December book
mabug01
Posts: 1,273 Member
Christmas Jars by Jason Wright
From the synopsis on Amazon: "Rising newspaper reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the secret behind the "Christmas Jars" – glass jars filled with coins and bills anonymously given to people in need. But Hope discovers much more than she bargained for when some unexpected news sets off a chain reaction of kindness and brings above a Christmas Eve wish come true."
Apparently Mr Wright is also a popular inspirational speaker. If you're going to be near Gahanna, Ohio, he is speaking on December 7 in the evening.
From Wikipedia: "Jason Fletcher Wright was born on February 1 1971 near St. Louis, Missouri to Willard Samuel Wright and Sandra Fletcher Wright. His family lived and traveled throughout Europe until 1975., and later lived in Chicago, Illinois and Charlottesville, Virginia.
In 1989, Wright acted as Elliot, the boyfriend of Holly Waits (Connie MacFarland) in the cult horror movie, Troll 2, considered to be one of the worst movies ever made. :noway:
His 2007 novel, The Wednesday Letters, reached #6 on The New York Times bestseller list. It also appeared on the Wall Street Journal and USAToday bestseller lists. The paperback edition, published by Penguin, was on The New York Times trade paperback bestseller and extended lists for 36 weeks in 2008-2009.
His 2005 novel, Christmas Jars, was also a New York Times bestseller, appearing on the paperback list in 2007. Film rights have been optioned by Academy Award winning director Kieth Merrill.
His debut novel, The James Miracle, was first released in 2004 .
In addition to his novels, Jason has published opinion editorials (op/eds) on issues ranging from pop culture to politics. His articles have appeared in more than 50 newspapers and magazines across the United States including Glenn Beck's Fusion Magazine, The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, and Forbes." :smokin:
He is a graduate of Brigham Young University. :flowerforyou:
ENJOY!
From the synopsis on Amazon: "Rising newspaper reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the secret behind the "Christmas Jars" – glass jars filled with coins and bills anonymously given to people in need. But Hope discovers much more than she bargained for when some unexpected news sets off a chain reaction of kindness and brings above a Christmas Eve wish come true."
Apparently Mr Wright is also a popular inspirational speaker. If you're going to be near Gahanna, Ohio, he is speaking on December 7 in the evening.
From Wikipedia: "Jason Fletcher Wright was born on February 1 1971 near St. Louis, Missouri to Willard Samuel Wright and Sandra Fletcher Wright. His family lived and traveled throughout Europe until 1975., and later lived in Chicago, Illinois and Charlottesville, Virginia.
In 1989, Wright acted as Elliot, the boyfriend of Holly Waits (Connie MacFarland) in the cult horror movie, Troll 2, considered to be one of the worst movies ever made. :noway:
His 2007 novel, The Wednesday Letters, reached #6 on The New York Times bestseller list. It also appeared on the Wall Street Journal and USAToday bestseller lists. The paperback edition, published by Penguin, was on The New York Times trade paperback bestseller and extended lists for 36 weeks in 2008-2009.
His 2005 novel, Christmas Jars, was also a New York Times bestseller, appearing on the paperback list in 2007. Film rights have been optioned by Academy Award winning director Kieth Merrill.
His debut novel, The James Miracle, was first released in 2004 .
In addition to his novels, Jason has published opinion editorials (op/eds) on issues ranging from pop culture to politics. His articles have appeared in more than 50 newspapers and magazines across the United States including Glenn Beck's Fusion Magazine, The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, and Forbes." :smokin:
He is a graduate of Brigham Young University. :flowerforyou:
ENJOY!
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Replies
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Great synopsis! Thanks for sharing Diamond Gal!0
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I love your new Betty Boop Icon!0
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Betty Boop is from Universal Studios Orlando.
I received Christmas Jars and , since it is about 100 pages, I'm half finished.
Happy reading!0 -
Finished the little novella, Christmas Jars. Check back when you all finish it . Guess it will be my pick in January?
