December Book

Mom chose the December book:A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg.

This is the write up on it from Publishers Weekly:Lured by a brochure his doctor gives him after informing him that his emphysema has left him with scarcely a year to live, 52-year-old Oswald T. Campbell abandons wintry Chicago for Lost River, Ala., where he believes he'll be spending his last Christmas. Bestselling author Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes; Standing in the Rainbow) makes this down-home story about good neighbors and the power of love sparkle with wit and humor, as she tells of Oswald's new life in a town with one grocery store and a resident cardinal (or redbird, as the natives call it). Frances Cleverdon, one of four widows and three single women in town, hopes to fix him up with her sister, Mildred—if only Mildred wouldn't keep dying her hair outrageous colors every few days. The quirky story takes a heartwarming turn when Frances and Oswald become involved in the life of Patsy Casey, an abandoned young girl with a crippled leg. As Christmas approaches, the townspeople and neighboring communities—even the Creoles, whose long-standing feud with everybody else keeps them on the other side of the river—rally round shy, sweet Patsy. Flagg is a gifted storyteller who knows how to tug at readers' heartstrings, winding up her satisfying holiday tale with the requisite Christmas miracle.

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I think that Mom also would like to have a regular conversation about this book too, so just have it read before the end of the year.

The End.

Thom's Thoughts on Lucky

I didn't like it.

I thought that the author did a good job of getting us in the mind of Lucky and creating character's that we liked and to whom we could relate.

I liked the description of Lucky's hair and how she placed it so no bugs would get in her ears.

But . . .

A lot of build up for a lot of nothing. I finished it while I was on the train to the Bon Jovi concert with Stephanie. Things kept happening, and happening, and I was thinking that there weren't enough pages to resolve the story. I expressed this to Stephanie and she told me to just keep reading.

And then it was done.

I like how it ended . . . I just didn't like the ending.

Does this make sense? I need to read the Newbery finalists to see why this one was the best of 07.