Customer Reviews

Snow Day: A Novel

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This first-person novel is closely kin to Phil Gulley's Harmony and Front Porch stories, and compares favorably. The plot develops around a "snow day"--because of excessive weather, life as we know it grinds to a halt, and we are forced to slow down and think in different terms, an unexpected interlude of vacation, a break from normal, with a whiff of excitement at the unexpected beauty and/or challenge. For this family, all these things come true with a vengence because not only does the weather deliver a whammy, but some economic changes give cause for introspection, too.

The tale got off to a slow start and the faith element was a bit heavy-handed. However, it hit a better stride about twenty per cent through, and I could not put it down. The author shows a clever dry wit, too, and I conclude by recommending it highly as engaging, refreshing, and inspiring. I hope the author does not stop with this first novel.

A couple of years ago, I read a book by Donald Miller called Blue Like Jazz. That book was so radically different from any books I had read before that I couldn't put it down. It approached faith in a new, interesting and REAL way which I had never encountered before - and it has become one of my favorite books.

Snow Day by Billy Coffey is as different from other books I've read as Blue Like Jazz was - and it's just as good!
Although it is described as a `novel', I see it more as a series of short stories, which, when placed together produce one coherent timeline with an underlying storyline.

In many ways, it's very much like many of the spy and cop TV shows these days, where every week has a self contained story but also continues a bigger story running through the whole series.

Snow Day follows the story of Peter, a man in fear of losing his job who takes a `snow day' because the overnight snowfall was so bad. All throughout his day, Peter learns important and deep lessons about life, love, friendship and faith which the reader will enjoy and glean so much from.

I read a review which called the book `simple' and suggested it should have been youth fiction instead of adult fiction because it doesn't challenge the brain enough but that's precisely what makes this book so great.

Snow Day does not challenge the brain, it challenges the heart. Instead of making you think through an idea or concept, it lays it out simply and in a way in which anyone can understand so you don't have to spend time working out right from wrong, instead you can spend your time inwardly digesting the valuable lessons and allowing them to change your heart, your actions and your attitude.

Snow Day is this season's `must-have' book!

The story is about a man who goes about a typical afternoon and finds Christian meaning in events throughout the day. I thought the writing was light it was very easy to read.

I just thought here and there it was a little..and I hate to say it...sappy and overreaching. I mean the "events" were pretty much obvious set-ups (seeing people with physical differences, just happening to drive past his "friend" who lost his faith, etc.) I wish there were things that happened that didn't have a message, that made him doubt...because that is more real to me.

I honestly don't mean to be critical to those who did find it inspirational, but I just don't happen to be one of them, and felt I should write a review for others who may be like me...and we all get to review things here, right? (but I have a feeling I will get a bunch of "not helpful" votes anyway because I didn't like it!) It was just the way the things turned out in the book that were just too neat, too inspiring, just too "come-on!" for me. Almost like when you watch a movie, and you already know the formula....but you still hope they mix it up a little...and they don't. BTW, he does devote a chapter to the well-wrung-out debate of "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" greeting in retail stores, I wish he hadn't since most are already on their side of the fence on this one. Just seemed like he could have come up with something newer.

I almost expected the main character to do something like put cream in his coffee and tell us that he just had an amazing revelation that "god is just like cream, pure and white...lightening our day and making life easier and less bitter to swallow!" If you thought that was wise and clever...then you might like this book! (oh boy, I hope I didn't the author any fodder for his next book!...maybe I should write one!)

Snow Day is an intriguing and spiritual look into the life of a pretty ordinary guy in a pretty ordinary town with a pretty ordinary job, wife, kids, house, etc. What's not ordinary here is how deeply this book delves into what's really important and how taking something as simple as a snow day can have profound, life-changing consequences. Read it, you'll feel better by the time you're finished and it's a rare book that can promise that.

I didn't realize when I got this book that is was a more spiritual book. Guess I read the description wrong. I will say that it was well written just not my kind of book. I thought that there was too much going on and thought that there is no way all that could happen in one day. I had to stop/start reading it a few times to get through the whole thing and it isn't a very long novel. If you like christian novels, this would be a great book for you.

This is the kind of heartwarming tale that Good Housekeeping used to publish, back when it published fiction. God's in His heaven and all's right with the world, despite a few mild challenges along the way. Not my cup of tea, but if you like the Hallmark Channel, you will like this book.

"Snow Day" was a book I picked up to read on my own snow day. Yesterday, the snow started falling around 7:00 in the morning and my husband and daughter headed off to work and school leaving me home to enjoy the beautiful sight. Being a person that loves snow and cold, I decided to take the day and read this book - rather than trying to get laundry done, closets cleaned or any of a myriad of items that could be tackled, sitting on the couch with a good book appealed to me.

