Book Review- Carol by Bob Hartman

 Carol: A Story for Christmas 

Carol by Bob Hartman is a book that is about Christmas (obviously, right?) This is a really cute looking book and it's so small like a gift book. Though it's short it really is a great story. It is a play on the Christmas Carol. This in the category of those variations of the Christmas Carol in TV shows or movies that just have different settings. It does have some of the same themes.

Instead of Scrooge, the main character is an older guy named Jack who hates everything about Christmas. He's a very grumpy and kinda selfish man who has a bad day every day. But instead of being obsessed with money he's obsessed with music. After running into a gorgeous woman at the bookstore (literally), they start hitting it off while listening to a retro song. He gets sucked into a flashback which starts their reflection of his whole life from the early days to his future.

Not totally sure what I personally thought about it before I started reading it. There were really no expectations but I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. In the end I really enjoyed it. The story was cute but also thought-provoking, and pretty entrancing. Seeing what happened next was a suspense you couldn't put down. At least I couldn't. It really does make you think about how Christmas is perceived these days. All the hustle and bustle on getting gifts and all the stress, while the meaning of Christmas is lost. Sometimes you just have to sit down and have a cup of coffee (or tea in my case) and think about it rather than get infuriated. All in all it was a great book. Check it out!

Jack O'Malley hates shopping,snow, and even Christmas. All three at once is Jack's idea of a very bad day. Storming into a Starbucks seeking escape, Jack runs smack into a beautiful and mysterious stranger, almost knocking her over and unintentionally changing his life forever. In this one moment his entire life—who he once was, who he is, and who he has the potential to become—flashes before his eyes. In this humorous rendering of Charles Dickens' classic tale, timeless lessons are reexamined through the lens of modern society. The result is funny, moving, and ultimately thought-provoking. [-Amazon]