Poignant story for winter shut-ins.
358637
Wish it had the cover but the book is older than I am. Great story for the North Eastern US.  We don't have anywhere near this amount of snow, but. . .
2959881
This is a lovely story about love, forgiveness and finding inner peace in the midst of tragedy. I have read other Macomber's books but this one will be one of my favorites because of its gentle theme.

There is Jo Marie, a young widow who moved to Cedar Cove after her husband was killed in Afghanistan. She bought a bed and breakfast inn and almost immediately, she gets two guests staying. Their stories entertwined with Jo Marie's through a long weekend.

Abby Kincaid comes home for her brother's wedding, which is one of the hardest things for her to do since she left Cedar Cove after a tragic car accident. Josh comes home to tend to his dying stepfather and there are a lot of unresolved issues between them. Along with Jo Marie, they struggled with finding peace and purpose in this weekend.

It is a lovely story and cozy. It is perfect for those long winter nights or those lazy days at the beach/pool/lake.

8/16/12
1921493
I read the opening chapter of this story asking myself how the author could create character who could be so ice cold to not offer to take in three ADORABLE needy children.  After trying to explain the story to my adult daughter I had tears in my eyes.  Finishing the story I found to be wonderful story of a loving family.  A future holiday classic
1968762
A very moving story with a satisfying ending. As a teacher and mother, I appreciate both the exposure to intermediate vocabulary and the depth of meaning this book offers. The theme is one that needs to be taught year round!
1375653
This is the perfect little story to read when you need a break from the bustle of the holidays. Holly, a single mom, is rescued by her boss on a cold night when everything goes wrong for her. Declan, the boss, has been lonely and wondered how he could have missed this beautiful woman at work for two years. He pursues, she runs, but hey, it's Christmas. It has to work out. This is a cute and well-written story. Treat yourself!
4424947
This is not one of those arty, existentialist short stories that presents a mundane series of people or events, but never really seems to go anywhere or make any point. This story definitely has a point, and it's one I think just about any adult can appreciate. I don't say "adult" because it has any material that would be inappropriate for someone younger, but because it will resonate much more strongly with people who've been around the block a few times.

The characters are simply but effectively drawn, and interact with one another in very natural ways. It's a warm and welcoming story, and it will make you think. There's a philosophical bent to this one, but it's still very accessible.
1473313
This is a sad but sweet story about friendship, and how people aren't always what they seem.  If everyone were brave enough to take the kind of risk that Scott did, there might be less conflict and more understanding in the world.  In spite of its title, this isn't specifically a Christmas story... it's a book that can be enjoyed any time of the year.  A quick read, but a very worthwhile one.
4750237
Life in a remote northern Ontario community for a family held together more by circumstances than by love and care. Both the mother and the father are damaged individuals and the only daughter is the glue which holds them together. She is surprisingly given the option to escape and she uses it  and her past willpower and comittment to hard work to gain experience and an education, on the job, which is to prove to be her salvation - and that of the family itself. We cheer for her and her ability to support and lead her family to future success. Self reliance is a hallmark of those who live in the north and our heroine has it in spades.
1249629
I've been looking for a way to broach the subject of homelessness with my two sons, ages 6 and 4. I'm trying to teach them to be thankful for their blessings and to look for opportunities to help the less fortunate. It was with this intent that I came across this picture book.

The WWII-era story begins in Frances' apartment, where she looks down on an old man, an organ grinder and his monkey working the cold, snowy corner of Fifth and Vine before Christmas. Frances is troubled by the man's plight and is saddened even more when she comes to realize he's homeless. She reaches out to him and in doing so invokes the book's title.

The book is warmly illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. The artwork reminded my sons of Chris Van Allsburg's classic&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Polar-Express/dp/061861169X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Polar Express</a>.

In summary, the book is a heartfelt holiday story that provides means to discuss homelessness with young children. I recommend this book with five stars.
1508833
This is a beautiful story of a family that takes treats out to the forest creatures in winter, finds a reindeer, and takes him home only to find him gone in the morning. They soon receive a personal thank you letter from Santa!

