The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas is sweet and old-fashioned, a good reminder that a simple, traditional Christmas that's not all about the gifts is a lovely thing. But, it's mediocre enough that I'm going to part with my copy. 

I also got one new-to-me book (originally published in 2005, if I recall correctly), The Christmas Truce by Aaron Shepard and Wendy Edelson, a children's illustrated retelling of the true WWI story of the cessation of hostilities between British and German troops at Christmas. The soldiers shared food and drink, sang songs from their respective countries, and enjoyed a brief reprieve from fighting. It's told as a fictional letter home from the front but based on the stories told by those who were present. 

I thought The Christmas Truce was nicely written and the illustrations are fabulous. I'll probably forget to put it in the recent arrivals pile, next Monday, but I purchased it after looking for a different children's book about the Christmas Truce and finding that it's both out of print and out of my price range. 

This will be my last post of the week. I'll be back on Monday. 

Merry Christmas to all my book-loving friends! 

Love,

Bookfool

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple, Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler, and Her Other Secret by Helenkay Dimon

They Were Sisters is my first read by Dorothy Whipple, although I have several of her books because they come so highly recommended.

Just as it sounds, They Were Sisters is the story of three sisters, how their lives are shaped by the choices they make (particularly the choice of a spouse), and how the eldest is always the stabilizing force.

I don't know what I expected from a book by Dorothy Whipple but I confess I was a little surprised to find that the book was a bit of a soap opera and yet, in spite of the ups and downs of the characters, there was also something immensely soothing about the fact that Lucy's steadiness, her husband's sense of humor and the fact that they're so perfect for each other, and their idyllic cottage on a larger estate serves as a wonderful anchor for not only the characters but the story itself.

I also found it quite interesting that the males in the family are barely even mentioned. It's a story about women and the men in their immediate circle but Whipple isn't diverted by the larger family unit so much as they are satellites that orbit the women; the women are always at the forefront. In fact, you get the impression that travel was such a hardship at the time it was written that you could say goodbye to a brother who went off to seek his fortune and never see him again, at all, so why mention them once they're out of the picture?

Highly recommended - A fascinating story of the lives of three sisters, how their choices in marriage and childbearing affect their lives in both the short and long term, and the sister who is always there for the other two women and their offspring, whenever they need her. Loved it!

Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler is the story of a woman who has zipped up the proverbial ladder at an advertising agency and now, still young, has got a shot at becoming a partner in the Boston firm. But, she has competition and the one thing her boss has noted that she lacks is Christmas spirit. In order to secure the important account that will clinch her partnership, Haley needs that Christmas spirit. Otherwise, her boss says, it's very unlikely that whatever ad campaign she comes up with will succeed with the company she's targeting.

The fellow she's competing with has buckets of Christmas spirit and Haley tries, but she's just too bent on business. Christmas doesn't even interest her. The boss is firm. She needs to develop some Christmas spirit and he's going to make sure of it by sending her to Christmas Camp, where she'll do normal, Christmasy things and learn about the real joy of the season. Haley is horrified but she wants that partnership, so off she goes. What she finds is a lovely house run by a widower and his handsome son Jeff, who also happens to live in Boston and who is trying to convince his father to sell the house and move near him.

Haley and Jeff get off to a rocky start but there's clearly a spark between Haley and Jeff and they have a good bit in common. Will Haley be able to stick out the entire week of camp or will she get ants in her pants and hustle back to Boston? Will she discover the joy of Christmas? And, if she does, will she come up with the perfect advertising campaign and win the job she desires?

Recommended when you're looking for a fun, romantic, seasonal read - Christmas Camp reads like a Hallmark movie and-- what do you know? --it actually is one. In fact, the movie apparently came first and then Schaler, a screenwriter, was hired to write the book. I was disappointed that I couldn't find the movie for streaming. I liked the book and I'm pretty sure I remember getting a little teary at one point. I'll keep my eye out for the movie and hope I get lucky, next Christmas season.

Her Other Secret by Helenkay Dimon was an unsolicited gift from Avon Books and it sounded intriguing, so I gave it a shot when nothing else was appealing to me. Tessa and Hansen live on Whitaker Island, an island off the coast of Washington (the state) where people go to get a fresh start or just hide out for a time. Tessa has fled a scandal; Hansen won't talk about why he's there.

Tessa and Hansen are on the beach when a mysterious stranger emerges from the water and walks into the woods . . . fully clothed. Tessa suspects something fishy is going on. And, when the man turns up dead and Hansen admits he knows him, Hansen becomes a suspect. What happened to drive Hansen to the island? Why was someone Hansen knows nearby? Who murdered the stranger? And, why can't Hansen and Tessa stay away from each other?

Well, huh, not sure what to say about his one. It didn't work for me but I don't even remember why, so I'm hesitant to give it even a verbal rating. I do remember that I found it overly wordy and confusing. In fact, I was very surprised to find that the author has so many books under her belt. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I disliked about it. I've got the follow-up book (again, sent unsolicited) and I'll give it a shot but I'm not going to stick it out if it doesn't work. However, I think the author deserves a second chance.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

25 Days 'Til Christmas by Poppy Alexander

In 25 Days 'Til Christmas Kate (widowed 4 years ago) and her son Jack are having a challenging Christmas season but she's doing everything she can to make Christmas as magical as possible. She's come up with daily activities to keep Jack busy and try to keep him from realizing just how poor they have become. Kate works at a department store on a rolling contract. Every year, it's possible she could lose her job and this year the boss is being particularly threatening. At school, Jack is having difficulties and the faculty wants to send him to what we Americans would call a reform school, although the book is set in Bristol, England so it has a different name. At the same time, her mother-in-law is running out of pension money for use in the care home, where she is deteriorating rapidly from Alzheimer's, and the government is threatening to pull her supplementary funds.

