{"id":304,"date":"2009-01-06T23:44:26","date_gmt":"2009-01-07T03:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/06\/review-of-christmas-letters-by-debbie-macomber\/"},"modified":"2009-02-08T21:21:45","modified_gmt":"2009-02-09T01:21:45","slug":"review-of-christmas-letters-by-debbie-macomber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=304","title":{"rendered":"Review of Christmas Letters, by Debbie Macomber"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"christmas_letters.jpg\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Christmas Letters<\/em><\/p>\n

by Debbie Macomber<\/p>\n

Mira, 2006.\u00a0 269 pages.<\/p>\n

I read one last Christmas book to finish up the season.\u00a0 I actually read most of this book waiting at the dentist office, which was a very good time to have something to laugh about!\u00a0 Christmas Letters <\/em>is a true romantic comedy.<\/p>\n

The book opens with a Christmas Letter from Zelda O’Connor Davidson.\u00a0 She says, “Let me warn you — this Christmas letter won’t be as clever as last year’s.\u00a0 My sister, Katherine (whom you may know better as K.O.), wrote that one for me but, ironically, she hasn’t got time to do this year’s.\u00a0 Ironic because it’s due to the popularity of that particular letter that she’s managed to start a little business on the side — writing Christmas letters for other people!…<\/p>\n

“This year’s big news, which I want to share with all of you, has to do with a wonderful book I read.\u00a0 It changed my life.\u00a0 It’s called The Free Child <\/em>and it’s by Dr. Wynn Jeffries.\u00a0 My sister scoffs at this, but Dr. Jeffries believes that children can be trusted to set their own boundaries.\u00a0 He also believes that, as parents, we shouldn’t impose fantasies on them — fantasies like Santa Claus.\u00a0 Kids are capable of accepting reality, he says, and I agree!\u00a0 (See page 146 of The Free Child.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

“So, this Christmas will be a different kind of experience for us, one that focuses on family, not fantasy.<\/p>\n

“Zach and the girls join me in wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas.\u00a0 And remember, a free child is a happy child (see page 16).”<\/p>\n

After reading this letter, when we meet K.O., we easily understand her aversion to Dr. Wynn Jeffries and his philosophies, which she feels have turned her twin nieces into holy terrors.\u00a0 Maybe she’s a little over the top in her reaction.\u00a0 Perhaps she shouldn’t have ranted at a customer buying Dr. Jeffries bestseller and gotten herself banned from a local bookstore.\u00a0 But we do understand her hesitation when she learns Dr. Jeffries lives in her building, and her sister wants her to get his autograph.\u00a0 She decides to do it, but then give him a piece of her mind.<\/p>\n

Then her best friend, who has been taking a class to develop her psychic powers, sees Katherine’s future in the kitty litter.\u00a0 LaVonne believes that K.O. and Wynn Jeffries are made for each other.\u00a0 She finds a way to set them up that they can’t refuse.<\/p>\n

It all adds up to silly, heartwarming\u00a0fun.\u00a0 Perfect for holiday or after-the-holiday being cheered up at the dentist’s, for example.<\/p>\n

This book is set on Blossom Street in Seattle, but we only see in passing the characters from Debbie Macomber’s other Blossom Street books (at least the ones I’ve read).\u00a0 Still, it’s fun to be in the same setting, feeling like you’re among friends.\u00a0 A cozy, feel-good, lighthearted Christmas romance.<\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on the main site at:<\/p>\n

www.sonderbooks.com\/Fiction\/christmas_letters.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber Mira, 2006.\u00a0 269 pages. I read one last Christmas book to finish up the season.\u00a0 I actually read most of this book waiting at the dentist office, which was a very good time to have something to laugh about!\u00a0 Christmas Letters is a true romantic comedy. The book opens with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,5,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-fiction-review","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}