Review

Christmas Mail (2010)

Christmas Mail

Christmas Mail (2010)

Director:

John Murlowski

Starring:

Ashley Scott

A.J. Buckley

Lochlyn Munro

Plot:

In this holiday romantic comedy, a mysterious woman who works at the post office answering Santa’s mail captures the heart of a disillusioned postal carrier

Review:

This wasn’t bad, the actors were all fine, but the story was kind of lacking. I think it needed more holiday magic and less drama. The dude was a single parent raising his niece, he had a job he didn’t like, and his boss wanted him to spy on the chick, oh and he wanted to return to his rock band.

The girl was maybe the daughter of Santa, not sure if that was ever confirmed I zoned out a few times. I think she should have channeled more Catherine Bell in her witch movies.

This was better than the last few Christmas movies I’ve watched, but nothing amazing.

3/5

Rainy Day Kisses By: Debbie Macomber

Rainy Day Kisses

Rainy Day Kisses By: Debbie Macomber

Plot:

While Susannah Simmons struggles up the corporate ladder, her neighbor Nate Townsend stays home baking cookies and flying kites. She resents the way he questions her values and the way he messes up her five-year plan when she falls in love with him!

Review:

This was clearly not written recently, a quick check of the front matter shows that it was originally published in 1990 and boy was it obvious. Lots of dated views on women in the work place and at times it was infuriating to read.

Susannah was your typical career minded woman, she had to deal with a lot of issues at work being the only women that high up in her office. It wasn’t until Macomber started having everyone tell Susannah that she needed to be married with a child that things started to get uncomfortable. Then when Nate starts telling her that if she continues down that path she’ll be unsatisfied and alone that it started to irk me. Come on people, that’s not the message we’re supposed to be telling women. We can have it all and then some, right?!?

Anyway, the book was old and very cliché. The conflict could have been completely avoided if Susannah had asked a very easy and common question or if Nate had volunteered information very early on. Their reasoning for not doing so was weak.

The end has been done before and felt rushed. Christmas played no part in this book even though it was paired in a Christmas Wishes double book, it was set in September and at one point she sang a Christmas song. That was it.

Overall disappointed and would not recommend.

2/5

Christmas Letters (Blossom Street #3.5) By: Debbie Macomber

Christmas Letters

Christmas Letters (Blossom Street #3.5) By: Debbie Macomber

Plot:

Katherine O’Connor often spends her days at a cozy cafe; on Blossom Street in Seattle; where she writes Christmas letters for other people. She’s good at making their everyday lives sound more interesting. More humorous. More dramatic. But for Dr. Wynn Jeffries, who also frequents the cafe, Christmas means lies and deception. In fact, the renowned child psychologist recommends that parents “bury Santa under the sleigh.” Katherine, however, feels that his parenting philosophy is one big mistake; at least, based on her five-year-old twin nieces, who are being raised according to his “Free Child” methods. She argues with Wynn about his theories, while he argues that her letters are nothing but lies. They disagree about practically everything; and yet, somehow, they don’t really want to stop arguing. As the days and nights; move closer to Christmas, Katherine and Wynn both discover that love means accepting your differences. And Christmas is about the things you share

Review:

Every time I started to get into this book the characters would bring up Wynn’s child rearing theories and I would get pulled out. They were so stupid and anyone who had done any kind of research or held a doctorate should know that, and the character supposedly had both. It took me out of the story completely.

The romance was sweet, what you expect with a Debbie Macomber, the characters were fine, though a bit unrealistic and honestly stupid. Christmas played a large part of the story so if you’re looking for a holiday romance this certainly fits the bill, just not sure if I would recommend it.

3/5

Side Note: This book is in a series but you do not have to read it in order

The Night Before (2015)

The Night Before (2015)

Director:

Jonathan Levine

Starring:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Seth Rogan

Anthony Mackie

Jillian Bell

Plot:

On Christmas eve, three lifelong friends, two of whom are Jewish, spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.

Review:

I love rated R Christmas movies, not sure why but I do. I liked The Night Before, but it wasn’t as good as the Harold and Kumar Christmas movie or even Four Christmases. I thought they should have eased off the serious stuff and just embraced the three friends going on one last crazy Christmas Eve before they accepted adulthood. That would have been funnier. Instead there was a steroids sideline and a whole getting over dead parents thing. The baby thing was actually funny, maybe they should have stayed that light and ridiculous with the other plotlines.

There were several funny moments and it was a nice holiday movie, but I felt like it could have been better.

3.5/5

Peter and Max (Fables Novel) By: Bill Willingham Illustrator: Steve Leialoha

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Peter and Max (Fables Novel) By: Bill Willingham Illustrator: Steve Leialoha

Plot:

This story stars Peter Piper and his incorrigible brother Max in a tale about jealousy, betrayal and revenge. Set in two distinct time periods, prepare to travel back to medieval times and learn the tragic back-story of the Piper family, a medieval-era family of traveling minstrels. Then, jump into the present to follow a tale of espionage as Peter Piper slowly hunts down his evil brother for a heinous crime, pitting Peter’s talents as a master thief against Max’s dark magical powers. Based on the long-running and award-winning comic book series FABLES, PETER AND MAX is its own tale. Readers don’t have to be familiar with the comics to fully enjoy and understand this book.

Review:

I’ve read several of the Fables graphic novels and I’ve had this book on my to read list for years, it’s crazy that it took me this long to read.

I found it fun to read this universe in novel form and I think it worked very well, however I don’t know if someone who’s never read the comics would appreciate it as much. There were several references to things that you wouldn’t fully understand if you hadn’t read the comics. I think someone who had never read them could understand what was going on, but I don’t think they’d fully appreciate it all.

It’s been a while since I’ve read the comics and I honestly don’t remember Peter and Bo, but after reading this I wouldn’t be adverse to finding out more. Peter was a master thief and Bo was an assassin, is that something you’d ever think Peter Piper and Little Bo Peep were capable of? That’s exactly what Fables is like though.

Some people call it an adult Once Upon a Time, but I don’t think that’s a good comparison. The writing in Fables is creative and entertaining and there are all kinds of twists. As much as I enjoy watching Once Upon a Time they just started another season with everyone losing their memories. Fables has taken the concept adult fairy tales and created an interesting and complicated world.

Anyways, back to the book. I did enjoy reading a novel in this world, but I thought there was a ton of build up with a couple paragraphs of payoff. It wasn’t enough for me. I understand why they couldn’t do a more detailed epilogue, but the ending was lacking and left me feeling unsatisfied, never a good feeling.

I would certainly read more novels written in this world and one day I will own all the graphic novels, but I’m a bit disappointed with Peter and Max and I bumped it down half a star.

3.5/5

Side note: Illustrations were great