All of the following selections lean toward the lighter side of the yuletide season, except for Upon the Midnight Clear.

Hope your book club finds just what it is looking for in one of the following selections.

My subdivision group chose  Mischief of the Mistletoe.  Enjoy!!

A Wallflower Christmas

Lisa Kleypas

American cad Rafe Bowman goes bride shopping in London and must choose between love and money in Kleypas’s coy Christmas romance. Rafe is wealthy in his own right, but his grossly wealthy father demands he marry the uninteresting Lady Natalie. Rafe, naturally, falls in love with someone else: Natalie’s commoner cousin, Hannah. As his courtship of Natalie progresses, Rafe keeps returning to Hannah, who rejects his courtship because she thinks he is destined to marry her cousin. As Christmas draws closer, Rafe must choose between the woman he is falling in love with and his father’s fortune. Throughout, veteran romancier Kleypas gracefully balances Regency mores, light humor and a dash of Christmas magic, and even if Rafe and Hannah hew too closely to genre archetypes, the book passes muster as a holiday bonbon.

The Mischief of the Mistletoe

Lauren Willig

The delightful latest entry in the Pink Carnation series finds bumbling Turnip Fitzhugh in over his head when he visits sister Sally at boarding school, where a chance encounter with school mistress Arabella Dempsey lures the siblings into a complex web of espionage and derring-do. Guest appearances by Dempsey’s best friend Jane Austen and characters from previous installments of the series round out the laugh-out-loud holiday-themed romance of intrigue. Readers familiar with the series will relish this newest installment and rejoice that Turnip has finally been given his due and a wonderful foil in Arabella. While readers never feel that the espionage aspect would actually put anyone in real danger, it definitely makes for an exciting story.

Upon the Midnight Clear

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Ever think Scrooge had it right before the ghosts ruined his life? Meet Aidan O’Conner.
At one time he was a world-renowned celebrity who gave freely of himself and his money without wanting anything in return…until those around him took without asking. Now Aidan wants nothing of the world–or anyone who’s a part of it.

When a stranger appears at his doorstep, Aidan knows he’s seen her before…in his dreams.

Born on Olympus as a goddess, Leta knows nothing of the human world. But a ruthless enemy has driven her from the world of dreams and into the home of the only man who can help her: Aidan. Her immortal powers are derived from human emotions–and his anger is just the fuel she needs to defend herself…

One cold winter’s night will change their lives forever…

Trapped together in a brutal winter storm, Aidan and Leta must turn to the only power capable of saving them–or destroying them both: trust.

An Autobiography of Santa Claus

Jeff Guinn

Guinn tracks down the origins of nearly all pieces of the Santa Claus legends and pieces them together, beginning with the birth of Nicholas in 280 A.D. He traces a life that lasts over 1700 years and explains how every well-known story of Santa Claus came to be, mixing in science with magic and throwing in actual historical figures to color the piece. (You’ll never believe who some of Santa’s “helpers” actually turn out to be.) He takes the character through the dark ages, through the Victorian era, mixes him in with European and American history and literature and finally brings it all together in the present day.

The book doesn’t have much of a climax, but that’s because it is written as an “autobiography,” not a novel. The stories just stop because they’ve all been told… for now. That’s part of the miracle — the knowledge that Santa Claus will outlast us all and continue bringing his true gift, hope, to children all over the world long after you and I are gone.

The Gift

Cecelia Ahern

Ahern wades into the Christmas fiction fray with a winning tale of magic and redemption. Lou Suffern is a busy man, and his family’s growing weary of constantly taking the backseat to his career. On a whim, he offers Gabe, a homeless man he meets outside his office, a low-level job, and the uncharacteristically kind gesture plays out in a very unexpected way when Lou learns that Gabe has the power to be in two places at once. As the holidays draw nearer, Gabe tries to make Lou realize the importance of his family, but slow-to-change Lou might not come around to Gabe’s way of thinking until it’s too late. Ahern’s an accomplished storyteller, and her writing chops elevate this far above the normal holiday fare. There’s magic, but it’s not campy, and the sentiment is real.

