Holiday Reading Recommendations...

"Christmas Dreaming" painting done by one of my students. Love it!

I need help.  I'm starting to think ahead to the holidays and would really like to do a little holiday-themed reading.  After putting out a call on Twitter, Colleen @booksnyc came to my rescue with some great recommendations:  Comfort and Joy by India Knight, Over the Holidays by Sandra Harper, and Last Christmas by Julia Williams.  Thank you so much!

In the past, I've read a few holiday books:  Dating Mr. December by one of my faves--Phillipa Ashley, A Darcy Christmas by a collection of amazing authors, and a few by Marcia Evanick.  I'm just really in the mood to read a few great holiday reads, so I'm going to appeal to all of you.  Do you have books that you've read that feature holiday scenes in them?  Thanksgiving is an especially tricky one, but really I'm just looking for the holidays in general. 

Help a holiday-starved reader!

Merry Christmas & a Giveaway Winner!!!

First off, Merry Christmas to one and all! I've been delightfully sidetracked and kept busy by family and friends.  I see salads and plenty of fruit and veg in my future to help me account for all of the goodies we've been eating, but it has felt pretty worth it for the moment!  We're staying in today, decked out in our pjs (even for Christmas dinner), and will be tucking into a stack a books later in the day.  That's my present to myself!

Also, I didn't get my Austen B-day Soiree winners posted on Friday, so I thought now would be a perfect gift to someone! 

The winner of a nice grab bag (drawn at random from Random.org) of Austen-related novels is: 

Heather M. 

Congrats!  I've sent you an email and will hope to hear from you some time after Christmas so I can get this little extra Christmas surprise off to you. 

Thanks to everyone who joined in on Jane Austen's Birthday this year and the great posts for the Austen Soiree.

Well, that's my hello on this Christmas Day.  However you spend this wonderful holiday, I hope you have a great one!

End of a Vacation and a Year

What's it all about?  This ending of a year, closing up of books and looking ahead to a new year, can be a little traumatic.  The phrase "quiet lives of desperation" keeps coming to mind, and yet, it might be because I ended my year reading V. S. Naipaul's Half a Life, which is filled with angst and desperation.  (I also followed it up this morning by reading about ten articles and biographies that have my head spinning a bit.)  Could my reading be seeping into my psyche and making me look at the world with a suspicious, critical eye, and therefore including my own life in that criticism?  Why yes, I think so.  I'm thinking I should have read something a bit more cheery to end my year so I could face 2011 with a bit of positive juju.

Hawaii has been pretty, interspersed with downpours that are actually more common to winter than the sunny paradise that all, locals and tourists alike, actually hope for.  We've had great moments of sunshine and beaches, and other moments trapped inside listening to the hammering of rain on the roof, hoping the power didn't go off.  Thankfully, we had stacks of good books for either occasion.  President Obama actually stays at a beach about 30 minutes from us, and according to all accounts, he is probably enjoying his read about President Reagan.  Not the light read I would want right now, but a very presidential pick.

Thanks to a new ban that has been passed here in Hawaii, last night was the last time that fireworks to the scale we've been accustomed to will be available, and from here on out be quite illegal.  We thought our neighborhood would go out with a bang, and although still a bigger affair than some hometown 4th of July celebrations I've seen, the rain and the new law seemed to put a damper on everything.  In short.  It was a mild celebration compared to last year.  No 16 men, piggybacked, twirling fire, or walking around with chains of firecrackers looped around their necks.  It was good, just much more subdued than normal.

Tonight I hop a plane back to the mainland.  Unlike my turbulence-filled flight coming over, I have high hopes that this flight will be nice and smooth, allowing me plenty of time for uninterrupted reading.  For the flight, I only plan on reading things that will put me into a happy frame of reference for the time being.  I'm not sure I want my mind to be whirling about with social upheavals and injustice at 30,000 feet.  Does this make me a shallow, uneducated reader?  Nah.  Like writing, you have to know your audience and purpose, so in my reading, I know my audience (me) and my purpose (light-hearted happiness to end my trip).

