Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories by Amy Newmark

 

Title:  Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories

Author:  Amy Newmark

Narrated by:  Kirby Heyborne, Emily Norman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 29 minutes

Source: Review copy from Simon Audio.  Thank-you!

What types of books do you like to read when you are super busy?  Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Spirit of Christmas was perfect for a busy time.  The stories are all short, seasonal, and uplifting.

Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Spirit of Christmas is a collection of 101 true stories that are set anywhere from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, with most being set at Christmas.  My thoughts on this collection:

·       This was great on audiobook.  I listened to this collection to start off my day for the last couple of weeks and it started off my day with a very bright spot.

·       Purchase of this book supports Toys for Tots which is a very worthy organization.

·       I liked that some stories gave me a good laugh while others brought a tear to my eye and really made me think about the true meaning of Christmas.

·       This was a cozy read.

·       There were a lot of stories related to Christian faith throughout, but mixed faith families such as a blended Hanukkah/Christmas celebration were also discussed.

·       I haven’t read a Chicken Soup for the soul book for quite a while and Imthink I need to listen to more of these on audiobook moving forward.

Overall, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories by Amy Newmark was a great cozy read and audiobook that really brought me into the spirit of the season.

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries Edited by Otto Penzler

 

Title:  Golden Age Christmas Mysteries

Author:  Otto Penzler

Narrated by:  Jonathan Sleep

Publisher: Highbridge Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 4 minutes

Source: Review copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite holiday decoration?  My favorites are the ceramic decorations my Grandma made me through the years.

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries is a collection of Christmas stories.  My thoughts on these stories:

·       I loved the little biographies about each author before the stories.  I felt like I was learning more about classic mystery authors. 

·       These were all new Christmas stories to me.

·       There were 14 stories with a mix of authors and styles.  Some more famous classic mystery authors such as Mary Roberts Rinehart, and John Dickson Carr, etc. were included.

·       I was surprised watching the new Knives Out movies that the author John Dickson Carr was prominently featured, and I had just read his Christmas story in this collection.

·       I really enjoyed this collection, especially as I got more into the book.  I’ve since downloaded eBooks/audiobooks of a few of the authors.

·       The narrator was great and did excellent voices.  His voice sounded like a Golden Age mystery narrator.

·       My favorite story in the collection was The Reversible Santa Claus by Meredith Nicholson.  It was a delightful and fun story.  The Hopper is a reformed thief who is trying to live an honest life when he feels the call to steal an automobile with a large purse inside.  He soon finds himself in a pickle as he as inadvertently kidnapped a child.  Hilarity ensues as he tries to figure out how to return the child without getting into trouble.  I want to read more of this Indiana author’s works.

Overall, Golden Age Christmas Mysteries Edited by Otto Penzler was a delightful collection of all new to me Christmas mystery stories.  I greatly enjoyed it and recommend it.

The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

 

Do you have a favorite book that you like to reread at the holidays?  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is just such a book for me.

The Night Before Christmas by Nikolia Gogol is the story of Vakula, a blacksmith and his fight against the devil who has stolen the moon and is causing all sorts of trouble in his village to win the most beautiful maiden.  This story was the December pick for the Classic Buddy Read hosted by @Dees.Reads.  This story was written in 1831 and is a traditional story read on Christmas Eve to children in Ukraine and Russia.  It is a short novella and I spent most of the time thinking – what the heck am I reading?  It was a strange tale and pretty much the opposite of The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore.  I guess I was expecting more of the Moore version, and this really threw me off.  It will not be a classic I reread at the holidays of the future.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com.

Under the Netherfield Mistletoe by Abigail Reynolds

 

Do you hang up a mistletoe in your home?  My kids make sure ours is up over our staircase every Christmas.

Elizabeth Bennet is searching for mistletoe at Netherfield when she meets Georgiana Darcy who has come with her brother to Netherfield to escape from the Christmas season and mend her broken heart.  As Elizabeth and Georgiana’s friendship grows, Darcy and Elizabeth find that their feelings and chemistry does as well.  Will these two end up together for Christmas?

My thoughts on this book:

·       I love Regency Christmas stories and must enjoy at least one every year!

·       This is a cute Pride and Prejudice variation.

·       It’s a short novella length which is perfect for the holidays.

·       I loved the Gardiners and their children in London.  It was a fun family and wonderful to see the Darcys get to know them.  I also enjoyed that Darcy had been childhood friends with Mrs. Gardiner’s brother.

