What do you think?
Rate this book
Take a Look at the Five and Ten
Ori’s holidays are an endless series of elaborately awful meals cooked by her one-time stepfather Dave’s latest bride. Attended by a loose assemblage of family, Ori particularly dreads Grandma Elving—grandmother of Dave’s fourth wife—and her rhapsodizing about the Christmas she worked at Woolworth’s in the 1950s. And, of course, she hates being condescended to by beautiful, popular Sloane and her latest handsome pre-med or pre-law boyfriend. But this Christmas is different. Sloane’s latest catch Lassiter is extremely interested in Grandma Elving’s boringly detailed memories of that seasonal job, seeing in them the hallmarks of a TFBM, or traumatic flashbulb memory. With Ori’s assistance, he begins to use the older woman in an experiment—one she eagerly agrees to. As Ori and Lassiter spend more time together, Ori’s feelings for him grow alongside the elusive mystery of Grandma’s past. From beloved New York Times bestselling, multiple-award-winning author Connie Willis comes another enchanting science fictional Christmas tale and screwball comedy, Take a Look at the Five and Ten. Readers in the need for a dose of Willis’s humor and heart will want to curl up with this novella for the holidays.
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2020
110 people are currently reading
1092 people want to read
About the author
Connie Willis
256 books4,689 followersConstance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She is one of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).
She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.
Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.
Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).
She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.
Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.
Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews
April 17, 2022
A motley collection of tenuously connected relatives is forced to gather for holidays each year. From the point of view of the narrator Ori, who is the daughter of a woman who was married to the host several wives ago, “ you can see why I start dreading Thanksgiving dinner some time in July.” At each of these dinners, Grandma Elving (it doesn’t matter whose Grandma she is) recounts the story of the Christmas season of 1960, during which she worked at Woolworth’s. Lassiter is the date of one of the relatives. He is a neuroscience student studying exceptional, highly detailed memories just like Grandma Elving’s. The theory is that such memories are caused by repressed trauma. He proceeds to make Grandma Elving his prized test subject and enlists Ori’s help in ferreting out the trauma.
I don’t like Christmas and I don’t read Christmas stories, but I found this novella to be completely charming. Maybe my reaction was due in part to nostalgia. By the end of the book I sure was missing Woolworth’s and snow and Christmas lights. I think the book may have damaged my brain. This is a lovely little story.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I don’t like Christmas and I don’t read Christmas stories, but I found this novella to be completely charming. Maybe my reaction was due in part to nostalgia. By the end of the book I sure was missing Woolworth’s and snow and Christmas lights. I think the book may have damaged my brain. This is a lovely little story.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
January 19, 2021
Q:
He was named Lassiter this year and was even taller and blonder than usual. (c)
I'm feeling so blessed right now!
Gosh, I like Grandma Elving. Now, that's some festive-spirited woman! Woolworth's rules!
Love this short story. Incredible pick!
Q:
An absolutely delightful beginning to the Christmas season. I could hardly wait for Christmas. (c)
Q:
“She’s not actually my grandmother,” I said, yanking on the other boot. “She’s my stepfather’s grandmother-in-law from his fourth marriage.” (c)
Q:
“This is exactly what I hoped for. The clarity, the heightened emotional state, the irrelevant details…”
“If it’s irrelevant details you want, Grandma Elving’s your girl, all right,” (c)
Q:
“Could she have found out some terrible family secret?” ...
“You mean like the knowledge that she was going to be stuck going to horrible holiday dinners for the rest of her life?” (c)
Q:
But successive sessions failed to turn anything up (except more irrelevant details—the wise men had been named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, the lunch counter had sold hot dogs and hamburgers as well as ice cream sodas) and Lassiter grew more and more frustrated. (c)
Q:
“But the research has shown happiness not only isn’t strong enough to produce a flashbulb moment, it doesn’t activate the amygdala or the hippocampus, it activates the limbic cortex.”
“I know, but I’m not talking about happiness. I’m talking about joy, which is a totally different emotion. People think of them as the same thing because they’re both positive emotions, but I don’t think they are. Happiness is a warm, pleasant, all-over kind of feeling. Joy’s nothing like that. It pierces right through you, and it’s so intense, it’s almost painful, and I think that’s the kind of experience Grandma Elving had standing there, looking out the door at the snow, a sort of…” I faltered, groping for the right word.
“Epiphany,” (c)
Q:
He’s going to have a whole bunch of my flashbulb moments to choose from if he keeps this up, I thought. (c)
Q:
“We’re going to be stuck going to dinner there and putting up with Sloane and her mother every year, aren’t we? ...
