Title: American Christmas StoriesEditor: Connie WillisGenre: Christmas, Holiday, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Western, Humor, Horror, ParanormalAudience: Adult My Review: I listened to Connie Willis’s collection of her own Christmas stories (A Lot Like Christmas) last year and went searching for more of her work. I stumbled on this anthology that she edited and decided to give […]
A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis: Book Review
4 Stars. This is a great collection of non-traditional Christmas stories in the fantasy and science fiction vein with bits and pieces of other genres thrown in here and there. It sounds quirky and it is but it really worked for me. It was a nice change of pace during the holiday season. The quality is […]
Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber: Book Review
2.5 Stars. I’m not really the audience for this book but I wanted a Christmas-y audiobook and it was either this standalone romance or other romances or cozy mysteries that were roughly number 52 in a series. (Yes, that’s an exaggeration but not as much as it should be.) Standalone romance it was, even though I’m not really a […]
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris: Book Review
I tried, but I give up. The first story, “Santa Land Diaries,” was great. Sedaris’s tale of working as a Macy’s department store elf is hilarious! Those people who inevitably make the news every Black Friday by pepper spraying and punching their fellow shoppers? I think they all go to Macy’s at Christmas. Sedaris writes […]
When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke: Book Review
Twinklestar, the last reindeer, panics in a thunderstorm and sends Santa’s caravan plunging toward the ground. After making sure everyone is okay, Niklas Goodfellow, the last real Santa, realizes that he has come to earth in a territory controlled by the evil new head Santa, Gerold Goblynch. Niklas is on the run from Goblynch and […]
The Fat Man by Ken Harmon: Book Review
Gumdrop Coal has gotten the axe. Founder of the Coal Patrol, those elves who deliver coal into bad little kids’ stockings, Gumdrop is out on his ear when Santa decides that every child deserves a real gift on Christmas. Gumdrop takes it hard. His methods might be harsh, but he believes they’re fair and they […]
The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig: Book Review
Arabella Dempsey has just seen all her hopes dashed. She’s been a companion to her aunt since she was a child and fully expected to inherit from her. She realizes that isn’t going to happen when her aunt marries a much younger man–the very man that Arabella has been fantasizing about. Does it get any […]
The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans: Book Review
The Christmas Box is about a young couple and their young daughter who move in with an elderly widow to help her out with light chores in exchange for rooms. Mary, the widow, becomes an adopted grandmother to them all and feels compelled to pass on wisdom she has gained with her years. This was […]
Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens: Book Review
I read this for A Christmas Carol but decided to read the rest and see what else Dickens had to say about Christmas. There were a few other little gems, although none were as good as A Christmas Carol, but there were some that I didn’t like at all. A Christmas Carol was a 4 […]
Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews: Book Review
Weezie Foley is back and better than ever. She’s trying her best to win Savannah’s historic district decorating contest, but the couple across the street are throwing tons of money into their efforts. To add to her troubles, her boyfriend Daniel always becomes decidedly Grinch-like at Christmas, and she just can’t get him into the […]
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore: Book Review
I can’t even really say what this is about without giving anything away. Let’s just say that the stupidest angel’s mission to create a Christmas miracle goes horribly, hilariously awry in ways that only Christopher Moore could write about. This wasn’t quite as funny as I expected it to be, but I think since reading […]