The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe, and Jason F. Wright is sort of a  ‘cross between IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE and A CHRISTMAS STORY‘ without the lasting effect of either .

At first the reader feels a certain degree of sympathy and hopeful anticipation for 12-year-old Eddie.  Even with his  father’s death and the sale of their once-prosperous bakery,  the young lad still thinks this Christmas will be the best ever and hopes for a much-desired red, Huffy bike.

Unfortunately, Eddie unwraps “a stupid, handmade, ugly sweater,” and reacts accordingly.  Begrudgingly, Eddie agrees to spend Christmas  Day with his grandparents but refuses to spend the night even though his mother is too tired to drive back home.  You guessed it, a tragic accident takes the mother’s life and the boy spends the rest of the book  living with his grandparents.

A well-worn neighbor,  supposedly only Eddie can see, tries to help the youngster work through some of his anger and guilt.  But nothing really changes the young man’s surly outlook on life until he courageously steps into the gathering storm in the cornfield.   The other side of the hill is filled with colorful flowers,  wonderful sounds and Eddie shouts, “I am Happy!”

Reviewers characterized The Christmas Sweater as ‘hackneyed and flat-out unoriginal’.  A fast read, Beck’s story is not  autobiographical, as one might think.  However, the radio and television host, manages to sneak in some of his  own personal philosophy and political views.  The epilogue or afterword, The Way It Begins sounded more like a sermon than the winding up of a warm-hearted, fictional tale appropriate for the Christmas season.

Fans of Glenn Beck will probably enjoy this book, our book club much preferred A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg.

Discussion Questions follow:
1. Glenn Beck defines his core values as: personal responsibility, private charity, the right to life, freedom of religion, limited government and the family as the cornerstone of society.
How did the author’s upbringing, as portrayed in The Christmas Sweater, form these values?
2. The magic of Christmas means something different to the various characters in the novel. How did the youngster, Eddie, view Christmas? His Father? Mother? Grandfather?
3. Since his father had been dead for 3 years, Eddie’s only male role model was his grandfather. Did the grandfather’s vivid imagination along with his lying and cheating help or hinder the young boy’s development?
4. Was Eddie’s Mother a Grinch about other things than snow? What?
5. Did you find the mother’s death a believable part of the story? Did the author give the reader any hints to the contrary? If so, what?
6. In Eddie’s eyes, the Ashtons were the perfect family. What aspects of their family life is he overlooking or failing to see?
7. The character, Russell, had all the dirt of every farm on earth on him yet he felt clean and peaceful. Who is he?
8. Can you draw parallels between Eddie’s situation and that of the horse at the Johnson’s abandoned farm? Explain.
9. How would the plot of The Christmas Sweater have differed if Eddie had received the red, Huffy bike instead of the dreaded sweater?
10. In your opinion, was the dream sequence an effective literary device or just a gimmick used by the author(s) to accomplish their purpose? In your reading experience, what other devices have authors used to bring about a similar transformation in their characters?
11. Voice your feelings about the section titled, The Way it Begins.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan not only sparked a great, in-depth discussion, but led club members to read other works about famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright such as Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan.

The widely-read post Wives and Lovers can be found here.  This selection complete with discussion questions has received over 1,000 hits in the past year.

These is my Words, written entirely in diary form by Nancy Turner, has also found favor with club members.  The post Pioneer Woman can be found here.

Told entirely in  letter format by Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society sparked a great deal of interest and a lively discussion.

One book club member wished that the fictional characters would indeed inhabit the aforementioned island, because she would love to visit with them to learn more about their war-time experience.  Click here for The Next Step – Discussing the Book.

The holiday season brings with it a chance to relive Christmases past and present.  Books read and discussed for our December meeting  include The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans and Red Bird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. Of the three mentioned, Red Bird Christmas rated as number one.

The post, It’s Unanimous, proclaimed our love for Mma Precious Ramotswe, the main character of the The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

More information about its prolific author, Alexander McCall Smith, can be found here.

What are some of your favorites?

• a small southern town where nobody’s business remains private for long
• several irresistibly, quirky characters living out their convictions regardless of public opinion
• shrewd insights and observations cloaked in homespun humor for all to enjoy

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

In this break-through Alabama novel, the action swings between the Whistle Stop Cafe and the Rose Terrace Nursing Home.

This two-fold story introduces Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, co-owners of a post-depression era eatery.  The secondary account revolves around the nursing facility where Ninny Threadgoode, Idgie’s elderly sister-in-law, coaches middle-aged housewife, Evelyn Couch, through several of life’s more challenging moments.

Through the respectful treatment of Idgie and Ruth’s ‘relationship’, Flagg presents her personal views on feminism and Sapphic love.

Probably the author’s best known novel, its story line spawned the1991 movie, Fried Green Tomatoes , but also earned Ms. Flagg an Academy Award nomination for her work on the screenplay.

Discussion Questions can be found here.

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

Coming to light first as a short story that garnered the author first prize  at an 1978 Writer’s Conference, this novel is told from the perspective of 11-year-old Daisy Fay.