Daniel lost his sister Zoe, last year, and it still stings. The one thing that he's looking forward to, this year, is seeing the woman he privately refers to as "Christmas Tree Girl". He hasn't ever formally met Kate, but he knows that she will be there selling Christmas trees in her little elf costume. He wonders if she'll remember him and wonder what became of Zoe. When Daniel's not working as a chartered surveyor, he answers a help line and listens to people's problems, talks them out of suicide, or sometimes is just there for the lonely.

Daniel and Kate have a little trouble getting together, at first, but eventually they meet and start seeing each other. The problem is that Kate is utterly overwhelmed with all her problems and unsure she can or should replace Jack's father, Tom. Is there a way to solve her financial issues beyond her home jewelry-making? How will she deal with the bullying and sexual innuendo by her boss? Can she get Jack into a school that will meet his needs and keep him happy, rather than one that's set up for those with bad behavior? What will she do about her mother-in-law's draining finances when she has so little of her own?

Recommended but I advise skimming some parts if you find them dull - There is a LOT going on in this book. There were times it was a bit too much for me and, at some point, I decided I'd be best off skimming certain bits. For example, Kate is put in charge of a fundraising effort for the department store and has to come up with costumes for her child and his best friend on top of everything else. I found the fundraising meetings as dull as they are in real life (been there), so eventually I decided to skim those and some other bits of meetings in which Daniel was trying to help the shopkeepers of a cluster of shops called Christmas Steps — which actually exists; you can look up photos online.

I think the author created a few too many threads in this story. And yet, like a Hallmark movie, it came together beautifully in the end, almost too perfectly (as a romance should). I closed the book happy and satisfied. When I went to rate the book, I noticed that someone had given it 1 star because she found it too sad, thanks to Kate's overwhelming financial issues. I actually enjoyed reading about the realistic struggle she was going through. I found at least one of the resolutions a little too easy and pat, so I knocked off a point for that and the occasional stretch (meetings, ugh) that I found dull, but overall I loved 25 Days 'Til Christmas. I liked Kate's creativity and determination to make things as cheery as possible for her son, and I adored Daniel for his kindness and generosity. They're a couple that you can root for and they deserve a lovely ending. A sweet Christmas story about hardship, grief, and finding happily-ever-after when it seems like nothing is ever going to be right, again.


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Everything I Didn't Review in 2018, Part 2

This is the second installment, which gets me to all but the final book of the year. There's only one book, of these three, that I didn't read in December, and one book that I'm leaving out for separate review.

The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig is just what it sounds like: the story of a pixie who is unable to tell a lie. Unfortunately, this gets the pixie into all sorts of trouble, as you might imagine. Eventually, she's kicked out of her home. There are all sorts of fantastical creatures that she encounters and some bits of wisdom about when it's good to be truthful and when it's not.

I am a big fan of Matt Haig's writing. It's so unencumbered by expectation. You just never know what you're going to find in a Matt Haig book and I adore that. However, the two Christmas titles I've read by him have left me flat. As I was reading The Truth Pixie, I would find myself thinking of ways the pixie could have rephrased her words to make them less hurtful. It was maybe a failure of imagination on my part that I couldn't just allow myself to be swept up in the story.

I don't recall the ending but I do remember I liked how the book ended. Unfortunately, I read The Truth Pixie in November and it just didn't stick with me. It's gotten sparkling reviews so it's a book that I plan to give a second chance, probably during the next Christmas season. If it still doesn't enchant me the second time, I'll pass it on.

Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans is the story of a Welsh woman, Catrin Cole, who is hired to write the women's dialogue in a WWII propaganda film designed to keep hopes high during the war by focusing on the story of twins who joined in the Dunkirk rescue operation after borrowing their drunken father's boat.

The true story, which Catrin finds out when she interviews the Starling sisters, is rather disappointing. But, when she pitches the idea to her fellow writers, they immediately take up the story, romantically fictionalize it, and turn it into something inspiring.

As they're writing the script, improving it, and finally putting it on film, you also get to know the actor who plays the twins' drunken uncle, a washed-up older actor who has difficulty tolerating small roles. The majority of the story is set during the London Blitz and I confess that much as I loved the unfolding story of how a film went from idea to theater, I most loved the visceral sensation of the bombings. But, honestly, I love everything about Lissa Evans' writing. She has become a new favorite author in recent years and I've yet to read anything less than stellar by Evans. Wonderful characterization, obviously well-researched settings, smart writing, and plenty of humor make her writing a stand-out.

I've mentioned Their Finest Hour and a Half, already, because we watched the movie before I read the book. The movie is also excellent, with wonderful actors, lots of funny moments, and that sense that you were there that you get from the book.

Down in Mississippi by Johnette Downing and Katherine Zecca is a children's book that Kiddo bought for our eldest grandchild for Christmas. Naturally, I can't pack up a children's book to mail away without reading it first, so I read it -- and it hasn't made it out the door, yet (but it will, I promise).

Down in Mississippi is apparently based on a song and also is a counting book. The first page confused me because I didn't realize that.

