New Christmas Fiction in Large Print

Since the stores have had Christmas merchandise for a while now, I've decided to feature some of our new Christmas novels that are available in large print.

Pretty Paper is the newest by singer/songwriter/actor/activist Willie Nelson. More than fifty years ago, Willie Nelson's Christmas classic "Pretty Paper" was released, and for all that time, Willie has wondered about the real-life Texas street vendor of wrappings and ribbons who inspired the song. Who was this poor soul? What were his trials and tribulations? This novelization explores just those sort of questions. It's the early sixties and Willie is down and out, just barely getting by as a singer/songwriter. Just a week before Christmas, he comes across a legless man with a cart selling his wares in front of a department store. The man's name is Vernon Clay, a staunchly private man who is in no mood to tell Willie his story. Eventually, Willie learns that Vernon is a fellow musician--a fine guitarist and singer. Vernon disappears and leaves only a diary that chronicles his tale of life-altering tragedy, broken hearts, honky tonks, crooked record execs, good cooking, and a genius for writing country songs.

In a continuation of her Lowcountry Summer series, Mary Alice Monroe offers readers A Lowcountry Christmas. A lesson of the true meaning of Christmas and the strength of family bonds is the center of this story of a wounded warrior and his younger brother. Ten-year-old Miller McClellan is feeling sorry for himself at the moment. His father's shrimp boat is docked, his mother is working two jobs, and finances are strained, so Christmas is going to be really tight. Miller won't be getting the dog he desperately wants. "Your brother's return from war is our family's gift," his parents tell him. When his brother, Taylor, returns he is suffering from PTSD and the holiday looks even darker. Then Taylor gets a large black Lab/Dane mix named Thor as his service dog and Miller is more than a little jealous. Miller decides to take his dad's axe and Thor to the woods to get a Christmas tree since they cannot afford to buy one. When Miller gets lost, his family must come together and rediscover their strengths and what it means to be a part of a family.

Richard Paul Evans offers the tale of a lonely blogger in The Mistletoe Secret. The anonymous LBH pours her heart out in her blog thinking that no one is reading. She wants desperately to know what it's like to have another person to care about her. In Daytona Beach, Florida, Alex Bartlett is that person. He reads LBH's posts faithfully as he nurses his own broken heart. When Alex decides to follow a trail of clues LBH inadvertently leaves in her posts, he finds out that she lives in the small town of Midway, Utah. Just after Thanksgiving, he makes his way there determined to find the mysterious blogger. At the Mistletoe Diner, Alex finds Aria, a waitress who encourages his search and serves him pie along with much-needed sympathy and companionship.

Happy Holidays!