Kelley Quinn, father of four and owner of Nantucket's Winter Street Inn, expected this Christmas season to be perfectly merry and bright... right up until he walks in on his second wife Mitzi literally kissing Santa Claus. And just like that, his holiday went from holly jolly to bah humbug. With his three eldest children each reeling in their own dramas, and the youngest unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley's ex-wife to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn.
The Quinn family is delightfully dysfunctional in this first book of the Winter series. Each book takes place during the few days before Christmas, and ends on Christmas Day, so don't be surprised by the abrupt endings. All the story lines are picked up again next year in the next book.There are currently four books about the Quinns and their inn: Winter Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, and Winter Solstice, with a new one published around Fall each year.
A heartwarming read for the holiday season.
On the week before Christmas, in the sleepy little tourist town of Pine Cove, Santa is murdered. At least that’s what seven-year-old Josh sees happen. In reality, a guy in a Santa suit was having it out with his ex-wife and he fell onto a shovel and died. Not knowing that, Josh makes a desperate Christmas wish, for Santa to be alive again. And then a Christmas miracle happens. At least, that was the plan. Except that heaven's stupidest angel decides to grant his wish by raising Santa and everyone else buried in town from the grave... as brain-hungry zombies. Merry Christmas, Pine Cove!
The premise of this book alone is fun enough to make it a worthwhile read. It’s Christopher Moore all the way through, by which I mean that it’s absolutely outrageous. From a schizophrenic broadsword-wielding babe to a pot-smoking ex-hippie sheriff to a helicopter pilot with a pet giant fruit bat, this book has a wild cast of characters and an irreverent sense of humor that may be a bit raunchy and over-the-top for some, but will leave others rolling on the floor. If you like your humor a little on the crass side, this is a Christmas classic that’s worth the read. For audiobook fans: This narrator does a terrific job with voices, and it’s a quick listen, perfect for a long holiday car ride to visit family.
The Little Stranger opens just after World War II, when only three members of the Ayers family—mother, son, and daughter—remain at Hundreds Hall, the family estate in England’s West Midlands. It was once a grand and stately manor, but it has fallen into disrepair as its inhabitants have suffered personal tragedy and financial ruin. The family calls in Doctor Faraday when one of their two remaining servants falls ill. Faraday, the son of a former Hundreds Hall nurserymaid, has fond memories of the estate from his boyhood and is shocked to see it in its present state. He finds the servant perfectly healthy but terrified of a “bad thing” in the house. Faraday, ever the rationalist, diagnoses her with a case of homesickness. However, he finds himself drawn in by the Ayers family, particularly the gruff-but-charming daughter, Caroline. As he spends more time with Caroline, he learns of strange, unsettling events that seem to be plaguing the inhabitants of Hundreds Hall. Can they be explained rationally, or is there something more sinister afoot?
Waters delivers an atmospheric, spine-tingling read that will hook you from the very first page. An absolute must-read for fans of Daphne du Maurier, Henry James, Agatha Christie or Charles Dickens. Read it before the movie comes out in 2018!
As a young girl, Rose Franklin stumbled upon the remnants of a gigantic metal hand. It was the first of many scattered pieces of a colossal robot, all thousands of years old, to be discovered across the globe. Seventeen years later, the mystery remains unsolved, yet Rose, now a highly trained physicist, is leading the top secret team to find the missing pieces and crack the code. The story unfolds as she and her colleagues are interviewed by a nameless interrogator, who is just as mysterious as the robot.
Told in a series of interviews, journal entries, and reports, Sleeping Giants is impossible to put down once you begin. Luckily, there's a sequel, Waking Gods, out now, and a third book is expected to come out in the spring. Fans of realistic near-future sci-fi like The Martian or World War Z will love this. Highly recommended on audio, which is a full-cast production.