This is a gorgeously illustrated picture book that really evokes the spirit of Christmas. The layer of snow flurries over each page really bring that cold winter feel and add to the magic of the story itself.

This is one I'd be glad to add to growing pile of Christmas books.

Religious references.
2327796
This was a good read on a cold, snowy day.  Not the typical romance novel.  These women shows strength of character and unfailing friendship.
4649443
An extremely well written story of a familys struggles for survival in North Dakota an their Faith in God. The hazards of winter are so real to the reader, it brings tears to your eyes with what they endured. The sense of community between struggling farmers is a longing in my soul to experience.
It is a spiritual event in ones own life to read the steadfastness of others. Enjoy and share!
3699605
You might want to wrap up in a blanket and sip hot tea as you read Leif Enger's PEACE LIKE A RIVER.  His story is about a family who spends most of its time in the frozen environs of Minnesota and North Dakota.  Enger's descriptive writing that has them rambling around in constant wind and snow is sure to make your nose run.  But there is a warmth that spreads throughout Enger's story that pushes the snow to the side of the road.

The Land family has big problems.  Older son Davy goes on the run after killing a couple of home intruders in a less than chivalrous way.  His father, a miracle worker of sorts with strong religious convictions, gathers his younger son, eleven-year-old Rueben, and daughter, Swede, who's a little younger, and they head out into the frozen countryside to find Davy and bring him home.  Their transportation is a beat up Mercury with a balky heater; their home is a chilly Airstream trailer; their destination, other than a nebulous north, is unsettled.  Reuben has an asthma attack on the road and, in desperation, they take refuge at the rundown service station and farm of Roxanna Cawley, a prickly but kindly widow who keeps them warm and fed while Rube recovers.

Reuben is a plucky little guy who constantly struggles with the effects of his illness, but who is still full of energy and optimism.  Swede, ever her brother's guardian, loves to read and write and keeps Rube entertained through his rough moments with her talents. She is resourceful and not above chicanery if necessary.  The father holds it all together with his common sense and religious fervor.  Although he wavers from the path of sanity on occasion, Reuben and Swede manage to keep a grip on things until he comes to his senses.

I'll not say much more about their quest because it's full of quirks and surprises that you need to find for yourself.  I will comment on the skill of the storyteller, Leif Enger.  His descriptive narratives and abilities in setting the scenes are magnificent.  His dialogue is spot on and absolutely riveting.  He creates vivid and mesmerizing images.  This book is a good as it gets...a classic tale of a family with strong bonds and irrepressible love for each other.  It's a must read.

Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES
4484620
Gail Fraser's "The Lumby Lines" is a warm story about acceptance and tolerance in a small Northwestern community. The Lumby Lines is actually the name of a town newspaper, and it highlights the latest gossip and news in the small town of Lumby. A married couple, Mark and Pam Walker decide to leave the city life and  move to town. They soon fall in love with a property that used to be an old Abbey. The Montis Abbey was a monastery in 1893, but has since gone to disrepair. Pam has plans to restore the property to make it into an Inn, and her husband Mark agrees to the plan.

Unfortunately, the town is not as accepting of the couple's plans. The Lumby Lines works against the couple by publishing gossip and news that the proposed inn will not be good for the town, in an effort to turn the residents against the couple. The town government is sharply influenced by the Beezer family. They have a say in what does and doesn't happen within the town borders. But the Beezer family has its own secrets that the townsfolk will or will not tolerate coming to light, and the story does square them all in the end for the reader.

The idea that a couple would move to a small town and want to turn an historic property into a profitable inn is not a new one. But this story is fresh and fun to read. Each time the Walkers are thwarted by the town, for not pulling the proper permits, or for not having a business plan sent to the town council, the reader finds that there are people who step up to help the couple at every turn.

There is a festival and raft race in which the town comes together after an accident, and the Walkers find out that the townsfolk are starting to come around. The story shows that people want to get along, and in Lumby, they want to find a way to bury the past in a literal and figurative way, and get on with their lives.

