One of the main characters in Holiday Hijinks is Delia, owner of Silver Birch Books, a used bookstore located next to the Halliday Theater. When shoppers come into the store looking for books to stuff into stockings at Christmas, these are the books she steers them away from and why:
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
For some reason, Grandmothers always want to buy this one. The “Angel” in the title fools them. Originally written in the 30s as a radio script, Tazewell’s book was first published in 1946. It became an instant inspirational classic and remains in print more than seventy years later. But the book is about a dead kid trying to deal with being an angel. A dead kid!
Marley & Me by John Grogan
Most editions of this book feature a photograph of an adorable yellow lab puppy. (And let’s face it, few dogs are as adorable as yellow labs.) The reader will fall in love with the mischievous animal and then he dies. Marley dies!!! You might as well buy a copy of Old Yeller or Where the Red Fern Grows.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
So you want to find something for your niece who’s begun publishing poetry in obscure literary journals and you want to show your support. (Because most people are telling her she might as well quit school, take any job she can find, and write her poetry without four years of student debt hanging over her head.) This is not the inspirational read she needs.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein was a cartoonist and song writer and story teller whose children’s books were always packaged as if he was the poor man’s Dr. Seuss. This story about a tree who loves a little kid so much it gives everything it has is meant as a sweet tale of love and devotion but the little kid is a selfish brat who never thinks of returning the affection. It’s kind of depressing.
I’ll Always Love You by Hans Wilhelm
This book should be subtitled: Don’t be fooled by the cover, this is a sad story about a kid who loves his dog and the dog dies. The end. It’s like a warm-up for reading Marley & Me. If you’re going to write a book about a dying dog, you should at least give it a title like Cynthia Rylant’s Dog Heaven so you know what you’re getting into.
Delia’s #1 Pick for the Season
If you want a short book that will give you all the Christmas warmth and holiday spirit you can handle, the book to buy is: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. It’s packaged as a kids’ book but adults will appreciate the humor and the hijinks too, as well as the underlying message of inclusion and tolerance.
About the Author 
Born in Washington, D.C., Katherine Moore now lives in a small Pacific Northwest town very much like Silver Birch. She has worked as a food writer, a caterer, and a movie extra as well as a freelance lifestyle reporter and staff writer for magazines in Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Richmond, Virginia.
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About the Book
Holiday Hijinks Halliday Theater #1 by Katherine Moore
Genre: Cozy Holiday Romance
Synopsis
It’s Christmas, and this year Emily Halliday is trying something new at the struggling revival movie theater she runs for her great-grandmother. After all, how many times can you show It’s a Wonderful Life?
Emily was hoping to make a little profit on “Holiday Hijinks”, her “counter-programming Christmas” event. What she never expected—plot twist—is that an unexpected guest will turn her own life into a romantic comedy.
Holiday Hijinks is the first in a new series of cozy romances set in the small Pacific Northwest town of Silver Birch, Washington. A short read (15K) for a busy time, Holiday Hijinks introduces a whole new cast of characters while bringing back “cameos” from the “Meredith Manor Hotel” books, which are also set in Silver Birch.
If you love movies and food and romance as cozy as flannel jammies, Holiday Hijinks is the Christmas read for you.
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