·       Georgiana’s growth throughout the story was a joy to read about.  I was happy that she was able to finally stand up for herself.

·       I loved the sparks and chemistry between Darcy and Elizabeth – especially under the mistletoe!

·       This was a clean romance.

Overall, Under the Netherfield Mistletoe by Abigail Reynolds was a sweet Pride and Prejudice Christmas variation and romance.  It was a fun read for the holidays!

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com.

Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace

 

Title:  Holiday Ever After

Author:  Hannah Grace

Narrated by:  Teddy Hamilton, Christine Lakin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 22 minutes

Source: Review copy from Simon Audio.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite holiday romance movie?  I really like the movie The Holiday and also Love Actually.

Clara Davenport has dreams of climbing the corporate ladder at her family’s toy company.  When the company is accused of stealing a doll design, Clara travels to the small town of Fraser Falls to help solve the problem.  Once there, she meets Jack Kelly.  Initially sparks fly until Jack finds out she is a Davenport of the family that stole his doll design.  Will Clara be able to solve this problem in order to get her promotion?  Will Jack learn to trust again after having his design stolen in the past?

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       I loved the town of Fraser Falls and all the people in it.  There were a lot of great characters, and I enjoyed Clara getting to know them and to help them out.

·       This novel would make a great series.  I would love to see each character in Fraser Falls get their own story.  It would also make a good Hallmark Christmas movie.

·       This was a steamy romance and a sweet story.  Romantic tropes include enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and City Girl / Small Town Boy.

·       The audiobook had dual narrators for the dual point of view of the novel of Clara and Jack.  It was very enjoyable.

·       I really enjoyed the chemistry between the characters, in particular before they knew who each other were.

·       Jack had a dog named Elf which was very cute.  I always enjoy animals in stories.

·       My one complaint about this book is that it went on for too long.  I felt like it was over about halfway through. 

Overall, Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace is a sweet holiday romance with a bit of steam to keep your holidays warm.

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier

 

Title:  Frenchman’s Creek

Author:  Daphne Du Maurier

Narrated by:  John Castle

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 47 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.com

What is your favorite pirate novel/movie/TV show?

Lady Dona de Columb leaves London with her children for her remote estate in Cornwall.  The excesses of the restoration court have worn on her.  While there, she discovers that her butler has been working with a mysterious pirate who has been using her estate as a place to hide.  Dona soon finds herself in love with pirate Jean Benoit Aubery and loving the adventures they have together.  Will she sail off into the sunset with him or stay with her family?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this as part of the Classics Buddy Read with @dees.reads in November.

·       My former high school English teacher, Mrs. Smith, recommended this book to me in high school as I enjoyed Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.  While this is a very different type of book than Rebecca, I loved it.  This is my first time rereading it since high school.

·       I also enjoyed the 1944 feature film and 1998 TV movie.  I am going to watch them again now that my Christmas movie viewing is winding down.

·       This historical fiction novel is set during the reign of Charles II.

·       The novel was published in 1941. 

·       This novel is more of a historical romance with adventure and is a different genre than Du Maurier’s most famous novel, Rebecca.

·       William the devoted butler was my favorite character.  I loved the banter between him and Dona.

·       Dona’s husband, Harry, shows up with his friend Rockingham.  Harry is not the smartest and is easily fooled by Dona.  Rockingham on the other hand, knows that something is up.  He is a scary individual – it seemed like part of Dona’ s flight was to get away from Rockingham and his pursuit of her.

·       Dona has a free spirit and loves adventure.  There are some tense moments in the story, but she makes it through.

·       I think every busy mother of young children would like to run off with a handsome, well-educated pirate, but also knows that you are a mother and have to settle down. Dona ultimately understands this.  This book seemed to really make one ponder what it is to have dreams and be free, and what ultimately must be sacrificed to be a mother.

·       I liked the somewhat open ending and hope that Dona finds her pirate in the future after her kids are grown.

·       The writing in this novel is beautiful and it has a lovely opening.  It worked very well as an audiobook.

Favorite Quotes: 

“And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper of the dreams that she had dreamt there, in midsummer, under the hot sun and the white sky.”

“All this, is only momentary, is only a fragment in time that will never come again, for yesterday already belongs to the past and is ours no longer, and tomorrow is an unknown thing that may be hostile. This is our day, our moment, the sun belongs to us, and the wind, and the sea, and the men forward there singing on the deck. This day is forever a day to be held and cherished, because in it we shall have lived and loved, and nothing else matters but that in this world of our own making to which we have escaped.”