I would recommend reading the Lumby Lines, which is first in a series of Lumby stories.
2643
The Ansterburg family lives in abject poverty. Their home is a barn which they share with filthy farm animals. Their lives are a constant struggle against the elements. So desperate is their plight that they are forced to scrounge for the ancient apples produced by a vine infested tree and turn them into apple butter. The girls must give up their aspirations of an education and stay home to work alongside their mother as they anxiously try to get the work completed before a massive storm threatens their very existence.

When the storm does come, it nearly collapses the barn-home and the girls are terrified to the point of hysteria. (You may need to skip this part for younger audiences who might, like the girls in the story, start to lose control of themselves with fear). After the sickening ice storm passes, it has wreaked total havoc on the lives of the Ansterburg family. It has destroyed the moldy old apple tree, the single gleaming point of light in their otherwise bleak existence. The heartless father begins to chop it into pieces for firewood to keep the family alive for one more day.

After Christmas comes, it turns out the father was actually sacrificing the best interests of his family (keeping them warm) to mollify his two whiny daughters who were on the verge of catatonic depression over the loss of their Apple Tree. The father has turned portions of the tree into a drawing board for one daughter, and a swing for the other. These diversions likely eased the girls into the next few months of blinding snow storms and brutal cold, as the family desperately forged ahead into an uneasy future. Their fates are not made clear in the book, except for a haunting charcoal drawing left behind by on of the girls. It illustrates the last happy moment the family had together, the day they collected apples from the dead apple tree. In a subtle metaphor, the author hints that like the tree which was doomed from the start, the family too, may not live out the rest of the winter.

If your children are very brave they may enjoy this story. The cheery drawings are in strange contrast to the harsh and frightening quality of the story, and provide a little respite from the dreadful hopelessness of the tale. This is a Christmas classic, and a book that kept me awake at night for years, a book that I still can't get out of my mind even all these years later.
4674740
The first few pages of "Last Night at the Lobster" hooked me thoroughly. At the edge of a snowy Connecticut mall, an old Buick sails up to a Red Lobster restaurant.

"The Regal signals for no one's benefit and slips into the lot like an oceanliner finally reaching harbor, glides by the handicapped spots straddling the front walk, braking before it turns and disappears behind the building, only to emerge a few long seconds later on the other side, way down at the very end, pulling in beside a fenced dumpster as if the driver's trying to hide."

The driver is Manny DeLeon, manager of the shabby Red Lobster, and he's getting a buzz before opening up for the last day of business. Corporate headquarters pulled the plug for under-performance, and Manny's feeling bad. Oh, he's been given a lesser job in another company restaurant, but it's the bittersweet end of an era.

There's a lot going on at the Red Lobster on this last shift. It's five days before Christmas, there's a blizzard outside, and the guests are a small but troublesome crowd. The real story is about Manny and his staff, their hopes and disappointments. Manny can't get over his love for Jacquie, one of the waitresses, and he can't come up with the perfect present for his pregnant girlfriend Deena.

Stewart O'Nan draws a vivid picture of regular people in low-end jobs. There's a lot of detail--read it and you could probably open or close a Red Lobster, or at least fake it pretty well. Manny demonstrates the rhythm of the manager's "table touch," the clean-up after a youngster eats too much dessert, the importance of balancing the waitstaff's "sits," the fine art of keeping a chef happy, the implements needed to patch a smashed windshield.

The few staff who showed up on this unpromising last day let their inhibitions fall away. It's often funny, always poignant, and keenly illustrative of human nature. The voice of the narrative is wry and loving. Manny stands tall in his little domain, measuring his performance against the standards of his abuelita, gone to her reward but alive in the conscience of her grandson. Stewart O'Nan brings us right inside his characters and gives us Manny beaten but not broken. The hard slog of this day-in-the-life brings out all that's indomitable in working folks.

This novella (146 pages) will warm you in spite of the blizzard raging outside the Red Lobster. There are no great revelations or plot twists, but it's honest through and through. Five stars for the author's vision and voice.

Linda Bulger, 2008
2894234
This was a great pick-me-up during this trying, busy season.  I have to admit that I teared up a time or two.  A beautiful written story.