Real Santa, by William Hazelgrove

George is having a bad day.  He gets fired, then, to make matters worse, he comes home to find that his 9-year-old daughter is having doubts about the existence of Santa Claus!  He still harbors bad memories of his own father's revelation about Santa, and is determined that his daughter will believe, even in only for one more Christmas.  In Real Santa, William Hazelgrove tells George's story.

George comes up with a fantastic plan, which gets more and more elaborate--and expensive--as time goes on.  Along the way, he angers his daughter's teacher, alienates his neighbor, risks ending his marriage, nearly bankrupts his family, but might just pull off being Santa for his daughter.  Not content simply to dress up in a Santa suit and make an appearance in his living room, he is determined to land a sleigh on the roof of his house, complete with nine reindeer, go down the chimney, put presents under the tree, then climb back up the chimney and fly away.

Hazelgrove has middle-aged, suburban male angst down pat.  As he did in Rocket Man, Hazelgrove captures the struggles of the guy who wants to be a great dad and husband, wants to excel in his career, wants to make a mark on the world, but who faces setback after setback.  Regardless of the consequences, George determinedly pursues his dream of proving to his daughter that Santa is real, and learns quite a bit about himself, and the real Santa, along the way.

Real Santa is a bit madcap.  George goes over-the-top crazy in pursuit of his project.  It was a bit unbelievable that a guy who just lost his job would spend tens of thousands of dollars to play real Santa.  Regardless, Hazelgrove makes it work.  The story is thoroughly entertaining, and has a nice family message.  (I should add, though, that the language is not family-friendly.)  Hazelgrove and George make many references to classic Christmas movies, and part of the story is a movie-within-a-movie, so it's no surprise that Hazelgrove has sold the movie rights to Real Santa.  This is a fun story, and will certainly be a Christmas favorite.  And the Kindle version is only 99 cents!  Check it out!


Thanks to Mr. Hazelgrove for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Fallen Leaves, by Will Durant

My parents didn't argue much when I was growing up, but I do seem to remember some contention on bookshelf space.  Dad, a voracious reader, had shelves full of books.  Mom, who loves a neat, aesthetically pleasing home, thinks bookshelves should look nice.  So they jockeyed for space, with nick-knacks and decorative items competing with Dad's library for shelf space.  On more than one occasion, I remember those conversations ending with Dad taking boxes of books to donate to the Corpus Christi Public Library.

A large percentage of that portion of the shelf space reserved for books was taken up by a multi-volume set which I never read, but I always felt smarter just looking at those books.  The set in question was Will and Ariel Durant's 11 volume The Story of Civilization.  This popular and widely published (if not widely read) history, covering ancient times up to the Napoleonic Era, earned the Durants a Pulitzer and a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Durants both died in the 1980s, but a Durant scholar uncovered a decades-old manuscript for a final book at which Will Durant had only hinted.  Fallen Leaves: Last Words on Life, Love, God, and War contains the reflections of a very smart and very opinionated writer who knows he's on his last lap in life.  Covering the stages of life, religion and morality, social issues, politics and war, art and education, the essays are at times rambling, often come across as a bit archaic, and are written, for the most part, in beautiful prose.

Like I said, I never read The Story of Civilization or any of his other works, but based on what I know about Durant, I think he let his hair down with Fallen Leaves, writing a much more personal book.  I had the feeling of sitting on the back porch with him while he, finally, told me what he really thought about these topics.  But unlike your stereotypical cranky old man, Durant has a vast knowledge of history, philosophy, and culture, along with the broad perspective that knowledge brings.

However, like cranky old men everywhere, he is set in his ways. He criticizes modern, abstract art ("empty vanity of an undisciplined mind"). He bemoans youthful ignorance (Life "gives us wisdom only when it has stolen youth."). He upholds traditional morality ("I still believe it advisable to discourage extramarital relations, just as it is useful to  inculcate honesty, though we know that there will be many lies.").  He has the amusingly endearing attitude of an old man who still enjoys the sight of a beautiful woman ("I think the architecture of woman is superb from whatever angle seen.")

