My verdict?

It is a beautiful heart wrenching book, it had me in tears in one section and I literally could not put it down. In fact, I read it in one day.  I shirked all duties to finish it and loved it. It made me ponder on real life stuff, relationships, love, you know all the usual things one gets from a ‘chick lit’ author but it truly was an extremely sad, but uplifting book. Full of serious stuff but also the lighthearted, it really has a great balance.

The blurb-

Love is not an abstract idea. It is not saying ‘I’m here for you, let me know if you need me’. It’s making the decision, when someone close to you is in trouble, about what you will DO to fix as much as you can for them. It’s a ‘doing’ thing. A verb. For Callie, love is about looking after her family – her husband and two children – and their beautiful home. For Steff, Callie’s younger sister, love is about experiencing all that life has to offer without having to ever settle down. For Lila, Callie’s best friend, love is about finding a soulmate. And when she meets divorced father-of-two Eddie, she knows her search is over. For Walter and Honor, Callie and Steff’s divorced parents, love is about caring for the daughters they share. Then Callie gets some life-changing news. And suddenly the whole family is about to understand what ‘love’ really, really means….

This book was dedicated to one of Jane Greens friends who passed away recently and if I were her friend, I would of been seriously impressed with this book.

One of her best, for sure!

So, in keeping with the festivities of this time of year, I have one copy of this book to giveaway.  Open to anywhere in South Africa and all you need to do is leave a comment. Random.org will choose the winner on Monday 20th of December. Just think , you  may receive another Chrismas gift that you weren’t expecting!

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The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder -(of ‘Sophie’s World’ fame) is one of my favourite Christmas books.

Jostein Gaarder weaves a magical tale with his story of Joachim. Joachin buys a magic advent calender on November 30th and every day, a piece of paper falls out of the door of the calendar. Each page tells the story of Elisabet Hansen, who chases a toy lamb that has come to life from an Oslo department store. While chasing the lamb, she meets the angel Epiriel; the shepherds Joshua and Jacob; Caspar, the King of the Orient; and the cherub Impuriel.

This is a perfect book to read at the beginning of December as the lead up to Christmas is happening just as it is in the book. Jostein Gaarder has a delightful way with words and story telling and with some philosophical musings at the same time. it is a mystery about Christmas, and purely delicious.

(I have read all his books, enjoyed them all and will definitely be giving this book a reread this coming Christmas.)

Do you have any favourite Christmas books to share with us?

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