Wishin’ and Hopin’

Wally Lamb

With his latest story, WISHIN′ AND HOPIN′, Wally Lamb takes a turn toward the lighthearted and laugh-provoking. In a vein similar to Jean Shepherd′s A Christmas Story and David Sedaris′s The Santaland Diaries, Lamb′s holiday tale focuses on a feisty parochial school fifth grader named Felix Funicello–a distant cousin of the iconic Annette! Both poignant and hilarious, WISHIN′ AND HOPIN′ transports us back to October, November, and December of 1964, when LBJ and Lady Bird were in the White House, Meet the Beatles was on everyone′s turntables, and Christmas meant mistletoe, mangers, and midnight mass. Then it propels us from the past to the present so that we might measure what we′ve gained and what we′ve lost.

The Stupidest Angel

Christopher Moore

Hilarity abounds in Moore’s latest satirical gem. Sleepy Pine Cove, Calif., is abuzz with Christmas spirit, but Lena Marquez is fed up with her despicable ex-husband, Dale Pearson. On his way home from playing Santa Claus at the local lodge, Dale spies sneaky Lena uprooting his Monterey pines; he pulls a gun on her, she lashes out with a shovel and—oops!—kills him. Seven-year-old Josh Barker, thinking he’s just seen the murder of Santa, prays for a miracle to save Christmas. To Lena’s rescue comes Tucker Case, a slimy, reformed Casanova and DEA pilot, who gives her an alibi and sweeps her off her feet. The marijuana-cultivating town constable, Theo Crowe, suspects foul play, but Tucker intervenes with a blackmail scheme to keep the crime buried. Meanwhile, there’s a new arrival in town: the glowingly blond Archangel Raziel (last seen in Lamb) has come “dirtside” on a “miracle mission” involving Josh’s wish and reviving the town’s dearly departed. Pine Cove’s biggest challenge surfaces as comically reanimated zombies begin to rise and feast on the living, and a huge El Niño–induced storm swirls. This little slice of perverse Christmas cheer is enough to make even the most cynical Scrooge guffaw.

Christmas Jars

Jason F. Wright

In a plot reminiscent of Penelope Stokes’s The Blue Bottle Club and Angela Hunt’s The Note, a journalist happens upon a human interest story that winds up teaching her lessons about love and forgiveness and renewing her own faith in human kindness. On Christmas Eve, twenty-something Hope Jensen is quietly grieving the recent loss of her adoptive mother when her apartment is robbed. The one bright spot in the midst of Hope’s despair is a small jar full of money someone has anonymously left on her doorstep. Eager to learn the source of this unexpected generosity, Hope uses her newswoman instincts to find other recipients of “Christmas jars,” digging until her search leads her to the family who first began the tradition of saving a year’s worth of spare change to give to someone in need at the holiday. Wright commits some rookie mistakes in style and pacing; the novel veers heavily toward melodrama at some junctures, and he tends to show us and tell us about his characters. Still, the heart of this novella is its transformative message about the power of giving, a compelling theme that calls to mind books like Pay It Forward and The Kingdom Assignment.

Letters from Father Christmas

J.R.R. Tolkien

Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in a strange, spidery handwriting and a beautiful colored drawing or painting. The letters were from Father Christmas.
They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone North Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining room; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house, and many more.

No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by Tolkien’s inventiveness in this classic holiday treat.

Blue Christmas

Mary Kay Andrews

Weezie Foley is bent on winning Savannah’s downtown window-decorating contest, but as soon as she picks up the hot-glue gun, strange things start happening. Her boyfriend, Daniel, is grumpier than usual; Weezie’s dog, Jethro, goes missing and is anonymously returned; a platter of bacon-wrapped shrimp is stolen from Weezie’s refrigerator; and a woman is found sleeping in Weezie’s shop window. Andrews nails idiosyncratic Southern charm and teases out a touching denouement.

