Christmas Letters Gone Wild

In The Christmas Letters, three generations of women reveal their stories of love and marriage in the letters they write to family and friends during the holidays. It's a down-home Christmas story about tradition, family, and the shared experiences of women. Here, in a letter of her own, Lee Smith explains how she was inspired to write this celebrated epistolary novel: Dear Friends, Like me, you probably get Christmas letters every year. I read every word and save every letter. Because every Christmas letter is the story of a life, and what story can be more interesting than the story of our lives? Often, it is the story of an entire family. But you also have to read between the lines with Christmas letters. Sometimes, what is not said is even more important than what is on the page. In The Christmas Letters, I have used this familiar format to illumine the lives, hopes, dreams, and disappointments of three generations of American women. Much of the story of The Christmas Letters is also told through shared recipes. As Mary, my favorite character, says, "I feel as if I have written out my life story in recipes! The Cool Whip and mushroom soup years, the hibachi and fondue period, then the quiche and crepes phase, and now it's these salsa years." I wrote this little book for the same reason I write to my friends and relatives every holiday--Christmas letters give us a chance to remember and celebrate who we are. With warmest greetings, Lee Smith

Tolerate ignorance? Really? So not necessary. This laugh-out-loud dictionary is the perfect lesson in snarkiness. Why suffer the tiny minds of the plebian rabble with whom you come in daily contact, reasons James Napoli, executive vice president of the National Sarcasm Society. So, with The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm, he provides an A–Z guide to turn to whenever you need to set someone straight. From advertisements to e-mail, materialism to remote controls, there’s a witty answer for every situation. “You have been waiting patiently for a dictionary like this to come along. And now it is here,” recognizes Napoli. “Not that you give a crap.”

At age twelve, author Thomas Michael Johnson faced the death of a great-grandparent he was close to as a child. That trauma left him with an irrational fear of losing loved ones. By the time he married and became a father, the fear of death living within him was incapacitating and debilitating, often causing difficulties in his personal and professional life. Seeking freedom from this terror, Johnson began to understand the difference between joy and happiness; he was delivered from the fear some six weeks before his wife’s untimely demise. After nearly nineteen years of marriage, he woke to find his beloved wife had passed away while he slept. He suddenly became a single parent of three sons (ages seventeen, thirteen, and twelve), struggling through the typical single-parent issues with an added layer of grief. Johnson’s middle son’s autism added to the challenges. In Good Grief, Johnson shares an account of the trepidation he lived through as a young man, his freedom from the fear of death before his wife died, and the two years following her death. This memoir focuses on the lessons he learned from God directly, from scripture, and from the tight-knit group of family and friends God had given him. Raw and authentic, Johnson chronicles a story of his experience as a grieving widower, a single father, and a broken child of God who had no choice but to ask for help from those surrounding him, while trying to restore joy in his home.

Psychiatrist Andrew G. Hodges reveals not only the identity of the killer, but also exactly what took place during the final moments of JonBenet's life. Evidence that is all the more compelling because it comes directly from the killer's own mind.

During the early days of World War II Joe Phelps made two critical decisions that were to affect the rest of his life. He and Margaret Wieczorek decided to take their chances on a war time marriage. Joe also decided to enlist in the Naval Reserve. For a while things were great for the newly weds but after less than nine months of marriage Joe got his orders. He was on his way to duty in Bermuda. During the fifteen months he was stationed there Joe and Marge exchanged over 500 letters. These letters reveal the great love and affection they had for each other despite the miles that separated them. They show their faith in God and country. And the letters are a time capsule of what America was like in 1943 and 1944. Find out about Nicklelodeon dances, the Lux Radio Theater, hit movies, shoe stamps, The Inner Sanctum, jitterbugging, Camp Grant, knitten for Britain, Hopalong Cassidy and all the hot spots in Rockford, Illinois. Book Reviews Phelps Creates Family Treasure A box of letters stored away since 1945 resurfaced 60 years later in 2005. Letters written back and forth between James’s parents in 1943 and 1944. James made the decision to devote time to preserving this time in his parent’s history. As James began to delve further into the readings, he realized the beauty in the language and his parent’s relationship. He also learned much of the social history as revealed by his mother’s writing. His mother’s letters provide a snapshot of life in the early 1940’s. For those with a penchant for history, for the stories behind the people, and for those appreciative of beautiful and telling letter writing, this may be the book for you. Sarah Johnson Editor/Publisher of FYI NORTHWOODS Presque Isle, Wisconsin Pick up this book for a fascinating journey to the America of yesterday, as seen through the eyes of real-life heroes who weren’t seeking special recognition. They just tried the best they could, meeting their responsibilities in everyday life, overseas and on the home front. By the time you finish this book, you’ll feel like they’re old friends. Not only is this unique book a very interesting read, it is also a time capsule that contains some mementoes of an era that is long gone but part of our history. Some readers may still have grandparents who recall having lived during this era; for them it will be like a walk down memory lane. For others, who are too young to recall it personally, it is a glimpse into a time that is viewed through old photographs – almost surreal but at once real and honest. Susan Johnson Copy Editor of The Rock River Times in Rockford, Illinois Rockford man compiles parents’ WWII correspondence in a book. Rockford’s James S. Phelps has written a book, “Letters from Bermuda,” compiling correspondence his newlywed parents exchanged during World War II. Family photographs accompany the accounts of wartime life in Bermuda and Rockford. Phelps retired from teaching at Swan Hillman Elementary in 2005. The book is available at Amazon.com, BN.com and Xlibris.com, where you can preview excerpts from the book. Go Section of the Rockford Register Star READERS’ COMMENTS After reading every letter, I, if no other reader, have come to know Joe and Marge quite well. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you right away how much I admire your entirely worthwhile effort in transcribing these expressions of your parent’s love and affection, faith and longing. Did you ever consider “Oceans of love” as a subtitle? We’ve still not been by Crossways (Joe’s cottage in Bermuda) at a time when we weren’t rushing, but Joe’s many descriptions will be an inspiration next time the opportunity arises to take a couple of pictures and maybe knock on the door. It was amusing to see the occasional “hand of autho

For those who know the meaning of Christmas but can't use it in a sentence...This delightful compendium features 126 distinct definitions of the Christmas holiday, with literary quotations. This book is the antidote for people who complain that Christmas has become so commercialized that it is devoid of meaning. The surprising and intriguing entries encourage contemplation and reminiscence. One whimsical example is "Christmas means 'Whiskey': 'Pour a little Christmas in that eggnog, darlin'.' -expression from the American South."