Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Review: The Christmas List by: Richard Paul Evans

Title: The Christmas List
Author: Richard Paul Evans
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 353
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal Purchase

Description:

Dear Reader,

When I was in seventh grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Johnson, gave our class the intriguing (if somewhat macabre) assignment of writing our own obituaries. Oddly, I don't remember much of what I wrote about my life, but I do remember how I died: in first place on the final lap of the Daytona 500. At the time, I hadn't considered writing as an occupation, a field with a remarkably low on-the-job casualty rate.

What intrigues me most about Mrs. Johnson's assignment is the opportunity she gave us to confront our own legacy. How do we want to be remembered? That question has motivated our species since the beginning of time: from building pyramids to putting our names on skyscrapers.

As I began to write this book, I had two objectives: First, I wanted to explore what could happen if someone read their obituary before they died and saw, firsthand, what the world really thought of them. Their legacy.

Second, I wanted to write a Christmas story of true redemption. One of my family's holiday traditions is to see a local production of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. I don't know how many times I've seen it (perhaps a dozen), but it still thrills me to see the change that comes over Ebenezer Scrooge as he transforms from a dull, tight-fisted miser into a penitent, "giddy-as-aschoolboy" man with love in his heart. I always leave the show with a smile on my face and a resolve to be a better person. That's what I wanted to share with you, my dear readers, this Christmas -- a holiday tale to warm your season, your homes, and your hearts.

My Thoughts:

This book follows James Kier whose working hard at being a class rate jerk and has lost his way and hurt a bunch of people in his life when he reads his obituary in the paper it's made clear that someone screwed up what is worse is when James goes online and reads the comments some of them really harsh his only defender is his soon to be ex-wife Sara who he left when she got sick with Cancer!

I enjoyed this book so much I couldn't put it down and was glad I got it the story was very similar to a christmas carol James has alot to learn about the true meaning of Christmas and fixing things he did wrong and how some of what he did put other people on their paths whether it be destruction or being as evil as he was.  In the end James learns that trying to make amends is not as simple as one thinks it is.  It's a tough road but if you work at it you can help others.  Totally worth checking out!
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