A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens' classic is our fourth and final installment in the November Novella challenge. (Yes,we still owe you a review of "Animal Farm".) I won't subject you, once again, to my fountain of memories and emotion for this story. (If you really want to know, check out our posts about the movie version or the "Re-reading the Classics" challenge from Read-a-thon.) It's sufficient to say that I've read/listened to this book countless times and enjoy it every time - outdated, confusing language and all. The story and it's moral have been re-told a thousand times, so naturally Dave was familiar with the plot, but had never read the original. Truth be told, I don't think he was all that enthusiastic, but still it was fun to share this timeless book. I will continue to make A Christmas Carol part of my holiday celebration each year.

Marple-Poirot-Holmes Challenge

This challenge is right up my (Tami's) alley. I have been a Christie fan since high school but haven't read any recently, so when I ran across this challenge on http://atpemberly.com I saw it as the perfect incentive to get back to the classic mysteries. I'm not as familiar with the Holmes stories - I've only read a few, but look forward to exploring them, also. Thanks to Kals for sponsoring this challenge.

Batman: Murder at Wayne Manor by Duane Swierczynski

When a construction crew at Wayne Manor discovers a long-buried corpse, all the evidence points to Bruce Wayne's late father, Thomas, as the murderer. Torn between the need to protect his father's honor and his thirst for dispensing justice, Batman sets out to solve this coldest of cases, using police reports, his fathers private journal, maps of Wayne Manor, news clippings, forensic samples and photographs from family albums - all included as removable facsimiles. (Synopsis from Barnes and Noble)

This book was a fun diversion on a recent car trip. The removable "clues" were fun to pass around, study and try to decipher. The story itself was understandably superficial - there just wasn't enough length to include character development, background, etc, but the concept was entertaining. Think of this book as "Encyclopedia Brown" for the whole family (actually, our whole family used to get a kick out of reading the original Encyclopedia Brown together). An enjoyable adventure for readers from upper elementary grades to adult.

This book was part of our November Novella Challenge. (http://bibliofreakblog.com/)

The Great Kindle II Give Away

This is just TOO cool! J. T. at Bibliofreak is giving away a Kindle II. All you have to do is sign-up for her weekly newsletter. Hardly a tough assignment, her blog is always full of good stuff, so I'm sure her newsletter will be also. You can gain extra entries by spreading the word on your blog like we're doing, following her on Twitter, making a YouTube video, or several other options. Visit J.T.'s blog to get all the details. http://bibliofreakblog.com/great-kindle-giveaway?ref=5ae257e5ae

The Gift by Cecilia Ahern

The Gift is written with Cecelia Ahern's customary magic. A cautionary tale with just a touch of the fanciful.

Lou Suffern is an extremely unlikeable man. He is self-absorbed, ruthless, arrogant and just plain nasty - to the point that, for most of the novel, I was hoping something heavy would fall on him. He treats his wife as a possession, his children as pesky flies, and his co-workers as stepping stones. Money and power are his singular goal. He schemes and connives to attain that goal at the expense of anything or anyone who steps in his path.

Then Lou meets Gabe, a homeless man begging outside Lou's office building. Lou is unexplainably drawn to show a small amount of compassion and Gabe becomes twisted into the strands of a life that Lou is desperately trying to keep from unraveling. Soon Lou sees Gabe as just one more hurdle, one more person interferring with his path to the top.

At this point, I knew that Gabe was going to be Lou's "Clarence" (the angel from "It's a Wonderful Life"). "You see, [Lou] you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a waste it would be to just throw it away?" But, unlike George Bailey, Lou was such an unsympathetic character that I couldn't imagine how he could be redeemed or why anyone would care to try.

This is where the magic of Cecilia's writing comes in. The scene at Lou's father's birthday party, when Lou attempts to make amends with his family, is painful. Watching Lou as he grasps how deep the cuts of his selfishness are actually made me ache, but also made me - surprise! - sympathetic.

Even though this is billed as a Christmas story, it could take place at any time of year and be nearly as effective. The conclusion avoids the trap of holiday triteness while still delivering it's message. It left me listening for a bell to ring and Jimmy Stewart to whisper "Atta boy, [Gabe]".

Thankfully Reading Weekend

Jenn at http://www.jennsbookshelves.com/ and friends are cooking up an idea for Thanksgiving weekend - READING! It's a no-pressure, fun way to get caught up on your TBR list before the Christmas season gets too hectic. Check out Jenn's blog for the details or watch for a post on http://www.bookblogsocialclub.com/ to sign up.

We are having the family to our house for the big meal, so I'm sure when they've all gone home, we'll be ready to put our feet up, munch on a turkey sandwich, and slip into a book.

The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin

A little Christmas, a little romance, a little tear-jerker...this is a difficult book to categorize. "And that's...ok", to quote SNL's Stuart Smalley. Books don't have to fit into a specific box. Unfortunately, this particular box was overflowing.

First, the tear-jerker portion - we have the grandmother and grandson struggling with Alzheimers and the fear of the future. This is a topic close to my heart, as we are dealing with this horrid disease in our family, so I was interested in the way the characters would handle it. However, at 145 pages, the story just isn't long enough to delve deeply into a subject that heavy and the disease had to progress unrealistically quickly and be dealt with superficially.

Still, I was thinking "that's ok" because the point is really the grandson who is saving his money to buy his grandmother the clock she has admired in the store window - a clock that reminds her of her youth - for Christmas, thus bringing in the Christmas portion. But, as you'll see, that storyline never quite makes it to daylight either.

The second facet - the romance - focuses on Sylvia and Joe, high-school sweethearts separated because of tragic circumstances. Both have returned to their hometown and are looking for a second chance at their relationship. I liked their story, even if it was a little predictable.

There is a minor sub-plot involving Floyd and Doris Culver and their attempt to revive a tired marriage, but again there just isn't time to really flesh out this story.

Then we come to the point where all the characters meet and their stories combine and it's a pleasing ending; a nice "happy ever after" moment that was - dare I say it again - predictable. No problem, I was still "ok" with it. Just because you can see it coming, doesn't mean it's not a good ending.

But wait, what about the clock? You know, the one in the title? It gets relegated to afterthought status and doesn't have the impact it could have, which is sad because the idea had the potential to be a touching conclusion and to shine a little hope into life with Alzheimers.

It's probably hard to believe by now, but I actually liked this story, or at least the possibilities of this story. I was disappointed that so many good ideas got squeezed into such a small box and none of them had the chance to develop.