I was most interested in Durant's views on morality and religion. Raised a Catholic and, for a short time, a seminary student, Durant has a good working knowledge of Christianity. But early on, he was led astray by Darwinism and other influences. He still admires Christ and his ethics, and calls for "a great union of creeds and sects preaching the ethics of Christ."  He makes a "persistent effort to behave like a Christian" but he "reluctantly abandoned belief in a personal and loving God."

So he finally turned toward a sort of utopian fantasy. At this point I began to wonder about this historian's grasp of human nature and human society. As a Christian, I am inclined to believe that without a personal, loving God, the ethics of Christ are unsustainable. It seems to me that the twentieth century taught us the hazards of separating morality from God.

Durant wasn't too concerned about religious views of eternal life and salvation. "I am quite content with mortality. I should be appalled at the thought of living forever, in whatever paradise."  I don't know about his soul, but he achieved some measure of immortality through his books, as shown by the several feet of shelf space my mother somewhat reluctantly yielded for him.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Running Blind, by Lee Child

Jack Reacher can't win a break.  He tries to mind his own business, wants to live an anonymous, solitary life.  But his Army past won't leave him alone.  In Running Blind, when he's ambushed an taken into custody for questioning, it quickly becomes clear that his captors don't really believe he is the perpetrator of a series of bizarre murders, but that they need his help solving the mystery of the deaths.  All of the victims are women who brought sexual harassment complaints during their times of service in the armed forces, and Reacher was the MP on the case.

Like a good mystery writer, Lee Child builds a case, only to tear it down and take the resolution in a direction that the reader never saw coming (but that you realize you should have suspected!).  Child's unexpected twist was certainly clever, but it was almost too clever, maybe a little groan-inducing.  But Reacher's path to figure it all out was impressive.

This was not my favorite Reacher book, due to the evidently improbable resolution, but I did enjoy it.  Child's books are a great commuting partner.  Child has Reacher wrap up the case, but, similar to an episodic television show, he leaves the ending wide open for the next episode.  I'll be tuning in for sure.

A Christmas Horror Story, by Sebastian Gregory

Here's a great book for your Advent devotional reading--not!  In A Christmas Horror Story, Sebastian Gregory tells the story of Santa Claus's alter-ego, der Kinderfresser or Child Eater.  Rather than bringing a sack full of toys to children everywhere, the Child Eater grabs children and carries them off in his sack--so he can eat them!

The main characters are three siblings whose mother is stuck at a long shift at the hospital, then is unable to get home due to a snow storm.  With the three of them home alone, the power goes out, and the precocious little brother speculates that the sounds on the roof might be the Child Eater, which he read about in his Tome of Dark and Mysterious.  When the Child Eater grabs the two younger children, the intrepid big sister sets out to find them and defeat the Child Eater.  The story is a bit creepy, but more in the vein of a campfire ghost story than a real horror story.  Gregory includes some flashbacks to the Child Eater's victims in the past, tying the stories together with dreams that bode ill for the dreamers.  Altogether it's a bit disjointed, mildly amusing, and a little disturbing.

I would say if your children are OK with the Santa Claus legend, and [spoiler alert!] understand that there really isn't a jolly old elf who comes down the chimney to deliver those toys (which they actually saw last week on the shelf at Wal-Mart), then they are old enough to hear the story of the Child Eater without fear.  But if they open their gifts, only to find the boxes contain only coal, they'd better beware that it's not Santa coming down the chimney, but the Child Eater, and he's very, very hungry.


Thanks to NetGalley and the ulisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

All I Really Want, by Quinn Caldwell

One thing I love about the Advent season is the opportunity to turn back to daily scripture reading, meditation, and prayer.  If your devotional life has fallen off a bit, Advent lends itself to daily anticipation of Christmas and redirecting your thoughts to "the reason for the season."  All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas accomplishes just that.

Quinn Caldwell, a United Church of Christ pastor in New York, has written this little book to encourage the reader to "create room--maybe just enough room--for God to show up."  His short pieces, one for each morning and evening of the Christmas season, are amusing and sometimes insightful and inspiring.  (By the way, I like the fact that the readings extend into January, completing the full 12 days of Chistmas.)

