Guest Review by Nora St. Laurent of Dan Walsh's "Remembering Christmas"

Remembering Christmas

By Dan Walsh

Published by Revell, 2011

This is reposted by permission. Review by Nora St. Laurent.

REVIEW: This is a warm, cuddly, feel-good novel sure to become your NEW family favorite. I'm thankful for the review copy of this book. It reminds the reader that God uses all things in our life for His Glory and our good. You may not see it at the time because of all the pain and drama but when you look back at the situation you can see the situation didn't take God by surprise. He used the event to change the course of our life. No easy task to get us to change the path we were headed down.

Rick Denton’s life is interrupted when his mom calls and asks him to fill in at the Book Nook. His stepfather is in the hospital. She needs to stay with him and can’t be at the book store.

Rick’s lived life on his own terms after his father abandoned him. He made a point to not get tangled up with his mother’s husband, so that he wouldn't get hurt again. Life was humming along nicely. He was climbing higher and higher on the corporate ladder; he didn’t have time for family, because he was on the pathway to greatness.

Now his mom tells him his stepfather has had an aneurysm and there was no one to run the store. His mom had never asked for much so when she tearfully asked for his help he reluctantly said he would. He got off the phone with her but hadn’t fully grasped what he just signed up for.

His parents went to church and read the books they sold at the Christian book store they ran--he didn’t! He gives his mom a week. He could only take a week away from his clients! That was as much as he could sacrifice. Then when Rick gets there and realizes all he’d have to do--maybe he should reconsider. This was going to take longer than he thought.

The people that show up at the Book Nook sure felt the need to talk to him about Art, his stepfather. All this talk was beyond him--he had work to do. There was No time for chit-chat, didn't they see he had a business to run?

“The Book Nook seems more like an enchanted cottage than a bookstore. It’s a harbor from the cares of life!” Rick was beginning to see why his parents loved their business so much.

Dan’s characters were endearing and I was drawn to them instantly. I enjoyed the fact that most of this novel took place inside a small sweet book store called the Book Nook, and last but not least I liked the way this author showed how only God can bring the miracle of Christmas to our lives. He’s the light in our heart that shines for the whole world to see! This is a novel that will get you in the Christmas Spirit on so many levels. I highly recommend it as a book that will get you ready for Christmas and as a Book Club Selection for your group.

Nora St.Laurent

The Book Club Network

www.bookfun.org