Christmas Books

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go.....
read a book read a book read a book.....
(thanks to Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne)


When you are in this situation, read a book. This time of year, when I pick up a book to read, I want it to be about Christmas, I want to be able to read it in a day or two, and I want a warm, fuzzy feeling when I'm done. With that in mind, I have a list of some of the best Christmas stories I have read over the years..that fit my criteria.


A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

Capote tale of the wonderful relationship between an orphaned boy and elderly woman gives you a warm glow. The making of the fruitcakes and the homemade gifts as they prepare for Christmas, the feelings they have for one another....eating the remains of the fruitcake and getting a little tipsy. Set in Alabama in the 1930's, it is about a time long gone when times where simpler. A little gem of a story.


Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Who sometimes doesn't wish to just opt out of Christmas? Funny story about Luther and Nora Krank who decide to skip Christmas when their only child tells them she isn't coming home for Christmas. They decide to go on a cruise. The neighbors are furious when the Kranks don't put up any decorations and make clear they are forgoing Christmas. Last minute shenanigans ensue when, at the last minute, their daughter calls Christmas Eve as they are sneaking out of their house and she has decided to come home and wants to celebrate their usual family holiday. The whole neighborhood springs into action to save Christmas for the Kranks.




A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

After being told by his doctor that this could be his last Christmas ever, 52-year old Oswald T. Campbell leaves cold wintry Chicago and heads to Lost River, Alabama. One grocery store...and the local cardinal, a redbird called Jack...and with attempts to fix him up with a widow, things are different. When Oswald and his new friends become involved with abandoned, crippled young Patsy, the tugging at the heartstrings begin. Will there be snow for Christmas? Will Oswald make it to another Christmas? Will Flagg combine sass with love, humor and charm? Will she get you get a little teary-eyed? Oh yeah.


A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor

If you enjoy Keillor like I do, give this a go. If you like audio, definitely listen to it read by Keillor. I always like an authors interpretation of their books. On his way to Hawaii for Christmas, our traveller is summoned to his sick Aunt's side and ends up spending it in his North Dakota hometown instead during a blizzard. The electricity goes out and lo' and behold our traveller is visited by friends from his past, and some historical figures pop in....he hears angles singing, the silence of the night amazes him...and it changes things for him and how he will live his life. Humor and the heartstrings pull here!


A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott

I love Medlicott "Ladies of Covington" series, so this one I was looking forward to cozing up with. When the Ladies of Covington find an old tin box, they find letters inside written by two Civil War soldiers, one an Union soldier and one an Confederate soldier. The discovery of the contents in the box turns this into an historical saga. Another wonderful heart tugger....I was sorry to close the last page.
*Note-I love Medlicott's Ladies series. It is definitely one to cozy up with in front of the fire during the cold months.

The Christmas Letters by Lee Smith

Another author I love to read. This book is three generations of women who write a Christmas letter every year, beginning in 1944-1996. They share what the past year has brought them, both good and bad. A charmer of a read.

Christmas on Jane Street by Billy Romp

I discovered this book a few years ago. I gave it as gifts to those of my friends who had teenage daughters.

This is based on a true story about Mr. Romp, his wife, and three children who for ten years have come from Vermont to New York City to sell their Christmas trees. Romp's daughter, his right hand, the one who he counts on to make sure all is running smoothly is on the cusp of becoming a teenager, and not as interested in the tree business as in the past. Traditions are wonderful, but what happens when new traditions come around?

The Polar Express by Chis Ban Allsburg
This book brings back such happy memories for me! This was the book I read Christmas Eve to my girls, and my oldest had a bell she kept with her that she jingle during the night. I still read it, to anyone who will listen. Ah, this one makes me smile.

I hope one of one of these give you a wonderful happy holiday reading!

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

The worth of a book is to be measured
by what you can carry away from it.
James Bryce

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

Jim Fergus

I love books based on "what if?" One Thousand White Women is very much a "what if" book.
While this is fiction, it is based on an historical fact. In 1875, the chief of the Cheyenne, Lone Wolf, came to Washington and met with President Grant. Knowing that the way of life of the Indian was changing, he requested "Brides for Indians," he offered one thousand horses for one thousand white women. The idea being that the white women would marry the Cheyenne, have a baby, and therefore assimilate the Indians into the white man's world and hopefully bring peace between the two. That's the fact, now we begin the fiction.

While publicly Grant was aghast, secretly he gave his consent to send one thousand white women to the Cheyenne. Recruiters went to jails, mental institutions, debtors' prisons, and were sent out to find women to fill the quota. May Dodd was in the first group to head west, having been recruited from a mental institution. She joined quite a cast of characters when they were loaded on the train to take them to Indian Country.