Whatever you're doing on this New Year's Day, I hope it's glorious and great!  Happy New Year!

Review: Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley

Lifetime film based on Dating Mr. December

Christmas was really nice this year.  On Christmas Day we took it easy, slept in, and ate breakfast before tackling the presents.  We each seemed to get lots of DVD sets of TV series and movies, more so than books.  That was fine though, since my "To Be Read" pile is about to kill me!  I'm thinking that it's about time to challenge myself to only read what I already have.  That alone would take me half the year. 

Late in the afternoon, we headed to the beach to read and catch a cool breeze.  (Yes, while snow is falling on the mainland, we've been praying for a little wind!)  I finally had a chance to sit down with Phillipa Ashley's reprint by Sourcebooks, Dating Mr. December, which they sent me a couple of months ago.  The novel was made into a lifetime film last year called, "12 Men of Christmas" with Kristen Chenoweth, which I haven't seen, but remember seeing advertisements for on TV.  I usually pretty hesitant about Lifetime movies, but I'll have to check this out after reading the book!  The novel was a fun romance, that honestly wasn't all that "Christmas"-like.  Sure, there is a Mr. December, but not much else about Christmas pops up, so this is one of those books you could read at any time.

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Emma Tremayne leaves her high-powered PR job and moves to the Lake District looking for peace, quiet-and celibacy. So perhaps it's not the best idea when, in the spirit of "community-mindedness," she agrees to help the local mountain rescue team fund raise by putting together a "tasteful" nude calendar. Especially since quite a lot of the community seems to mind what she's up to-including the tall, dark and handsome Mr. December, Will Tennant, who appears to have gotten the wrong impression about Emma's intentions. So how does she convince him that he's more than just the flavor of the month?"

Review:  Although titled Dating Mr. December, this romantic story isn't really set in December or centered on Christmas at all.  In fact, as I was reading it, I hoped that readers wouldn't get caught up in the title and put off reading it until the holidays!  This is definitely a tense, sexy read. 

The initial lead in to Emma and Will (hunky Mr. December) meeting one another and becoming attracted was pretty short.  Those kinds of "I like you baby" leads sometimes have me rolling my eyes a bit, since I'm ever the pessimist about those kinds of love interests.  I'll be honest, I felt that way in this story as well, but thankfully the author created a palpable tension between these two characters that kept me flipping pages.  In pretty short order, they were snubbing one another and hiding past hurts and pain.  Will was said to be a real prig who had abandoned a fiance on their wedding day, while Emma had just found that her boyfriend was having an affair with her boss, causing her to move to Will's town and away from London.  Obviously, there was more to the story, which we as readers want to see them resolve.  

In the end, this romance was pretty good.  I liked the tension and misunderstandings between the two characters, so it wasn't all about the "come hither" of a classic romance.  Although it looks and sounds like a playful, fun read, it was much more serious and tense than it lets on.  Really, this is a romance you could read any time, even though the set up and cover scream Christmas.  Also, if you enjoy the added tension that inevitably pushes two people together (which I do), then this is a perfect romantic read.

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based on a review copy provided by Sourcebooks.

Although I thought this romance turned out to not be much about Christmas or the holidays, I still think it counts as my second in "The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2010".  The challenge is being hosted by The True Book Addict & The Christmas Spirit Blog.  The challenge started on Friday, November 26th and runs until January 6th, but you can still join in!  In fact, you can read as little as one book.  Even if you don't want to join the challenge, you can find out about other "seasonal" reads from other people participating (which is one reason I like joining these).  For more information or to sign up, visit their site today!  Who knows, you might be able to set up a Christmas wish list of reads for next year. 

Christmas 2010: Mele Kalikimaka

Merry Christmas everyone.  What a nice holiday break this year!  Instead of two weeks that involved a quick transition straight into Christmas as soon as I arrived, we had this nice week leading up to it.  My best friend Doc arrived on Monday and although we like to lay around and enjoy the downtime, we've had a chance to get out and do some kind of outdoorsy sort of stuff.  Yes, I can hardly believe it myself.  I think that the downpour of rain for several days really gave us the push to get out and enjoy the sunshine.  Below are some of the pictures from our escapades over the last couple of days.