Down in Mississippi in the surf and the sun lived a mother dolphin and her dolphin one. "Splash," said the mother. "We splash," said the one, and they splashed all day in the surf and the sun. 

I don't know how long I looked at "dolphin one" thinking, "What? What does that mean?" before I decided to move on and realized it was a counting rhyme. Duh. At any rate, I liked the book after that. After the counting rhyme, there is a section on various flora and fauna that are officially designated (state bird, state flower, etc.) in the state of Mississippi. I loved that part. And, then the book ends with the music to "Down in Mississippi" (treble part), the song.

While the illustrations are understated (or, maybe you could go so far as to call them "dull" of color), I liked the rhyme, the information about state flora and fauna, and the fact that in the end you can learn the tune if you're able to read music, so I gave the book four stars. I really do dislike the subtlety of the illustrations, though. In a children's book, I'm a fan of bold color.

Next up will be a review of The Huntress by Kate Quinn (probably tomorrow) and then I'll be able to post my full list of 2018 reads with links to every review.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a peaceful and happy holiday season!

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

The Birch family is finally spending Christmas together, after years of doctor Olivia's far-flung travels keeping her away. But, the time together is a requirement as Olivia has been spent several months treating patients suffering from a dangerous illness in Liberia and she is obligated to spend a week in quarantine. The family will stay at the crumbling estate inherited from mother Emma's family, Weyfield Hall.

Andrew, the father of the family, is a restaurant critic who has never quite gotten over having to give up life as a war correspondent when his first child was born. He spends his days hiding in the smoking room, writing scathing reviews, and dithering about whether or not to reply to the young American man who wants to meet him . . . an unknown son, conceived during a single night of infidelity that he'd forgotten about till recently. Will Andrew reply to Jesse? When Jesse shows up in England, will he get a chance to meet his biological father or go home disappointed?

Emma has gotten some terrible health news but she doesn't want to ruin the holiday, so she's flitting about, keeping herself calm by feeding everyone, and only sharing her fears with her closest friend. She is happiest at her family's estate, shabby as it has become. Will Emma be able to keep her secret throughout the holiday?

Phoebe has just gotten a proposal from her boyfriend, finally, after years of dating. But, the ring is just so not her. While Phoebe spends her time flipping through wedding magazines and thinking through plans, the little things that she and her fiancé don't see eye-to-eye on are beginning to slowly pile up.  Is George even the right man for her?

And, Olivia has fallen in love but feels obligated to keep her relationship secret because she and the other doctor, Sean, have broken the critical "No-Touch" rule that keeps them safe from transferring the disease, should one of them fall ill. When Sean comes down with the deadly virus and becomes a national news story, Olivia becomes obsessed with the news, writing emails he won't see until he's out of danger, and blogging in defense of him. When Olivia begins to fall ill, what will happen? Will Sean survive?

As each of the Birch's little bubbles collide and two unexpected guests come crashing into their week of quarantine with no choice but to stay, the Birches find that they must face up to the necessity of listening to each other and breaking free from their own obsessions. In the process, they will also discover things they have in common and the importance of banding together.

Highly recommended - There was only one thing I truly disliked about Seven Days of Us. It's a spoiler, and it's a plot point that others might find tolerable because it is, in fact, realistic. Otherwise, I absolutely loved Seven Days of Us. It is a little on the fluffy side but with some serious challenges facing each of the family members. They're all flawed and believable, if a bit cliché. I liked the fact that there were people to love, times you wanted to shake a character, and at least one character you who got what he deserved. I found the book utterly compelling -- to the point that I had trouble putting it down at night and couldn't wait to pick it back up, the next day. It's nearly 400 pages, but I blew threw it quickly (in two days, which is quick for me) and really enjoyed every minute. While it's set during the Christmas holiday and gives you a nice feel for Christmas in a small family that's forced to be locked away, it's less a Christmas novel than a family drama. I was totally swept away by Seven Days of Us and will be looking for more by Francesca Hornak.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Christmas to Remember by L. Kleypas, L. Heath, M. Frampton, and V. Lorret, and a couple final Fiona Friday pics

I can't leave for a holiday break without being completely caught up! And, I just finished A Christmas to Remember, last night. So . . . one last review, at least for now. I'm not going to stop myself from jumping online to review over the holiday break, if I feel like it, this year. Youngest son is the only person coming home and he isn't going to be around for long, so I'll return or just drop in to do a post or two if I feel like it.

A Christmas to Remember is a book of short stories with a Christmas theme (although, honestly, I don't recall a reference to Christmas in the first story -- I might have just overlooked it). I'm not a regular romance reader, so it's worth mentioning that I may approach this book through a different lens than the romance crowd, although I used to hang out with romance writers and published a romantic short story, myself (long ago, in a land far, far away). I'm completely unfamiliar with all four authors but I've heard the name Lisa Kleypas and her name appears in the largest font, so I presume she's the better known of the four. A little about each:

"I Will" by Lisa Kleypas - With a father on his death bed and threatening to cut off all money (but not the rest of the estate), Andrew, Lord Drake, needs to come up with a solution to convince his father to release the funds. He must find a young lady with an impeccable reputation and convince his father that she has reformed him from his dissolute ways. He convinces Miss Caroline Hargreaves to help him, promising to clear her brother's debts and stop leading him astray. But, Drake is surprised to find that the petite Miss Hargreaves hides a passionate, lovely personality behind her stiff exterior and spectacles. Will she reform the rake or will he use her and leave her hanging?

