A heartwarming and inspirational Christmas novel in the tradition of “The Christmas Box, Grace, The Gift,” and “Finding Noel.” The “New York Times” bestselling author of “The Christmas Box “and The Walk” “series returns with a holiday novel of hope, love, and redemption. Dear Reader, When I was in seventh grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Johnson, gave our class the intriguing (if somewhat macabre) … 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.
Merry Christmas
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This is one of my go to books I listen to every season. It seems to be a modern twist on the dicken’s story “A Christmas Carol”. This is a story about second chances, and the ability to see how others really view you. This millionaire businessman gets a chance to right a lot of wrongs he personally caused. This is a realistic plot with characters you can identify with Very heart warming story.
This books goes on my shelf of favorites and I can truthfully say it’s one of the best ones I’ve read this year. I found The Christmas list to be a very moving story. The main character was a rich real estate contractor. He reminded me of Ebenezer Scrooge from the Christmas Carol. This Christmas Story wasn’t like other Christmas books but it did end up giving readers the true meaning of this holiday. I was bought to tears by the beautiful ending. The Narrator, John Dossett , did a great job on the narration and made the story come alive.
James Kerns wasn’t always a hard hearted business man but times had changed him. Making money was all he cared about and he didn’t mind walking all over people to get it. He didn’t care who he hurt because after all it was just business! Then circumstances and fake news allowed him to read his own obituary. He found out what people really thought of him and it was a real eye opener. He took a long hard look at himself and wondered if the money was really worth the price he had to pay to get it. Was it to late to make it up to all the people he had hurt over the years?
I recommend this book to readers who enjoy Christmas stories and fans of the Author Richard Paul Evans.
I borrowed an audio copy of this book from the Hoopla library. A review was not requested. All thoughts and opinions shared here in this review are my own.
Read 12.31.2010
This is, of course, a retelling of A Christmas Carol by Dickens. That came as no shock. However . . . HOWEVER . . . unlike Scrooge, forgiveness doesn’t come to James Kier on a silver platter. With a short list of people to forgive–but longer than Scrooge’s, it seems–Kier sets out to make amends after seeing how people really felt about him. Only, some are unforgiving, some are angrier than he expects, and some cannot forgive for other reasons. And there are two others, not on the list: his soon-to-be ex-wife and his son who is about to marry his sweetheart.
What I loved about The Christmas List is that the author didn’t lay out a happily ever after story, which is real. So while Kier cannot settle all of his emotional debts, he CAN, at least, fix his family . . . to a degree. I won’t say which degree.
I read this in two days (and as writer with scheduled time to read, that’s saying a lot). I’m a die-hard RPE fan. This books proves why. Note: there are some proofing errors in my edition. There always seem to be in RPE’s books, perhaps because S&S are in a hurry to get to print (I can understand that). Missing quotation marks, etc. Not that I care because the story is so awesome!. Again, I’m a writer. I just filled them in with my trusty purple pen. 🙂
First book by this author. I couldn’t put it down. Some parts were sad but I’ll be looking up this author for another book. Best book read in December.