Book Review: The Christmas Note by Donna Van Liere

The Christmas Note
Author:  Donna Van Liere
Published:  October 2011
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
Hardcover
Pages: 208
ISBN:  9780312658960
Genre:  Christian fiction

(from Amazon.ca) Donna VanLiere’s Christmas books have enthralled millions of readers. Now she delivers a new inspirational novel about an unlikely friendship between two women—a friendship that will change each of their lives forever.

Gretchen Daniels has recently moved into a condo with her two children to be closer to her mother, Miriam. As they build a life together in their new community, they notice a mysterious young woman, Melissa McCreary, who lives next door. She has few possessions, little personality, and keeps to herself. One day a local landlord who is looking for Melissa knocks on Gretchen’s door for assistance. Melissa’s mother has died and in the coming weeks the landlord needs Melissa to empty her mother’s apartment. Gretchen reaches out and offers to help Melissa, but the apartment is a gut-wrenching shamble of a home. There is little worth saving except for a few photos and a note that is discovered on the crate beside the bed. It is unfinished, but in the two scribbled lines, Melissa discovers secrets about her family that she never could have imagined. Can two very different women embark on a journey that explores a long-buried need for forgiveness, hope, and redemption?

About the Author

Donna VanLiere is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. Her much-loved Christmas Hope series includes The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing, both of which were adapted into movies for CBS Television; The Christmas Secret; The Christmas Journey; and The Christmas Hope, which was adapted into a film by Lifetime. She is also the author ofThe Angels of Morgan Hill and Finding Grace. VanLiere is the recipient of a Retailer's Choice Award for Fiction, a Dove Award, a Silver Angel Award, an Audie Award for best inspirational fiction, and a nominee for a Gold Medallion Book of the Year. She is a gifted speaker who speaks regularly at conferences. She lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband and their children.

My review: 

The Christmas Note is a touching Christian novel about friendship and family, loss and hope.  The story flows quickly and can be read in one sitting if one is so inclined.  First impressions are rarely lasting once one gets to know the other and it is true here when Gretchen and her two children first meet their next door neighbour Melissa.  Gretchen finds herself in the unenviable position of having to inform Melissa, whom she just met, that her mother has died and the landlord wants the apartment cleaned out.  Certainly a difficult task but Gretchen delivers the message as well as an offer to assist Melissa with the task.  Uncertain why she accepts, Melissa later agrees to the offer and the two begin to forge an uncommon bond as they work together to clean the remnants of a messy life.  What they find in doing so is a note that will change both their lives.

Enjoyable and light, this story embodies the spirit of love and charity.  I enjoyed it but found the ending a little too coincidental, the conclusion too neatly tied up in a bow of friendship and family and finding of unknown siblings.  Overall, The Christmas Note is a good "feel good" read for the season.

Rated 3.5/5

Book Review: The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

• TITLE: The Final Summit
• AUTHOR: Andy Andrews
• PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• DATE OF PUBLICATION: April 12, 2011
• RETAIL PRICE: $19.99 US (Hardcover)
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7852-3120-2
• PAGES: 256

http://www.andyandrews.com/ms/the-final-summit/

Summary:  David Ponder is back.  This time the fate of mankind is in his hands.

    

This is mankind’s last chance. Centuries of greed, pride, and hate have sent humanity hurtling toward disaster, and far from its original purpose. There is only one solution that can reset the compass and right the ship, and it consists of only two words.

            

With time running out, it is up to David Ponder and a cast of history’s best and brightest minds to uncover this solution before it is too late. The catch? They are allowed only five tries to discover the answer.

            

Readers first encountered David Ponder in The Traveler's Gift.   Now, in The Final Summit, Andrews combines a riveting narrative with astounding history in order to show us the one thing we must do when we don’t know what to do.

Many years have passed since David Ponder discovered the Seven Decisions during a divine journey through time. Now 74 years old, Ponder has lost the one thing that mattered to him most: his wife, Ellen. Despite his personal and professional success, he now sits alone at the top of his 55-story high-rise contemplating the unthinkable, just as he did 28 years ago.

           

However, just as things are looking their darkest, Ponder is informed through divine channels that he is needed now more than ever. Together, with the help of hundreds of his fellow Travelers, from Winston Churchill to George Washington Carver to Joan of Arc, he must work to discover the one solution that will save humanity. Time is running out, and the final summit of Travelers must work quickly to avoid dire consequences.

            

The Final Summit explores the historically proven principles that have guided our greatest leaders for centuries, and how we might restore these principles in our own lives...before it's too late.

My Review:  A follow-up novel to The Traveler's Gift, The Final Summit is a fictitious read of an everyday man, David Ponder, paired up with the greatest minds and leaders of the past.  Their quest, to find the one thing that will save humanity.  The sands of the hourglass flow freely, marking the time remaining.  The answer is two little words...two words that mean the difference between humanity lost or saved.

This book was a little slow to catch my full attention.  At six chapters in, I became interested as great men and women entered on the scene, ranging from Joan of Arc to Abraham Lincoln, each sharing tales of their past.  Each tale or insight into the character elicits possible answers to their quest.  It was interesting to see how wisdom and character worked together to try to accomplish the task put forth by the archangel Gabriel.  As  you read, you will come to ponder your own life, your goals, and priorities.  This book could have a powerful influence over your future choices, if you but learn from the minds of the past.

Rated 3.5/5