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| Book cover Via Amazon.com |
These many books,
We need some cheer
Christmas is here
Here comes a book,
With such a hook,
Twelve short stories,
Reading with ease.
Tales here to bring
Listen to me sing
All about a book
Which had me with its hook!
Merry
Merry
Merry
Merry Christmas!
Here is a review for “Twelve Christmas Memories” by Sherry Hill.
Opinion
This is my gift to you all on this lovely Christmas day! This is an honest review that the Author did not request, just one I spotted on Kindle recommends because, as you know, I adore short stories. I think I've said that a few times. There are two kinds of short stories, there are collections of short stories, and there are single story short stories. In this case, my Christmas Treat was a series of many short stories.
This was a lovely book to pick up. For one thing, it's a short read, even though there are many stories in it. For another thing, each story has a new and exciting thing to address in the story.
This book brought back so many lovely memories for me. It reminded me of my parent’s traditions during Christmas, and how many miracles I've experienced in my own life. But the main thing I took away was simplicity in the season and enjoying it. I was filled with warmth, nostalgia, and remembering things like ornaments on my grandparent’s tree and the fact my father was a professional Santa for 24 years and what his job which he took so very seriously had on my family. There were so many Christmas Eve’s where we were without my dad because some wealthy family had a lot of money to pay the fee for my father to dress up as Santa and give their family toys. It really left a significant impact on my life, and this book brought back all of those thoughts and memories.
Critiques here are minor. Specifically, every other story is in bold print, and the one after is in regular print. It's painful to someone with eye fatigue. Now please understand guys, I've been reading at least one book a day every day since Thanksgiving. My eyes are tired. Not everyone is doing this, just me, but that bold to normal print thing is painful. I can't speak for the entire world, but I do know there are folks with eye issues aside from myself, and they may find it painful too, so that's why I am pointing it out.
Let's go into positives because this book is so very positive. There were no cliché’s, no weird moments, and everything flowed so beautifully. The most positive thing about the structure of the book is the fact that each and every story is a complete beginning, middle and ending in a little tale. You do not have to write a lot to have a full story, and this book fully illustrates the point. Each tale was well done, and though small, each one packed a punch like drinking spiced cider on a cold night. The characters are quickly introduced, the conflict and climax show up appropriately, and there is a real conclusion to the end. Bravo. This is WONDERFUL for me. I have seen a lot of novels lately that struggle with this area, so I for one needed to enjoy it.
Score
It's pretty darn close to perfect this collection of short stories, so after doing the math this is a 98/100. I recommend this read during the Christmas season, especially over a hot cocoa and gingerbread cookie. I’m also putting this as one of my recommended because it was uplifting to my spirit and I loved the memories it brought back and felt it gave me.