Oh my gosh...Christmas is suddenly here! And I have done next to nothing. I really have to buckle down next week and get organized.
Hope you are both doing well and enjoying the activities of the season.
Love Betty Boop!!0 -
I'm finished with the book, too.
Only 16 days to go! At least I've purchased a few things. I'm going to my daughter's boyfriend's mom's house for Christmas so I don't have to prepare anything; woo-hoo!0 -
The awful cold snap really put a crimp in my shopping. But the sun came out and marathon shopping occurred...so I am in good shape.
My family arrives on Christmas Eve and we have a couple of days of celebrating. So next week is cleaning and food shopping. It is a lot of work but I love having the little ones around.
I am glad Mabug you will have a stress-free non-cooking day.
I wish the Diamond Gals a great Holiday season. And look forward to a New Year of great reading.
Merry Christmas!!!0 -
Hi Diamond Gals,
Merry Christmas to you.
I just got notice that the library has it so I will
pick it up soon.
I have some stuff done but really need to buckle down too.
I am working on XMAS day ....................aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh
but my daughter will make dinner Again :sad:0 -
L - I'm sorry you have to work on Christmas Day :sad: I hope you are getting double-time-and-a-half for that. But, the silver lining may be that your daughter is cooking! Is she an adult? This used to happen to me every year because we had a 365 operation at the park. Over time I really grew to miss the cooking but I never seemed to be able to avoid the cleaning :laugh:
S - everyone arriving on Tuesday? You are in the home stretch now with your cleaning and cooking. I love this warmer weather we are having in California right now. It helps the old joints. I took your advice and got Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. That's what I'll be reading the rest of the month.
As for me, I'm finished shopping and mailed everything. Now I have to wrap the local presents. I'll develop a post about the January book soon.0 -
And another thing (just a personal rant here) why does every movie about the true meaning of Christmas involve a death of a loved one? My daughter says it's meant to symbolize the death of the old year, but I'm skeptical. It's just depressing. I'm all for comedies and love stories around the holidays.0
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A Year-end Retrospective
We’ve read some good books this year, and maybe a yawner or two. Here’s a summary of what we’ve accomplished.
November 2012 (picked by a vote): Our group was started in October 2012 and our first book pick was in November 2012. It was The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, about the changes to our brain arising out of internet use; allegedly a constant state of distraction. There was a separate comment string on this book and some people thought they experienced this scatteredness; however, most others said this topic didn’t resonate with them. At the time, active members included the three of us plus ScatteredThoughts, Amberjo, (who never read the book), Dawnmjh. Nicoleisquantized, lachesissss, gazelleintraining, LINIA, Sophrosyne_94.
December 2012 (suggested by ScatteredThoughts and picked by vote) The Annubis Gates by Tim Powers, a highly imaginative time travel book. ScatteredThoughts took over as moderator when our founder left the group and deactivated her account. Active members were Scattered, the 3 of us, Lem_or29, Sophrosyne_94, lachesissss LINIA.
January 2013 (suggested by mabug and picked by vote) Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, a book with some kooky characters, it promised to reveal the great mystery of the meaning of life, but left us in the lurch at the end by suggesting the message was a simple note imbued with meaning by its followers. The best thing about this book was the cover glowed in the dark. We 3 were active members along with ScatteredThoughts, LINIA and lem_orc29.
February: Very Valentine (Steppingstones) a fun novel about the Roncalli shoe-making family. It was just the 3 of us discussing Valentine, Roman and Gianlucca.
March: Brava Valentine picked by consensus because we didn’t want to be left hanging in the storyline. The third novel in the series, The Supreme Macaroni Company, was released in November.
April: Robin Cook’s Nano (Lenoresaari); Our heroine, Pia, unravels an amoral medical technology company headed by a misogynistic sociopath. I was traveling across the country during this time. We were briefly joined by Rncarol94, but she quickly left for reasons unknown.
