Product Description

Bestselling author Lorna Landvik shines in this delightful holiday novel of redemption and forgiveness.

Heiress Caroline Dixon has managed to alienate nearly everyone with her alcohol-fueled antics, which have also provided near-constant fodder for the poison-pen tabloids and their gossip-hungry readers. But like so many girls-behaving-badly, the twenty-six-year-old socialite gets her comeuppance, followed by a newfound attempt to live a saner existence, or at least one more firmly rooted in the real world.

As Caro tentatively begins atoning for past misdeeds, she reaches out to two wonderful people who years ago brought meaning to her life: her former nanny, Astrid Brevald, now living in Norway and Arizona dude ranch owner, Cyril Dale. While Astrid fondly remembers Caro as a special, sweet little girl left in her charge, Cyril recalls how he and his late wife were quite taken with the quick-witted teenager Caro had become when she spent a difficult period in her life at the ranch as her father was dying.

In a series of e-mail exchanges, Caro reveals the depth of her pain and the lengths she went to hide it. In turn, Astrid and Cyril share their own stories of challenging times and offer the unconditional support this young woman has never known. The correspondence leads to the promise of a reunion, just in time for Christmas. But the holiday brings unexpected revelations that change the way everyone sees themselves and one another.

At once heartfelt and witty, ’Tis the Season! bears good tidings of great joy about the human condition–that down and out doesn’t mean over and done, that the things we need most are closer than we know, and that the true measure of one’s worth rests in the boundless depths of the soul.

I don’t usually read “holiday” books, but a couple of weeks ago, as I was helping set one of the Christmas tables at work, I spied the new Lorna Landvik book. The colorful cover caught my eye, so I flipped it open and discovered it’s an epistolary. What perfect timing!! I had just set my new end cap and knew this would be the perfect eye-catching book to sit in the #1 position on the display. Of course, I really like to have read all the books I recommend, so I got a copy and brought it home to read as soon as I finished my current book.

What a treat!! I could have easily read it in an afternoon, but as life seems to go around here, I wound up reading it over the course of two days.

It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed one of Landvik’s books (gave up on The Tall Pine Polka and haven’t felt compelled to read The View from Mount Joy), but this is a winner! As with most epistolaries, the exchange of correspondences between multiple characters takes a bit of time settling into who’s who. But once the characters were established, I quickly devoured the book. And, just in case you’re not a fan of Christmas-type books, this spans five months prior to Christmas. I’m tempted to say it really isn’t a holiday book at all. Just happens to conclude in December.

This is definitely a quick read, but it’s also one of those feel-good books that we can all benefit from during this hectic and stressful time of year.

If I haven’t been able to convince you, check out Lesa’s review for more details. ‘Tis the Season! won’t wind up on my Top Ten for 2008, but I’m so glad I took the time to read it. Perfect brain candy after a couple of very long months!

I love a good suspenseful thriller. I started this one yesterday, and since I had today off, I read all day. It was a real page turner, with twists and turns, some I could somewhat see or at least suspect, but still satisfying.

The prologue starts with Derek, the seventeen year old son of the narrator, sneaking into a neighbour’s house in upstate New York, and then being present but hidden while the family is massacred at gunpoint. The ensuing investigation unearths secrets of all the people connected with the family. Murder investigations often leave many people feeling exposed, and as unexpected details get discovered, more than a murderer can be the result.

It’s no fun to read a plot overview of a book that derives its pleasure from suspense, so there will be no incriminating details here. The characters were realistic, facing moral dilemmas and not always making the right choices. But overall, I thought Derek and his family were more like people caught in an unusual situation and making decisions based on protecting their family. There are some comments on politics, academia, and ambition, but mostly it’s a tight thriller that kept me entertained all day.

John and Jean Silverwood lived with their four children in Southern California. They seemed to have it all - a beautiful home, comfortable income and lots of friends. But beneath the happy exterior, lay a family in a struggle with addiction and a search for larger meaning in life. They made a decision, which would change their lives, to set sail on the 55 foot catamaran Emerald Jane. For two years, the Silverwood family sailed the high seas, visiting remote islands, running from pirates and seeing some of the world’s most beautiful scenery and wildlife. Their adventure was full of challenges, but it forced them to grow and come together as a family. And then, near the end of the voyage on a velvety dark night, they collided with a coral reef. Black Wave is the story of their survival and how it changed them forever.

This true life adventure is narrated in two parts. In part one, Jean Silverwood describes the shipwreck that threatened their lives, and then looks back to recollect the weeks and months of their voyage. Her story is one of inner meditation - of her children and how they grew up in those two years, and of her marriage which was challenged by John’s alcoholism. She writes with a poetic style that is easy to read. She bares her soul and so the reader feels that they know her.

