The first was The Christmas Table: A Novel by Donna Van Liere. This is part of a series called ‘Christmas Hope’ by this author. I enjoyed this one quite a bit but probably wouldn’t go out of my way to read others in the series. However, I can see one per year being a nice story. I chose this story because it is focused on a homemade table and different people who come into contact with it over the years. You get each storyline from their perspective and by the end of the book all the parts are pulled together, which is very nice. The only thing that didn’t sit as well with me was the inferred message of ‘pray and you will receive healing’ since that isn’t the way it always works, and I cringe when that is the message. Not helpful for folks who have bad things happen regardless of prayer. But overall, it was a good story and heartwarming for the season. I rated this book 4 stars.
Another enjoyable audiobook over the holidays was Mistletoe at Moonglow by Deborah Garner. This is the first in the Moonglow Christmas series, which in itself is a spin-off of one of the installments of Garner’s Paige MacKenzie mystery series (The Moonglow Cafe). I read all the Paige MacKenzie books years ago (and pretty much everything else she has written, including her Sadie Kramer mystery series) but had never read any of these holiday Moonglow books. This was a short book (about 150 pages so not very long audio) and included many characters we got to know in the mystery book. It was a lovely and happy holiday book about welcoming places and people. Quite enjoyable and I would definitely add the other Moonglow Christmas books to my list of reads. I rated this book 4.5 stars.
And here is another example of a continuation of storyline from a beloved mystery series. Christmas at Greenoak by Marty Wingate which is listed as #7.5 in the Potting Shed series (one of my favorite cozy mystery series). This story revolves around our beloved Pru Parke, the American gardener living in England, married to a British detective. Instead of a murder mystery, this Christmas mystery is all about a mysterious stranger Pru meets at a Christmas market... with all events leading toward a Christmas meal at Greenoak. I loved getting to revisit dear Pru - having fallen in love with her character and the entire Potting Shed mystery series. (I also love the Birds of a Feather series and even the First Edition Library series by this same author.) I rated this short holiday book a 4.5. (Note - Marty Wingate now has another cozy mystery series that I am enjoying - The London Ladies' Murder Club series).
Also an audio read during the holidays, I checked out Shepherd’s Abiding by Jan Karon to listen to as I puzzled. I had read this one as part of the whole Mitford series years ago but decided to listen to it again since it had been awhile and it was a Christmas theme. I loved it soooo much! In fact, I loved this audio version so much that I have now purchased almost all of the Mitford series in audiobook form. I am seeing that the narrator of this particular book, John McDonough, is the narrator for most, but not all of the audio version series. Clearly, if possible, I am choosing those narrated by him. He was the perfect voice to bring all the beloved characters from Mitford to life. Can’t wait to revisit this entire series. I rated this 5 stars.
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