"Deck the Halls with Love" by Lorraine Heath - Lady Meredith Hargreaves is soon to be wed to Lord Litton, thanks to a kiss in a garden. Caught by her father and brothers, a wedding was considered the only possible solution to her compromising position. And, Lady Meredith thinks Lord Litton will make a fine husband. Months after the Season, she's still stung by the rejection of Alistair Wakefield, the Marquess of Chetwyn. Now, Chetwyn's intended is marrying another man and his sights are back on Lady Meredith. With a Christmas wedding soon to take place, can Chetwyn convince the only woman he ever truly loved that he's right for her?

"No Groom at the Inn" by Megan Frampton - Lady Sophronia Bettesford's father was not wise with his money and now she's on her way to take care of a relative's children and chickens. While she's waiting for her coach to arrive, James Archer shows up and asks her to marry him. Then, he clarifies. He needs a fake betrothed to accompany him to a party in the country. For mere weeks of pretending, he's willing to set her up in a country cottage. Sophronia is thrilled to have her lady's maid restored to her side and no prospect of chickens in her future. But, will she be able to tame the restless traveler who is slowly stealing her heart?

"The Duke's Christmas Wish" by Vivienne Lorret - Ivy Sutherland has passed her season without success and is now firmly planted on the shelf. But, her friend Lilah is in need of a husband and Ivy is certain that the Duke of Vale will perfectly fit the bill. Lodged in the duke's immense castle with at least 100 guests, there are plenty of young ladies from which the duke might choose. But, he's distracted by his science experiments and inventions, especially a formula for marriage that the duke believes will save the trouble of going through that awkward Season business. In his ledger, he says Ivy is of "no consequence". Then, why does he find that he has eyes only for her? And, how can he resist a woman who comes up with a better idea to fix a problem with one of his inventions than he himself has imagined?

So . . . not the typical romance reader and I would not have thought to buy this book, but Avon sent it to me, unsolicited. And, wow, am I happy they did! Some years I'm in the mood for holiday reading, sometimes I avoid it. This year, I was craving a little Christmas spirit and I am perfectly fine with a bit of fluffy, predictable romance. And, for the most part, these stories were very predictable. While the final story, "The Duke's Christmas Wish" was, in my humble opinion, a little rough around the edges, I thought it was the least predictable of the four. But, I enjoyed them all.

My hands-down favorite was the third story, "No Groom at the Inn," by Megan Frampton. Sophronia starts out the story a bit on the stiff side. She doesn't want to be called Sophy or Sophycakes, as James lightly proposes. She has a love of words, her father having played the Dictionary Game with her for many years, and each chapter begins with a quiz - which of the three definitions fits the word? The answers are at the end of the story. There are loads of references to the chickens Sophronia will no longer have to tend, some surprisingly witty dialogue, and a marvelously clever ending in which James plays a game to let Sophy know his feelings have been altered. Even at around 100 pages, I found "No Groom at the Inn" surprisingly convincing because the two characters seem suited to each other. They're able to catch each other's meaning when necessary with vague gestures and their dialogue is frankly adorable. By the end of the story, Sophronia is fine with whatever James wants to call her and even responds in kind.

Highly recommended - I'm not sure how regular romance readers would feel about this set of short Christmas stories, but I loved being swept up in a little holiday romance and thoroughly enjoyed A Christmas to Remember. There were several deflowerings of young ladies, so I added a family warning for those who are sensitive about sex scenes. When I regularly read romance, I favored clean romance but I that was primarily because I prefer that a romance is about the things (apart from sex) that make a relationship magnetic, like what two characters have in common, what makes them laugh or lean in to hear more or think twice about that person that didn't appear to be their type, at first. I thought the interaction between the characters was charming and I was enchanted by all four stories.

Final cat photos! It would be easy to blame today's cat crazies on the unexpected snow we got overnight (!!!!) but they never go outside, so I think it was just cats being normal. Here's a pic of their dust-up, followed by the innocent look, after they finished whacking each other.

Wishing the happiest of holidays to all!

Bookfool, with Isabel, and Fiona

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Bear Who Didn't Want to Miss Christmas by Marie Tibi and Fabien Ockto Lambert

In The Bear Who Didn't Want to Miss Christmas, all the animals (each labeled with their name in the first spread) are excited about Christmas and talking about what they plan to ask for, except Little Bear. Little Bear is sad, he explains, because he always misses Christmas. Every year, he hibernates:

Oswald the wise owl explained, 'Yes, it's true, bears go to sleep before the big freeze comes and they don't wake up until the warm days of spring arrive." 

Oswald wonders if there's anything they can do to help Little Bear experience "the magic and wonder of Christmas" and Bill the badger has an idea. They can celebrate an Almost Christmas. Big Deer asks Little Bear to go for a walk while the others prepare Little Bear's home with food, decorations, and gifts, including a banner that says, "Merry Almost Christmas". After the celebration, Little Bear beds down for his long winter nap, looking forward to sweet dreams.

Recommended - I've read similar books about animals who are going to miss Christmas because of their annual hibernation, so this particular theme of celebrating Christmas early isn't a particularly new or fresh one. And, yet, the story is heartwarming. If you have small children and they don't already own a book with a similar storyline, The Bear Who Didn't Want to Miss Christmas is a good one, with cute animal illustrations, a theme of caring for friends by filling a need, and a sweet, uplifting ending.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Three Christmas Books: A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig, Blue Christmas by Andrews, A Child's Chrismas in Wales by Thomas

Getting closer to being caught up on reviews! The following books were all purchases. I didn't receive any Christmas books for review, this year.

