Stories & Reflection
Review: Keeping Christmas by Dan Walsh
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 by Marti
Categories: Read
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me: I love Christmas. As soon as the Thanksgiving dinner is cleared away, our house undergoes a tinsel-and-tree transformation as we prepare for the Christmas season. We make large pans of fudge and (with a nod to my Ohio roots) hundreds of peanut-butter-chocolate Buckeyes. We bake dozens of cookies. We even wrap all the paintings on our walls in Christmas paper—an inexpensive holiday tip borrowed from a physician’s office years ago.
So it’s no surprise that I also love Christmas books. This year, I’m excited to share the latest release from my friend and fellow Florida author Dan Walsh. Keeping Christmas: A Novel is a story to which I can relate. Not only does it take place in my beautiful hometown of Mount Dora, Florida, but the central characters are empty-nesters—just like my husband and me.
Christmas looks different to us in this stage of life than it did when our five children were small, and it does to Stan and Judith, too. Their three children are grown and gone, with families of their own—and none of them can make it home for the holidays. All the couple has left are their memories and a box of what they call “The Ugly Ornaments,” lovingly crafted by their children through the years.
Stan, an avid fisherman, seems eager to embrace their new lifestyle. After all, this is the Christmas when he and his best friend plan to buy their dream rig, the fishing boat of their dreams. But Judith has more than a bit of trouble moving beyond her loneliness and into the wonder and beauty of Christmas. 
Walsh, as always, does a masterful job of creating characters about whom we care. This time, he weaves the threads of their lives into a beautiful tapestry with more than a hint of compassion, love, and Christmas magic.
Include this book on your list of books to read—and give—this Christmas, and watch for my coming interview with Dan about Keeping Christmas along with news of a Christmas contest. If you live in the Central Florida area, be sure to visit charming Mount Dora on December 6, 6-8 p.m. and enjoy an in-person visit with Dan at the 2015 Christmas Book-tacular. Maybe I'll see you there!
(FTC Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel free from the author. I was not required to post a review or a positive response.)
Find a local Christian bookstore where you can purchase Keeping Christmas.
Find this book on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, or at Christian Book Distributors.
Read Marti's article about Christmas in Mount Dora in More to Life Magazine (page 60).
Share This Blog:
Previous Posts
Review: Keeping Christmas by Dan Walsh
Marti
11/18/2015
Words with Friends: Cynthia Ruchti
Marti
10/23/2015
Review: An Endless Christmas by Cynthia Ruchti
Marti
10/22/2015
Review: The Caregiver's Notebook by Jolene Philo
Marti
3/17/2015
Pray: Top Ten Signs You've Just Returned from a Short-Term Mission Trip
Marti
7/29/2014
READ: Just 18 Summers by Rene Gutteridge and Michelle Cox
Marti
5/6/2014
READ: 12 Pearls of Christmas, Day 4: The Nativity by Lynn Austin
Marti
12/17/2013
WRITE: Words with Friends: Becky Harling
Marti
12/12/2013
READ: Review, The 30-Day Praise Challenge by Becky Harling
Marti
12/10/2013
READ: Review, Engaging Today's Prodigal by Carol Barnier
Marti
12/3/2013
READ: Review, Breaking Invisible Chains by Susan Titus Osborn, Jeenie Gordon, and Karen Kosman
Marti
11/5/2013
READ: Review, Experiencing God's Presence by Linda Evans Shepherd
Marti
10/22/2013
READ: Review, I'm Too Young to Be This Old by Poppy Smith
Marti
10/15/2013
READ: Why I'd Like to Review the Sword Study (But Can't)
Marti
9/27/2013
READ: Review, Harriet Beamer Strikes Gold by Joyce Magnin
