Advent Reads Day 3: Graphic Novel of Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas by David Gerstein

Welcome to Advent Reads!

This is an event I have had on my blog for several years running now.  Each evening I feature a different holiday themed book. Think of it as your Book Advent Calendar! I post a variety of holiday books including romance, children's, middle-grade, mystery, paranormal, and I try to find some that are other holiday celebrations than Christmas too. I hope you will stop by each evening to see what new book I have for you!

 

 

 

Synopsis: "An adaptation of the Disney direct-to-DVD movie of the same name. This is the first all-Disney produced CGI animated feature and stars Mickey, Minnie, Donald Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Scrooge, and the nephews."

My Review: We love the Mickey Christmas movies and this is a fun way to encourage a little more reading during the holidays as opposed to watching TV. It follows the movie pretty much exactly with the same art, narration and short stories. It is great for young kids or old and has wonderful stories and lessons about friendship and family during the holidays.

 

My Rating: I enjoyed having this movie to graphic novel adaptation, it reminded me of the old Disney comic books I used to read as a kid.  This is great for kids young and old alike. I give it a rating of Four Paws!

Christmas Fun Day 3: Make Your Own Giftwrap

Hello and Happy Holiday season everyone! In addition to my Advent Reads event this holiday season, I thought I would post earlier in the day with different things we do each day to have fun and celebrate this season. I hope you will join us and also maybe share some of your own traditions or ways you celebrate.

 

So Munchkin is getting a little older and wants to be more involved in the gifts. So not only does he get to pick out a couple of presents but to get him more involved he makes his own wrapping paper.

 

 

This isn't just something for little ones to do, it is fun for all ages. Just get some butcher paper, parcel paper or plain gift wrap. You can draw pictures, use stickers or stamps like Munchkin did and then wrap your gifts as usual.

 

 

 

 I know a lot of people try to re-use gift bags and boxes and even sometimes gift wrap. I have also seen some people use comics from the newspaper or even fabric.  How do you wrap your gifts? Do you have any creative ways you wrap?

 



Advent Reads Day 2: Bedtime Story: The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet & Allan Ahlberg

Welcome to Advent Reads!

This is an event I have had on my blog for several years running now.  Each evening I feature a different holiday themed book. Think of it as your Book Advent Calendar! I post a variety of holiday books including romance, children's, middle-grade, mystery, paranormal, and I try to find some that are other holiday celebrations than Christmas too. I hope you will stop by each evening to see what new book I have for you!

 

 

Synopsis: "The Jolly Postman brings a batch of wonderful letters for Christmas, including notes from the Big Bad Wolf and all the King's men."

My Review: Munchkin loves mail and the mailman, and we have loved Jolly Postman books in the past so this was a perfect book for the holiday season. The story follows the Jolly Postman as he delivers everyone's Christmas mail, it has a nice little rhyme and rhythm to keep the story moving along. The really magic part of this book is that you get to actually read the mail each storybook character receives, it includes cards, posters, little book and puzzle gifts and a last piece of mail is really special. Munchkin loves this book and enjoys looking at it on his own too.

 

My Rating: Munchkin loves this book and keeps pulling it down off the shelf to read it. He loves seeing the different types of mail that go to each of the characters.  It is such a fun and interactive book for young readers (but not too young or pages will get ripped and mail will get lost). We give it a rating of Four Paws and a Stump Wag!

 

 

Good Night! Sweet Dreams!



Christmas Fun Day 2: Window Clings

Hello and Happy Holiday season everyone! In addition to my Advent Reads event this holiday season, I thought I would post earlier in the day with different things we do each day to have fun and celebrate this season. I hope you will join us and also maybe share some of your own traditions or ways you celebrate.

 

When Munchkin was small I wanted to find some way he could decorate without worrying about damage to anything or him hurting himself. Then I discovered window clings. They are so inexpensive and a fun way for kids to decorate. I believe you can even make your own but I haven't tried that out yet. So now Munchkin and I decorate the front window and the back slider together each year. He gets to pick out the clings in the dollar store/grocery store/craft store.

 

 

The first few years the stickers were super random and snowman or santa parts were scattered everywhere, it is fun to see now that he is starting to put the pieces together.

 

 

How do you decorate your windows? Do you allow your little ones to be involved in decorating? How have you changed the way you decorate to accommodate them?

 

Advent Reads Day 1: Doggone Christmas by Liz Dodwell

Welcome to Advent Reads!