The tower -- the prison -- was a scary place. Yet, although it was horrid, it also had very nice comforting things written on the stone walls of the staircase, from its time as the Welcome Tower. Things like 'Welcome' and 'Strangers are just friends with weird faces' and 'Hug a human'.  [p. 128]

'An impossibility is just a possibility that you don't understand.' [p. 140]

Father Topo's words came back to Nikolas. You just close your eyes and wish for something to happen. Perhaps a wish was just a hope with better aim. [p. 152]


When Matt Haig said his new Christmas book, A Boy Called Christmas, was available for pre-order, I dashed off to look it up and discovered that it's not available in the U.S. But, of course there's a way around that: Book Depository. My copy arrived within days of its release.

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig tells the story of Father Christmas. Nikolas is a poor boy in Finland (nicknamed "Christmas" because he was born on Christmas day) who owns only two toys: a wooden sleigh and a doll made of a carved turnip. When his father has to go away for two months, an abusive aunt arrives to care for him. And, when his father, Joel, doesn't return, Nikolas goes off to search for him with only his mouse friend Miika as a companion.

And, here, I must confess that I only remember bits and pieces of A Boy Called Christmas, which I liked but didn't fall madly in love with. I have a feeling I'll like it better upon the second reading because I didn't expect it to be quite so dark, but now that I've read it I want to read it, again. What I loved about the book was the way Haig took elements of the story of Father Christmas (or Saint Nicholas, Santa, etc.) that I've never seen explained elsewhere in a satisfactory way and did a marvelous job of spinning a magical, adventurous tale that explained those elements. There's also, of course, Matt Haig's trademark pithy wisdom, as you can see in the quotes above.

Recommended - While it wasn't a 5-star book for me, A Boy Called Christmas definitely has the feel of a new Christmas classic worth revisiting.

I bought my copy of Blue Christmas for a dollar when I ran into the local dollar store to grab my 2016 calendar. Naturally, I had to wander down the book aisle. I'm not a fan of Mary Kay Andrews, in general, but I figured at that price it was worth a chance.

Blue Christmas tells the story of Weezie Foley, a Savannah antiques dealer who is determined to win the local decorating contest. But, her first attempt is a disaster and then things start to go missing from her second display.

There's a bit of animosity between Weezie and her competition, a crazy Southern family dinner, a chef boyfriend who is constantly letting her down, the missing items, and a mysterious homeless woman who exchanges gifts with Weezie in what turns out to be a warm, sweet, funny holiday book.

Recommended - Maybe I'm better off reading Mary Kay Andrews in small doses. At 196 pages (including a couple recipes that sound just awful to me), Blue Christmas was just the right length and delightfully heart-tugging.

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas was the selection for our December F2F book group meeting and a reread for me.

A tiny book that other members said was a poem, it does have a lovely rhythm but I still want to call it a short story. We chose A Child's Christmas in Wales primarily because it's short and several of us had already read and loved it. In December, we gather around a roaring fire (fortunately, it was just cool enough that a fire didn't sound appalling, although I sat too close and kept sinking farther and farther into the leather chair, threatening to fall asleep), sip eggnog or wine or both, discuss a short story or two, and then just talk. It was raining and the 30-mile drive was, at times, terrifying, but I couldn't bear to miss out and I absolutely love the book.

We mostly spent time reading our favorite passages of this autobiographical story about Christmas in Wales from a child's-eye view, talking about Dylan Thomas and how short but accomplished his life was, and comparing copies of the book. Everyone had a different copy. I like mine (shown at left). It's small and the illustrations are just like the one shown on the cover, black and white They look fitting to the time period. But, some of the other copies were more heavily illustrated, one with fabulous watercolor paintings portraying the wit and humor of the artist and the story.

My favorite passage is a quotation by a little boy:

"It snowed last year, too. I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea." [p. 22]

So very British.

Highly recommended - An enchanting, beautifully crafted tale of childhood that is often wickedly funny and one of my Christmas favorites.

I briefly reviewed A Child's Christmas in Wales in October of 2012.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Night Before Christmas by Moore, illustrated by Tom Browning

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore has been published so many times that the only direct way you can find this specific edition, illustrated by Tom Browning, is to look it up by its ISBN number: 978-1-4549-1355-9.  Originally entitled "A Visit from St. Nicholas," it's easy enough to find a copy of the classic poem in book form. Of course, not every version is equal in beauty. My childhood copy is the most detailed and beautiful version I've ever seen; but, Tom Browning has apparently made a living painting Santa Claus and if all of the illustrations were full-page like the one on the cover, this version would be comparable to my all-time favorite. Some of the illustrations look like medallions. You can see an example from the back cover of The Night Before Christmas at Amazon. I'm not an Amazon Associate so clicking on that link won't benefit me.

Regardless of the fact that not all of the illustrations are full-page and I'm pretty certain that the text is not entirely accurate to the original poem (although the changes are very minor), the Tom Browning version is beautiful and at $6.95 it's an excellent value. I gave it 4 stars and will be sending my copy to my granddaughter. Recommended.

I received a copy of The Night Before Christmas from Sterling Children's Books for review. 