“Yes,” I said, “but don’t worry. My dad gets a new wife every five years or so, and in the meantime, Grandma Elving will be there to run interference for us. If you’re lucky, she might even tell you the story about that Christmas she worked at Woolworth’s.” (c)
He was named Lassiter this year and was even taller and blonder than usual. (c)
I'm feeling so blessed right now!
Gosh, I like Grandma Elving. Now, that's some festive-spirited woman! Woolworth's rules!
Love this short story. Incredible pick!
Q:
An absolutely delightful beginning to the Christmas season. I could hardly wait for Christmas. (c)
Q:
“She’s not actually my grandmother,” I said, yanking on the other boot. “She’s my stepfather’s grandmother-in-law from his fourth marriage.” (c)
Q:
“This is exactly what I hoped for. The clarity, the heightened emotional state, the irrelevant details…”
“If it’s irrelevant details you want, Grandma Elving’s your girl, all right,” (c)
Q:
“Could she have found out some terrible family secret?” ...
“You mean like the knowledge that she was going to be stuck going to horrible holiday dinners for the rest of her life?” (c)
Q:
But successive sessions failed to turn anything up (except more irrelevant details—the wise men had been named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, the lunch counter had sold hot dogs and hamburgers as well as ice cream sodas) and Lassiter grew more and more frustrated. (c)
Q:
“But the research has shown happiness not only isn’t strong enough to produce a flashbulb moment, it doesn’t activate the amygdala or the hippocampus, it activates the limbic cortex.”
“I know, but I’m not talking about happiness. I’m talking about joy, which is a totally different emotion. People think of them as the same thing because they’re both positive emotions, but I don’t think they are. Happiness is a warm, pleasant, all-over kind of feeling. Joy’s nothing like that. It pierces right through you, and it’s so intense, it’s almost painful, and I think that’s the kind of experience Grandma Elving had standing there, looking out the door at the snow, a sort of…” I faltered, groping for the right word.
“Epiphany,” (c)
Q:
He’s going to have a whole bunch of my flashbulb moments to choose from if he keeps this up, I thought. (c)
Q:
“We’re going to be stuck going to dinner there and putting up with Sloane and her mother every year, aren’t we? ...
“Yes,” I said, “but don’t worry. My dad gets a new wife every five years or so, and in the meantime, Grandma Elving will be there to run interference for us. If you’re lucky, she might even tell you the story about that Christmas she worked at Woolworth’s.” (c)
October 23, 2020
Connie Willis is one of my favorite authors. I really enjoy how she can blend lots of historical details and research with truly comical situations, as in To Say Nothing of the Dog. This novella captured that style on a smaller scale, even if the historical details are the memories of an old woman at Christmas time, rather than time traveling historical researchers.
This short story (about 120 pages) is sweet and engaging, and very Christmasy. It's like a cozy peppermint latte in book form. I laughed a couple of times, and I wanted to see where the story went next. I really liked Ori, Lassiter, and Grandma Elving. It's a cute and quick read, and the Subterranean Press book looks gorgeous (love the cover art). If you like Connie Willis's holiday fic, and you're in a holiday mood, you'll love this one.
Thanks to Netgalley for the copy.
This short story (about 120 pages) is sweet and engaging, and very Christmasy. It's like a cozy peppermint latte in book form. I laughed a couple of times, and I wanted to see where the story went next. I really liked Ori, Lassiter, and Grandma Elving. It's a cute and quick read, and the Subterranean Press book looks gorgeous (love the cover art). If you like Connie Willis's holiday fic, and you're in a holiday mood, you'll love this one.
Thanks to Netgalley for the copy.
December 31, 2024
That Christmas I worked at Woolworth’s.
Connie Willis writes some of the best Christmas stories I’ve read so far. I already knew this from her collection Miracles and Other Christmas Stories that I read a couple of years back, and I hope she will continue to write them after her latest episode of combining science and romance in a festive setting.
Not that Ori, the young woman narrating here, is much enjoying the season. She isn’t looking forward to the annual Christmas dinner where her half-sister Sloane will criticize everything Ori does and her Grandma Elving will monopolize the conversation with yet another endless recount of her stint in sales at Woolworth in her distant youth.
This year though a young man seems to be extremely interested in Grandma Elving’s accurate recollections: he is a scientist studying how the brain works, in particular what he calls TFBM, meaning traumatic flashbulb memories.
