Sunday 16 December 2012

Sunday December 16, 2012 Christmas Novels



In last week’s column, we focused on eBook readers: helping you with a question we get a lot at the library – “what eBook reader should I buy”? With Christmas just around the corner, my guess is that eBook readers are or soon will be flying off the retail shelves.Once you have chosen your reader, or opened that gift containing one, your next stop should be the library. Not only can we provide you with assistance in navigating that new device, but we also have thousands of eBooks available for loan from our collection. eBooks are just another format.  They are compact and portable, and you can download them from the library website 24/7.  If you want a more tactile experience, chose paper but you will need to visit the library during our holiday hours.  Either way, go green and borrow your titles from the library. Here are some Christmas reads that you can load onto your device OR borrow from the library in the traditional paper format – you choose your preference:

An Amish Christmas by Cynthia Keller. “Meg Hobart has everything: a happy marriage to a handsome, successful husband, a beautiful home in Charlotte, North Carolina, and three wonderful children. But it all comes crashing down around her the day she learns that her husband, James, has been living a lie--and has brought the family to financial ruin. A frightening twist of fate forces the Hobarts to take refuge with a kind Amish family in Pennsylvania, where they find themselves in a home with no computers, no cell phones, nothing the children consider fashionable or fun. Celebrating life's simplest but most essential values, packed with laughter and tears, this is a story of forgiveness and the power of love.”

Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb. “It's 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he'll never forget. LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade. Back in his beloved fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, with a new cast of endearing characters, Wally Lamb takes his readers straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial. From the Funicello family's bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin' and Hopin' is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been and how far we've come.”

Anne Perry Christmas: Two Holiday Novels. A Christmas Journey: “In the Berkshire countryside, family and guests have gathered for a delicious weekend fête surrounded by roaring fires and candlelight. It's scarcely the setting for misfortune, and no one-not even that clever budding sleuth Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould-anticipates the tragedy that is to darken this holiday house party.  A Christmas Visitor: “At the Dreghorn family reunion, the tranquility of a snowbound English estate is shattered by what is an apparently accidental death. The victim's distraught wife summons her godfather, the distinguished mathematician and inventor Henry Rathbone, to the scene. And questions about the tragic event soon turn into whispers of murder.”

Other Christmas titles available in both formats: 1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber, Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs, and Winter House by Carol O’Connell.   Happy Reading!

Barbara Philp 

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