In part two, John Silverwood takes over the narrative. He reveals the aftermath of their voyage and parallels their story to one which happened in 1855 when a ship called Julia Ann struck the exact same coral reef and sank into the wild Pacific waters. Although the historic tale lends some perspective (and perhaps a link to our shared pasts), it changes the direction of the book to an historic rendering versus a personal family saga. I was much more captivated with Jean’s narration…perhaps because the real story here is less about the wreck and more about a family who discovered their strengths in the face of disaster.

This book is a quick read - and I enjoyed it. Although the two parts felt disconnected to me, this is a book which will entice adventurers and sailors. Filled with images of star studded skies over the vast ocean waters, Black Wave is also a book for romantics and dreamers.

Earlier this fall, I read The Kommandant’s Girl, which is the story of Emma Bau, a young newlywed who belongs to the Polish resistance during World War II. The Diplomat’s Wife is a companion book that is told from the perspective of Marta Nedermann who is friend and fellow resistance member to Emma. As The Kommandant’s Girl ends we believe that Marta is dead. She is not, however, and The Diplomat’s Wife is the story of the direction of Marta’s life at the end of the war and beyond.

I found The Diplomat’s Wife to be every bit as engaging as The Kommandant’s Girl.  I was drawn to these books because of their World War II setting but this book takes place mainly after World War II during the turbulent rise of Communism in Eastern Europe. Initially, I was disappointed about this but in the end, it really didn’t lessen my enjoyment at all.

My only complaint would be that I found the romance between Paul and Marta a bit predictable. However, I enjoyed it nonetheless. (4.5/5)

Hap and Florence are a black couple living on Henry’s farm as renters. Hap is a preacher, while Florence is a midwife who also helps Laura with some of her housework. Their oldest child Ronsel is in the military and serving in Germany, and when he comes back, he has to adjust back to a way of life that he is no longer accustomed to. He does find a friend, however, in Jamie, Henry’s younger brother. But, this doesn’t sit well with Henry and Jamie’s father, and trouble ensues.

This book all too painfully illustrates how much African-Americans have had to go through in this country. It does seem like the tide has changed with the historic election of our first black President, Barack Obama. I sincerely hope that this event will be the turning point in race relations in the United States.

(All along while reading this book, I was thinking it was going to receive a 4.5 rating, but then at the end something is stated by Jamie that I was deeply offended by, and I changed my rating to a 4. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but I think a better choice of words should have been uilized to avoid offending some readers.)

2008, 328 pp.

Just like Coraline, I listened to this on audio with my two teenage sons. If you haven’t heard Gaiman narrate his own books, you’re definitely missing out. Most authors should not narrate their own books; Gaiman is one who should never allow someone else to do so. His voice is perfect for it, and of course, no one would ever know his books better than he does.

The Graveyard Book contains a colorful (though some are long dead) cast of characters, some very creepy scenes, and some genuinely heartwarming ones. It’s one of those perfect children’s/YA books in which it was definitely written to also appeal to adults. It was great for the R.I.P. Challenge, and it was great to experience another one of Gaiman’s treasures as a family.

2008, 320 pp.

Neil Gaiman’s website.

Neil Gaiman’s web journal. (I’m a subscriber)

I think there’s an old saying that you should never have to bury your child. Outliving my kids ranks number one in things “I don’t want to happen,” but sadly, there are parents who face this reality every day.

While some parents lose children days, months or years after their births, some parents lose their child before the baby is born, experiencing a stillborn birth. This happened to popular novelist Elizabeth McCracken and was the subject of her memoir, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination.

I have never read a book like this before. As a mom, I am uncomfortable with the thought of losing a child, so I was not sure if I could read McCracken’s story. But with McCracken’s easy writing style, I finished her memoir in one day. Every page sucked me in. And while it’s filled with sadness, you get equal doses of hope and warm memories. She touched on so many important parts of the grieving process, and her reaction to other people’s reactions taught me a lot about how to support someone experiencing a loss.

There were touching moments too. Her chapters about her husband and best friend’s support made me teary-eyed. What a lovely tribute to them both.

McCracken took an uneasy subject and made it very human, very real and very approachable. While it will strike a familiar note with women who experienced the loss of a baby, I think all parents can learn from McCracken’s story. Having gotten to know her at this level, I hope to read her fictional books some day. ( )

Congratulations!

See Jill’s review here.

USA and Canada only.

Drawing will be held Nov 5th.

Good luck!

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