Having a few doubts about the role in general, maybe a couple of  fears or just general trepidation in all areas?

Don’t feel like you’re alone.  It’s an unexplored jungle full of unexpected jogs and twists.  Given that I’ve worked with teens and children for almost 30 years, it should be a cinch.  If so, I’m not feeling it yet!

What exactly is  a grandparent?

Will he/she like me?

What will I do if  asked to babysit?

About a month before the ‘blessed event’ the prospective parents gifted me with the following:   The Little Big Book for Grandmothers.

This darling little book can’t change a diaper for you, but the 6 1/2 inch square, 350-page volume, is crammed with the following:

*18 fairy tales like The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, Snow White and Rose Red, The Fisherman and His Wife, and Rapunzel

*19 poems by e.e. cummings, Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, Shel Silverstein

*13 nursery rhymes including Goosey, Goosey, Gander, and Old Mother Hubbard

*15 songs such as:  Polly Wolly Doodle, Billy Boy, Little Red Caboose and Farmer in the Dell

*26 finger plays and action  games including Here is the Church, Freeze Tag, Hide and Seek, Ring around the Rosey .

*More than 30 activities from embroidery and making a family quilt, to   holiday crafts for Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, July 4th, Christmas and Easter.

*More than 30 recipes from Ice Cream Sundaes and Strawberry Shortcake to Pecan Pie and a variety of cookies

As you can see editors Lena Tabori and Alice Wong have included everything that a grandmother could possibly need.  A complete list of other little big books can be found here.

Former actress Elfrida Phipps, 62, flees London for a cottage in the small English village of Dibton where she is befriended by the Blundell family.

Retired college professor and organist Oscar Blundell turns to Elfrida when an auto accident claims the lives of his wife, Gloria, and 12-year-old daughter, Francesca.  Grief-stricken Oscar leans on Elfrida who convinces him to return to his grandmother’s estate in Scotland where he retains half-ownership in the Estate House.  Since he has nowhere else to go and Gloria’s sons have put The Grange up for sale, Oscar agrees.

When her affair with a married man turns sour, Elfrida’s second cousin, Carrie Sutton, leaves Austria and returns to London.  There she finds her niece, Lucy, refusing to accompany her mother and male friend to Florida for two weeks. Grandmother, Dodie, also has plans to spend the holidays in Bournemouth with friends leaving the 14-year-old bereft of friends or family for winter break.

Called back to London by his company chairman to revive a defunct Scottish textile mill, Sam Howard, shows up at the Estate House during a blinding snow storm.  While trying to enter the building with a key from Oscar’s cousin and co-owner, Sam discovers an ailing Carrie who invites him to come in out of the cold.

In two short weeks, these five people from three generations begin to put their lives back together and find something to celebrate.

While most readers reacted favorable to this novel of hope and renewal, some reviewers found fault with Pilcher’s unrealistic time frame for Oscar’s grief process.  Gloria and Francesca have been dead for two months and Oscar and Elfrida are definitely a couple in every sense of the word.

Others found the players stereotypical:  the grieving widower, the neglected child, the broken-hearted  lover, the cold-blooded socialite and pleaded for multi-layered character development.

Most readers will find the plot predictable, but don’t let that keep you from enjoying the rich descriptions of domestic detail, exquisite depiction of Scotland in winter and that sure-to-please happy ending.

Discussion Questions follow:

1. Elfrida made many friends in the small village of Dibton, but the Blundells became her favorites.  Discuss what attracted Elfrida to each one in turn:  Oscar, Gloria, Francesca.

2.  Both Oscar and Elfrida have spent much of their professional lives in London, yet find Dibton a comfortable place to live.  What makes Elfrida comfortable? Oscar?  How did the tragic auto accident affect their comfort level?

3. Sam retains fond memories of Radley Hall, his boyhood home, and Oscar remembers Corrydale, his grandmother’s estate.  What memories do you carry with you of your childhood home or hometown?  Good or bad?