Marti
9/25/2013
READ: Review, CAKE by Joyce Magnin
Marti
1/12/2013
READ: Review, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Marti
4/4/2012
READ: Review, Because You Care by Cecil Murphey and Twila Belk
Marti
3/16/2012
YA Friday: READ--Vote for SUSIE Magazine
Marti
3/9/2012
READ: Review, Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter
Marti
2/14/2012
READ: Review, Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker (Emma Rae Creation Se
Marti
2/7/2012
READ: Review, Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Marti
2/1/2012
READ: Review, Cooking the Books by Bonnie S. Calhoun
Marti
1/10/2012
READ: Review, The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp
Marti
1/5/2012
READ: Review, There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones (YA Friday)
Marti
12/30/2011
READ: Review, When Someone You Love No Longer Remembers by Cecil Murphey
Marti
12/20/2011
YA Friday: READ Review, Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis with Beth Clark
Marti
12/16/2011
READ: Review, Blame it on the Mistletoe by Joyce Magnin
Marti
12/14/2011
READ: Review, Called to Serve by Lt. Col. Tony Monetti & Penny Monetti
Marti
9/2/2011
READ: Review, Simply Salsa by Janet Perez Eckles
Marti
8/9/2011
READ: Attitude-inize by Jan Coates
Marti
6/9/2011
READ: When You Can't Find God by Linda Evans Shepherd
Marti
6/3/2011
READ: One Year Alone with God by Ava Pennington
Marti
5/31/2011
READ: Review, Knowing God, Knowing Myself by Cecil Murphey
Marti
3/23/2011
READ: Review, Following God One Yes at a Time
Marti
3/15/2011
READ: Review, Griselda Takes Flight by Joyce Magnin
Marti
3/1/2011
READ: Review, The Me Project by Kathi Lipp
Marti
2/23/2011
READ: Review, 31 Days to a Younger You by Arlene Pellicane
Marti
2/15/2011
READ: Review, Broken Heart on Hold by Linda W. Rooks
Marti
1/25/2011
READ: Review, Unless It Moves the Human Heart by Roger Rosenblatt
Marti
1/18/2011
READ: Review, Bound by Guilt by C.J. Darlington
Marti
1/11/2011
READ: Review, If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn
Marti
1/5/2011
READ: Review, The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers
Marti
12/21/2010
READ: Review, Flourish by Catherine Hart Weber, Ph.D.
Marti
12/14/2010
READ: Review, Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes
Marti
11/19/2010
READ: Review, The Smart Stepmom by Ron L. Deal and Laura Petherbridge
Marti
10/20/2010
READ: Review, Paperdoll by Natalie Lloyd
Marti
10/8/2010
READ: SUSIE Magazine
Marti
9/22/2010
READ: Review, FINDING HOPE FOR YOUR JOURNEY THROUGH BREAST CANCER by Yvonne Ortega
Marti
9/8/2010
READ: Review, D.I.V.A.S. OF THE DIVINE by Donna McCrary and Sherri Holbert
Marti
8/10/2010
READ: Review, GOD ALONE IS ENOUGH by Claudia Mair Burney
Marti
6/18/2010
READ: Review, THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME by Cynthia Ruchti
Marti
6/8/2010
READ: Review, LIFE WITH LORD BYRON by Peggy Nelson
Marti
5/26/2010
READ: Review, Life's Too Short to Miss the Big Picture: Making the Most of What's Important by Steve
Marti
5/15/2010
READ: Review, The Plan a Woman in a Plan B World by Debbie Taylor Williams
Marti
4/20/2010
READ: Words of Comfort for Times of Loss by Cecil Murphey and Liz Allison (Blog Tour--and Two Opport
Marti
3/30/2010
READ: Review, White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner (Waterbrook, 2009)
Marti
3/23/2010
READ: Firm Foundations, Fulfilled Dreams: An Interview with Author C.J. Darlington (Part III)
Marti
3/15/2010
READ: Firm Foundations, Fulfilled Dreams: An Interview with Author C.J. Darlington (Part I)
Marti
3/8/2010
READ: Introducing Sexy Christians and the Sexy Christians Workbook
Marti
3/1/2010
READ: The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin (Abingdon Press, 2009)
Marti
2/22/2010
READ: "My name is Marti, and I am a bibliophile."
Marti
2/17/2010
