The Snow Globe by Sheila Roberts Virtual Book Tour

"This is for someone who needs a miracle.

If that's you, please take it."

Ready for the Holidays?! Well, author Sheila Roberts brings readers a heartwarming story of family, friendships and love in The Snow Globe! This really is the perfect little story to treat yourself to when things are starting to get hectic this holiday season! And my first Holiday Book choice!

Three close friends have a girls weekend away... Kylie recently lost her job (and her fiance to her sister!), Suzanne is a workaholic & neat freak (but doesn't really realize how either is impacting her family), and Allison is missing her grandmother who held her chaotic family together, especially during the holidays... They each could use a little Christmas magic to make their lives a little brighter... And on that "girls only" weekend, Kylie finds herself drawn to a little antique shop...

On a blustery afternoon, Kylie Gray wanders into an antique shop and buys an enchanting snow globe. “There’s a story behind that snow globe,” the antique dealer tells her. The original owner, he explains, was a German toymaker who lost his wife and son right before Christmas. When the grieving widower received the handcrafted snow globe as a Christmas gift, he saw the image of a beautiful woman beneath the glass—a woman who would come into his life, mend his broken heart and bring him back to the world of the living. For years, the snow globe has passed from generation to generation, somehow always landing in the hands of a person in special need of a Christmas miracle.

Kylie loved the story the shop owner shared (I did too!), and thought maybe the snow globe could bring her a little Christmas miracle. She bought it, took it home, and the wonderful story begins to unfold...What Kylie saw when she shook the snow globe was indeed a little bit of Christmas magic... She shares the story with her friends and the snow globe, and we are treated to a story of how dreams can come true if we just open our hearts a little.

I loved this book! The friendships between the women were so rich and authentic, the way they each came to realize their own miracles was refreshing and the story was just perfect. If you enjoy holiday themed stories sprinkled with a bit of magic, you will enjoy The Snow Globe. An uplifting and charming holiday story! At about 175 pages this is the perfect book to relax with over a nice cup of tea during the holiday season! *P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

About the Author... Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. Her novels have appeared in Readers Digest Condensed books and have been published in several languages. Her novel Angel Lane was an Amazon Top Ten Romance pick for 2009 and her holiday perennial, On Strike for Christmas is slated to be a Lifetime Channel movie presentation this December. When she’s not hanging out with her girlfriends or hitting the dance floor with her husband, she can be found writing about those things dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate. Visit Sheila's website to learn more about the author and her fabulous books!

Chick with Books is part of the Virtual Book Tour of The Snow Globe by Sheila Roberts sponsored by Pump Up Your Book! I want to thank Sheila for sending along a copy of The Snow Globe for me to review!

The Sunday Salon... Children's Holiday Books We Can all Love... And an iPhone App just for the Season!

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake...

The snow has finally fallen in Connecticut, which means throwing another log in the woodstove, settling down with

a great book and waiting for the Holidays to come! The celebration of Chanukah, the triumph of light over darkness, started Friday night! Happy Chanukah to everyone who celebrates! And Christmas is right around the corner! I was thinking about some of the great children's books that I enjoy reading this time of year, and some of the new books that look to be a wonderful addition to the season! So this weeks Sunday Salon will be about great Childrens books perfect for reading together this time of year... Plus, for you iPhone users, there are some great Holiday Apps! One of them is a "story Advent calendar" that is so much fun! We'll talk about that afterwards... Now onto the books...

The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradion by Carol Aebersold & Chanda Bell... It seems like this book (and elf) has made a big splash this year in all the bookstores, but the book has been around since 2007. The book is charming! And comes packaged with an elf who looks just like the elf from the story! The Elf is Santa's helper and has the responsibility to report to Santa nightly the behavior of the children in the house he arrives at. (Naughty or Nice!) Each morning when the elf returns from the North Pole the job of the children is to find him! He'll be somewhere different each morning! The children aren't allowed to touch him because the magic might go away, and Santa may not hear him any longer, but the children can talk to the elf and tell him all their "secrets & wishes" for Christmas! On Christmas eve the elf's job is done and off he goes to live with Santa again until next year! There is even a special place online to register your elf's name, because everyone needs a proper name! Carol and Chanda are mother & daughter and wrote this charming book from the Christmas tradition they had in their home. The story is written in rhyming verse and the illustrations are beautiful! Carol Aebersold also writes, "Unwittingly, the tradition provided an added benefit: it helped the children to better control themselves. All it took was a gentle reminder that the "elf is watching"!

The Snowman's Song: A Christmas Story by Marilee Joy Mayfield... "The Snowman's Song is an enchanting tale of longing and fulfillment. A little snowman yearns to sing Christmas carols, but is desolate because he hasn't a voice. From the kindness of others, he dares to believe in the impossible and experiences a Christmas miracle. Beautifully told in melodic verse, this inspirational story shows that impossible dreams do come true and reminds us of the true reason for the season." The illustrations look beautiful and this heartwarming story includes a bonus CD contains a reading of the entire story told in the author s voice.

The Mitten retold and illustrated by Jan Brett... The Mitten is A Ukrainian Folktale retold by Jan Brett with her breathe-taking illustrations! This year is the 2oth anniversary of Jan Brett's retelling of The Mitten! And with good reason- it's a wonderful story! The tale is about a little boy "Nicki drops his white mitten in the snow, he goes on without realizing that it is missing. One by one, woodland animals find the mitten and crawl in; first a curious mole, then a rabbit, a badger and others, each one larger than the last. Finally, a big brown bear is followed in by a tiny brown mouse, and what happens next makes a wonderfully funny climax."

Have you read any of these wonderful books? What other books are your Holiday favorites?! It's nice to relax with one of these children's books... Bringing back the wonder of the season through the beauty of the written word... and now for a 21st century Christmas treat...

A-Story-A-Day Advent Calendar iPhone App... A 21st century advent calendar! What a cute App for the iPhone! This Advent Calendar is not filled with a treat behind each door, but a story! And these are stories by Charles Dickens, O'Henry, Louisa May Alcott- all with a Holiday theme! Each day you press on the door you are opening and a story will appear. You turn the pages with a stroke of your finger. And there's NO Cheating! You can't open a door that is meant for 3 days from now! Here are some of the stories, the rest we'll have to find out together...The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, A Country Christmas by Louisa May Alcott, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by by L. Frank Baum, Christmas in Poganuc by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I'm a little behind in downloading this, but that just means I can read more stories while I catch up! For $1.99 any reader would appreciate it! Plus the iTunes App store has wonderful Christmas stories to download for free on your iPhone!

Have a wonderful Sunday! And a wonderful week! Happy reading... Suzanne

*P.S. Next week is Jane Austen's Birthday! We'll be celebrating with "Jane Austen Week"! Reviews and suggestions on all sorts of Austen inspired books and some great Jane Austen books! So stop by next week to see the great selection!