Monday 31 December 2012

The Christmas Collector - Kristina McMorris

The Story...

Estate liquidator Jenna Matthews isn't one for Christmas nostalgia. But when one grandmother's keepsakes suggest a secret life, unwrapping the mystery leads Jenna - and her client's handsome grandson - to the true heart of the holiday spirit...

A Reader's Experience...

Another solid lesson about facing up to the regrets of your past, moving on and renewing relationships. We are reminded as readers of what we truly value in our lives - our memories and experiences, feelings and relationships that truly form the person we are. The characters in the story go from denying or questioning these matters to truly embracing and honoring them, and to a true appreciation of the precious gifts that money can't buy. To know of a loved one's past, of makes them who they are is to bring a clarity and understanding that is otherwise missing, and to bring an irrreplacable worth and value in to new light. The more we completely know someone, the more cherished and facinating they become as we want to know more, to continue their story and see it through to satisfying ends and new beginnings.

Monday 24 December 2012

The Christmas Thief - Leslie Meier

The Story...

Elizabeth Stone is ready for a white Christmas in Tinker's Cove, Maine - until a fancy yule ball at the Florida hotel where she works dumps snow on her plans. The sponsor's jewels have gone missing and the police are asking about her ties to a cute mystery guest. Good thing Elizabeth's mother, Lucy Stone, flew down to surprise her. 'Tis the season for a little investigating...

A Reader's Experience...

This was a tale of neat little surprises and twists, with the action moving at a good pace so as to excite, but not overwhelm. Elisabeth is a character I felt at once sympathetic towards but could also laugh with. Through her compromising position throughout the story, she is a calm, cool, and level headed character. We also get a sense of the careful planning, logic, and sense that allows her to team up with her mother and Miss Tilley in order to put the pieces together and solve the mystery. All in all, the story turns in to a fun and light hearted reminder that things aren't always what they seem. Also, a good crisis can either bring out the best or worst in the people you are close to, allowing you to find out who you can truly trust and where loyalties truly lie.

Monday 17 December 2012

The Joy of Christmas - Holly Chamberlin

The Story...

Not all happiness is good for you - or that's what Iris Karr thinks when she decides to move away instead of marrying her sweetheart Ben. Even years later, living with that decision isn't easy - until a familiar face comes to call her home for the holidays...

A Reader's Experience...

This is definitely the story of a struggle for personal happiness, of healing past wounds and of second chances. Iris is finally compelled to find the courage and personal peace necessary in order to face up to her past decision, and to finally claim the love she deserves. While reading, I was begging her to give herself a break, to forgive herself and move on. I think it teaches us that even if your past love doesn't show up out of the blue, you still can't undo the past. If he hadn't shown up, there's no telling how long it would have taken or what other road she would have travelled in order to finally redeem herself. It is also clear that the connection that they shared was never truly broken, and that commitment and loyalty are what it takes to bring the desires of the heart to the surface. I appreciate how one chance meeting sets off the effect that not only rekindles the relationship but also had the power to mend the personal wounds and other relationships that were holding her back. A reminder that when we fight against our own desires and our own needs, we can't win.

Monday 10 December 2012

A Winter Wonderland - Fern Michaels

The Story...

Angelica Shepard left New York for Christmas in Colorado to relax and unwind - but an out-of-control snowboarder almost had her laid to rest. When she wakes up in the hospital, all she remembers is the handsome angel who saved her...

A Reader's Experience...

A compelling tale of two lonely strangers brought together through a little holiday destiny. Yes, it's all very fairy tale cliche, but sometimes a little magic has a good effect on the spirit.

Angelica and Parker are connected through their crisis of careers - him questioning his legitimacy as a doctor after losing a patient, and her a struggling actress waiting for a break. It's not hard to tell that both have noble ambitions but that both are facing discouragement and setbacks in the process. It seems that the love and bond they found in one another was what brought clarity to their goals and allowed them to move on as individuals with renewed determination. I appreciate the friendly reminder that out of uncertainty, fear, and accidents can come the road to where you are meant to be. Add to the mix the dorky, fluttery romance of first instincts and fumbled reactions, and the story is a feel good keeper.

Monday 3 December 2012

The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck

The Story...

The Grapes of Wrath is a landmark of American literature. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation, The Grapes of Wrath is also the story of one Oklahoma family, the Joads, who are driven off their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.  First published in 1939, The Grapes of Wrath summed up its era in the way that Uncle Tom’s Cabin summed up the years of slavery before the Civil War. Sensitive to fascist and communist criticism, Steinbeck insisted that “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” be printed in its entirety in the first edition of the book—which takes its title from the first verse: “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s fictional chronicle of the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s is perhaps the most American of American Classics.

A Reader's Experience...

"Moving" doesn't even begin to describe this American classic. As a reader, I lose my faith in humanity, gain it back, lose it all over again. It's tragic and profound, a full spectrum of human emotion and empathy. Although there are no happy endings, I am confident that we as humankind can (and will) learn to do better, and I believe that is only though such bold moves as taking the hidden realities of the era out of the shadows can we begin to be challenged to do so. I am in awe of the resourcefulness, teamwork, and compassion that are highlighted in Steinbeck's writing.

Throughout each chapter, the Joad family keeps their wits about them with a mix of humor, hard work, and brutal honesty. They save what they can and share what they can, go where they are needed and come up with innovative solutions. Although they get in to trouble, I believe it takes a high degree of intellegence on their part to have stayed alive and stayed together as much as they did.

Each family member fufills a skillfull role and works together seamlessly. Cooking, repairing, working, driving, and looking out for one another. They are the very definition of a team, a cohesive unit, and it proved to be key to their survival. They all knew how to gauge one anothers feelings and actions, and how to communicate and respond at a very connected level. It clearly matters not only what struggles you can overcome but who you are with, and if I found myself fighting for life and livlihood I can only hope to be bonded so deeply to my family and allies.

Another beautiful sentiment is the human compassion that does shine through in this saga. The preacher, the other families and travellers that the Joads meet along the way - so many extend a helping, courteous hand to another in need. They all recognise what it is to suffer, and all remind us that there really is "good folks" out there everywhere. The relationships become beautifully interdependent in that what goes around comes around. If you help others now, they will reciprocate when you come to need them. Somehow, despite the bitter circumstances, I feel that Stenbeck is reminding us that together, we are so much better and stronger than the superhuman, capitalist, economic forces that threaten to tear us apart, if we are willing to be.