A Different Kind of Christmas--Open Discussion, Nov. 2015

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

I'll beg him to help me post it. We are at a work thing so may be Sunday. What, what?!?! Two trees!!!!! Why can't you post pics in GR like FB?

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

I am getting to the action of this book and I have the feeling it's going to end real quick. I only lack 20 pages. I'm still working on getting that pic of "Frederick Douglass". Someone mentioned looking up more about this book online, it's kind of scarce.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I checked online, and other than some book reviews, couldn't really find anything. I was hoping to find some info linking Haley to Ashe County, or something explaining his motives in writing this book.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Diane wrote: "I checked online, and other than some book reviews, couldn't really find anything. I was hoping to find some info linking Haley to Ashe County, or something explaining his motives in writing this book"

My impression as to Haley's motives in writing this is that it's the kind of book that authors occasionally write for release during the Christmas shopping season; short, shallow, and saccharine sweet. They are not likely to win any prizes but they usually sell like hotcakes as stocking stuffers and might even get optioned as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Good insight Tom, it would fit nicely in a stocking and the cover is nice too.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Well, gee, Tom, you'd like think I could have figured that out since I work in a bookstore. We have a special table for just such books every year. (Slapping my forehead and going... Duh!)

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

And I'm done....just when it was getting good and exciting, it ended. I liked it but more appropriate for a middle grade read. I think using the word "Christmas" in the title was definitely a selling point for the observations Tom made above. I can now say I've read something by Haley. I will perhaps tackle Roots: The Saga of an American Family someday.

[Kim]

I am going to read this after Thanksgiving. Sounds like I will be able to read it quickly.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Kim wrote: "I am going to read this after Thanksgiving. Sounds like I will be able to read it quickly."

It definitely is a quick read that could help you reach your reading goal! It took me a lot longer to read than it should have but I was short on reading time over the last week.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

I can't help but chuckle when I read the scenes with the somewhat stodgy Dean Ridgeley. My 2nd cousin happens to the master of one of the colleges at Princeton and the difference couldn't be more apparent. Okay, there is one similarity and it is probably the one that counts the most. They both care about their students.

Check out this feature that HuffPo did on my cousin.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/w...

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Thank you, Laura, for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed with it. I think Haley could have done a lot better. My review is here.