We did this book for book discussion, and over bison stew--made by yours truly--came to the consensus that we loved this book. We agreed that we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was fiction. We were amazed that the author, Jim Fergus, could do such an amazing job from a women's point of view. May Dodd kept a journal from the beginning of the journey to the end. The deal is that the women have to stay with the Cheyenne for two years, have a child, then they are free to do what they want. All teh women had been pardoned so they didn't have to fear being returned to prison, instituions or home. The writing about the lives of the women while living with the Cheyenne is wonderful. How the women adjust to the life among a different people, a people who they have been taught to fear, does take some time but when they realize these are not the vicious savages they had heard about, life isn't awful The women learn to ride horses, eat different foods then they were used to, (choked, boiled puppy was a big favorite in the Cheyenne diet) cook, pack up and move, and live in crowded teepee's. Cheyenne braves could have more then one wife and, yes, they all lived together. The women are amazed at how accepting the Indians are of someone being different and how they hold them in high regard. Half-breeds, who the white man considered as beneath them, the Indians believed to be special and treat them with respect. When the women see the affects of liquor on the Indians they realize that not everything the white people have brought the Indians is good.

The historical writing has been well researched. The violence between the different tribes, the distrust between the Indian and the white man, and the government reneging on the "deal" that was made; the Indians had forfilled their part of the deal, delivered the one thousand horses, but no more white women were coming. When gold is discovered in the Black Hills, the Black Hills that had been given to the Sioux and Cheyenne "forver and ever" in a treaty, all hell breaks loose when the news reaches the East as the mad rush for gold begins.

One of the most interesting things about this book was that author, a male, could write with such insight about women. Fergus made his female characters strong, independent and definitely before their time. We had to keep reminding ourselves reading the book that this was fiction.

While this book is based on fact, the Cheyenne did approach the Grant administration for "brides," the Grant administration was horrified at the request...or were they?

The book came to an end that was not one any of us liked...

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction, or... even if you don't.

Happy Reading!

Always Magic in the Air!

They say the neon lights are bright

On Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air....

The Drifters

For me, one of the best things about growing up in the sixties was the music. I don't think any era had it as good as we did then...which has proven time and again by the songs that have been remade. I can remember when my daughter was a teenager, she had on her radio station in the car. We're driving along, I'm singing along with the radio and she is apalled that I am singing...but amazed that I know the song! I told her the song was one that was a hit when I was a teenager..long long ago.

In the Brill building writing songs were Carole King, Neil Sedeka, Ellie Greenwich, Hal David, Phil Spector, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Lieber and Stoller, Burt Bacharach, Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan.....to name some of the songwriters. Don Kirshner running the show, setting them against each other to see who would turn out the next smash hit song. Kirshner, to get the results he wanted with a song, would have them compete amongst themselves. He would push them to outdo each other, whether they collaborated together or wrote alone. I can only imagine what music was in that one building with all that talent. While reading this book I could feel the music in the air. When you think of the songs that came out of that building:

"On Broadway"

"Last Train to Clarksville"
"Do Wah Diddy Diddy"
"Be My Baby"
"Loco-motion"
"Dream Lover"
"We Gotta Get Outta This Place"
"Hanky Panky"
"Leader of the Pack"
"Stand By Me"
"Only in America"
"Hey Girl"

"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"

"Anyday Now"

This is just a few, and yes, I can go on and on.... Do any of those songs bring a smile to your face when you hear them? Do they bring back a memory? Do you remember who sang these songs...here are some of the singers who were lucky enough to sing some of them:

The Monkees

Bobby Vee
The Chiffons
Ben E. King
The Drifters
Dion
The Animals
Dionne Warwick

Lesley Gore
Bobby Darin
Shangri-las
Manfred Mann
Tommy James and the Shondells
Righteous Brothers

I loved this book. I liked the background on the singers and songwriters. The fierce competition between them to not only write the next big hit, but to have the singer that they felt would make it a hit. Even the backstabbing that went on was interesting, especially between some of the songwriters who were married to each other; it was important who had the next big hit, didn't matter if you outdid your spouse. Finding out that the Monkees weren't just acting like jerks on TV.....they were worse in person. What made Neil Sedeka decide he wanted to sing his own songs? Carole King, Neil Diamond...two more hit songwriters who decided to sing the songs they wrote,  how great for them and lucky for us! The Righteous Brothers turned down "We Gotta Get Outta This Place"  and the Animals ended up doing it. What do you think, would the song still hold up the way it has if the Righteous Brothers had sang it? While reading about the history of the Brill Building, what they did for music, the talent that was there....I had to put the music on while I read the book, which made this even more fun to read.

