Book Reviews – Page 138 – Carol's Notebook

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas adapted by Jun Asuka

December 1, 2017 by Carol4 Comments

We always watch The Nightmare Before Christmas around Halloween at our house, but the story's as much about Christmas as it is Halloween. After all, it's Christmas Eve when Jack puts his plan into motion and almost ruins the holiday. This manga adaptation is really faithful to the movie, although it feels a little quicker paced. The style of the movie translates well to the illustration style , as you can see by the cover. I had the digital version though, and some of the smaller details were a little hard to see. Obviously, the movie is better, you just can't beat the songs, but this is a well-done reworking of the original. It would be a great stocking stuffer for any of the movie's fans on your list. It just might be in someone's at our house on Christmas....

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

November 30, 2017November 29, 2017 by Carol2 Comments

While I grant you that The Turn of the Screw is not really a Christmas story, it does have the tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve as its framework, so I'm counting it as part of my seasonal reading. The Turn of the Screw is fascinating and creepy and leaves you not knowing what the heck was going on. Our narrator is reading the story to folks around the fire, so it's not his story. A governess is hired for two children who are under the care of their uncle. The uncle lives in town while the kids live at the country house, where the governess will be in charge. The uncle basically wants to have to deal with them as little as possible. The governess has written her story down, so everything we know and see is from her point of view. Even she admits that she has a vivid imagination and is “rather easily carried away.” So we've got...

I’m Scheming of a White Christmas by Kate O’Keeffe

November 28, 2017 by Carol4 Comments

Do you ever get to the end of a story or book and think wow, I'm glad that was a freebie? That's how I felt about I'm Scheming of a White Christmas. The blurb made it sound like a cute holiday romance, and while there aren't many reviews on Goodreads, they're positive. My two stars will drag the average down a little. Tilly had potential as a character. She's finally living and working in New York City. She has a job that fits her well and working in a department store is a perfect set up for a Christmas story. When the guy she had a crush in high school shows up, she gets tongue-tied, nervous, the whole nine yards. Happily, he invites her to a party in spite of her awkwardness. The catch is that even though now she's beautiful, in high school she was a bit of a nerd and he was incredibly mean to her. She and her roommate...

Heart Note by Cassandra O’Leary

November 27, 2017November 24, 2017 by Carol3 Comments

I love a sweet holiday romance and "Heart Note" fits the bill. Lily is adorable and Christos is sexy as all get out. Sparks start flying from the minute they meet, and I honestly liked them both. It was light-hearted and fun. Their romance is believable, and their are a couple of steamy-ish parts, but nothing to make you blush. They are just a good couple. The other ladies who work at the perfume counter are enjoyable too. One's very Parisian and the other is a bit of a gossip, but I can see why they are all friends. The mystery aspect of the plot was a bit lacking, but that's not really the focus anyway. The bad guy gets caught, Christos has to save Lily from a moderate amount of trouble, but it definitely doesn't overshadow the romance. The story takes place at Christmas in Australia, which makes it a bit different for me. It's summer there this time of year, so...

A Christmas Peril by J.A. Hennrikus

November 24, 2017November 24, 2017 by Carol2 Comments

In A Christmas Peril, Sully has her hands full. This year's Christmas Carol is turning into a disaster and her best friend is arrested for murder. One of the difficult parts of cozy mysteries is having a legitimate reason for the amateur detective to be investigating. Sully, however, is perfect. Yes, she's currently a theater manager, but she had years of experience as a cop and it's her best friend who is the chief suspect. She really has no choice but to get involved, and it certainly helps that the family has asked for her assistance. I liked her. She's funny, loyal, smart, strong, but she's also learned some lessons along the way. And she only manages to place herself in major danger once. The dead man was not overly-loved, even by his family, but he was important in the community. The suspect list could have been long, but the only people who could actually have done it had to be...

Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan

November 22, 2017November 24, 2017 by Carol6 Comments

It's probably no surprise that I enjoyed Murder for Christmas. It ticks off all the boxes: √ Vintage murder mystery √ English manor house √ Eccentric set of characters √ Christmas celebrations √ Amateur detective with a romantic streak Benedict Grame always throws a large house party for Christmas and this year is not exception. It's an interesting collection of people. There's the usual household, Grame and his assistant Nicholas Blaise, his old friend Jeremy Rainer and Rainer's ward, a lovely young woman and her suitor. Grame also has a spinster sister who lives with them and another relative he assists, a gambler with a penchant for practical jokes. There's also a visiting scientist, a politician, a glamorous woman who both Grame and Rainer are attracted too, a couple from the village, and of course Mordecai Tremaine, our amateur detective who has been specially invited. It should be a fun, traditional Christmas. Of course the merriment is interrupted by murder - Father Christmas dead under the decorated...