Sunday, December 18, 2011


Holiday Reading Challenge - Day 2  - Sponsored by Edifyng and Edgy! You can click on their name and go to their site!
I'm late !  However, I CAN'T pass this Holiday Challenge up because it is toooo FUN!!!
For today's challenge we are supposed to take the book we are currently reading and tell you about it in pictures!
This ended up being a HARD challenge for me!  I tried to use Photobucket.  Why do "I" seem to be the ONLY person in Blogger-World who CAN'T seem to figure it out?????  Here it is well AFTER midnight of Day 2, and I just GAVE UP on Photobucket!  That is why I have never had a button for my site as well.  Photobucket and me - oooooh, yuck!  We DON'T get along!
Then, I will be honest - I fell asleep after while giving up on it!  My recliner can get pretty comfy!
Okay - MY book in pictures!  Finally, you say!  OKAY!!
I am reading this book:

Christmas at Harrington's
by Melody Carlson

I LOVE this author!  I have found a new author I just love how she writes this story, and on TOP of it, she has written OVER 200 BOOKS!  WOW!

In this story, a 43 year old Lena,


 is just released from serving  time in prison 


because her NOW EX-husband/Preacher, embezzled money from the church, and blamed it on HER!  She did not fight the imprisonment, served her time and got off early for good behavior.  She is given $65, used clothing, an ugly purple parka with a broken zipper, and her release package to to relocate.  She allowed the prison to choose for her the town and state she would relocate to as she did NOT want to relocate back to the town she came from.  She did not want to run into the people from her previous church where her ex was the minister at.



Lena boards a bus 


on her way to New Haven, Minnesota, a town in northern Minnesota.  On the bus, she meets an older woman who is also bound for that town.  She learns she lives there and has her whole life. Her family, a son and his family, also live there.


Lena is honest with this woman and explains she is just released from prison and allowed the prison to choose where she is to go and live.  For now she will go to a Boarding House to live,


and is promised there is a job available for her at Harrington's Department Store.


When she arrives in New Haven, Minnesota, she goes to get a bite to eat at the local diner and finds out there is a job available there as a waitress.  She turns them down because she knows Harrington's Department Store is waiting for her.



There is more to this old lady and we will meet her again later!  When Lena gets to the Boarding House, it is very run down.  She is told all kinds of rules, for fire hazard prevention.  NO cooking in her room, etc.  She is really down on her luck money-wise now.  Without being able to cook in her room, how is she going to stretch out now $58.00 for two weeks till she gets paid, or maybe longer?  She meets a woman and her daughter at the Boarding House.


Lena starts babysitting this little girl as her mother went to the diner and got the job as a waitress.  

Lena goes to Harrington's to apply for her job.  NO jobs available.  They just laid people off.  However, someone comes up with an idea that she can play Mrs. Santa.  


She takes the job.  It goes so well that the children take to her better than they did to Santa Claus.  She is enjoying her newfound fame!  Things are going well.the local newscasters come and interview her to get the story about Mrs. Santa at Harrington's and why is Santa Claus not there?


Lena tells the Newscasters that



Then, an old Church Member happens to live in this new town and she see's her on the Local News Station.  


This MEAN old woman goes to Harrington's and tells Lena's boss that she is an ex-con newly released from prison.  Lena gets 

FIRED!

Now what does she do?  She continues to care for her new friends' little girl.  They go to the library one day to check out books.  Lena is finding that the people are reacting to her news in a 70/30 manner. Some think she is awful, but most of them think nothing of it.  She has served her time and it's done.  Why hold the past against her?  The librarian asks her to read to the children.  She accepts the job, however, she has no costume.  She must stop at the store and purchase fabric to make a Mrs. Santa outfit.  Then, the little girl wants to be an elf.  She says okay, and purchases more fabric for her.  She is going to attempt to hand sew these costumes in one night.  The next day she goes to the Library, and reads to the children.  The kids ask why isn't Santa Claus reading to them?  Lena tells them 


That is not all to this story, you see!   Many of the parents are VERY upset at Mrs. Santa, Lena, that they yell at her and more.  There is still a little more of this story to go that I can't tell you!  I can't tell you THE END of this story!  I can't give spoilers!!  There is a LOT of this story I have left out intentionally that YOU will have to read for yourself!  
Now, YOU have to go to Amazon, get it and read it for yourself!
I'll even make it easy for you!  Here's the link to Amazon!  Click on it and it will take you directly 'to' the book so YOU can purchase it!


PS.  I WON DAY 1 OF THE CHALLENGE!!  WOO-HOO!!!
I got to choose a book, and I chose, Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins!
Thank you, Julie and Karin!!!





2 comments:

  1. I've never seen that challenge, sounds like it's right up my alley too, reading and pictures! Have a good holiday Laurie, hope you're feeling ok (at least!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good job Laurie! I have this book waiting on my Kindle to read.

    ReplyDelete

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