This is an event I have had on my blog for several years running now.  Each evening I feature a different holiday themed book. Think of it as your Book Advent Calendar! I post a variety of holiday books including romance, children's, middle-grade, mystery, paranormal, and I try to find some that are other holiday celebrations than Christmas too. I hope you will stop by each evening to see what new book I have for you!

 

 

 

Synopsis: "Polly is juggling the care of her wheelchair-bound mother, her pet-sitting business and the sale of the family home. On top of that she finds herself having to deal with an arrogant but really sexy realtor, and Christmas is coming! None of that seems important, though, when she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation and must find the real killer before an innocent homeless man and his dog are wrongly convicted.
Nothing much happens in the small town of Mallowapple, Maine, but with the Christmas holidays coming it’s a busy time for Polly Parrett and her pet-sitting crew. Temperatures are plummeting, snow is falling."

My Review: I like to have a variety of books for my Advent Reads event, and while I am not usually a mystery fan I have had a lot of encouragement to try a Cozy Mystery. I listened to the audio book of this one, and it was a very short read. The characters were fun and quirky and I loved the animal involvement. While it is really easy to figure out the mystery as you read it is still entertaining to get to the conclusion. The romance element is there but it is light and helps the story along. All in all it is a fun, fluffy read to fill the time addressing cards and wrapping gifts.

 

My Rating: I kind of get why people like Cozy Mysteries now, they are short, light and fun to read. I like that the main character Polly kept at her own job and didn't take over the police job. I give it a rating of Three Paws.

Christmas Fun Day 1: Advent Calenders

Hello and Happy Holiday season everyone! In addition to my Advent Reads event this holiday season, I thought I would post earlier in the day with different things we do each day to have fun and celebrate this season. I hope you will join us and also maybe share some of your own traditions or ways you celebrate.

 

 

One of the things I really looked forward to during the holiday season was Advent Calendars, it was what originally inspired my Advent Reads posts. I remember as a kid my brother and I would take turns opening the little windows and either revealing a picture or getting a little chocolate. Now I get to share this tradition with my own family.  Now my issue becomes limiting the number of calendars! There are so many awesome ones out there, from the classic window picture reveal and chocolates, to more extravagant ones with toys and more.

 

This year I just couldn't help myself. I got us a Peanuts picture reveal, a chocolate one, got myself a tea advent calendar, and I found this great activities one that is perfect for Munchkin's age.  I also have our candle that we burn each night while reading a Christmas themed story (another tradition I have pulled from my childhood).

 

 

Do you have an advent calendar? Did you as a kid? What is your favorite kind?



Review of A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen and Mike Lowery

Read for: Requested Review/ Netgalley/ Children's Books

 

Synopsis: "A young boy wants to write a story, just like his big sister. But there's a problem, he tells her. Though he knows his letters, he doesn't know many words. “Every story starts with a single word and every word starts with a single letter,” his sister explains patiently. “Why don't you start there, with a letter?” So the boy tries. He writes a letter. An easy letter. The letter I. And from that one skinny letter, the story grows, and the little boy discovers that all of us, including him, have what we need to write our own perfect story.

This picture book from award-winning author Andrew Larsen playfully and imaginatively explores a young child's process of learning to express himself. It promotes the idea that stories are available for everyone to tell, whatever way we can, and will inspire pre-readers to try writing stories of their own. The lively, fun illustrations by Mike Lowery incorporate story panels with dialogue bubbles, adding visual texture. Also helpful, the boy's story is shown both as he actually writes it --- with just a few letters, some punctuation marks and typographical symbols --- and as he imagines it. Celebrating self-expression, self-discovery and imagination, this book would enhance an early language arts lesson on writing, particularly on the parts of a story. It beautifully highlights the exciting worlds that are opened up when children begin to read and write. In a sweet touch, the boy and his sister model a close and supportive sibling relationship."

My Review:  I don't think I can rave about this book enough, what a great concept for a children's book and beautifully executed as well. It encourages young readers to start writing their own stories even when they don't have the ability to write words yet. This might be one of my favorite children's books of the year so far and while Munchkin didn't quite grasp it the first time reading, he has asked for it to be read again.

 

My Rating: I loved the concept of this story and the execution was exactly as I had hoped for in it. This is a great book to not only encourage reading but also creativity, imagination and children starting to create their own stories. We give this book a rating of Four Paws and a Stump Wag!!

 

 

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

To find more books by Andrew Larsen you can check out his Goodreads Page and more books illustrated by Mike Lowery you can check out his Goodreads Page.