4. Taking into account Elfrida’s admission that, “She liked Oscar immensely; perhaps too much,” how would you characterize her relationship with Oscar before and after the tragic accident?

5. Elfrida declared that she had to set limitations and reservations so she would not be absorbed by or be beholden to the Blundells.  Discuss the above reference and explain what she is so afraid of.

6. Compare and contrast the two young girls (Lucy & Francesca) especially in  their reaction to the merging of the pagan festival surrounding Winter Solstice with the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth.

7. Why do you think Pilcher chose Winter Solstice as her book title?

8. How accurate is the author’s portrayal of the grief  process?  Some reviewers found it unrealistic that Oscar asked Elfrida to marry him just two months after the death of his wife and daughter.  Do you agree?

9. What part does fate play in Winter Solstice?  Did you find the plot believable?  Did Pilcher’s use of fate lend to or detract from the novel’s believability?

10. Discuss Pilcher’s use of setting to propel the action of the novel.  One reviewer felt that the setting assumed the position of an additional character in the book.  Agree/Disagree?

What other Rosamunde Pilcher novels have you read and enjoyed?

IN-4/3050
Holiday Character Ruler Bookmarks
$4.99 48 Piece(s)

Made of translucent vinyl. (4 dozen per unit) 5 1/4″ © OTC

Dog lovers might prefer one of these:IN-12/2215Plush Dog Bookmarks$5.99 Per Dozen

Each cute pooch comes on a satin ribbon and is ready to guard where you left off! 11″© OTC

For the crafty bookclubber, try this one:

IN-41/1228Christmas Bookmark Craft Kit
$4.99 Makes 12

With self-adhesive jewels and felt! Makes 12. Approx. 3 1/2″© OTC

For a Mom’s book club:

IN-57/2388
24 Fabulous Foam Mom Bookmarks
$5.99 Makes 24

Bookmarks, 3 1/4″ x 4″; shapes, 3/8″ – 1 3/4″.Ribbon included.© OTC

For that personal touch:

IN-4/46980
Personalized Holiday Pencils With Bookmarks
$7.99 24 Piece(s)

Each 7 1/2″ wooden pencil comes with a 6 1/2″ paper bookmark. Personalize them with 1 line of 30 characters/spaces. (2 dozen per unit) © OTC

Go to Oriental Trading Company to see all eleven pages of available bookmarks.

Can you guess which one I’m giving to all my bookish friends?

]]> http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/how-to/quick-gifts/feed 0 http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/reviews/a-little-christmas http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/reviews/a-little-christmas#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:08:39 +0000 Linda http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/?p=1755 Prolific author, Debbie Macomber, loves Christmas so much that she puts up five fully-decorated trees and 37 Nativity scenes.

In between all of these extravagant holiday preparations, she still  finds time to pen a yearly Christmas novel ever since the early 1990s.

This post will highlight five of Macomber’s holiday gems:

The Christmas Basket (2002)

This small, 240-page novel features an exaggerated, laughable version of  the historic Hatfield and McCoy feud.

When 28-year-old, Noelle, could avoid her hometown of Rose, Oregon, no longer she hopped a plane in Dallas.   Wouldn’t you know it, she just happened to encounter Thom, the high school sweetheart that jilted her 10 years ago, on the same flight.

Slowly the couple rekindles their fractured romance among the mom-against-mom cat fight which ensues when the two women must cooperate to finish a service project for the town’s Century Club.

Some readers felt that the mother’s antics while shopping and filling the Salvation Army Christmas baskets more interesting than the plot involving the two main characters. Agreeably, the supermarket demolition derby  and the toy-throwing incident at the local mall are not to be missed.

One reader described the story’s content as: “no meat on this bone,” while another asked for a more, in-depth explanation of the 10-year-old misunderstanding that  had separated Noelle and Thom.