This Lassiter is writing a paper on TBFM and Grandma Elving’s photographic memories seem almost too good to be true. Ori and the old gal go to Lassiter’s lab in order to record and study these stories.
You can probably guess where this is all leading to ...
... but this is OK, because you are in the hands of a great storyteller in Willis. Her prose and her sense of timing is almost flawless, elegantly leading you on to the central theme of the novella:
Are our most enduring memories only those of shocking trauma? What sort of terror is behind grandma’s Elving fascination with one particular month in December 1950 or so?
“And as I was standing there, it started to snow,” she said, “the flakes falling on the sidewalk and the shoulders of the shoppers and glittering like sequins in the reflection from the streetlamps and the Christmas lights. And as it did, it struck me how beautiful it was and how much I loved it.”
Is it possible Lassiter is building his whole paper on a false theorem? And what can Ori do to help him?
I couldn’t let him turn in research I knew was based on falsified data.
Maybe the spirit of Christmas and the whole traditional celebration has value for the scientific mind, and not only for those of a religious bend. Maybe the answer is not in a study of pain and suffering.
“Epiphany,” Lassiter said. “Like the wise men had when they saw the star.”
I wish you all a memorable and spectacular finish to the Holiday season, along the lines of Grandma Elving's memories.
Connie Willis writes some of the best Christmas stories I’ve read so far. I already knew this from her collection Miracles and Other Christmas Stories that I read a couple of years back, and I hope she will continue to write them after her latest episode of combining science and romance in a festive setting.
Not that Ori, the young woman narrating here, is much enjoying the season. She isn’t looking forward to the annual Christmas dinner where her half-sister Sloane will criticize everything Ori does and her Grandma Elving will monopolize the conversation with yet another endless recount of her stint in sales at Woolworth in her distant youth.
This year though a young man seems to be extremely interested in Grandma Elving’s accurate recollections: he is a scientist studying how the brain works, in particular what he calls TFBM, meaning traumatic flashbulb memories.
This Lassiter is writing a paper on TBFM and Grandma Elving’s photographic memories seem almost too good to be true. Ori and the old gal go to Lassiter’s lab in order to record and study these stories.
You can probably guess where this is all leading to ...
... but this is OK, because you are in the hands of a great storyteller in Willis. Her prose and her sense of timing is almost flawless, elegantly leading you on to the central theme of the novella:
Are our most enduring memories only those of shocking trauma? What sort of terror is behind grandma’s Elving fascination with one particular month in December 1950 or so?
“And as I was standing there, it started to snow,” she said, “the flakes falling on the sidewalk and the shoulders of the shoppers and glittering like sequins in the reflection from the streetlamps and the Christmas lights. And as it did, it struck me how beautiful it was and how much I loved it.”
Is it possible Lassiter is building his whole paper on a false theorem? And what can Ori do to help him?
I couldn’t let him turn in research I knew was based on falsified data.
Maybe the spirit of Christmas and the whole traditional celebration has value for the scientific mind, and not only for those of a religious bend. Maybe the answer is not in a study of pain and suffering.
“Epiphany,” Lassiter said. “Like the wise men had when they saw the star.”
I wish you all a memorable and spectacular finish to the Holiday season, along the lines of Grandma Elving's memories.
January 24, 2021
4.5, rounded up
This short story has all the best Willis hallmarks - zaniness, crossed wires, gentle romance, and a sort of cosy optimism that's really comforting.
This short story has all the best Willis hallmarks - zaniness, crossed wires, gentle romance, and a sort of cosy optimism that's really comforting.
January 4, 2021
This one is a classic Connie Willis romantic comedy novella centering around her favorite holiday, Christmas. There's a lot of miscommunication and running around, good-natured (mostly) disagreement with quirky relatives, and, though the actual scientific content is rather slight, an interesting plot and a bit of a mystery. The mean girl comes out second to the nice girl narrator, the sweet old lady is vindicated, and it's a happy seasonal story lacking only a Dickensian blessing. It's Connie Willis and it's Christmas, so one knows that they lived happily ever after. It's a well-written story, not great or deep, but it just makes you smile and feel good. Willis has written quite a few excellent Christmas-themed stories (collected in Miracle and Other Christmas Stories and then its expanded version, A Lot Like Christmas), and this is another fine one. For many years Connie Willis has been one of the first things that springs into my mind as soon as I see Santa riding the float in front of Macy's before the Lions take the field on turkey day, right up there with Chevy Chase fixing the newel post with his chainsaw, Snoopy winning first place in the decorating contest, and reading Clement Moore to the kids. Happy holidays, y'all.