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Christmas Magic by Kirsten Hall and Simon Mendez

Christmas Magic by Kirsten Hall, illustrated by Simon Mendez, is subtitled "A Changing Picture Book."  I kept the image fairly large so you can sort of see (via the lines visible) that it's a book with sliding illustrations.  Pull a tab and the illustration changes -- and not always just a little.  Often books of this type will change just a tiny bit, say from a daylight view to a night-time view of the same scene, but in the case of Christmas Magic, sometimes they change dramatically, which I must admit I found awfully cool.  

I haven't got any interior photos of Christmas Magic because a bit of blogging block (seriously, there is such a thing; I know because I just made it up) set me way behind on my reviews and I didn't feel like I had time to spend on photographing interiors, today, but the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous.  My favorites are the image of a house at dusk, undecorated and then decorated, a chair with a cat that turns to an illustration of a chair with big old Santa sitting in it (the cat glaring down at him from the back of the chair) and the image you see on the cover, which is repeated inside after showing the town at night.  But, they're all beautiful.  

Christmas Magic is another rhyming-verse book.  In this case, I can't say the story makes a whole lot of sense to me.  It just seems like a hodge-podge of Christmas things happening, which ends in a visit from Santa.  Meh.  But, it's so beautiful, I still love Christmas Magic.  I'm just not fond of the text.  I do, however, absolutely love the illustrations and I get a kick out of pulling the tabs.  It's apparent to me that I'm never going to get past the thrill of playing like a kid.

If you've owned books like this, you know that in humid climates the separate parts will eventually stick and sometimes tear.  That's worth bearing in mind, but I bought a few when I had little ones and they lasted quite a while.  It was just after being stored that they had problems, in most cases.

Recommended:  Stunning illustrations trump a storyline that's all over the place.  Too much fun and too beautiful not to recommend, but I'm just not in love with the rhyming text.  This is the last of my Christmas posts!  I've got one more set of board books to review and then I'll move on to the last few books in my sidebar!


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Great Christmas Crisis by Kim Norman and Jannie Ho

The Great Christmas Crisis by Kim Normal, illustrated by Jannie Ho is a big book with pages that are a double-thickness.  At first, that actually confused me, as I looked at those pages and wondered if they were supposed to open or there was some kind of mechanical or pop-up business I was missing.  Nope, they're just thick pages.  In case you're wondering, I do think nice, thick pages are a good thing.

The storyline in The Great Christmas Crisis obviously has to do with things going wrong at the North Pole.  The elves are complaining, toys are whacked up, candy is coming out wrong.  Actually, this is the best part of the book -- looking at the details of the illustrations showing things that are wrong, like a doll with the neck of her dress at her knees and the hem at her neck.  You can view some of the illustrations from The Great Christmas Crisis at Jannie Ho's website.

Santa alters his chimney-expanding machine to shrink himself and go undercover in order to figure out the problem.  But, he messes things up just as badly as the elves, melting a race-car track and turning candy canes purple with white spots.  He decides that the elves are overworked and insists that they all relax for a while, tell ho-ho jokes (like knock-knock jokes, only they begin, "Ho ho!  Who's there?"), play games, sit in front of the fire, meditate, etc.

But, there isn't much time till Christmas, so they really need to find a solution.  Finally, Mrs. Claus comes to the rescue, advising Santa to use his altered shrinking machine to make the days longer.  Kind of a silly solution, but The Great Christmas Crisis a book for small children and I have a feeling mine would have absolutely loved this book -- both of them.  Remember my comment about the fact that one of my children didn't like books in which the illustrations are too "busy" (too much going on)?  In this case, there's a lot going on, but the illustrations are so crisp that I think even the child who disliked busy illustrations would have pored over these and enjoyed the details.  They're not overwhelming but they are interesting enough to keep your eyes moving for a while.

Recommended - Delightful illustrations are what really made The Great Christmas Crisis a winner, in my humble opinion.  The story is a nice simple dilemma with a magical solution, great for holiday reading.  The story is told in verse and it has a comfortable rhythm for reading aloud.


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Stable in Bethlehem: A Countdown to Christmas by Hulme & Andreasen, a new arrival, and The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

Stable in Bethlehem: A Countdown to Christmas, written by Joy N. Hulme and illustrated by Dan Andreasen is a board book in with a countdown from the number 12 down.  Obviously, I'm getting to my last little stockpile of Christmas books a bit late but if you have a little one who is in need of a Christmas book and still at the tearing stage, Stable in Bethlehem is a good one.

Over a stable in Bethlehem, 12 drowsy doves are cooing,
Snuggling in the fragrant hay, 11 cows are mooing.
Weary and resting in their stalls, 10 donkeys nod their heads.
Scurrying over the stable floor, 9 mice run from their beds.

That's three page spreads' worth that I just quoted, the donkeys and mice sharing one layout.  The next page made me laugh:

8 shepherds wrapped in woolen robes watch over their flocks by night.

The illustration is a tiny bit funny because there are 8 shepherds watching a mere 7 sheep.  But, Stable in Bethlehem is a counting book, not a logic book.  On the next page, you count the 7 sheep.  As the mother of a little one, I probably would have already counted the sheep along with my child.

When I received this book from Sterling Children's, I didn't think it looked all that attractive, cover-wise, but I really liked it a lot when I opened the book and read.  The illustrations inside are much prettier than I expected, brightly colored but they have a nice, "soft" look that's lovely.  And, the book fit my most important requirement for a children's book:  a comfortably rhythmic text that's pleasant to read aloud.  Beginning readers will need a lot of help with words like "frankincense" if you keep the book around long enough, but I like the fact that the author didn't avoid adding a difficult word that's relevant.