Music and books are two of my favorite things in the world, put them together and I am in heaven! Kudos to Emerson for writing a terrific books and giving the Brill Building, and those wonderful songwriters, long overdue recognition.

If you enjoy music, like to find out who's was behind some of your favorite songs, how the songs and the singers came together, then this is a book for you. I highly recommend it ...I enjoyed it so much I bought my own copy for my bookshelf.

Happy Reading!

Bad Moon Rising

Don't go round tonight                            
Well, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise....
Creedence Clearwater Revival



Want a book that makes the back of your neck tingle? How about a movie that will make you lose sleep for a few nights? It's that time of year when you just have to read, or watch, something that leaves you with a jumpy feeling for every noise that you hear. or shadow that you see....or think you see?
Some of my favorites? Hmmmmm.


Salem's Lot by Stephen King

I read the book, which gave me many a sleepless night. The branches of the trees tapping on the windows can still give me that chill down my back. A small New England town is being turned into vampires with only a handful of people left to stand up to the undead. The atmosphere is set right from the start of the book and stays with you as you read. I recommend you leave the lights on while reading. (And don't invite anybody in....) Then I watched the mini-series on TV when it came out, the original, directed by Toby Hooper, starring David Soul and James Mason. Hooper did a great job bringing a classic terror novel to the small screen. Just thinking about it makes me want to run and lock the windows, doors....get out the wooden stakes. Now I am now having flashbacks about!!!

Summer of Night by Dan Simmons

It's 1960, and the question is, "What's going on in Elm Haven, Illinois ?" When five twelve year old boys decide to find out, they are horrified at what they discover. How long has this been going on, and who can they trust? You never know what evil you'll uncover when you go looking. Another great horror novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat.


Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

First time I read this I couldn't put it down. Of course, reading a vampire novel into the late hours of the night is not a good idea, especially this one. This is one of the best supernatural thrillers I have ever read, with the combination of horror, longing for love, and looking for redemption done marvelously. I read it in one day, and night, because I really wanted to find out what eventually happens between the vampire and the boy. My opinion of the movie? Out of five stars, I would say....two.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

What happens when the director of Pan's Labyrinth and a thriller author, Prince of Thieves, get together? You get the beginning of a new trilogy that has humans battling for their When the Boeing 777 lands in New York, stops dead on the runway, no lights are on, the shades are drawn...there's been no communication between the plane and air traffic controllers, when you get on board it seems to be full of dead, or near dead people, who you going to call?
Is this book going to scare you? One of my patrons brought it back without finishing it. He told me he wanted to read it, the writing was superb, but he likes to read at night and he couldn't go to sleep after reading this. He felt what happens was to feasible. Good stuff. I myself have looked at it numerous times, but wonder....do I dare?


Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Let me introduce you to one of the most diabolically and perverse murderers I have met in a long time. Gretchen Lowell is one mean serial killer, takes her time at it, and enjoys what she does. Talk about a perfect setting for her dirty deeds, can it get any better then Portland? With it's foggy, rainy, damp weather? Portland helps give this series, the "nourish" feel that will give you a spine tingle. Heartsick is the first in Cain's Gretchen Lowell series.


A few more books to keep you up at night:

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Oh yeah, let's all spend the night in a spooky house and see what happens! One of the best horror novels ever written.
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Who are you having for dinner?
Bless the Child by Cathy Cash Spellman
What do you mean you want to take my granddaughter to join a Satanic Cult!
Mine by Robert McCammon
The '60's are over, but you never know when something that happened back then will pop up again.
Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris
Fun series about a little town in Louisiana that has an unusual population.


Movies to curl up and watch:
The above mentioned Salem's Lot (1976 version)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (!956 version)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (yes..I love this movie!)
The Lost Boys- ("Wait till I tell mom your a &%$@#(@ #* vampire!")

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Black humor abounds as Jack, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, decides to kidnap Santa and take over Christmas. This movie is also good at Christmas...

Dusk till Dawn (warning! Quentin Tarantino not only directed this movie, he stars in it. Full of violence, language and, yes, humor.)

Night of the Living Dead (1968 version)
I remember watching this with a group of friends at the drive-in, screaming, driving through a graveyard afterwards, then going for pizza. Glad it was in black and white.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)
They were told at the Slaughtered Lamb pub not to get lost in the moors of Yorkshire at night, especially during a full moon! I like this movie, mainly because it has a cool soundtrack. Each song has the word "moon" in the title.
It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!
It's all what you believe in, and friendship.

Enjoy your Halloween.....whatever you do. I will do my usual marathon of one of my favorite TV show, Bewitched, the Halloween episodes.

Wishing you Happy Reading!