July 4, 2021
This is too short. It amuses me - Willis’s novels tend to get complaints that they’re overly detailed and go round in circles, and so here is a novella whose entire premise centers on details and going round in circles.
It’s too short to really establish the characters, which is disappointing, but it’s also charming and sweet.
I was late to this - again - because I wasn’t particularly in the mood of reading, the first time the library fulfilled my hold. But this book made me want to reread Bellwether. It’s been too long.
It’s too short to really establish the characters, which is disappointing, but it’s also charming and sweet.
I was late to this - again - because I wasn’t particularly in the mood of reading, the first time the library fulfilled my hold. But this book made me want to reread Bellwether. It’s been too long.
December 28, 2022
What a unique and festive novella! I don't think I've read anything quite like this before but I'll definitely be checking out more of this author's works!
December 9, 2020
Super cute and fun - just a great little Christmas treat.
October 6, 2020
I love Connie Willis, and actually had no idea she dabbled in Christmas-y fiction! Color me pleasantly surprised when I saw this book pop up. This is the perfect read for those who appreciate science fiction and Christmas things, but are not on board with the relentless Hallmark schmaltz available in the holiday-read genre. It perfectly captures the frustration of family at holiday dinners, the relentlessly repeated memories of some of the older among the crowd, and the pure nostalgic joy of snow-globe like Christmas memories and feelings. This book gives you all of that but layers it under a scientific study of memory. For anyone looking for a holiday read that is more complex than formulaic holiday Hallmark movies, but still gives you the nostalgic Christmas feels, this little book is for you.
Perfect for reading in an hour by the fire, warm cup of cocoa, snow outside, and the smell of holiday cookies in the oven.
Perfect for reading in an hour by the fire, warm cup of cocoa, snow outside, and the smell of holiday cookies in the oven.
December 25, 2020
This is a light romcom novella. I read is as a Buddy Read for December 2020 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.
The protagonist, Ori, each year has to endure meeting of assorted relatives, connected to her via multiple marriages of her once step-father. Among them are Grandma Elving, who tells the story of her work at Woodworth in the X-mas of 1960 and Sloane, step-daughter by the current marriage. The later each time comes with a blond and tall boyfriend, each time different. This time her boyfriend Lassiter is a medical student, who investigates TFBM (traumatic flashbulb memories) and he sees in Grandma Elving a great case study. Ori and Lassiter drive Grandma Elving around to find what is the trauma behind her memories, slowly warming to each other.
It is a nice Christmas story, nothing spectacular but a cozy romantic piece,. Great for this time of year.
The protagonist, Ori, each year has to endure meeting of assorted relatives, connected to her via multiple marriages of her once step-father. Among them are Grandma Elving, who tells the story of her work at Woodworth in the X-mas of 1960 and Sloane, step-daughter by the current marriage. The later each time comes with a blond and tall boyfriend, each time different. This time her boyfriend Lassiter is a medical student, who investigates TFBM (traumatic flashbulb memories) and he sees in Grandma Elving a great case study. Ori and Lassiter drive Grandma Elving around to find what is the trauma behind her memories, slowly warming to each other.
It is a nice Christmas story, nothing spectacular but a cozy romantic piece,. Great for this time of year.
November 16, 2020
If I didn't already love Connie Willis, this novella would do it! Take a Look at the Five and Ten is just what we need right now...an old-fashioned heart-warming Christmas story. Grandma Elving's reminiscences of working at Woolworth's at Christmas circa 1960 took me back to my childhood and the "dime store" that was an Aladdin's cave for kids in the 60s. Penny candy, nylons, table linens, lipstick, embroidery silks, baby clothes...you could buy just about anything at the "dime store," and it was not to be compared to the "dollar stores" of today. I hadn't thought about those stores in years! Grandma Elving's full-sensory memories are wonderful, and the little bit of a love story thrown in is just a great Christmas bonus.
