Book 19: The Christmas Sweater

by Glenn Beck

Let me start by saying that I love Glenn Beck! I have listened to his radio show off and on, not more because children do not make it conducive to radio listening. I have been to two of his tours, and really enjoyed both of them. I have laughed over a number of his CD's, enjoyed both of his other books (both of which I highly recommend), and faithfully read Fusion magazine.

But, Glenn, well, he committed my number one pet peeve where books are concerned. And let me say right now that this will be a spoiler for the end of the book, if you are planning on reading it and like to be surprised, stop reading this post now.

Remember in Elementary school when you were told to write a story, and all of these amazing things would happen, such as your pet dog would hold a long conversation with you, you would lead a heroic mission to mars, or you would suddenly be thrust into the role of president of the United States. And at the conclusion of all these amazing events, the story would end with one small sentence: "And then I woke up", or the ever popular "It was all a dream". After going through middle school and graduating from high school, I must say that I HATED, no LOATHED, any story that ended this way! It was like a free pass to do anything and have it justified. The only place I can kind of accept it is in the movie, "The Princess Bride" where Buttercup wakes up after dreaming that she had married Prince Humperdink. Afterall, it was a reasonable dream and come on, the movie is a comedy.

Likewise, let me say that "Hi, my name is Kelly, and my husband is a Star Trek fan." Yes, I can freely admit it. I can also admit to watching all of Star Trek Next Generation and Voyager with him. I know that might qualify me as a nerd, but these are the things we do for love. Anyway, Star Trek commits this crime insanely often! But instead of dreams, they use time travel or time lines. Something will alter the time line, and then one person must single-handedly fix it. So at the end of the show, this one person is the ONLY one who remembers anything that happened, and they are not able to share their experiences with anyone else. It is like the entire show NEVER happened! I always feel like I wasted my time because now all of the events that took place, relationships that were forged, and characters that were developed never even happened. We are back to square one.

So all of this totally off topic blabber is to help you to see how much I dislike the "it was a dream" escape ending. Well, all I have to say about The Christmas Sweater is that Glenn ended it with the main character waking up from a dream. That's ALL I have to say.

Next book: A Portrait of a Lady
by Henry James

Oh, and sorry for my blogging negligence. I hit one of those pregnancy-exhaustion zones, where every moment of every day you feel exhausted. It's over now, and I have some exciting things in store for you, including a baby room preview, a rocking chair make over, a patio furniture redo, and yard sale goodies! And I promise that it won't all be a dream.