Christmas is a time for sentimentality, reflection, and most of
all, renewing hope that all can be right in the world. If you want
to celebrate any of this this holiday season, GIOVANNI'S LIGHT
should be on your bookshelf or under your tree.

Ryland Falls is a sleepy rural little town where Christmas is
celebrated the same way each year --- the merchants hang the usual
banners and signs, the plastic Santa assumes his place of honor on
the firehouse roof and a woodsman named Giovanni leaves his
mountain home on Old Rag to sell holiday trees.

But one Christmas things change. A heavy snowstorm knocks out
electricity bringing a halt to all the usual celebrations. Instead
the townspeople fill the village square drawn by the light of the
bonfire made by Giovanni. From this magical moment comes a piece of
artwork that gives a young man a new look at the career he has
dreamed of, and changes the course of a town and many of the people
who live in it.

If you are looking for a wonderfully sentimental story that you
will re-read again and again sitting before your own roaring fire,
tuck an extra copy of GIOVANNI'S LIGHT into your shopping
bag.

If you want to give more than a book, here are some gift
suggestions to pair with this:

a scented candle, a collection of drawing pencils or pastels for an
aspiring artist, or a frame with a picture that captures your
personal meaning of Christmas.