 

As you can see in this picture, the storms pushed all sorts of debris up onto the beach.  In one sense it's nice to know that the junk isn't out in the water, and on the other hand, it's a little freaky to see what comes out to land on the beach!  Once you got over the wood and stuff stacked on the beach, the sand and water were beautiful.  (Temple & Hukilau Beach)

 

Here's my friend "Doc," who wanted to be in the picture as "proof" of her Christmas holiday.  My mom wasn't quite as eager to be on camera.  

We decided to take advantage of the day and drove down to hike to the lighthouse. We hadn't ever done it before, so we thought it was as good a time as any!  On the way, we stopped off at the Pali Lookout, which looks down over Kaneohe Bay.  It's really breathtaking.

Below are the pictures from the top of Makapuu Lighthouse Trail.  The hike actually killed all three of us, which it really shouldn't have, but we're not exactly up to snuff this time of year.  I'll tell you, I sure made a New Year's Resolution to hit cardio a bit more after hiking up that trail!  We're all hobbling around, which is pretty funny to see, but the hobbling was well earned, right?  You can see the view we were able to take in.  

It's kind of fun to be sunburned and sore from all of the hiking we've done.  Now we're going to settle in for a nice Christmas Day.  To everyone out there, I hope you have a wonderful, Merry Christmas!

The "Should Have Done" Syndrome

First off, can I give a great big shout out and thanks to Reagan at Star Shadow for the lovely Christmas book box and goodies that she sent me for the book exchange!  I actually received it earlier this week on a day that I would call pretty stinky.  Imagine what a sweet little lift this gave me mid-week, so thank you to Reagan for the AMAZING box of books, goodies, and gift she sent!  Since I participated in two book exchanges this year, I'm actually not 100% sure which one this was part of, but I didn't want to wait to tell her it was really lovely.  Oh, and let's not forget that it gave me a wonderful new blog to follow.  Thank you so very much!  :)

Tomorrow I fly out for Hawaii, which I'm super excited about!  When you live somewhere that is cold and dreary (and I actually do like winter--most of the time), it's really nice to escape to a place that is still like summer.  I love throwing on shorts and t-shirts, flip-flops and a ponytail.  In essence, it's just nice to get a little sun.

Having said that, I have to say that I'm REALLY not prepared to leave.  I have so much grading to do for school that it hurts to think about it!  Besides grading, I have blog posts that I should have planned ahead on and just didn't.  I just didn't have enough hours in the day to live a normal life and get it all finished.  Now I'm flying out tomorrow and realize that I haven't done this, that, and a million other things that I "should have" done! 

Here are a few things from my "should have done" list.  Tell me if you recognize any of these:

• Returned the library books that will be overdue while I'm gone, that I can no longer renew, because I took too long to read them!  (Nope, I can't take them back tonight.)
• Put my work gifts with a nice card, rather than relying on the raffia ribbons I had my TA tie around them and then deliver for me!  (Well, I wrote a couple of cards, but ran out of time.)
• Actually sent Christmas cards to family and close friends. 
• Cleaned my house so that I'm not leaving a dirty pig sty to return home to clean.
• Made goodies to share with friends and neighbors.  (Although, that one can be dangerous to one's thighs.)
• Maybe picked up one more gift for so and so because I didn't get enough already?  (Yes, this one haunts me every year, no matter how hard I try not to let it!)
• Taken the time to breathe in the spirit of the season until now.  
• Read one more Christmas story before now.  

Now here's the bright side of this "should have done" list.  I can now ignore it because there's nothing I can really do about it all!  I'm on vacation as of tomorrow morning and I'm ready to throw on the flip flops and call it another beautiful holiday season!

What are you already feeling like you "should have done" this year?  Even better, what "will you do" before the year is up?  (I like that better!)