But it’s all in good fun; so curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy this feel-good Christmas story.

When Christmas Comes (2004)

Just like  the movie, The Holiday, houses are swapped and romance ensues during the Christmas holidays.

But Macomber adds a few twists of her own making to When Christmas Comes.  Instead of a Cameron Diaz and a Kate Winslet exchange, it’s Emily, a lonely widow, and Charles, a stuffy Harvard professor.

Ironically enough Charles, who loathes the holidays, lands in Leavenworth, Washington, the Christmas capitol of the world.

Upon arrival in Boston, Emily discovers  her daughter has already left town for a  Floridian Christmas with the biker boyfriend.  The plot thickens when a meddling mother in Arizona sends elder son, Ray, to investigate the gold-digger answering Charles’ phone.

In the company of Santa and six elves, Faith, descends on Leavenworth to cheer up single mom, Emily, only to find Charles the curmudgeon in residence.  You get the picture.

One reader criticized Macomber for cramming too many underdeveloped characters into the book.  Another found the character of Charles, “cold one minute and kissing Faith the next,” unbelievable.

It’s a hilarious combination of Maeve Binchy’s Tara Road and The Holiday all rolled into 240 pages. Don’t miss it!

Read more about Tara Road here.

Christmas Letters (2006)

When Christmas letter writer, K. O. discovers that the despised Dr. Wynn Jeffries lives in her building, she flips out.

Not only has the good doctor advised parents to downplay Christmas, but her sister’s strict adherence to his “Free Child” methodology has turned K. O.’s once lovely 5-year-old nieces into disobedient ruffians.

Tricked into a dinner date with the noted child psychologist, the conflicted  Katherine O’Connor uncovers a courteous, funny and sweet companion. Need I go on?  An astute reader can probably figure out the rest of the plot.

However, a plot twist involves Wynn’s ex-hippie father, and the quirky neighbor, LaVonne, who reads kitty litter and Raisin Bran to foretell the future.

Some readers thought the conflict resolution too short and unrealistic.  Another mourned the loss of the secondary characters in the final chapters of the book.

In the end, two romances prove better than one especially during the Christmas season.

For tips on writing Christmas letters click here.

Where Angels Go (2007)

Part of Macomber’s angels series, this novel chronicles the misadventures of Christmas angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy.

Mercy’s task involves helping an elderly man convince his stubborn wife to pack up their home of a lifetime and enter an assisted living facility before he departs the earth.

Goodness takes on the job of helping reclusive Beth find true love while playing a video game with her online partner.

Lastly, Shirley has to find a way to satisfy Carter’s greatest Christmas wish – a dog of his very own.

Book number 3 in Macomber’s Christmas angel series, sparkles  with child-like wonder for the older crowd. Somewhat predictable, but a great stocking stuffer!!

A Cedar Cove Christmas (2008)

Mary Jo Wyse finds herself in much the same predicament as her namesake from the New Testament–pregnant and not married.

Two weeks before her due date, this mother-to-be travels to Cedar Cove where the prospective father had promised to meet her.

Since the town is bursting with Christmas Eve visitors and there’s no room at the inn, librarian Grace Harding offers a room over her stable housing all of the animals for Cedar Cove’s living Nativity.  Watch out for the camel – he bites!!

When David is a no-show and  baby Noelle decides to make an early appearance, it’s young paramedic, Mack McAfee who saves the day.  The arrival of the three Wyse men, Mary Jo’s overprotective brothers, rounds out the story even down to their gifts, modern day versions of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Macomber’s 2008 Christmas offering is actually the 9th book in the Cedar Cove series and should be read before 92 Pacific Boulevard.  If you prefer, it can stand alone.

Macomber’s yultide stories are a fast read, 240-300 pages, filled with warmth, joy and laughter.  Pick up one during the upcoming Christmas season.

Watch for Mrs. Miracle, Macomber’s 2005 Christmas offering, as a Hallmark channel movie presentation on December 5th.