October 3, 2020
Jingle bells, jingle bells...what? too early? Well so was this book. I am the first person reviewing this and quite prematurely too, I recommend saving this one until December. This is one of the two relatively slim Christmas themed volumes from the Subterranean Press that have just turned up on Netgalley. Wish I knew just how Christmas themed, I’d have saved it for December. For an October read it still had a certain charm, but not quite enough of one. It reminded me of the movie Last Christmas (also watched out of time in July), the same sort of romantic silliness. In fact, it’s very easy to imagine actress formerly known as Khaleesi mugging and stumbling her way through this one as Ori, the main protagonist. Ori has a stepgrandmother who never quits talking about a magic winter of 1960. Might she have a traumatic repressed memory that’s to blame? Do you remember Woolworth’s stores? The discount chain empire before the wealth divide got so dire, that there was no place for it in the market of exclusively high or low end goods. Well, Grandma Elving has never forgotten it, it’s etched into her memory in the sort of fine detail once usually reserves for revenge plots of sex fantasies…and of course, this isn’t that sort of a story. This is a heartwarming quaint story about the power of joy. And it features a hasty snowflake romance just in time for Christmas. From a charmingly grandmotherly looking author a story about a charming grandmotherly character. It’s suitable for the season, but outside of it, doesn’t really do much, the charm is fairly vapid, much like a romcom. Seems pretty light for a press with a name like Subterranean, doesn’t it. But at any rate, it reads so quickly, maybe 45 minutes or so, that you won’t mind it either way. Great cover. Thanks Netgalley.
December 20, 2021
It is a Connie Willis Christmas novella, last year's novella, and the only one I had not yet read (I think). I was saving this for this December... And of course I loved it. If you never read any of her Christmas stories, do not start with this, it's not the best, but it is still very good. Very Willis, and it felt a bit circular, going in circles nowhere in the middle, and the ending ah.
(Incidentally I thought it was funny how she shows so much about a character in dialogue only - we see character as a good guy in his first two undramatic dialogue lines....)
(Incidentally I thought it was funny how she shows so much about a character in dialogue only - we see character as a good guy in his first two undramatic dialogue lines....)
November 22, 2020
A Christmas novella from one of my favorite authors. Willis is a sci-fi author in the classic sense, and especially with her short fiction tends to pick one idea or concept and really focus on it. In this case, it’s traumatic flash bulb memories, the phenomenon where moments of extreme trauma get burned into one’s memory in unusually vivid and unusually long-lasting detail. While I do, as a rule, adore Connie Willis, this one felt a little bit phoned in. Cute and fun story, but not one of her best.
October 7, 2021
Αν απορεί κανείς γιατί ξεκίνησα τα χριστουγεννιάτικα από τώρα η απάντηση είναι επειδή μπορώ! Ένα βιβλίο ήταν δεν στόλισα δα και το δεντράκι. Πολύ όμορφη feel good ιστορία.
December 12, 2021
Lovely holiday short! I read this in a collection, but it was years ago.
November 14, 2020
On the surface, this novella is a holiday romantic comedy. But underneath, there is a strong message. Everyone in the family is tired of listening to Grandma repeat the story of the time she worked at Woolworth's. They ignore and disregard her and her story until Sloane’s newest boyfriend takes an interest.
I think the author is trying to shed light on the way many people get caught up in the trappings of fame, fortune, and fads and forget that there is more to life. Simple pleasures and love are the most important.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I think the author is trying to shed light on the way many people get caught up in the trappings of fame, fortune, and fads and forget that there is more to life. Simple pleasures and love are the most important.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 30, 2020
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here are me honest musings . . .
The cover drew me in and three things convinced me to read this book:
1. Connie Willis wrote the doomsday book and it was seriously one of the best books I have ever read;
2. It is a Subterranean Press book and they do great work; and
3. I now try to read all the Connie Willis I can get me hands on.
I requested this not reading the blurb because ultimately I know it will be a good read. So imagine me surprise to find out that this was a holiday tale. I am not a holiday person and only care to pillage the baked goods. So I had a small moment of dismay about the holiday aspect. I needn't have worried. This story was lovely.
Ori dreads spending the holidays with her family. Her step-dad's latest wife and her daughter are horrible. The other issue is Grandma Elving. She worked in Woolworth's during Christmas in 1950. And loves to talk about her time there ad nauseum and in detail. Everyone dreads hearing about Woolworth's and Ori gears up for survival mode. Only this holiday is different.
Sloane, the current wife's daughter, has brought her most recent boyfriend, Lassiter, to dinner. And he actually wants to hear all about Woolworth's. Lassiter is studying TFBM, or traumatic flashbulb memories. He thinks Grandma Elving has one. So Ori is dragged into helping Grandma Elving participate in a scientific study. which ultimately changes Ori's life.
This story is heartwarming and lovely. I adored Ori and I really adored Grandma Elving. The descriptions of Woolworth's were so vivid and alive. I actually spent time trying to figure out if I was remembering ever being in Woolworth's meself or if the imagery was so strong that I just felt like I had.
