An Advent Carols Countdown: Stories behind the Most Beloved Music of Christmas By Michael D. Young-Christmas Book Review

Product Details

• Title: An Advent Carols Countdown: Stories behind the Most Beloved Music of Christmas
•  Author: Michael D. Young
• Genre: Christmas non-fiction
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Shadow Mountain (September 6, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 120 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639930477

• ***I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own***

Book Summary

Get in the Christmas spirit with this unique collection of the most beloved Christmas carols, from the warmly nostalgic to the majestically solemn and uplifting. The book features one carol for each day from December first to Christmas Eve, and presents both the lyrics and the fascinating stories and interesting facts behind the creation of the songs. Each entry deepens our understanding of the music and enhances our appreciation of why these songs are culturally important and dearly treasured.

From popular, familiar carols to lesser known but cherished hymns, author Michael D. Young combines his musical expertise with information specific to each song.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" was written by an American preacher, Philip Brooks, after traveling to Bethlehem in 1868 to find peace after the horrors of the Civil War and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Brooks's original poem, with one largely unknown final verse, is included along with the lyrics of the beloved carol.

"In the Bleak Midwinter" was voted the best Christmas carol by a BBC survey of experts, but the song was actually created from a poem by Christina Rosetti and did not become a carol until decades after her death when it was paired with music by Gustav Holst. Today, Rosetti is considered one of the most important poets of the nineteenth century, and the carol she unintentionally penned is one of the most haunting and beloved of all time.

An Advent Carols Countdown is a beautiful gift book for the whole family to enjoy along with the music of the holidays. Each entry also features a QR code that will link to an audio or video performance of the carol performed by the choir most associated with Christmas, the world-renowned Tabernacle Choir.

My Review

Believe it or not, Christmas is in 19 weeks which is 136 days as I'm writing this post. I love Christmas and I'm always looking for new ways to celebrate my favorite season of the year. I'm so excited to tell you about An Advent Carols Countdown: Stories behind the Most Beloved Music of Christmas By Michael D. Young. This little book features 24 Christmas carol lyrics, information about each carol: who wrote it and why, and a QR Code is featured that will link you to an audio or video performance of the carol that is performed by the Tabernacle Choir. 

Music is such a huge part of Christmas for me and my family. I can't wait to use this Advent Carols Countdown every day in December. This will make a fun new tradition for every family. I know we will enjoy singing along with the songs we know like, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Angels We Have Heard on High, O Holy Night, and of course Silent Night and many others. 

Here is a fun fact, the author Michael Young is a member of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. He has sung all of these carols and I know how much music means to him. This book was written with a lot of love and respect for the sacredness of the carols celebrating The Savior's birth. This book should be in every home during Christmas time and will make an excellent early Christmas gift.

*****Meet Author Michael D. Young*****

Michael is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Western Governors University with degrees in German Teaching, Music, Educational Leadership and Instructional Design. Though he grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and his two sons, where he teaches in a German dual language immersion program. He enjoys acting in community theater, playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

He is the author of the novels in The Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, the Chess Quest Series and the Penultimate Dawn Cycle (The Hunger, The Thirst, and The Longing), as well as the non-fiction work, The Song of the Righteous. He has also had work featured in various online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights, Meridian, Nugent Magazine, The New Era, Keeping Tab, Allegory, Liahona, and Ensign. He has also won honorable mention three times in the Writers of the Future contest.

He runs several podcasts, including “Chapter and Verse” and “Songs for All Seasons”. 

Learn more about Michael and his books and podcasts HERE:

http://www.authormichaelyoung.com

~*~*~*~*~*Purchase Your Copy of~*~*~*~*~* 

An Advent Carols Countdown 

HERE:

Hardcover-https://amzn.to/3Q9I6Zw

Audio CD-https://amzn.to/3QfZ7Bs