Thursday, January 13, 2011

Review - On Strike for Christmas




Title: On Strike for Christmas
Author: Sheila Roberts
Publishing Date: 2007
Genre: Women's Fiction
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Kisses
Book Disclosure: I received a book as a gift from a friend. This was the December book for my book club.

On Strike for Christmas begins with Joy Robertson deciding that she is going on strike for Christmas because her husband Bob doesn't appreciate that all the baking and decorating she does makes Christmas... well Christmas. She is hoping that by not doing anything Bob will come around to her way of thinking. When Joy goes to her knitting group and explains what she is doing the rest of the ladies decide that they are going to go on strike too. To make things even crazier, the newspaper decides to do a series of articles following the movement.

The fun thing about this book is that there are several story lines all going on at once. Different women have different issues with their husband and are trying to prove different points. Joy is an empty nester who wants her husband to be an active participant in the holiday festivities. Laura is a mother of two young children and her husband is a happy go lucky guy who invites all his friends and family over but what ends up happening is that Laura is doing all the cooking and cleaning. Then you have Carol whose husband died and she can't understand what these women are complaining about.

I thought that this book was very entertaining to read and that a lot of women are going to easily be able to sympathize with the characters in the book, both the men and women. I really liked that not only did the men learn a lesson, but the women did too. I must admit that at the beginning of the story I was a little bit annoyed with Laura's character. I felt like she created her own situation by never asking her husband for help. I think that if she had just asked, Glen would have been happy to help out. The good thing is that eventually Laura comes to this realization. All in all this was a cute book that will put you in the holiday spirit. Oh and a bonus is that there are recipes in the back of the book that were mentioned in the story!

3 comments:

nath said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the book, Jill! I thought it was quite a cute book. I didn't relate too much cos in my family, Christmas is not all that big, but it was fun and the storylines were different. However, yeah, not much romance :P

Leslie said...

I know I could relate to these ladies. LOL It sounds cute and like a quick read.

I think for next Christmas I'm going to try to read a bunch of holiday themed books. I always say that and rarely do it!

Jill D. said...

Nath - Oh yeah, I can see where if you are not familiar with the Christmas traditions it might be hard to relate to. And yeah, there wasn't much romance, but I did like that there was plenty about relationships.

Leslie - I really enjoyed reading Christmas books during the holidays. Most are quick and fun and they get me in the spirit. I am going to continue this tradition next year!