This reminded me of being a child when Christmas actually did feel magical. Back then I loved seeing the department stores decorated, riding around neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights, and watching Christmas movies. Seriously if Connie Willis can make this grouchy grinch forgo a bah humbug and smile with nostalgia then ye know it be an excellent story. Arrrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank you Subterranean Press!
The cover drew me in and three things convinced me to read this book:
1. Connie Willis wrote the doomsday book and it was seriously one of the best books I have ever read;
2. It is a Subterranean Press book and they do great work; and
3. I now try to read all the Connie Willis I can get me hands on.
I requested this not reading the blurb because ultimately I know it will be a good read. So imagine me surprise to find out that this was a holiday tale. I am not a holiday person and only care to pillage the baked goods. So I had a small moment of dismay about the holiday aspect. I needn't have worried. This story was lovely.
Ori dreads spending the holidays with her family. Her step-dad's latest wife and her daughter are horrible. The other issue is Grandma Elving. She worked in Woolworth's during Christmas in 1950. And loves to talk about her time there ad nauseum and in detail. Everyone dreads hearing about Woolworth's and Ori gears up for survival mode. Only this holiday is different.
Sloane, the current wife's daughter, has brought her most recent boyfriend, Lassiter, to dinner. And he actually wants to hear all about Woolworth's. Lassiter is studying TFBM, or traumatic flashbulb memories. He thinks Grandma Elving has one. So Ori is dragged into helping Grandma Elving participate in a scientific study. which ultimately changes Ori's life.
This story is heartwarming and lovely. I adored Ori and I really adored Grandma Elving. The descriptions of Woolworth's were so vivid and alive. I actually spent time trying to figure out if I was remembering ever being in Woolworth's meself or if the imagery was so strong that I just felt like I had.
This reminded me of being a child when Christmas actually did feel magical. Back then I loved seeing the department stores decorated, riding around neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights, and watching Christmas movies. Seriously if Connie Willis can make this grouchy grinch forgo a bah humbug and smile with nostalgia then ye know it be an excellent story. Arrrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank you Subterranean Press!
December 31, 2020
My Boss was pushing this on me after I asked her what she was reading and she couldn't stop going on and on about how wonderful this was. I gave into peer pressure and am here to say...
Do it. Read this book, you will thank me and my Boss for it later.
Seriously, it is novella length, so not a huge time commitment, though by the end you will have turned into the MOR NOW Monster and it is SWEET and we are technically still in the Christmas season, so you need to get this in now before it is too late for a sweet and uplifting Christmas read.
I refuse to spoil this for you, other than to repeat what I have heard others say about this author and the praise is all worthy. I would have liked a BIT more showing the love interests together, BUT she does some amazing stuff with just a few scenes.
So, short, sweet, Christmas with a really adorable and lovable older woman, some mean step family members and an MC to root for. What more could you possibly want?
5, this gave me ALL the feels, stars. Highly recommended!
My thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
Do it. Read this book, you will thank me and my Boss for it later.
Seriously, it is novella length, so not a huge time commitment, though by the end you will have turned into the MOR NOW Monster and it is SWEET and we are technically still in the Christmas season, so you need to get this in now before it is too late for a sweet and uplifting Christmas read.
I refuse to spoil this for you, other than to repeat what I have heard others say about this author and the praise is all worthy. I would have liked a BIT more showing the love interests together, BUT she does some amazing stuff with just a few scenes.
So, short, sweet, Christmas with a really adorable and lovable older woman, some mean step family members and an MC to root for. What more could you possibly want?
5, this gave me ALL the feels, stars. Highly recommended!
My thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2020
And yet, another gem from Connie Willlis. She provides in novella length another delightful, heart warming and
humorous Christmas tale. Featured is a dysfunctional, amalgam of somewhat related family members interacting during the holiday season. Our main protagonist is Ori who finds herself invited to a slew of never ending holiday dinners ... starting with Thanksgiving and culminating with a New Year's Eve buffet.. At age eight her mother was briefly married to Dave .... and he still considers her, his daughter., and hosts these endless gatherings. Dave has been married more than six times, and has always made poor choices ... including her mother. Usually in attendance are the usual suspects. Aunt Mildred, actually a great-aunt of Dave's second wife and Grandma Elving, the grandmother of his fourth wife. Aunt Mildred is forever pointing out the failings of the younger generation and the vast superiority of the "good old days" . Her speeches always turn into lectures and she seems to complain about everything. While Grandma Elving cannot be deterred from telling the same story
in which as a young woman she worked at Woolworth's in downtown Denver one Christmas. It seems that anything in the conversation prompts her to spew forth this same tale in florid detail.
