For a heartwarming book related to Christmas, settle into your favorite chair and read A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. The story setting is in the welcoming town of Lost River in a remote corner of Alabama, a “place that time seems to have forgotten.” Oswald Campbell traveled here from Chicago because he needs a warmer climate for his health. Jack, the redbird, a young girl named Patsy, and a host of eccentric characters provide a humorous and moving story of hope and faith for all ages.
Moving to 1910, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan shares the true story of a massive forest fire that destroyed vast areas in Washington, Idaho and Montana. The first major blaze faced by the fledgling Forest Service. Egan continues with the political intrigue relating to preserving and maintaining the national forest areas or opening them to continued clear cutting for lumber needs of the young country. Key figures involved were Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, who created the idea of public land “owned and preserved for every citizen.”
-Nancy Hanaman