Overall, Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier is a beautifully written historical romance novel.

The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai Edited by Taylor Cole Miller

 

Title: The Golden Girls:  Tales from the Lanai

Edited by: Taylor Cole Miller 

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer, Tanya Eby, Diontae Black

Publisher: Highbridge Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 56 minutes

Source: Review copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite nostalgic show?  I have several including The Golden Girls, Magnum PI, Murder She Wrote, and Little House on the Prairie.  Can you tell I was a child of the 1980s?

The Golden Girls:  Tales from the Lanai is a collection of essays that explore the “cultural, industrial, and historical impact of the beloved American sitcom.”  Why does the Golden Girls still resonate forty years after it first aired?

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       The Golden Girls:  Tales from the Lanai is a nonfiction book on the show, actors, scenes, and episodes, and the impacts they made on society and culture.

·       I listened to the audiobook, and it was fascinating.  I enjoyed the different narrators.

·       I enjoyed the details on how the show was produced, and its narrative structure (flashbacks, lines, etc.)

·       2025 is the fortieth anniversary of the premiere of The Golden Girls television show.  It’s a perfect time to analyze and think about what makes this show so good.

·       There has been a resurgence in popularity in The Golden Girls over the last five years.  It’s one of my own comfort shows that I like to watch.  I didn’t realize it had had a resurgence in popularity as it’s always been popular to me.

·       What is “nostalgic” viewing and why is The Golden Girls a part of it?  Nostalgic viewing includes episodic shows with storylines that are wrapped up in one episode.  Familiarity also fuels nostalgic viewing.

·       The Golden Girls gained a new following and resurgence when it started appearing on Hulu during the 2020 lockdown.  As a family we started watching Magnum PI during this time for similar reasons.

·       I loved recognizing the episodes and scenes in various essays included in this book.

·       It is interesting how this comedy was one of Disney’s biggest successes in the 1980s.

·       It is also interesting how progressive the show was for the 1980s with gay characters, older women having sex lives, Rose having an Aids scare, etc.

·       It was interesting that The Golden Girls premiered on Saturday nights during a block of black programming that included Gimme a Break and 227.  I loved these shows as a kid.   The Golden Girls appealed to black viewers in the 1980s and was one of the top shows in that demographic.

·       There was a warning at the beginning of the book that this is an academic book, not just for casual fans.  I am not a Golden Girls academic, but I understood it and enjoyed the details.

Overall, The Golden Girls:  Tales from the Lanai Edited by Taylor Cole Miller was a fascinating nonfiction audiobook on the details of one of my favorite nostalgic shows and its place in history.  I recommend this for fans of The Golden Girls.

The Christmas Stranger by Richard Paul Evans

 

Title:  The Christmas Stranger

Author:  Richard Paul Evans

Narrated by:  Richard Paul Evans

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 7 minutes

Source: Review copy from Simon Audio.  Thank-you!

What is the last book that made you cry?  This book made me feel a lot of feelings and I did cry at the end.

Paul lost his wife and son three years ago in an accident.  He is at the end of his rope and has decided to commit suicide, even though he feels guilty about leaving his dog Barkley alone.  A mysterious stranger shows up and changes Paul’s life.  He directs Paul to a pharmacy where Paul helps to save people during a robbery in progress.  He also puts him in the path to rescue a boy from bullying.  Who is this Christmas stranger, and will Paul find life worth living once again?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       It’s not Christmas without a new Richard Paul Evans book.  I love reading his books every year and getting into the Christmas spirit.

·       It is interesting how many Christmas stories have a Christmas stranger, spirit, or angel that helps the protagonist find their path forward.

·       I loved that author Richard Paul Evans reads the audiobook himself.  He was a great narrator. 

·       This was a very emotional book.  The book was about grief, guilt, forgiveness, and starting over.

·       The only thing I didn’t like is although Paul was a good guy helping a kid out, it seemed creepy in today’s world that he would be at the school talking to the principal about a kid not related to him, picking him up, waiting for another kid.

·       This would be a great Christmas movie.

·       I loved the characters, especially Paul and young Ronald.

·       This was a clean read.

·       I don’t want to say too much as I think it’s best to experience this story yourself without knowing any details.

Overall, The Christmas Stranger by Richard Paul Evans is a heartwarming and touching Christmas story that was perfect on audiobook.

One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallory

 

How many books do you carry while traveling?  I usually bring several with me and my kindle.