Dave's current wife is the obnoxious Jillian ( another poor choice) ... whose baggage includes the stuck-up daughter, Sloane. Every year Sloane is accompanied by her present boyfriend, who is always blond, tall and going to either law or medical school. Her present day boyfriend is Lassiter, who is even blonder and taller, and going to med school.... and is actively involved in a research project regarding memory. At this year's dinner, Lassiter is enthralled with Grandma Elving's never ending story and prompts her for even more details.
There is method to his madness. His research project involves TFBM ... Traumatic Flashbulb Memory, and he feels that her story has all the earmarkings of this phenomena and enlists her aid as a participant in the project. This also engenders the need and commitment of Ori .. which may have a secondary effect?
Connie Willis weaves a delightful narrative in almost a screwball comedy atmosphere to reflect on family. friendship, love and joy and happiness. A wonderful and charming story that all will enjoy in the spirit of Christmas. Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for proving an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.
humorous Christmas tale. Featured is a dysfunctional, amalgam of somewhat related family members interacting during the holiday season. Our main protagonist is Ori who finds herself invited to a slew of never ending holiday dinners ... starting with Thanksgiving and culminating with a New Year's Eve buffet.. At age eight her mother was briefly married to Dave .... and he still considers her, his daughter., and hosts these endless gatherings. Dave has been married more than six times, and has always made poor choices ... including her mother. Usually in attendance are the usual suspects. Aunt Mildred, actually a great-aunt of Dave's second wife and Grandma Elving, the grandmother of his fourth wife. Aunt Mildred is forever pointing out the failings of the younger generation and the vast superiority of the "good old days" . Her speeches always turn into lectures and she seems to complain about everything. While Grandma Elving cannot be deterred from telling the same story
in which as a young woman she worked at Woolworth's in downtown Denver one Christmas. It seems that anything in the conversation prompts her to spew forth this same tale in florid detail.
Dave's current wife is the obnoxious Jillian ( another poor choice) ... whose baggage includes the stuck-up daughter, Sloane. Every year Sloane is accompanied by her present boyfriend, who is always blond, tall and going to either law or medical school. Her present day boyfriend is Lassiter, who is even blonder and taller, and going to med school.... and is actively involved in a research project regarding memory. At this year's dinner, Lassiter is enthralled with Grandma Elving's never ending story and prompts her for even more details.
There is method to his madness. His research project involves TFBM ... Traumatic Flashbulb Memory, and he feels that her story has all the earmarkings of this phenomena and enlists her aid as a participant in the project. This also engenders the need and commitment of Ori .. which may have a secondary effect?
Connie Willis weaves a delightful narrative in almost a screwball comedy atmosphere to reflect on family. friendship, love and joy and happiness. A wonderful and charming story that all will enjoy in the spirit of Christmas. Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for proving an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.
October 19, 2020
Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis
I love Connie Willis. She is my favorite living author. She may be my favorite of all time. I still remember the first book of hers that I read - I got a copy of Doomsday Book from the science fiction book club when it came out on the 90s. It took my breath away. Her books make me laugh and make me cry and I wish I hadn’t read them all already because reading one off her books. for the first time is a singular treat.
I have had the pleasure of meeting her twice at conventions and I treasure those moments.
So I was thrilled when Subterranean Press and NetGalley approved me for an eARC of Take a Look at the Five and Ten, her new holiday novella. I had already preordered a hard copy from Subterranean, but I was happy to read it early!
I didn’t just read it - I devoured it! It was so good! It had all the hallmarks of a great Connie Willis story - scientist just trying to get some data, two people falling for each other who don’t realize it, irritating relatives, and people who genuinely love Christmas.
As a Non-Christian married to a Christian person, I have a very nuanced and off view of Christmas. But I love how Connie Willis loves Christmas unashamedly and how she infused her love and joy into all of her works.
I cannot recommend this enough.
I love Connie Willis. She is my favorite living author. She may be my favorite of all time. I still remember the first book of hers that I read - I got a copy of Doomsday Book from the science fiction book club when it came out on the 90s. It took my breath away. Her books make me laugh and make me cry and I wish I hadn’t read them all already because reading one off her books. for the first time is a singular treat.
I have had the pleasure of meeting her twice at conventions and I treasure those moments.
So I was thrilled when Subterranean Press and NetGalley approved me for an eARC of Take a Look at the Five and Ten, her new holiday novella. I had already preordered a hard copy from Subterranean, but I was happy to read it early!