The story unfolds in diary form peppered with spelling mistakes which Ms. Flagg hoped would disguise her lack of competency in that area.  (an outgrowth of undiagnosed dyslexia)

Set in the 1950s era town of Gulf Coast Shell Beach, the dysfunctional Harper family, complete with adored alcoholic father and neurotic mother, will stop at nothing in their struggle for survival.

Whether riding half naked through town on horseback or competing for a scholarship in the Miss Mississippi pageant, the hapless, truth-telling heroine just can’t avoid trouble.

Discussion topics can be found here.

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

Main character, Dena Nordstrom, travels from Elmwood Springs,  to New York City and back again when the stresses of TV journalism and life in the big city take their toll.

Each humorous character:   cousin Norma and  her husband, Mackey; sorority sister, Sookie, the antithesis of our heroine; and the recurring character, neighbor Dorothy, lends a spark to Dena’s life  below the Mason-Dixon line.

But Ms. Flagg shoves humor aside when Dena confronts a major crisis during the search for a mother who abandoned her daughter many years before.

Click here for discussion questions.

Standing in the Rainbow

Once again Ms. Flagg takes the reader back to Elmwood Springs, home of the Smith family.  There’s earnest Cub Scout Bobby Smith, his pharmacist father, and his radio personality mother, Neighbor Dorothy. (This character first appeared in Welcome to the World, Baby Girl.)

The story follows the family, their friends, neighbors and acquaintances over a 50-year period of time  starting when $1.50 could buy a live Christmas tree, movie goers could find an afternoon’s worth of entertainment for a nickle, plus sit on a stool afterwards for a sundae at the soda fountain.

Questions for book club discussion can be found here.

A Redbird Christmas

A synopsis and discussion questions can be found by clicking here.

Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven

In this 2006 selection, the novelist treats the reader to one person’s view of heaven-the botanical garden in Kansas City.

After octogenarian Elner Simfissle dies of anaphylactic shock, she rides a crazy, side-ways elevator to meet her makers in the guise of Neighbor Dorothy and her husband, Raymond, atop a sparkling crystal staircase.

Later a sudden and most unexpected resurrection prompts those around the rosy-cheeked lady to make drastic changes in their lives:  Norma becomes a real estate agent, Luther marries Bobbie Jo and Tot gives up her negativity.

Click here for discussion questions.

I Still Dream About You, Honey

Coming soon – November 2010

No matter which Fannie Flagg book your club  might choose, members will always find a multitude of  unconventional characters known to make observations such as, “That catfish was so big the photograph alone weighed 40 pounds.”

Don’t miss out on the fun!!

]]> http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/questions/southern-fried-fiction/feed 0 http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/questions/book-club-christmas http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/questions/book-club-christmas#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:32:55 +0000 Linda http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/?p=1831 The Christmas season has often times been described as the most wonderful time of the year.

Strangers become friends, smiles grower wider and  warmer as all of God’s creatures prepare to celebrate once again the birth of the Christ Child in a Bethlehem stable.

There’s no better way to observe this most joyous season than by sharing a warm and wonderful book from one of the following authors:

Richard Paul Evans

The Christmas Box Collection: The Christmas Box, Timepiece, and The Letter

In The Christmas Box, we meet an elderly widow, MaryAnne Parkin.

Her advertisement for a live-in couple answers the prayers of a struggling young family crammed into a drafty one-bedroom apartment in the foothills of the snow-clad Wasatch mountain range.

The Evans gain as much or more than MaryAnne from their living arrangement and almost 4-year-old Jenna finds a grandmother in residence.

TimePiece, the prequel to The Christmas Box, chronicles five years in the life of David Parkin, through his marriage to MaryAnne and the birth of their daughter, Andrea.

The Letter finds the Parkins 20 years later as they struggle to cope with the tragic loss of their daughter and the slow deterioration of their once happy marriage.

Although Evans did not compose these three books as a trilogy, each book relates to the other two but does not have to be read in any certain order.
Some readers characterized the stories as syrupy while other lauded their refreshing innocence.

Fannie Flagg

A Redbird Christmas

Searching for a milder climate in which to live out his final days, Oswald T. Campbell (named for the soup) lands in a small town located somewhere near Elberta, Lillian and Mobile.

Maybe his life-long streak of bad luck has finally turned as Oswald settles in and interacts with the citizens of the fictional town of Lost River, Alabama. Jack, the red bird residing at the neighborhood grocery, and Patsy, the young crippled child, figure prominently in this character’s new chance on life.

Discussion questions can be found here.

Kate Jacobs

Knit the Season

In this feel-good holiday novel, Jacobs reconnects the reader with the characters from her two previous novels in the hustle and bustle of New York at Christmas time.

To fully appreciate this yuletide offering, The Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Two should be read first for the back story and character development.

As a gift to faithful readers, knitting patterns and some delicious recipes have been added by the author.

But don’t forget two of my timeless favorites:

Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol

Discussion questions for A Christmas Carol can be found here.

O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)

The Gift of the Magi

Click here for reflection questions for Gift of the Magi.