Monday Musings: Christmas Movie Laughs

How can you not love this scene from Elf?  I laugh so hard every time I watch Buddy jump over each Jack-in-the-Box!

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Christmas Beauties as Memory

First off, let me thank Kailana from The Written World and Marg from Adventures of an Intrepid Reader for hosting the Virtual Advent Tour once again this year.  Last year was my first time participating in this wonderful, holiday event when I shared more about my family's new Hawaiian holidays in my "Mele Kalikimaka" post.  That was such a nice opportunity to really think about how my small family celebrates this joyous holiday, so thank you again to them and all those who participate and share their holidays with us!

For this year's 12th Day Virtual Advent post, I wanted to share something new to me.  As some of you might know, I purchased my first home last year.  This was an exciting and frightening time, but I have loved having my own place to call home.  Thankfully, I have plenty of holiday decorations that I've collected and purchased over the years, so decking my halls took very little effort!  In fact, my mother couldn't take her fake tree with her to Hawaii, so I inherited it from her.

One thing I've wanted to do though, that a new home reminds me, is to put up Christmas artwork.  For anyone who has purchased a new home or moved in somewhere that's bigger than what you're used to, there is always the matter of hanging things on bare walls!  Over the years I've developed an interest in collecting artwork when I travel, or at least purchasing art that has a story.  For instance, I have collected several paintings and watercolors that now hang in my home and are special to  me because of the story attached to them.  What about holiday artwork though?  That's tougher to find, at least from my experience.

"Christmas Dreaming" before having it framed.

Two years ago I taught a really bright young man who had amazing artistic talent.  In fact, for his introducing piece to our class, he created an oil painting of a locomotive to represent an important memory he had with his grandfather.  (None of the other students wanted to follow him to share their collages and mobiles made from coat hangers after that showing.)  This young man continued to produce beautiful art all year to represent things we were reading in class, or as his own response to our discussions.  Before the year ended, I approached him about possibly purchasing a piece from him.  He gave me a choice, and I decided I wanted something with a Christmas theme.  He jumped at the opportunity, both because he knew I appreciated his artwork and because I offered to pay him, and after graduating and getting ready to head off into the world he presented me with the final product on a little board.

Just yesterday I went to pick up the finished product after having it custom framed.  Thankfully, it is just in time for the holidays!  I can't express how much this piece of artwork will mean to me, thanks to the story and memories behind it.  As teachers, we sometimes forget names.  What we don't forget are the stories and cumulative memories we've collected over the years.  We may not remember the names, years, or exact details, but the feelings and thoughts it left behind are there forever.  In a way, this painting is a visual representation of what one student left in my memory and heart. 

For other Virtual Advent Tour stops on this, Day 12, visit:

Jane @ Life Number 8

Michelle @ Galleysmith

Lorren @ The Story Girl

Miss Moppet @ The Misadventures of Moppet

 

Thank you again to everyone involved, and to all of my friends and readers!  With less than two weeks to go, let me join in and wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

A Darcy Christmas: "Mr. Darcy's Christmas Carol" by Carolyn Eberhart

The day I came home from surgery, I had a wonderful, early Christmas package waiting for me that contained A Darcy Christmas.  This book is a compilation of three Christmas stories by different Austen writers.  I love the escape that comes with all things Austen and this book has a wonderful, feel good Christmas backdrop for its stories.

Although there are three stories in the book, I wanted to share a little bit about the first story in the novel, "Mr. Darcy's Christmas Story" by Carolyn Eberhart.  It doesn't seem that Eberhart has published anything prior to her story included in the novel (according to the bio in the book or online), so I was interested to get a taste of her writing.

Synopsis:  It's not Ebenezer Scrooge.  It's Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy fresh off his refusal of marriage by Ms. Elizabeth Bennett, marriage of Lydia and Wickham, and marriage of his good friend Bingley to Elizabeth's other sister Jane.  Unlike the original novel, Darcy never did return after Bingley's proposal to Jane, to do likewise with Elizabeth. Instead, he sulked and returned home to be sullen and depressed.  Heading into Christmas, Darcy experiences the classic "A Christmas Carol" story, replete with his ghost of Christmas past, present, and future.  Each ghost shows him the result of his pride and fear, showing him how he's hurt and worried those around him, and how life will turn out if he doesn't swallow his pride (backed by a big dose of fear).  When the three ghosts leave him behind to take charge of his own life, he presses forward with the understanding of how life could be if he made no action today.


