The Great Christmas Bowl
By Susan May Warren
Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko <p>
About The Great Christmas Bowl:
Marianne Wallace is focused on two things this holiday season: planning the greatest family Christmas ever and cheering on her youngest son’s team in their bid for the state championship.
Disaster strikes when the team loses their mascot-the Trout. Is it going too far to ask her to don the costume? So what if her husband has also volunteered her to organize the church Christmas tea.
When football playoffs start ramping up, the Christmas tea starts falling apart. Then, one by one her children tell her they can’t come home for Christmas.
As life starts to unravel, will Marianne remember the true meaning of the holidays?<p>
About Susan:
Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of twenty-four novels with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill. A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Book of the Year. Her larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice. Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!) A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com<p>
My review:
Life for Marianne has not been all tinsel and gift wrap, when loving her family means she gets stuffed into a fish mascot suit and stuck being in charge of the Church Christmas tea, she thinks nothing else could be worse. Then things go from bad to worse with trouble with communication and some people who despised change (I would have been one of the church members serving the same thing year after year)….Marianne has her hands full! But in this sweet story when she decides to keep going, look around and help others even though she wants to curl up and cry, she realizes what Christmas is about and you get to learn about the Great Christmas bowl and a wonderful soup recipe!! <p> This is a short story, but it will warm your heart and keep you laughing like Susan always does with her books. Marianne was someone I could relate to with all your ideals of a perfect holiday and nothing going right. The lesson you will learn in this story is unforgettable! This would be a great one to read on Christmas Eve with your family! They will all be laughing with you! Be sure to enter the recipe exchange contest as well!<p>
Link to Buy the Book:
http://www.christianbook.com/great-christmas-bowl-susan-warren/9781414326788/pd/326788?event=AFFp=&
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The Great Christmas Bowl website: http://thegreatchristmasbowl.blogspot.com/
The website features a note from the author, fun updates from Big Lake Gazette, info on how to host your own Great Christmas Bowl Tea to benefit a local ministry or charity and a fun Recipe Exchange contest!
<p>
CONTEST: Be a part of the Great Christmas Bowl recipe exchange!
Susan loves getting recipes from friends, and sharing the delicious cookies, soups, breads and other fun fixings that go with celebrating the Christmas season. More than that, she loves the crazy stories about favorite Christmases – serious, touching, funny…whatever. Find the recipe contest here: http://thegreatchristmasbowl.blogspot.com/2009/07/recipe-exchange.html
Will you share your story and recipe with Susan and the readers of the Great Christmas Bowl? She will post your story and recipe on the FRONT PAGE of the Great Christmas Bowl website, and send you a link when it goes up so you can tell all your friends. Then, at the Great Christmas Bowl party (December 5th, 10am, online! Details TBA) she’ll make the entire cookbook available for download!<p>
For every recipe/story you submit (up to 3), you will be entered in a drawing to receive one of SMW’s collections (Noble Legacy, Team Hope, Heirs of Anton, Deep Haven Series, Josey series, or THE ADVANCED COPY of Sons of Thunder – Susie’s brand new epic World War 2 novel, due out in January 2010!)
Go – run, get your recipe, then come back here and click on the link below to share your Christmas memories!<p>
Blog Tour Schedule!
http://www.litfusegroup.com/latest/current-blog-tours/91-the-great-christmas-bowl-blog-tour
9/21
Betsy at Writer at Large
http://betsy-ann.blogspot.com/
Julie at The Surrendered Scribe
http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com
Martha at Our Family’s Adventures
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Martha/
Wendi at Wendi’s Book Corner
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com
Nicole at Gidget Goes Home
http://gidgetgoeshome.com
Deborah at Comfort Joy
http://comfortjoydesigns.blogspot.com/
Cathy at Word Vessel
http://wordvessel.blogspot.com
9/22
Melissa at A Weak Rose
http://www.aweakrose.blogspot.com/
Margaret at Creative Madness
http://cherryblossommj.blogspot.com
Amy at Amy’s Random Thoughts
http://www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com
Mikki at The View From My Beach Chair
http://mybibleandacupofcoffee.blogspot.com/
Amy at The 160 Acre Woods
http://the160acrewoods.com
Ruth at This That and the Other Thing
http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com
Mindy at Ponderings of the Heart
http://philippians4verse8.blogspot.com/
9/23
Stacey at Word Up
http://word-up-studies.blogspot.com/
Melody at Kids, Cakes, Dishes, Laundry…In That Order
http://www.kidscakesdisheslaundry.blogspot.com
Georgiana at the Crossroads of Faith and Funny
http://georgianad.blogspot.com
Margaret at The Cappuccino Life
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/cappuccinosmom/profile/
Christa at Christa Allan
http://cballan.wordpress.com
Tammy at Grateful in GA
http://GratefulinGa.blogspot.com
Michelle at From His Heart to Mine
http://www.chelled.blogspot.com