This is a relatively short work (195 pages) that is actually a series of vignettes surround a day in the life of Peter Boyd. Peter's job is potentially being eliminated since the factory isn't doing so well and when inches of snow fall overnight, he decides to stay home and enjoy the day with his wife and two small children. Playing in the snow with the kids, a trip to SuperMart for bread and milk, a run to the local college to apply for a job all provide events that trigger reflection for him about where he is in life and what God is trying to teach him.

I loved the premise, thought I was going to be set for an enjoyable day of reading and found myself very disappointed. There is just waaaayyy too much going on in the book and EVERYTHING has a deep, spiritual meaning. Peter is supposed to be home to enjoy the day and he pretty much runs around like a crazy person getting all kinds of stuff done (including things that are totally unnecessary for the situation). If he really did everything he was supposed to have done, it would have been a 72 hour day. I was exhausted by all the activity and how it didn't jive with the desire to "slow down" and enjoy the day that was his intent. It was so over the top as to be totally distracting and I just couldn't suspend disbelief.

While there were some beautiful gems of wisdom in here, the whole thing was so contrived that I felt like I had to wade through so much "stuff" to get the good parts it really wasn't particularly worth it.

I applaud the idea and the intent of the author, but I just thought the book wasn't all that great - sorry.

Simply yet beautifully written, Snow Day reminds us that the most important things in life aren't things at all.

Peter Boyd awakens to find one of his constants--the mountain view outside his bedroom window--masked by an unexpected snow storm. Facing his own internal storm, the possibility of a lay off at the factory where he works right before Christmas, he decides to call in well. He takes a snow day. As you follow Peter around that day, you will meet an array of colorful characters who remind him of his real constants.

Billy Coffey is a gifted storyteller, the best I've read in a very long time. I look forward to reading more from him in the future.

I wish with all my heart that I could write a review of this little novel that would glow like a Thomas Kincaid framed reproduction, but that is just the problem. In too many ways, this book reminded me of a Kincaid cliche - too much glow. I believe I understand Billy Coffey's motivation in offering up this novel. It may have been a motive similar to that of Frank Capra when he directed "It's a Wonderful Life." The narrative of "Snow Day" reminds me in many ways of George Bailey's pilgrimage through the highs and lows of his struggle to keep the Building and Loan alive for the citizens of Bedford Falls. The narrator and protagonist of "Snow Day" takes the day off from his none-too-secure factory job to spend time with his wife and kids, get some chores done, and clear his head. Along the way, he encounters characters whose actions or attitudes cause him to pause and reflect upon his life.

My problem with this book is that Coffey has chosen a literary genre - the novel - to preach simplistic lessons in morality that would be more fitting in a copy of Guideposts. Like a sincere Sunday School teacher, the narrator/author feels the need to point to the moral of each vignette instead of allowing the discerning reader to reach her own conclusions. Clearly, Coffey should have listened to the Writing 101 dictum that preaches: "Show me - don't tell me." Coffey's head, heart and spirit are clearly in the right place; it is his literary sensibilities that I take issue with.

Like my watching "It's a Wonderful Life," there was an element of guilty pleasure in my reading of this book. This little snowflake of a novel is not without its redeeming qualities and lessons. I expect that this book may find an appreciative audience among those who like their Christian literature with a few extra teaspoons of sugar and safely decaffeinated. I happen to prefer mine to be a darker and more full-bodied roast.

Billy Coffey has a gift.

Billy Coffey is a gift.

'Nuff said.

But I'll say more.

Because for some of us, the snows of life are here.

Or been.

Or coming.

It's time to call in well, and hunker down with Snow Day.

Because we need to find the gifts in the blizzards. The beauty in the broken. Fist bumps in our fears. Delights in the detours. Wonder in our walk.

Billy's first book is filled to overflowing like a Christmas stocking, spilling little gifts of laughter and wisdom and compassion and faith. Each chapter is like a box of the finest chocolate filled with sweet and chewy bites of everyday life.

This book is part novel and part memoir. It's hard to tell where fact ends and fiction begins. But the treasures are real and rich. And the truths are timeless (and tweetable.) Re-readable. Billy uncovers them from blankets of the mundane.

This story of a day in the life of Peter, who faces the loss of things he holds close (job, home, money) and discovers flakes of hope that snowball, encouraged me in my journey to deep see and pass it on.

And I'm not soon going to forget Mikey and his sled, Eleanor and her stuff, Helen and her scars, Bobby and his game of hide and seek, the shouter who cried, "help!" or any of the the other folks and lessons woven into this book.

Oh, there's also Beary. He made me cry.

He's not the only one.

When it snows, you need bread and milk. You'll find them here. In this book.

It is a gift for yourself.

A gift for others.

Because Billy has a gift.

And you don't want to miss it.