Comments on: A book for all seasons

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 00:56:20 +0000

Miriam, you won’t regret it! There are some great Christmas classics there!

Kevin, you have a way with words! Christmas may come early this year!

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:29:38 +0000

No sooner said than done, and if it causes anybody to snore soundly in the doorway thru the holidays, toss it into the recycler with no hard feelings… We’ve got a while to trade holiday trivia till sleighs fly and dreidels spin, so since you’ve got books to sell and I’ve got another read-request in my in-box, we’ll be off into the winter wonderland and all that, eh, what?

By: Miriam

Miriam — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 14:47:22 +0000

I’m enjoying this exchange, guys. You’ve convinced me to download the Carpenters’ Christmas collection. I agree that Karen Carpenter has one of the most hauntingly lovely voices…ever. Kevin, you might want to send your YA to John Rudolph or Jim McCarthy here if you haven’t already. They’re both strong in this category.

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 19:21:34 +0000

OK, I’ll do it! It won’t be in the manuscript I’ve got lined up for my next read-request, but I can amend the master copy for the long run; I know it’s silly for books to have a theme song, but Karen’s version of “Home For The Holidays” is both beautiful and darkly ironic against the background of Aunt Hilda’s hair-raising reminiscences. And I still have to say that Karen’s holiday stuff is so ghost-right-in-the-room-with-you that’s it’s almost creepy, although how anybody could object to her popping in escapes me. And coming from a guy who’s quite proud of his taste in Manson Era acid rock, that’s something of a compliment. I wish she could have stuck around long enough for me to catch up to appreciating her… By the way, if you really want to hang with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, look up the Carpenter’s TV Christmas Special, which I think you can still get in DVD. My wife will sit still for the Colbert Christmas Special, but the poignancy of Karen’s just freaks her out, unfortunately.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 00:59:10 +0000

Kevin, you won’t find me putting up a Christmas tree without singing along to the Carpenters’ Christmas Collection! There’s nothing more beautiful to get you in the spirit of the holidays than listening to Karen Carpenter sing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”! Tell your wife to at least let you have those two songs!! Who needs Bing or Vic (Damone) when you have Karen and Aaron Neville, but let me keep a little Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney just for old times sake!

I say go for it! It’s your work and you can dedicate it to anyone you want! There are a lot of KC fans out there. I just happen to be one! (And thanks for the tidbit!)

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 21:16:25 +0000

By the way, I just read that the last time Thanksgiving and Hanukkah occurred together like this year was 1888 and won’t occur again for 75,000 years or something, which has definitely got to be a Sign In The Sky of some kind or other…

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 21:08:45 +0000

Well, it might interest you to know that Mr. Scrooge here is wrestling with the problem of whether to dedicate the realistic YA historical he’s shopping around to the memory of Karen Carpenter! I’m serious, (and I know it’s tiresome to keep bringing it up, but I’m going somewhere with this) I’ve got a Jewish family celebrating Thanksgiving with an eccentric rich great-aunt who refuses to acknowledge Passover because of her experiences in WWII Berlin, and a small but vital subtext is the mom’s attachment to Karen’s memory and music and a snarky emo daughter who never loses an opportunity to make fun of her for it. And for perspective, check out some of Karen’s holiday songs… She’s WAY more haunting than Bing Crosby ever was, to the point that my wife won’t allow any of her Christmas songs to be played around the house. A dedication after the author’s historical note at the end seems silly, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Am I nuts? A little help here? And don’t worry, I won’t send it to anyone around there, WWII Berlin being the Jurassic Park of the realistic tour and all. Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgivikkah right back at both of ya!

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 18:44:36 +0000

Kevin, no, I’m not one to be easily shaken where the coins drop out of my pocket! If I like something or someone’s work, then I’m more than happy to spend. For example, Maeve Binchy, I have every single book that she wrote. I did that with other authors until the work became less exceptional and it seemed more like milking the cow dry. It seems to happen when authors put out a book or two a year. I have all of Guillaume Musso’s work and his next to the last novel (#9) seems to be going that way. I hope not! It goes without saying, quality over quantity any day!!!

Oh yeah, one last thing, Kevin. I’ve enjoyed reading many of your comments here on this blog, but don’t be such a Scrooge! You might enjoy a holiday story or two! I suggest A Christmas Story by Jay Frankston. It’s a true story about a Jewish man playing Santa. It’s a short, but powerful story! Cheers and Happy Holidays!!!

By: Miriam

Miriam — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:25:57 +0000

Kevin, you’re a cynic. I’m not sure I’ve read many Christmas books with the exception of Dickens, Seuss, and David Morrell’s thrilling THE SPY WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS, but you are right to note that Christmas books sell like crazy for a few weeks every year and, of course, I’m very interested in what folks read and when.

By: Miriam

Miriam — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:21:59 +0000

Lynn, that’s quite a list. You reinforce my point that, for some of us, what we read is seasonally inspired.