Julie Parker’s kids asked her to skip Christmas this year.  She is okay with this plan as she is looking forward to spending Christmas with her much younger boyfriend.  Plans suddenly change when her kids want Christmas together at the family cabin to remember their father (Julie’s ex) who passed away during the past year.  Julie must change plans with her new boyfriend and get everything ready at the cabin.  As more guests keep being added, will the family have a merry Christmas together?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallory was the December read for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  There was mixed reactions from the club on this book.  Some loved it, some didn’t like it, some were just okay with it.

·       There was a small section in the book with dialogue for kids that threw me out of the story.  They talked like adults and not like kids their age.

·       A character has IBS.  Her trials were discussed, and her mother-in-law makes sure she has food she can eat.  I related to this character as I have had a variety of gastrointestinal woes my entire adult life.  It’s hereditary and most of my family also has some combination of it as well.  It would be nice if people realized it is a real illness and tried to ensure you had food to eat rather than expressing that it is a “fake” illness.  I haven’t really read about a character with these problems where they aren’t just making jokes about it. 

·       The “cabin” made me laugh.  It was 6,000 square feet.  It was not what I think of as a cabin.  It had a lot of bedroom and bathrooms.  Yet everyone could hear each other’s conversations with the way it was designed.

·       Julie seemed very accepting of extra guests, even her boyfriend’s ex-wife.  Most in the book club did not think this was very realistic.

·       No one in book club seemed to think it was a big deal that Julie’s boyfriend was twelve years younger than her.  The only person that it seemed to bother was Julie herself in the book.

·       There were a lot of characters to keep track of, and lots of drama like a soap opera.

·       There were sex scenes, but also people getting caught having sex which was cringe worthy.

·       This was a middle of the road read for me.  I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it.

Overall, One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallory was a middle of the road Christmas family drama.

Book Source:  Review copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

 

The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon

 

Title:  The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Author:  John U. Bacon

Narrated by:  Johnny Heller

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 53 minutes

Source: Review copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

What was your favorite nonfiction read for 2025?  The Gales of November by John U. Bacon was one of my favorites.  It arrived at the perfect time for the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  My family recently listened to this audiobook on a trip to visit family over Thanksgiving.  My son got to listen to a talk from the author last week at Michigan Tech.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest most profitable ship on the Great Lakes.  It helped to keep the region economically strong by bringing iron ore from the iron range down to manufacturing centers in Detroit.  On November 10, 1975, a storm of the century blew through causing fifty-foot waves on Lake Superior.  The Edmund Fitzgerald was at the wrong place at the wrong time and sank taking all twenty-nine crew members with her.  No distress signal was sent, and the ship just disappeared.  What exactly sank her has been a mystery for fifty years.  Gordan Lightfoot’s haunting ballad helped to propel this regional mystery to a national tragedy.

My thoughts on this book:

·       This book covered many topics related to the Edmund Fitzgerald and I found it all fascinating.

·       Background information was included such as the hydraulics of the Great Lakes, the history of iron ore and the auto industry, as well as the importance of shipping on the economy. 

·       The construction and funding of the ship was also discussed.  I felt bad that Edmund Fitzgerald sounded like a great guy and now his name will be remembered in history as the sinking of this great ship.

·       As a Michigan Tech grad, I appreciated that the University was brought up, and a professor was interviewed form the Great Lakes Research Center to discuss waves.  A brief overview of Copper Country history included the 1913 Italian Hall Disaster in Calumet.

·       The 1913 storm of the century was detailed for comparison. 

·       There was information about the twenty-nine men on board.  It was nice to know their stories and the impact that their deaths had on those that loved them.  The most amazing story was about Ruth who lost her twenty-two-year-old son, Bruce, on the Edmund Fitzgerald . . . only to find out six months later that she had a grandchild.  Bruce’s girlfriend three months pregnant when he drowned.  They had planned to marry when he got home.

·       The book gives step by step details on what is known to have happened that fateful night.

·       The very interesting story of how Gordon Lightfoot wrote the song and its acceptance by the families was described.  They accepted it because Lightfoot was so sincere and wanted to get it right to honor the lost men and their families.

·       6,000 ships sank in the Great Lakes between 1875 and 1975 which killed an estimated 30,000 sailors.  What was different about this sinking was that it was the last major ship to sink in the Great Lakes.  After its sinking, many changes were made to try to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. In the last month, we had great waves on the Great Lakes and no ships were out.

·       The audiobook narrator was great.

 

Overall, The Gales of November by John U. Bacon this was a fascinating and detailed look into the tragedy of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.