 

A Squiggly Story was just recently released in September and you can obtain your own copy in print or digital formats from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or check your favorite book store.

 

2016 Challenge Update

So I have been updating at the end of each quarter but I really need a check in to see where I stand for this last month of the year, yes the last month of 2016! Where on earth did this year go?!

 

Well let's get into this and see how many books I have left to read in the next 32 days ...

 

 

Children's Book Challenge - COMPLETE

 My goal is to read at least 60 but no more than 80 Children's books this year. I completed this challenge and have managed to keep it under control.  I do have a couple more books to read for the Advent Reads event but will keep it under 80 books!
 1. Snowballs
2. Sneezy the Snowman
3. The Little Snowplow
4. Curious George Makes Maple Syrup
5. Just a Snowman
6. A Magical Snowman
7. Hug Machine
8. Pup, Pup and Away
9. Monday is One Day
10. What Pet Should I Get?
11. Clifford's Spring Clean Up
12. I'm Not Sleepy
13. Curious George Plants a Tree
14. Little Cloud
15. Red: A Crayon's Story
16. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
17. The Secret Pizza Party
18. A Big Guy Took My Ball
19. The Adventures of Beekle
20. Star Wars: A New Hope (with Audio CD)
21. I am Helping
22. If you Give a Dog a Donut
23. The Storm
24. How Rocket Learned to Read
25. I Wish You More
26. Star Wars; The Empire Strikes Back (with Audio CD)
27. Dragons Love Tacos
28. The Grumble Bee
29. Interrupting Chicken
30. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (with Audio CD)
31. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
32. Let's Go for a Drive
33. Itty Bitty Kitty Rescue
34. Goodnight Loon
35. Curious George Takes a Train
36. Up On Daddy's Shoulders
37. The Fire Engine Book
38. Curious George & the Firefighters
39. Winnie the Pooh's A to Zzzz
40. The Thank You Book
41. I Am Sharing
42. What a Bad Dream
43. Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery
44. David Gets In Trouble
45. The Gruffalo's Child
46. Llama Llama Mad at Mama
47. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
48. Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes
49. Pug in a Truck
50. Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
51. Llama Llama Misses Mama
52. Fly
53. Draw Me a Star
54. Howl for Halloween
55. And Tango Makes Three
56. Strega Nona
57. Room on a Broom
58. Hibernation Station
59. Woo Who?
60. Bear is Not Tired
61. Being Thankful
62. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey
63. Jolly Christmas Postman
64. The Lump of Coal
65. It's Christmas David
66. Little Critter's Night Before Christmas



Early Reader Challenge

 My goal for this year is to read 60 books. I am not sure how it happened but I fell a little behind on this challenge. Thankfully this is an easy one to catch up on, I have 8 books left to read.
1. Smash Trash
2. Hello, Olaf!
3. Just a Little Sick
4. Plane Pals
5. Splat the Cat: Blow, Snow, Blow
6. Rubble to the Rescue
7. Rocket's 100th Day of School
8. Mama Loves
9. Run, Remy, Run!
10. How to Help the Earth By the Lorax
11. The Berenstain Bears Clean House
12. Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana
13. Ewoks Join the Fight
14. Zeg and the Egg
15. Pit Crew Pups
16. The Foolish Tortoise
17. Go to the Moon
18. Clifford Sees America
19. Nat. Geo. Kids Owls
20. Pete at the Beach
21. Can You See What I See? Nature
22. The Ice Cream Shop
23. Paul Bunyan: My Story
24. Flying High
25. Learn About the Weather: Sun
26. Star Wars: Feel the Force
27. Bees and Wasps
28. Best Dad in the Sea
29. Flip Flop!
30. Clifford: Camping Out
31. Picnic
32. Nat. Geo. Red Pandas
33. Ice Cream Soup
34. Baby Dolphin's First Day
35. Curious George Fire Dog Rescue
36. Brave Firefighters
37. Monsters One to Ten
38. Bambi's Hide and Seek
39. Charlie Goes to the Doctor
40. There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Desk
41. Just Critters Who Care
42. Popcorn
43. Fly Dumbo Fly
44. Trucks
45. Mega Machines
46. Apple Picking Day
47. Pumpkin Day
48. Bravest Dog Ever
49. Secret Agent Mater
50. Fall Leaf Project
51. A Pet for Pete
52. No Room at the Inn


Graphic Novel Challenge - COMPLETE

 My goal is to read 26 this year. I have completed this challenge though it wasn't as easy as year past.
1. Korgi Vol. 3: A Hollow Beginning
2. How Mirka Got Her Sword
3. Morning Glories Vol. 1: For a Better Future
4. Winterworld Vol. 1: La Nina
5. Redhood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: Redemption
6. Rapunzel's Revenge
7. Angela Asgard's Assassin: Vol. 1: Priceless
8. Good Night Darth Vader
9. Apollo: The Brilliant One
10. Dogs of War
11. The Lion
12. The Lumberjanes Vol. 1 Beware the Kitten Holy
13. The New York Four
14. Blood of the Empire
15. Saga Vol. 3
16. Threat of Peace
17. Cinderella
18. Saga Vol. 4
19. Dragon Age Vol. 1: The Silent Grove
20. Saga Vol. 4
21. Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening
22. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
23. Mouse Guard FCBD 2012
24. Mouse Guard FCBD 2014
25. The Lost Suns
26. Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas


Audio Book Challenge - COMPLETE
I intended to listen to 24 audiobooks this year. Now this is a challenge I completely slaughtered this year! I am now a complete audio book convert now and will be shooting for much higher numbers next year.
1. The Selection
2. The Elite
3. The One
4. The Heir
5. Dante's Fire
6. When We Where Very Young (Winnie the Pooh #3)
7. The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie
8. Mary Poppins
9. The Handmaid's Tale
10. Marked
11. Now We are Six
12. Anathema
13. Princess in Pink
14. Princess in Training
15. The Crown
16. Party Princess
17. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
18. The Vacationers
19. Princess one the Brink
20. Princess Mia
21. Forever Princess
22. Royal Wedding
23. Heart Mate
24. Angel of Fire
25. Everywhere and Every Way
26. An Ember in the Ashes
27. The Green Ember
28. One Lavender Ribbon
29. Fahrenheit 451
30. A Torch Against the Night
31. Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas
32. Full-Time Father
33. Twelve Days of Christmas
34. Doggone Christmas
35. Holly and Mistletoe
36. Christmas Caramel Murder


Series Challenge - COMPLETE
My goal was to read 5 series completely, which I have done, granted they were not the series I had originally planned on reading but oh well. I would still like to finish a couple more series, I only have one book left in the Tales of the Kingdom series, 2 books left in the Maple Leaf series and 14 books left in the Magic Tree House series. Hopefully I will get at least one or two of those done.
1. Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland - Book 1

2. The Hound Saga by Mette Ivie Harrison - Book 1, - DNF series

3. Deadly Liasons by Leigh Wilder - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4 - COMPLETE

4. The Selection by Kiera Cass - Book .1, Book .2, Book 1, Book 2, Book 2.1, Book 2.2, Book 3,  Book 4, Book 5 - COMPLETE

5. Heart Mates by Robin D. Owens - Book 1,

6. Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 4.1, Book 4.2, Book 5, Book 6, Book 6.5, Book 7, Book 7.5, Book 7.75, Book 8, Book 9, Book 10, Book 10.2, Book 10.5, Book 11 - COMPLETE

7. Compass Girls by Mari Carr - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4 - COMPLETE

8. Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborn - Book 1 (re-read), Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6, Book 7, Book 8, Book 9, Book 10, Book 11, Book 12, Book 13, Book 14, Book 15, Book 16, Book 17, Book 18, Book 19, Book 20, Book 21, Book 22, Book 23, Book 24, Book 25, Book 26, Book 27, Book 28, Book 29, Book 30, Book 31, Book 32, Book 33, Book 34, Book 35, Book 36, Book 37, Book 38, Book 39, Book 40

9. Tales of the Kingdom - Books 1-4 are all owned - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4

10. Beasts of Olympus - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6 - COMPLETE

11. Maple Leaf Series - Book 1 (read last year), Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 4.5


Mount TBR
This year I thought I would split my TBR in half to make sure I read both print and ebooks. So my goal is to read at least 50 print books and 50 ebooks off my TBR pile. This challenge has gotten awfully difficult with all the shiny new books distracting me. I have definitely fallen pretty far behind and don't know if I will catch up in time. I have 12 digital books to read still and 13 print books to read before the end of the year!

Digital TBR
1. Drain Me Dry
2. Addicted to the Bite
3. The Queen
4. The Prince
5. Club Midnight
6. Bloodlines
7. The Guard
8. The Favorite
9. A Collector of Affections
10. Winters Thaw
11. Hope Springs
12. Summer Fling
13. Falling Softly
14. Blue Sky Days
15. The Street or Me
16. A Tale of Two Dragons
17. His Wicked Games
18. Truth or Dare
19. Sweet Victory
20. Sworn to Raise
21. One Night of Sin
22. Sworn to Transfer
23. Sworn to Conflict
24. Playing for Keeps
25. Night after Night
26. More Than Pizza
27. Resist
28. Surrender of Persephone
29. Starfire
30. Here All Along
31. More Than Words
32. Longing
33. Unexpected
34. More Than Candy Corn
35. The Green Ember
36. Christmas in High Heels
37. The Naughty List
38.  Checking it Twice

Print TBR
1. The Ice Dragon
2. Collecting Seashells by the Seashore
3. The Princess Diaries
4. The Beast Within
5. What is the Super Bowl?
6. Princess in the Spotlight
7. Announcing the Thaw
8. Into Your Light
9. A Cat Named Dog & A Dog Named Cat
10. The Ferry Home
11. Princess in Love
12. Magic & Melee
13. Princess in Waiting
14. Vorn the Onyx
15. More than Cookies
16. GI Cowboy
17. There Was a Fire
18. Esio Trot
19. Star Wars: Jedi Academy
20. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
21. The Princess and the Hound
22. The Tale of Gwyn
23. Etiquette and Espionage
24. More than Rum
25. Gone Fishing
26. Tale of Birle
27. Inside Out & Back Again
28. Tale of Oriel
29. The Giver
30. 1984
31. The Great Tree of Avalon
32. The Scorpio Races
33.  Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters
34. The Christmas Shoes
35. The Christmas Box
36. A Midnight Clear
37. Pegasus and the New Olympians


Rhode Island Authors - COMPLETE
 My goal is to have at least 15 books. I had a really outstanding RI Author month in April. I have one more that I want to read for this year and then the rest will be in preparation for next year's RI Author Month!
1. Ducky Ducky Likes to Moo
2. Hippo Hippo's Cranky Day
3. Collecting Seashells by the Seashore
4. A Collector of Affections
5. Lolly's Picnic
6. Announcing the Thaw
7. Edgar Graduates
8. Into Your Light
9. A Cat Named Dog & A Dog Named Cat
10. Ferry Home
11. The Street or Me
12. Magic and Melee
13. Vorn the Onyx
14. There was a Fire
15. More than Cookies
16. Waking the Merrow
17. One Night with You
18. More than Rum
19. Fishing In Narragansett Bay
20. Flight over Newport
21. More than Candy Corn
22. Telep the Diamond


Requested Reviews: - Complete
I will be accepting only 15-20 reviews sent by authors (please be sure to check my policy page before sending a request) and I will read/ request no more than 17 books on Netgalley.  I have been keeping this relatively under control as well, I have a few author requests to finish up before the end of the year but some of the reviews won't go up until next year.


Netgalley:
1. The Face in the Mountain
2. Gwendolyn's Sword
3. Night Study
4.The Storm
5. The Lion
6. Let It Out
7. The Pages of the Mind
8. Sweet Tomorrows
9. A Promise of Fire
10. Destined for a King
11. Orphan Trains: Taking the Rail to a New Life
12. War Dogs; Tales of Canine Heroism, History & Love
13. My Wild Irish Dragon
14. Moon Chosen
15. Bone Sparrow
16. The Christmas Project
17. A Squiggly Story


Direct Requests:
1. The Changing Season
2. Trina Bell's Humming Summer
3. One of A Kind Cat Book
4. A Life With You
5. Mabel Crowley Book One
6. Horsefeathers
7. Random
8. The Fairy Boy of Calton Hill
9. Jesper Jinx and the Scrumptious Snacks
10. Delbert: The Reluctant Spy
11. Santa's First Vegan Christmas
12. Jesper Jinx's Best Friend



After Dark Challenge - COMPLETE
Now I wasn't sure if I was going to do this challenge or not but I have a bunch of books on my list for this year so I decided to keep track of them as well.  My goal is to read 25 this year.  I hadn't been planning on this challenge but it just kind of happened, and I definitely met my goal and then some (okay maybe I nearly doubled it)!

1. Drain Me Dry
2. Addicted to the Bite
3. Club Midnight
4. Bloodlines
5. Winters Thaw
6. Hope Springs
7. Summer Fling
8. Falling Softly
9. Hearts in Darkness
10. Love in the Light
11. Marked
12. One Night with You
13. A Tale of Two Dragons
14. His Wicked Games
15. Truth or Dare
16. Sweet Victory
17. One Night of Sin
18. Sinner
19. Playing for Keeps
20. Night after Night
21. Foerver in the Light
22. Only, Always, Forever
23. Hard Ever After
24. Protecting His Own
25. Resist
26. The Surrender of Persephone
27. HeartMate
28. Here All Along
29. More Than Words
30. Longing
31. I Dream of Dragons
32. Savage
33. Unexpected
34. The Lion and the Doe
35. The Landscaper
36. My Wild Irish Dragon
37. Bear to Want
38. You Are Mine
39. Can't Stay Away
40. Hot Burning Love
41. The Teacher's Billionaire
42. Men of Whiskey Creek: Dillon
43. Saddle Up
44. Knights of Stone: Mason
45. The Doctor's Secret Bride
46. All Through the Night
47.  Christmas Spirit
48.  Seduction

Goodreads Challenge - COMPLETE
I set my goal at 325 this year with no intention of changing it as I have had to do in years past.  So far I am at 365 books this year, I have at least a dozen more reviews to do today, but I may be pushing the 400 book level by the end of the year!

Goodreads Challenge Page





So there you have my challenge update, I am actually doing better than I thought I was on the challenges. The Early reader challenge shouldn't be hard to catch up on, but the Mount TBR will be a little bit of a struggle, granted I haven't counted any of the Magic Tree House books towards that challenge even though I owned up to 51 before this year. But 8 out of 10 challenges complete with a month to go is not bad at all!


How are your reading challenges going? 

Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House)
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey by Lucille Colandro (Bedtime Story)

 

 Books Finished Last Week:

Reviews will be posted at a later date

No Room At the Inn = 1pt
The Christmas Box = 5pts
Christmas Caramel Murder = 3pts


 

Currently Reading:
 

 Books to be Read Soon:

Tale of Elske by Cynthia Voigt

 

Total Points Earned
       455 points + 9 points - 85 points spent = 384 points

Total Points Earned this Year: 2214
Total Points Spent this Year: 1830

Pages Read/ Time Listened
277:16 (11 days 13 hrs 16 mins) Hours Listened (4:32 listened this week)
43,576 Pages Read (173 this week)

Books Added to Shelves

1602 Witch Hunter: Angela by Marguerite Bennett - 10 points spent
Northlanders Vol. 5: Metal by Brian Wood - 10 points spent
Scarlet Book 1 by Brian Michael Bendis - 10 points spent
Balto of the Blue Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne - 20 points spent
Night of the Ninth Dragon by Mary Pope Osborne - 20 points spent
More Than Cocoa by Christine Depetrillo - 15 points spent

Interesting Tidbits on the Web:


 



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Hello everyone! I hope that those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday. I also hope that you had a nice long weekend to spend with your loved ones, and maybe got a little reading time in. We had a great Thanksgiving with our family.  Even got a date with my husband one night over the weekend (this hasn't happened since May, so was a wonderful break)! Unfortunately, we came home that night to a very sick little Munchkin. It is definitely going to be one of those winters where he is sick constantly.

I hope that you enjoyed the gift guides I posted every day last week. I had been wanting to do that for a few years but never got around to getting them done on time, and now I know why! Each post took several hours to put together, even though I already had the shops and ideas I wanted to feature. So unfortunately I didn't get as much reading done last week as I wanted to get done, but that is okay, it was better to spend time with the family anyway.

If you have been hanging around my blog for any amount of time you know that I will be kicking off my Advent Reads feature on December 1st, if you are new here you are in for a treat that I spend months preparing for!  For Advent Reads I will feature a different Holiday book each evening (usually around 8:00pm unless it is an After Dark book then it will be 11:00pm EST).  Obviously my regular schedule gets tossed out the window for this event. I will still have my Monday Reading Lists but pretty much everything else is put on hold until after Christmas.  This year, I will be adding a separate post each day (usually early afternoon) of fun ways we celebrate the holidays, it might be something to do with the family, a way to celebrate that is inexpensive, or something to do by yourself to celebrate.   I hope you will all enjoy the series this year, I have really made sure to include a wealth of genres and fun ideas in this Advent Reads Event.


Well I better get to real work, I have a busy week this week in the office, and a sick Munchkin to get home to as quick as possible.  Hope you all have a wonderful week!