57429 ( )

A deeply personal true story, THE CHRISTMAS SWEATER is a warm, poignant story of family, faith, and forgiveness. At age 12, Eddie wanted a bike for Christmas. Times were hard, money tight, dad had died and yet Eddie still thought his mom would manage to get the bike for him for Christmas; however, he got "a stupid, handmade, ugly sweater."

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(enero 2015. 8 lectores. 2 sesiones)
Elegimos este libro para poder completar la propuesta de libro ambientado en navidad del reto lector que hemos propuesto a nuestros usuarios este año, y -a pesar de que a algunos el final nos ha parecido un poco "tramposo"- nos hemos encontrado con un relato que nos ha permitido hablar de temas francamente interesantes: los golpes que nos da la vida, lo difícil que es volver atrás cuando te cargas de amargura, el sentimiento de culpa, la crueldad de los niños, la importancia de los regalos hechos con cariño y amor, lo que somos capaces de soportar las personas, la agresividad adolescente, la educación de los hijos...

Curiosamente, hay ciertas cosas que han tocado muy de cerca a una de las personas el grupo, y su propia experiencia ha hecho que la lectura fuera mucho más enriquecedora para todos.

Al finalizar la lectura una de las lectoras llegó a una conclusión que todos apoyamos: este libro deberían leerlo las personas que están en la etapa adolescente, les ayudaría a entender como se sienten en determinados momentos y les mostraría el daño que pueden llegar a hacer sin ser (o siendo muy poco) conscientes.

I was a Glenn Beck fan for about 5 years, during his earlier time on Fox radio. I had to listen to him while holding my nose though, as his arrogance irritated me. What I liked about him was that he wasn't afraid to speak what he felt to be the truth. He was not just another nodding head, repeating all of the talking points obediently, like 99% of those on the right AND the left do every day, all day long. Glenn spoke with conviction and spoke what he felt to be true.
As time went on, Glenn began to preach the end times a bit too much for public consumption. He was convinced that the USA was about to go thru dramatic economic changes, including collapse. He began, out of his own convictions, to help others to prepare....by selling their goods, stockpiling food, gold, ammunition, etc. This, no doubt, was too much for the "stay in the lines" FOX execs, and Glenn left Fox to start his own program. At that time, I jumped off his wagon.
When I saw that GLenn had written a Christmas novel, entitled The Christmas Sweater, I simply surmised that he was cashing in on his fame for a bit more money. My struggling admiration for him sunk to a new low, and I wrote him off once and for all.
I picked up the audio book, desperate for a good Christmas story around the holidays, as I always do, and was very pleasantly surprised at the simplicity, the honesty, and the ability to show his worst side in a honest and straightforward manner. The story is one that so many of us could write. A story of selfish rebellion as a youngster and it touched me. Although he fell a bit short in his analysis of "what Christmas is all about" in my own estimation, he did not fall short in his own. His faith differs from mine to some extent, but that's not the point of this review. The point of this review is that no matter whether I agree with all of his tactics, I do admire his honesty, his humility, and I do applaud his writing.
Thanks Glenn. ( )