Review:  As similar to the original Dickens tale as it can be, this mashup delivers a beautiful twist to the famous Christmas tale that is so familiar.  Rather than Ebenezer, we see Darcy haunted by his past, present, and future, each haunted by what pride and fear can do to a person's life.  Although this is a smart retelling of "A Christmas Carol," I found myself bewitched by the themes of personal growth that remained in tact.  Yes it was about Darcy conquering his own personal demons to propose to Elizabeth again, thus bringing about happiness for both of them, but that familiar message of seizing the day and creating your own happiness by looking outside of yourself still shined through.

I really loved the thoughtful writing, with its beautiful voice and connection to the original tale.  In this case, I don't think that this smart retelling would offend the purists who hate their classics marred with modern romantic sensibilities.  Yes, it was about Darcy getting Elizabeth, but it was more about his own journey to overcoming his fears so he could find eventual happiness.  That theme and the weaving in of the real Ebenezer were smart and fun to read.

If you can get your hands on this book, I have to give "Mr. Darcy's Christmas Carol" a high recommendation.  It was an easy, fast read, and one that had me more philosophical about life and the Christmas season ahead of us than anything.  To top it off, it had that fun Austen twist to it that made it really fun to watch unfold.  Honestly, I now hope to hear more from Eberhart down the road!

*FTC Disclosure:  Review is based on an Advanced Review Copy provided by Sourcebooks.  No monies were exchanged in this review process.

To: You From: Me

We arrived here in Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon, and enjoyed a day and a half of sunshine before the rain came in today. It was a beautiful day though, and we had a leisurely day eating breakfast, then putting in the Christmas turkey, followed by a late morning of opening gifts. Although I carted eleven books, yes...eleven, in my suitcase and carry on, I then received seven more today. I also received two great cookbooks. Thanks for all my wonderful books Santa! What could be better than getting books? Now I have to think about how to get them back to the mainland...

Below is a cute picture of this year's tree from this morning before the carnage began. My mother has been collecting Christmas ornaments here on the island and has quite a collection going.


Wherever you are, and whether you're enjoying a white Christmas or not, let me wish you a very wonderful holiday season.

Review: Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby

Synopsis: Have you ever wondered what happens to your ornaments each year as they sit through the spring, summer, and fall, waiting for the season to come around again so they can pop out and have a look-see at the world again? In this cute Christmas story, a set of ornaments come alive each night after dark, to talk, hang out, and have ornament get-togethers--all overlooked by the Tree Lord, who keeps them in order. Even the lights on the tree are animate, and blink and move about the tree. For Larry, a Christmas snow-man, this Christmas is a troubled one, as he can't find his brother. After searching the tree, braving brown and dying limbs, he determines (along with a couple of friends) to go in search of his brother. Their adventures lead them to surprising, and even startling discoveries, that make you wonder...what if my ornaments really did come alive?

Review: I really wanted to like this hearty little tale of Christmas, and the heart-stopping adventure of a small group of Christmas ornaments out to find their friend and brother (who didn't make it to the tree). However, I did feel that the writing resembled a script, more than a story. Some of the jarring issues in writing slowly worked out somewhat by the middle of the book, and I thought the story itself was a cute idea.

I actually think that this would make a fabulous children's story, marketed to and for children. In fact, I'm certain that with a few added pictures, this would be a perfect bedtime story for older children/preteens. As it is now, in it's hardcover form and several hundred pages, you do think this will be a Christmas story that has adult appeal. This didn't necessarily strike me as a book for adults, but one that would make a great read if read aloud to children or pre-teens. I would recommend this for those readers that have older children, as I think this would be a fun book leading up to the holidays!

