Review/Giveaway: Remembering Christmas

A WINNING READINGS GIVEAWAY!

Title: Remembering Christmas
Author: Dan Walsh
Genre: Contemporary Christmas fiction
How to enter: Leave a comment on THIS post right here! If you're a subscriber or a follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.

Entry deadline: December 10, 2011

Restrictions: Open internationally!

That's right, enter right here for this giveaway.  This is my review copy, so it has been gently read.

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Publisher: Revell
Physical Description: 272-page hardcover
List Price: $15.99
ISBN: 978-0-8007-1979-1
Synopsis:

Can one Christmas change a life forever?

Rick Denton lives his life on his terms. He works hard, plays hard, and answers to no one. So when his mother calls begging him to come home after his stepfather has an aneurysm, Rick is more than a little reluctant. What was supposed to be just a couple days helping out at the family bookstore turns into weeks of cashing out old ladies and dealing with the homeless guy who keeps hanging around the store. The one bright spot is the lovely and intriguing young woman who works at his side each day.

As Christmas nears, Rick's old life beckons, the hurts from his past loom large, and the decisions he makes will determine more than just where he spends Christmas Eve.

With skillful storytelling, Dan Walsh creates a Christmas story that will have you remembering every good and perfect gift of Christmas.

About the Author:

Dan Walsh is the award-winning author of The Unfinished Gift, The Homecoming, The Deepest Waters, and Remembering Christmas. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Dan served as a pastor for 25 years. He lives with his family in the Daytona Beach area, where he's busy researching and writing his next novel.

What I Liked: 

Dan Walsh delivers all the ingredients of a classic Christmas story.  Tragedy, romance, a sweet little girl who isn't expecting much for Christmas, a cozy little bookstore with a great assortment of customers, and a realization of what's important - family and caring and love.

And the author adds in a nice little twist that I wasn't expecting - taking home the point that each person has value and deserves kindness, no matter their obvious outward deficiency.

I loved the message, the page-turning quality of the writing, and the setting.  The "memory" of the story is set in 1980 - when I was right about the age of little Amy in the book (and daughter of a Christian bookstore manager), so it was a definite walk down memory lane in terms of the music and toys and current events of the day that the author liberally sprinkles references to throughout.

Definitely a book I'd recommend adding to your Christmas list.

What I Didn't Like: 

There was one spot in the story where I thought, "Come on...  Really?"  It's where Rick, the main character, shows up with Barbie and Hollie Hobbie and Miss Piggy and Boby Softina and everything on the little girl's wish list.  Perhaps it's the equivalent of the old Christmas classics where a poor little girl ends up with the most beautiful porcelain doll she's been dreaming of but not dared to ask for.  But as the mom of a 4yo who's not shy at all about asking for Barbie and Disney and Strawberry Shortcake and all the other fad toys of the day, it made me a little concerned about the values we're passing to our kids when we give it ALL to them...

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Baker Publishing Group for the review copy of this book.