May: Deep South by Nevada Barr (mabug); A richly worded, slow moving, mystery set in Natchez Trace with plenty of nature action, including a rabidly hungry alligator. I was inspired to choose this title after arriving in Florida, which seemed like the deep south to me. We officially adopted our name, Diamond Book Club suggested by Steppingstones. Since then we have referred to each other as: Diamond gals, Diamondettes, Diamond Stars and Diamond Ladies.
June: Moloka’i by Alan Brennert (Steppingstones); A book about loss and loneliness and the people affected by leprosy. Lenoresaari announced her intentions to visit Hawaii sometime over the next year (how’s the planning progressing?) We mistakenly thought Steppingstones was planning to visit Hawaii (I’m still giggling about that), and we learned a bit about leprosy from Lenoresaari, but I don’t think she finished the book because she was studying for her Certified Case Management test.
July: The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell (Lenoresaari); A mystery set in December about a medical examiner’s investigation of the death of a young female jogger; every member of the examiner’s family seemed to be somehow involved in the back story. Lenoresaari was still studying for her Aug 17 test.
August: Carl Hiaasen’s Native Tongue (mabug). Described on Amazon: One of the most beloved novels by the "New York Times" bestselling author in which dedicated, if somewhat demented, environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys. This was a highly inflated opinion of this little book. I only read about 30 pages; nobody finished it. I had a scare when I thought I left my ereader at the SFO airport, but later I found it in my hamper. Lenoresaari passed her test!
September: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (Steppingstones). We were swept away to Paris in the roaring 20’s and learned about Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage. I learned “Tatie” is the French equivalent of auntie.
October: Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbough (Steppingstones, subbing for mabug); A young woman struggling to find meaning and connect with others in her life. Everyone seemed to read it quickly so it may have been one of our favorites this year. I bought the book so I could have the glossary of flower meanings.
November: Agatha Raisin in The Quiche of Death (Lenoresaari). A newly retired ad exec retires to the Cotswalds and solves homicides while also making new friends and supporting her new community. She’s a bit prickly but, in the end, we grow to like her. I would love to hear more about Steppingstones adventures in England.
December: Christmas Jars by Jason Wright (mabug); A novella about the meaning of Christmas as told through the eyes of an orphan. A quick read. Only one of us is cooking the holiday meal (do I need to keep writing “holiday”? or does everyone here celebrate Christmas? I guess I should have asked before I picked this book).
So, the starting line-up for next year should be:
January – Steppingstones
February – Lenoresaari
March – Mabug
I’ve had a marvelous time reading with all of you. Here’s to another great year!0 -
Hi Diamond Gals,
No problem here Mabug. I do celebrate Christmas and I just finished the December book Christmas Jars.
A quick read on this Sunday and now its over until January. I found it sweet but a little choppy. Overall holiday appropriate.
Thanks for the year end synopsis of the Book Club activity.
And I am looking forward to another great choice for January.0 -
Hello Diamond Ladies,
Hope your Christmas' were splendid. Ours turned out to be a disaster. My husband became ill very quickly and we spent the day in ICU. He is recovering and will soon be home to recover. Whew!!!
Would one of you kind ladies, please, step up and make the next pick. I will read but can't think at the moment to make any decisions.
Look forward to another year of reading. Just loved the synopsis.
M.0 -
Hi Diamonds,
Steppingstones - I'm so sorry to hear that your husband was sick again; sure glad he will be home soon.
I'm going to suggest our January book be Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Alternate suggestions are welcomed.
Mary0 -
Hi Diamonds
So glad your husband is ok and recovering. My Christmas was very pleasant. Work gave me the day off at the last minute.
This is the first job that they require most holidays. Other than that the job is ok. So my kids ages 23 and 26 were very glad I could spend some time with them on Christmas Day.
Just enjoying another 4 days off work then 10 days on then a week off. Going to visit my Dad in Arroyo Grande CA for his 80 th birthday.
I will go with the choice as previously suggested. Happy New Year!!0 -
Happy New Year Diamond Gals!
We are off to the circus, fellow readers.0
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