Highly recommended, particularly if you'd like to share the Christmas story with a very young child in a way that's educational and factual without being in any way religiously dubious or emphatic.

More Christmas reviews will be forthcoming.  I spent a good portion of yesterday in the car, so that makes 5 days during which I spent a major portion of my day driving.  I am very happy to be at home and going nowhere, just cleaning and writing, today!

Arrived in the mail, yesterday:  

Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver!

This was one of those cases of "Buy a book for someone, buy one for yourself."  At least I bought a used copy instead of spending the big bucks.  I'm on page 76 or so and absolutely loving the reading.  I need inspiration desperately.  Now that we've finally got a decent kitchen, I want to get back to cooking!  But, it's been so long that I've been hoping to find something basic.  Well, Jamie's Food Revolution is fairly basic.  There are a few things I'll have to ask the spouse to explain, but not many.  I gushed so much I actually inspired Huzzybuns, last night.  We had a terrific supper.

The only problem I've found with this cookbook, so far (and most others by well-known chefs) is that cookbooks by popular chefs tend to ignore the fact that not everyone lives in a big city and has access to unusual ingredients.  And, in fact, some ingredients that don't seem unusual may even be hard to locate.  I noticed Jamie Oliver uses a lot of red chiles.  We were unable to find any at all -- fresh or dried -- last night.  Still.  I'm inspired. I've already got a recipe picked out for experimentation, tonight.

I finished The 13 Clocks by James Thurber, last night.  A children's book written in 1950, it's a quick read that would make an excellent RIP challenge book.  It has a seriously creepy villain (a duke who is so cold he claims to have frozen the 13 clocks in his home and who regularly feeds suitors of his niece to the geese), a prince who decides to take on the challenge and a hilarious sidekick with an "indescribable" hat who admits that he may not ever remember anything accurately -- but he's cheerful and anxious to help.

The 13 Clocks is typical Thurber -- funny, extremely witty, full of brilliant wordplay.  If you have a youngster you read to, it's well worth hunting down a copy.  Or, if you just like a clever story, read it for yourself as I did.  I got my copy (used) for $1 at Off-Square Books in Oxford, MS, this weekend.  It's obviously been around the block and back, a few times . . . 'tis pretty beat-up.  The illustrations are every bit as terrific and funny/creepy as the story, so it's another highly recommended book.  Definitely add this to your list if you're a regular Readers Imbibing Peril challenge participant.

More later!  Gotta check the dryer and finish emptying the dishwasher.  Fun times.


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - The Four Seasons, The Faithful Gardener, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever & The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas

I need to knock out reviews even faster and all four of the following books are from my personal library.  There's really not all that much I have to say about them, so it makes sense to keep them brief. Mini time!

The Four Seasons: Japanese Haiku Second Series is just what it sounds and looks like - a slim volume of carefully-selected and translated Haiku poetry.  There's a nice little 2-page "Note on Japanese Haiku" which talks about the poetic form and describes the known masters whose poetry are most frequently quoted in the book.  At 61 pages, The Four Seasons is the kind of book that you can gobble down in 30 minutes, if you so desire.  But, I prefer to read poetry slowly and let it roll around in my head.

The Four Seasons was published in 1958 by Peter Pauper Press.  My copy is definitely showing it's age, but it's the kind of book you want to hold onto to reread.  Some of the haiku verses are funny, some sad, some thoughtful.  It's a nice selection.  This is one of my favorites:

I particularly love Haiku that makes me smile.  If you love Haiku and can find a copy, this is a great little book.

The Faithful Gardener by Clarissa Pinkola Estes is another quick read, only 81 pages long, published by HarperCollins in 1995.  When I finished the book and set it down, I remember thinking it was going to be hard to describe but I'll do my best.  The author says The Faithful Gardener is a book of stories within stories, much like Russian Matryoshka dolls and, yes, it is definitely that.  But, the basic framework is the tale of her family's storytelling tradition and her education in storytelling at the knees of her family members blended with their terrifying history and how they emigrated to start a new life.

An uncle was among one of the people who were closest to the author and who helped teach her the importance of stories to understanding life.  Many of the author's family members were killed by the Nazis; her uncle was among those who survived and fled to the U.S.

At one point, the U.S. Government takes over some of the family's land by eminent domain, which sends Uncle into despair because the taking of everything he owned was the beginning of horror at the hands of the Nazis.  What Pinkola Estes' uncle does to restore the land and his soul is deeply moving.  Highly recommended to lovers of stories (which pretty much covers everyone reading this, right?) and those who are interested in WWII.

I bought The Four Seasons and The Faithful Gardener at the Mississippi College Library's awesome book sale, a few weeks ago.  My check was written out to "M C Library" but I wrote the "c" smaller than the "M" and "L", so it looks like I made the check out to "McLibrary".  Haha.  There's a concept.

I have almost nothing to say about The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, a reread and another short one, originally published in 1972 (and there's a movie, but I haven't seen it).  My copy was published by HarperCollins. You've probably read it.  If you haven't, you should.  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is one of the cutest Christmas stories I've ever read.  A family of wild children takes over all the major roles in an annual church Christmas pageant when one of the children hears that doughnuts are served at church.  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a riot, but at the same time it manages to be sweet and touching without landing in "totally sappy" territory.  I love it and will continue to reread it at Christmas, when the mood strikes me.  Also, I discovered I cannot spell "pageant" without really focusing.