I didn’t just read it - I devoured it! It was so good! It had all the hallmarks of a great Connie Willis story - scientist just trying to get some data, two people falling for each other who don’t realize it, irritating relatives, and people who genuinely love Christmas.
As a Non-Christian married to a Christian person, I have a very nuanced and off view of Christmas. But I love how Connie Willis loves Christmas unashamedly and how she infused her love and joy into all of her works.
I cannot recommend this enough.
October 9, 2020
Well this was my introduction to Connie Willis, and will definitely need to track down more books by her. A Christmas tale, that was really enjoyable. Great characters and a great story. Plus, I love novellas as introduction to authors, as they are quick reads, and definitely let you know if you will enjoy the author, And I definitely enjoyed.
January 4, 2021
This is archetypal Connie Willis: light science fiction, adorable rom-com between people you want to root for, department stores, Christmas, historical fiction and miscommunications. Honestly, it reads a little like "we forced an artificial intelligence to read the entire oeuvre of Connie Willis and then it wrote this" -- it bears a striking resemblance to parts of Time Out as well as Bellwether. But I'll still read everything Connie Willis writes: it's adorable, funny and wholesome.
By the way, yes, I was annoyed to pay $30 for a 115 page novella, but the book is a gorgeous slip of a thing with embossed inner covers and a color illustration on photo paper, so I'm pretty sure I'll get over it.
By the way, yes, I was annoyed to pay $30 for a 115 page novella, but the book is a gorgeous slip of a thing with embossed inner covers and a color illustration on photo paper, so I'm pretty sure I'll get over it.
November 30, 2020
An early Christmas present to yourself! The younger members of an extended family group will almost always grow weary of listening to grandma's stories of her youth, but they are missing some of the best times in family history. When all you have to give is your wonderful memories, be sure to share them with those who would appreciate and cherish them.
Family dinner at her one time step father's home is a trying experience. Just trying to figure out which wife's family the person sitting next to you belongs to can often serve as the evening entertainment. When Grandma starts telling her story of working at Woolworth's AGAIN, most ignore her AGAIN. But could her memory be more than just her annual holiday story? The journey through Grandma's favorite memory is a wonderful experience meant to be shared. Read this short story and share it with your holiday gathering....on Zoom or not....and you will make everyone smile.
Family dinner at her one time step father's home is a trying experience. Just trying to figure out which wife's family the person sitting next to you belongs to can often serve as the evening entertainment. When Grandma starts telling her story of working at Woolworth's AGAIN, most ignore her AGAIN. But could her memory be more than just her annual holiday story? The journey through Grandma's favorite memory is a wonderful experience meant to be shared. Read this short story and share it with your holiday gathering....on Zoom or not....and you will make everyone smile.
January 2, 2021
My Kindle recommended this to me after I finished reading A Lot Like Christmas, and the description intrigued me enough that when I couldn't find it at any of my libraries I actually paid real American dollars for it. Whoa. And it was definitely worth the $3 I paid and I hope that this will be included in a future edition of A Lot Like Christmas.
January 17, 2021
4.5 stars.
A lovely novella with a Christmas theme. Made even more nostalgic because I am old enough to remember shopping at Woolworth's in the late 1950s-early 1960s. Grandma Elving got it right!
The story is a light, charming bit of 'feel-good'. There's even a nice romance. All that was missing was a cup of hot chocolate.
FYI:
My library hardback had this cover:
A lovely novella with a Christmas theme. Made even more nostalgic because I am old enough to remember shopping at Woolworth's in the late 1950s-early 1960s. Grandma Elving got it right!
The story is a light, charming bit of 'feel-good'. There's even a nice romance. All that was missing was a cup of hot chocolate.
FYI:
My library hardback had this cover:
November 13, 2023
A researcher's experiments on memory recall lead to earth shattering results as he tries to unravel an elderly woman's recollections of working at Woolworths during the Christmas season.
Willis' seasonal short story is a deftly written love story with some interesting ideas about memory and recall.
Willis' seasonal short story is a deftly written love story with some interesting ideas about memory and recall.
December 7, 2020
Fabulous
Easy to read without too much extra writing that Connie Willis is so famous for. The story flowed beautifully. A very sweet story. Warns the heart. Very interesting too!
Easy to read without too much extra writing that Connie Willis is so famous for. The story flowed beautifully. A very sweet story. Warns the heart. Very interesting too!
January 24, 2021
an entertaining, feel good short story
Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews