2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge

Today I am officially winding up the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge.  My goal was 20 books and it appears I read 21 although I somehow counted incorrectly because I thought I only read 20.  Oh well, it doesn't matter, I met the challenge and am moving on to the challenges I have signed up for in 2015.

I will be participating in the 2015 Reading Challenge as well as a few others mentioned in a previous blog entry.  Obviously they are going to have overlap because I do have to do other things besides read -- darn. 

I couldn't possibly begin to tell you which book was my favorite this year -- I loved them all.  However, I have to say the Elm Creek series didn't disappoint and neither did the new Jan Karon book.  This year I left behind the Aunt Dimity series for a while and picked up the Agatha Raisin series which was very enjoyable.  I haven't finished either series but completing those will work into one of my challenges for 2015.

So, with that said, it is time to put down the Nook and the book and get busy completing Christmas prep -- almost there but not quite.  I will be back with more on my reading plans for the future long around New Year's Eve.

Have a wonderful, safe and very Merry Christmas!

22 December 2014


Fog Magic by Julia L. Sauer

I am currently reading -- or rather just finishing -- Fog Magic by Julia L. Sauer.  It was a Newberry Award winner in 1944.  It is a fantasy book about a young girl who travels through time but as she grows she knows she will, one day, have to stop.  It is a coming of age book in that respect.

I started this book without having read any background information on it so I really didn't know what it was about.  However, I have really been enjoying it and sort of hate for it to end. 

This will be the last book to complete my 2014 Goodreads Challenge and I think I chose a really good work to end up the year.

'Tis the Season!!!!!

To be completely strung out.  Yes, indeed.  Full on pre-holiday chaos.  None of my own making.  Well, except for the procrastination part.  Minor detail.

I was doing pretty good in the preparation department  -- most of the shopping done.   I made a decision this year to do things differently.  In the past I have given my big kids money but still went on to buy gifts which somehow defeated the purpose of the money being easy.  I managed to stick to my guns on that one this year -- they will be getting money and I have included gifts but they are small token things which don't require copious amounts of wrapping. 

For the children I have chosen to do the same thing.  The small token gifts are just that, chosen not to have any conflict with Santa or other grandparents.  They will be getting gift cards as well -- even the newest arrival. 

So far so good.  On the Christmas front. 

The baptism of the newest arrival has been planned for three days after Christmas.  There will be gifts there as well.  Handmade items to become heirlooms -- maybe.  One trick there --  have to finish said future heirlooms.  Time is beginning to crunch, crunch, crunch........

The house, which was relatively ready, is now strewn with thread, sewing supplies, and all the other Christmas stuff I have dragged in and just sat -- more ornaments -- paper, ribbon, paper bags......brain shutting down.

Was going to have a lovely day on Friday attending the Bean's Christmas program and party.  It was lovely until......the cookie.  The cookie with nuts....brought into a "nut free" environment.  Now, Bean has never knowingly had a nut before because her father has a nut allergy and it has always been one of my daughter's greatest fears.  So, half the cookie was consumed before a cry commenced -- "my mouth itches!".  Yes, indeed, her mouth itched, her lip swelled, she said her tongue was getting big.  Picture this -- chaotic classroom to begin with now punctuated with a rather short, panicky child surrounded by three hulking adults trying to force Benadryl down her throat.  It worked, she was fine and now the question of the nut allergy has been answered.  She now has a referral to an allergist and an epipen.   Nona is wondering if a little spiked egg nog would be really wrong before noon.

And to top it all off --- today is my son-in-law's birthday! Happy Birthday, SIL!  Who knew?  I thought I did.  I thought it was next weekend.......oh dear.

And what do I want to do?  I just want to sit and read.  Yep, read.  My ultimate escape.  I had planned this holiday to be stress free -----

Stress -- comes like a thief in the night to steal my joy!  I thought my plan to streamline Christmas and be organized would be helpful but I guess not. So......

Next year -- next year.

Back to my book.

Asylum -- A Review


As I am trying to conclude my 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge, I am also trying to read some of the books I have downloaded to my Nook.  So, when I finished my latest Agatha Raisin book, I decided to fill in with something different.  And I did.

Since my Nook library is listed alphabetically, I decided to start at the beginning and this was the first.  It is a Young Adult book written by Madeleine Roux.

It is the story of three teenagers who meet while attending a summer session at a college that used to be an insane asylum.  Two of the kids had very strange connections to the asylum and let's just say it came back to haunt them. 

This was a very easy read, engaging enough with enough spookiness to probably charm teenagers.  There wasn't anything blatantly bad about it and the vintage institutional photos go a long way to increase the creep factor.  Over all, it was pretty good.

Would I recommend it?  Well, that is a question -- for an adult it is a quick read that is really rather predictable without any unusual twists.  For a young person -- depends on the young person. 

Over all it was pretty good.  I might even try some more YA offerings.

Baby Echo

For those of you who have been praying for Baby Echo, please know she is getting better every day! There have been no major setbacks for several days and she is beginning to get grumpy and more verbal so that is a good sign according to her mother!  Under these circumstances, I would take a complaining child, too!

There is a photo of her on my Facebook page but I can't seem to copy it to put it here but just know she is looking good and getting some rest. All the attached equipment is slowly disappearing and things are looking up.

Thanks for continued prayer -- she needs it as does her poor mother -- but things are looking so much brighter! Thank you, God!

Reading Challenges



Ok, I said I wasn't going to do this.  Last year I said I was only going to join one reading challenge and I did -- the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge.  I am only two short of my goal and I think I will make it -- maybe.

However, I am really into mysteries these days and I happened upon two challenges that I find interesting.  One I learned of from JLSHall's blog.  It is the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge hosted by Amy at a-bookish-girl.com.

This should work right into my reading preferences these days.  The other is Cruising Thru The Cozies --http://socratesbookreviews.blogspot.com.

 I think I will make more of an effort this year to read some of the modern Welsh literature for the Welsh Literature group.  I joined this group ages ago and have never really participated so I think I will have to take a closer look at this one in 2015.

 I will, of course, continue with the 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge because that is what keeps me reading.

I have been looking for a good "series" challenge but so far I haven't found one so I will just list those books on the Goodreads list.

It is hard to believe that we are gearing up for another year -- time flies when you are reading good books!

Editing because I found another challenge for series books -- it is Finishing the Series also hosted by socratesbookreviews.blospot.com.

Ok, done now.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree --


Oh bother! I enjoy decorating for the season in spurts.  I like to spread it out.  Today it is the tree.  I don't really like putting it up too early because if I do by the time Christmas gets here it is very scraggly looking and nothing is more annoying than a scraggly looking Christmas tree.

With that said, I must admit that I will never have a tree that looks like it was done professionally.  Ever.  Why?  Because I still delight in the kids ornaments.  I still like the ones I inherited from my mom that have yellowed with age.  I still like the idea of it being ordinary.

However, I have spent the last couple of hours (3 to be exact) trying to get this tree decorated.  A couple of years ago we purchased a new tree that is really tall (exciting for a short one like me) and narrow -- fits in the corner really well.  But......it looks like I stood back and threw the ornaments at the middle.  It is tall, I am not, there isn't much up there.  I can't bend down well because of gimpy knees so there isn't much low so -- yeah, the middle looks - crowded.

It is all my daughter's fault.  She always loved decorating the tree --to the point that she was so OCD about it nobody helped her -- we all just left her to it and it always turned out fine.  She got married.  She moved. Now she has her own tree to do and has left me to my own devices.

It is not pretty.

I found myself googling "how to decorate a Christmas tree".  Really?  How sad.  There has got to be a formula to this.  I wonder if there is a "Christmas Tree Decorating for Dummies" book out there?

Ok, enough of the rant.  Back to the project -- hopefully it will be done before bedtime!

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist


I just finished reading this title in the Agatha Raisin series and I have to say it wasn't my favorite.  Now, I didn't dislike it enough to give up on it  but I didn't like it as much as I have the others.  I don't know if it was the setting or what but it seemed like there wasn't as much plot and an awful lot of driving around North Cyprus. 

At any rate, I will still recommend the series and they are really fun to read and I hope that the next one is better.  Maybe I just need a break and should go back and read one of the Nancy Atherton Aunt Dimity series. 

Or, maybe I should read "Animal Farm" -- my daughter is reading it for her class right now and I have never read it so maybe I will give it a go.  I still need a couple of books to meet my 2014 Reading Challenge so I need some small books -- maybe children's books? I think I could just about manage two of those!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I like to do my decorating in small spurts.  I don't do a whole lot but I still like to spread it out.  Yesterday went like this:

I usually hang a large, real jingle bell from this door knob but this is quieter

Ok, it isn't up there correctly.  The bow should be at 11:00 and the gingerbread men at 4:00.  I gave up trying to explain and was just thankful it was up

I really liked this cheerful little guy

So, yeah, I am about done, I think.  Oh, wait....I still have to put up the Christmas tree.  Almost forgot.

Progressing --


As we progress through this season of Advent I am aware that one of the things I love about the season is the tradition -- the things we do over and over again year after year.  There is peace in that tradition again bringing calm to the chaos -- closing out the world for just a little while as we allow ourselves to be caught up in the familiar routines and customs of the season. 

Once Thanksgiving is over, we try to do most of the decorating and rearranging before December 1st because with the first Sunday in Advent we try to take a quiet approach to our days.  It doesn't always work, sometimes we are caught up in the excitement of the season but we try. 
We generally do our Advent lessons on Sunday.  Our granddaughter participates with us as we light the candles and have our devotion.  This year we have started doing something different.  I purchased a small nativity where everything is detached and able to be set out individually.  I also purchased a small stable.  So, prior to the first Sunday I set out the stable and on the first Sunday, after devotion, we set out Mary and Joseph.  Tonight we added the angel.  This little set is so cute and sweet and is just the right size for this sort of activity.

We also added the second candle to our Advent wreath.  When my children were little I had a children's wreath but the candles were an odd size and hard to find so I finally replaced it with the one I am using now.  Again, this is a tradition we have done for years now and I look forward to it every year. 

So, while we move on toward Christmas, progressing through the remainder of the year and looking forward to a new year I am struck by the sameness of the rituals -- looking forward to the new and yet loving the security of the old.

I hope you had a wonderful Second Sunday in Advent.

Nativities

Last year while browsing through a gift shop in North Richland Hills -- Apple Annie's -- I just caught this little nativity in the corner of my eye and knew I had to have it.  It is just the sweetest thing.

The same thing happened to me this morning at church.  Our church is in a historic neighborhood full of gorgeous old houses (stjohnsfortworth.com).  Each year in early December the neighborhood hosts a tour of homes and our church, being the gorgeous building that it is and being that it is in the middle of the neighborhood also hosts a tea room and a craft bazaar.  Today during coffee hour I had the opportunity to look at some of the offerings in the bazaar and  found the cutest little nativity.  It was only three pieces -- Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus -- and it appeared to be carved from rock.  There were actually two of these sets -- one large one and one small one and I would have bought one of them on the spot but the bazaar hadn't begun yet and there was nobody there to buy it from.  The booth it was in was sponsored by a children's book store, Monkey and Dog, that is owned by a fellow parishioner.  I am planning on visiting her store later this week and if the little nativities are there I will be bringing one home with me.  I wish I had a picture to show you but I will share if I actually buy one of them.

I really do enjoy collecting nativity sets -- I have several but they are all small or one piece and unique in some way.  I find that just looking at them brings peace to the chaos.   What do you collect to dress up the season?