The tone is consistently light and breezy, easily accessible and broadly appealing theologically.  If there is an overall theme of the devotionals, it would include minimizing Christmas consumerism, enjoying the Christmas spirit, focusing on others, and being thankful to God for the gift of his son.  Caldwell strikes a nice balance between embracing the fun trappings of Christmas--recognizing "some Christmas things that have nothing to do with Jesus' birth, but in which I believe God is at work anyway" and encouraging Christmas decorations that "look like a party,"--and focusing on acts of service and devotion.

The devotional-ending prayers, only a sentence or two, are on target but sometimes I felt like they were a bit too trivial (though amusing):

"For evolution, thank you. . . . For not giving me a protruding brow ridge and shallow brain pan, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.  Amen."
"God, I know I get on your nerves sometimes.  But you get on mine, too.  Thanks for loving me anyway.  Amen."
"OK, God, I'm willing to go [to church on Christmas].  But I'm totally going to hide out in my room for a week after that, and you can't stop me. Amen."

While most of the content is unobjectionable and will appeal to Christians (and other Christmas celebrators of all kinds) across denominational lines, there were enough hints of a rather liberal perspective that I suspect many believers will be put off.  Environmentalism, social justice, pacifism, and gay rights (the author is homosexual) are not central to the book, but raise their heads enough to raise some hackles for a more theological conservative believer.

But rather than focus on the many points of contention I may have with the author, I was happy to appreciate his consistent focus on turning our hearts to Jesus this Christmas season.  He ends on a hopeful eschatological note.  We may not get everything we really want for Christmas (such healing, reconciliation, peace) but "Advent isn't just about fulfillment.  Advent is always about longing, and it's always about longing that's not going to be fulfilled for a long time.  Christmas didn't fix everything; it started fixing everything."  And that is why Christmas is merry.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Genome, by Sergei Lukyanenko

The Genome, by Sergei Lukyanenko, is a very good sci-fi novel.  I'm tempted to call it great.  Lukyanenko, a Russian writer, creates an original, rich future history, featuring colonization of other planetary systems, contact with other species, and, most importantly for this novel, highly advanced human genetic engineering.  Plus he tells a great murder mystery.

Alex, our protagonist, has been released from a long stay in the hospital and just happens to see an ad seeking a pilot to serve as captain on a new spaceship.  He's a spesh, genetically bred to be a pilot, and jumps at the chance to sit in the captain's seat.  He gathers a crew and gets his first assignment from his mysterious, absentee boss: to take 2 "others" and their bodyguard on a tourist trip to several planets.  When one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the quarters, and every member of the small crew has a possible motive, things get interesting.  Oh, and by the way, the murder could lead to an all-out inter-galactic war.

Lukyenko builds the story carefully, in such a way that I enjoyed the atmosphere, the characters, and the universe he constructs, without really worrying about where the story was going.  I knew there was some inevitable conflict on the horizon, but did not expect what happened.  After the murder, a spesh named Sherlock Holmes (I know, it sounds a little silly, but it works) comes on board to investigate.  With large doses of homage to Arthur Conan Doyle, Lukyanenko turns the story into a classic murder mystery, complete with the gathering of all the suspects for the big reveal.

Lukyanenko brings together all the elements of a terrific murder mystery and sci-fi adventure in The Genome, while delving into the shaping of our personalities and our very identities.  Even in a world where not only physical characteristics but also emotional and psychological traits can be determined in the womb, Lukyanenko asks, Can an individual still be autonomous?  The Genome is a fun read and an interesting story.  I hope more of his work is translated into English.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

Sometimes a literary device is original enough and well-executed enough that it can overshadow a mediocre story.  A great example of this is Garth Stein's popular novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain.  The entire novel is told from the perspective of Enzo, a mutt whose owner Denny is a race car driver.  Enzo, who thinks he is, or will be, human (don't all dogs?), has plenty of clever insight into the strange behavior of his human companions.  Stein's canine point of view is very entertaining, and makes what would be a melodramatic, contrived story into a decent book.

Denny goes through lots of hardship, losing his wife, suffering insufferable in-laws, being falsely accused of a terrible crime, and struggling to get his racing career off the ground.  But just as a good driver isn't deterred by the hardship of rain on the track, neither is Denny beaten by his challenges in life.  The Art of Racing in the Rain is not a great story, but told with great execution.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but for the curious reader it's worth picking up just for Stein's unique story-telling acumen.