Last, but not least, is a book that looks Christmasy but really isn't:

The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas by Julia Romp was an impulse purchase.  I tell myself I'm not impulsive when it comes to books (I don't pre-order and almost never go running out to buy a book on its release date) but I lie to myself.  Sam's Wholesale Club is my downfall.  I should never walk down the book aisles.

More suitably titled "A Friend Like Ben" in Great Britain, The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas is as much about the author's experience raising an autistic child as it is about how the cat, Ben (nicknamed "Baboo"), broke through young George's shell and helped him learn to socialize.  It is also about the cat's disappearance, although that happens toward the end of the book.  When author Julia Romp and her son George went to Egypt with a friend on their very first vacation ever, the cat disappeared.  The author details her search and how George regressed during the cat's absence.  Fortunately, as the title indicates, The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas does have a happy ending.

I love cat stories, of course, so I really enjoyed The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas, but do be aware that it's more of a memoir than a Christmas story.  If you're an animal lover, you won't care.  I definitely recommend the book, although it's not one I'll hang onto for a reread.  I would happily frame that kitten cover, though.  That is not actually Ben on the cover, incidentally. If you google an image search of the author, you'll get to see the real Ben.  The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas was published in the U.K. in 2010 but was just released in the US in October of 2012, published by Plume, an imprint of Penguin.

Woot!  4 down!  Are we having fun, or what?

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney
Copyright 2012
Ballantine Books - Fiction/Christmas
352 pp. 
Previously published in Australia

If you've been hanging around my blog lately, you know I recently went on a Christmas-book binge after being tasked with the job of making suggestions for my face-to-face book group's December read.  Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney is one of the books I ended up reading, thanks to TLC Book Tours, and it's an unusual one.  Set in Australia with an 84-year-old heroine, the story is neither the sappy romance I occasionally let myself get sucked into during the Christmas season (although there is a touch of romance) nor the magical variety that I much prefer.

Lola used to run a small hotel but has long since passed the reigns on to her son and daughter-in-law.  She lives in the hotel and owns little, moving from one room to another when the mood strikes her.  As Christmas approaches, Lola decides she wants a change of pace.  Her son and daughter-in-law want to take a vacation and Lola is happy to shoo them away so that she can have a little fun creating a special Christmas for a small number of guests.

But, things don't work out quite the way Lola intended. And, there is where I'll stop describing the book because it's very plot-heavy and I don't want to ruin a thing, but you can count on reading about a headstrong, likable character facing her past and living in the present with admirable gusto. Lola is a terrific character.

It wasn't till I finished the book that I read about Monica McInerney and discovered that Lola originally appeared in a book called The Alphabet Sisters.  If you haven't read The Alphabet Sisters, you are definitely going to come out of Lola's Secret knowing what became of them in the novel, so I advise reading the two books in order if that concerns you.  But, in my case, I found McInerney's writing so engaging that I do plan to look for a copy of The Alphabet Sisters.

As I was gathering information about the book for my review, I noticed the author is often compared to Maeve Binchy.  Shockingly, I have only read short stories by Maeve Binchy and I was disappointed with them.  You can read my thoughts in "London Transports by Maeve Binchy or Please Hit These Characters Upside the Head" (which was written in the Dark Ages of book blogging). But even regular readers of Binchy disliked that particular collection, so I don't think I've gotten a good feel for her writing and certainly cannot compare the two.

As I was reading, I was reminded of Debbie Macomber's writing: lighthearted, sometimes funny, occasionally sad and, most importantly, things keep happening.  I thought the book was consistently surprising. The big difference between Macomber and McInerney lies in the focus on an older woman and her family, rather than a young couple or two.  I only found the two authors' writing similar stylistically, in other words.  Lola's Secret is really a family story, not a romance.  And, of course, it's hot in Australia at Christmas so Lola's Secret is unique in that way. Snow is pretty much a given in a Macomber Christmas book.

Recommended - Lola is a terrific character; wise, witty, spirited, flawed, wacky, upbeat . . . what a treat to read a story with such a well-rounded character. I guess you could call Lola's Secret a seasonal type of "women's fiction" and in that way it was a slightly unusual read for me because I have a tendency to avoid books that are specifically about women and their friends and family.  I have no idea why.  At any rate, I enjoyed it and will definitely look for more books by Monica McInerney.

Other reviews:

The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader - I happened across Marg's review, just after I finished reading my copy.  Her post is excellent.  Go read it, even if you're not interested in the book; there's much more to the post than just a review.

Cover thoughts:

The cover is beautiful but it doesn't look very Christmasy, does it?

Interesting side notes:

• I'm pretty sure London Transports by Maeve Binchy was the first book I reviewed on this blog.  
• Lola's Secret is the first book I've gotten from Net Galley.  I'm still not a fan of e-books, but they're growing on me slo-o-o-wly.

And, in other news:

Kiddo had car trouble so we had to zip up to Oxford to help him out, this weekend.  Fortunately, it turned out to be a quick fix.  We ate breakfast at home, had lunch with Kiddo in Oxford, shopped a little in Memphis and made it home in time for supper.  What a whirlwind day, but fun!  On the road to Memphis we saw this flock of birds:

Egrets!  They're hard to see because I didn't have a telephoto lens on my camera, but I'm happy that I was at least able to capture an image of them (through the windshield - fortunately, before it became so bug-splattered that photography became impossible).  It was a beautiful day and the trees are turning in northern Mississippi, so the drive was just about perfect.

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