For more information: Secrets of a Christmas Box.

BLACKOUT

Wow...what a day! Yesterday mom and I headed out to attempt some after Christmas shopping. We decided to go to Pearl City (West of Honolulu & Waikiki) to go to Walmart there, and then followed it up with a movie. We went to see Yes Man with Jim Carrey, and NO I wouldn't recommend it (my mom wanted a good laugh...I don't know if it was what we were looking for). Anyway, as we came out at 6 pm, we noticed the night sky lighting up. I didn't think anything of it, but really just wanted to get our car out of the parking garage and hit the road. Well, as we came up and out of the garage...POOF...out went every light, in every store, in every building in the shopping strip we were in. SPOOKY. We instantly realized the electric storm had cut out the power, so we braved the blinding headlights against the rainy roads and surfaces to edge out into the flow of traffic. Now, if you know anything about merging onto the Kamehameha Highway there outside of that shopping area, it's an insane intersection. Thankfully we were merging to the right, so I just followed a line of traffic out onto the highway, towards the North Shore.

What should have been an easy little trip home turned into a really quite scary drive. I tried to stay in the outside lane, but realized that with the slope and the way the water was pooling, that the lane tended to be under water in places. Once we got off in Wahiawa, I just gripped the steering wheel and prayed we could get through this one last traffic spot. You have to drive through the middle of the town before going down a slope, over a bridge, and up on your way towards the Dole Plantation. SCARY. I knew "down" was not cool, but knew the bridge would allow the water to run over the bridge into the gulley below. Thankfully, I was right, and we made it all right. It was darker than death, and our GPS quit working, but we made it along the north shore in relative safety. By the time we hit Turtle Bay, it was only mom and I and a couple of other cars riding my tail (just like in a blizzard, following someone else is way easier than leading the way and braving the wet road!). By the time we turned off on Temple Drive, I finally sighed and let the muscles in my neck relax a bit. Talk about a headache from that drive!!!

I have to say how much I love the people here in Laie. Our neighbors up and down the road were outside visiting, children out lighting fireworks, etc. Mom and I just hauled our stuff in our cave-like apartment, found flashlights, and got the emergency radio on. It wasn't long after being home that we heard that it was going to be over 12 hours to get electricity back!!! Sigh. We sat in the living room for a little while, listening to the reports and callers until a little after 10 pm. Oh, and let me say that some man from Akron, Ohio called in and griped about how Hawaii Electric needed to take a lesson from the mainland in getting electricity up a little faster. ***Oh no he didn't!*** The broadcaster hung up, then proceeded to get really pissed (his words) and tried to explain over the radio how when you fly here, you cross thousands of mile of OCEAN between here and California that prevent hooking in to anyone else when the power goes out. Hello, if the President elect didn't have power, then how would these people expect anyone else to? DUH!

Okay, well mom and I hit the bed early. I actually took a sleeping pill, but still woke up because of the rain pounding outside at around 2am (I'm still nervous mom's place will flood again), turned on the radio, and still got the gist of the fact that we were all still down. By morning the broadcasters were announcing power back up where President Obama and his family are, and in other places down by the power plants, but most of the island would still be out until past noon. We had several huge rainstorms throughout the day, and mom and I had to go for a walk after awhile because the apartment was so hot and muggy, and it was just too dark! Thankfully, the lights came on 20 HOURS after they went out, at about 2:30 pm. Sigh. The last time this happened here was some earthquake of '06. The last tsunami was back in the 40s, and the last hurricane (mild) back in the 90s? Hmm...mom's been through a flood last week, and now this blackout the day after Christmas. Please say we or she's not due for anything else! :)

Regardless of it all, I love Hawaii. With all good and beautiful things, you do seem to have to take the opposite to balance it out. The people here are like family, and while I about went out of my mind (yes, this technology junkie suffered), I'm thankful that it was only an inconvenience and not something really dangerous! Mahalo!

Here's the news report from the Associated Press: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081227/ap_on_re_us/hawaii_power_16