A Winter Dream - Richard Paul Evans

Title: A Winter Dream
Author: Richard Paul Evans
Pages: 266
Published: 2012
Genre: Christmas
Challenges: Support Your Library, Christmas Spirit
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: The author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box presents a new holiday novel about family, fate and forgiveness.

Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all of whom are employed by their father’s successful Colorado advertising company. But underneath the success runs a poisonous undercurrent of jealousy; Joseph is his father’s favorite and the focus of his brothers’ envy and hatred. When the father seems ready to anoint Joseph as his heir, the brothers make their move, forcing Joseph from the company and his Denver home, severing his ties to his parents and ending his relationship with his soon-to-be fianceé. Alone and lonely, Joseph must start a new life. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I read this book a couple of weeks ago and so my thoughts about the book have been somewhat forgotten, but I can tell you that I thought the book was pretty good up until the final few chapters.  The story seemed to be fairly realistic, but it seemed that once I got into the final chapters, it got into the stereotypical way of making sure that a story wrapped up nicely and quickly.  But other than that, I enjoyed it.

Bottom line: If you have read the others books, you will probably enjoy this one as well.  Its a nice light read for those that don't have a lot of time to read, but would like something to read during the Christmas season.

Rating: 3.725/5

Pages for 2012: 22022

The Taming of the Shrew - William Shakespeare

Title: The Taming of the Shrew
Author: William Shakespeare
Pages: 304
Published: 2003 (originally published 1590)
Genre: Drama, Classics
Challenges: Support Your Library, The Classics Club
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, the apparently ideal younger daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola. But before they can marry, Bianca's formidable elder sister, Katherine, must be wed. Petruchio, interested only in the huge dowry, arranges to marry Katherine -against her will- and enters into a battle of the sexes that has endured as one of Shakespeare's most enjoyable works. (via Goodreads.com)

Thoughts: I saw this play in September and quite honestly this play reaffirmed my belief that Shakespeare's plays are better watched than they are read, but there are some where I could read and see them and they would be effective both ways and this isn't one of them.  It should be noted that I am writing this when I am really tired and am unable to concentrate really well and quite honestly all I can remember is that while it was a quick read, it wasn't exactly a memorable one, as the play has a lot of innuendo that is put to better use on the stage.  If you are of a certain age, you may remember a movie called 10 Things I Hate About You; this is the play that it is based.

Bottom line: I would haven't read the play but because I was going to a production of the play, I was reading it. Its probably not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays and its a play that can easily be forgotten in the midst of the various other plays that Shakespeare is more well known for.

Rating:  3/5

Pages for 2012:  21356

The Christmas Wedding - James Paterson and Richard DiLallo

Title: The Christmas Wedding
Author: James Patterson and Richard Dilallo
Pages: 266
Published: 2011
Genre: Christmas Fiction
Rating: 2.5/5

The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married--and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day--she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

But the wedding isn't Gaby's only surprise--she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever.

Thoughts: After reading a number of reviews on this book and seeing that it has had mediocre reviews, I thought I would still give this book a chance and see if the book was better than what was being reported in regards to the book.  Honestly,  I like the stories of Gaby's children better than that of Gaby herself, who I thought was a bit odd in that she wouldn't reveal who she was marrying to anybody.  I honestly would have liked to see more of the journey's of her children to the wedding itself.  Did Claire have a conversation with Gus about his behaviour?  What was the conversation between Gaby's lawyer daughter and her husband as they came from New York?  I felt that the story was a bit disjointed and felt that the hype for the book was just that: hype. If you need to find something that you can quickly read during the Christmas/Holiday season, this book definitely fits that mold; I finished this book in a couple of sittings and found it okay.

The Quiet Little Woman - Louisa May Alcott

Title: The Quiet Little Woman : a Christmas story
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Pages: 122
Published: 1999
Genre: Short stories, Fiction, Christmas
Rating: 3/5

Everything about The Quiet Little Woman: A Christmas Story by Louisa May Alcott is heartwarming, starting with the extraordinary tale of its origin. Alcott wrote the story for three girls who emulated Little Women's March sisters by founding their own literary publication, but the magazine was lost for many years; this story is now being published in book form for the first time. The Quiet Little Woman tells the story of Patty, a young girl living hopelessly in an orphanage, who is rescued at Christmas time by a kindly woman named Aunt Jane. Also collected in this small, beautiful (and not coincidentally, Christmas stocking-size) volume are two of Alcott's other holiday stories; one of them, "Rosa's Tale," is a really lovely fable about a horse who speaks at midnight on Christmas Eve. (via Goodreads.com)

Thoughts: It was a nice light read.  Granted the book was very short and the book only took me less than 12 hours of reading time to complete, but it was still a nice diversion from the heavier books that are awaiting me.  I find it interesting that these three stories were only discovered quite recently and that Ms. Alcott took the time to pen these stories for the Lukens girls and their little publication, which was inspired by the paper that the March girls made in Little Women, even though she was a well-known author at the time of these stories and was in the midst of her own busy writing career.  The stories are quite simple and while the first two stories in the collection were more entertaining, the last story was a little confusing for the most part.  Overall it was enjoyable and a nice read.

Recommended for fans of Little Women and Alcott's other work.

Lost December - Richard Paul Evans

Title: Lost December: a novel
Author: Richard Paul Evans
Pages: 346
Published: 2011
Genre: Christmas, Fiction
Rating: 4/5

When Luke Crisp graduates from business school, his father, CEO and co-founder of Fortune 500 Crisp's Copy Centers, is ready to share some good news: he wants to turn the family business over to his son. But Luke has other plans. Taking control of his trust fund, Luke leaves home to pursue a life of reckless indulgence.

But when his funds run out, so do his friends. Humbled, alone, and too ashamed to ask his father for help, Luke secretly takes a lowly job at one his father's copy centers. There he falls in love with a struggling single mother and begins to understand the greatest source of personal joy. (via jacket flap)

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one.  The story takes the story of the prodigal son and gives it a modern twist.  I found it to be a little too simplistic and a little too straightforward, but I guess if somebody is basing a fictional story on a biblical tale, it usually is a little more straightforward than if one is developing one's own storyline, but for some reason I never found East of Eden to be that straightforward, even though it is also based on the biblical story of Cain and Able.  But I digress.

One thing that I thought that could have been improved upon was that there could have been a little more conflict between Luke and Rachael and more time spent on it; felt that it was rather rushed and it felt as though they resolved whatever issues they had rather quickly and probably a little too quickly for my liking.  I realize that its supposed to be a book that is meant to be read fairly quickly and therefore doesn't go into much depth, but I felt that issues that they had was dealt with fairly quickly, even though it felt like it was a huge betrayal for Rachael to discover; just felt that he could have added a few more pages and dealt with the conflict in regards to the text message a little more and have them discuss it a little more than they did at the end, not that I didn't understand where the author was coming from.

If you have read the other Christmas books by Evans, you will enjoy this one and even if you haven't read his other books, you will also like this warm-hearted tale.