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| Have a delicious Christmas! |
The Sunday
Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and The
Sunday Salon is hosted by Readerbuzz. They’re a
chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, and share news. It’s
Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Date. I get to tell you what I’ve read
recently.
Public Service Announcement
On The Blog Last Week
- On Tuesday I showed you what I’m hopefully reading this winter.
- On Thursday Santa came early.
On The Blog This Week
- On Tuesday I tell you about the books I hope to find under the Christmas tree.
- On Thursday I mini review everything I read last fall.
In My Reading Life
So
. . . a second week where I didn’t finish any books. What has happened to me? I
DNFed Blindness by José Saramago after reading over half of it.
I know it has amazing reviews and tons of awards, but I struggled with the
writing style and the bleakness. Slogging through the book was exhausting. I
don’t have the mental energy for it right now. That’s my fault, not the book’s.
I’m
having better luck with Best-Loved Folktales of the
World
by Joanna Cole. I finally made
it through Western Europe. Wow, that place has a lot of folktales. Germany’s
tales are the most disturbing. Spain’s are the most entertaining. My favorite
was “The Legend of Saint Nicholas” from Holland. I’ve now moved on to the
British Isles, so wish me luck.
I’m also reading Italian Shoes
by Henning Mankell. It’s intriguing so far.
In My Internet-Stalking Life
- Do you need help with your social media game? I do. Lottie @ LottieIsWriting has tips.
In The Rest Of My Life
Five
things that made me happy last week:
- Driving around and looking at Christmas decorations. Some people in my neighborhood . . . have A LOT of Christmas spirit.
- My Christmas shopping is done! The wrapping is not, but let’s focus on the positive.
- I got presents! (Thanks Lauren @ Shooting Stars Mag). I haven’t opened them yet.
- Christmas cookies!
- Thank you to everyone who has entered my giveaway so far!
We All Need More Friends, Right?
Take
care of yourselves and be kind to each other! See you around the blogosphere!
That polar bear graphic is priceless. I can’t stop laughing. :) I’m with you on the wrapping thing. Shopping done... wrapping, not so much. Thankfully I enjoy wrapping.
ReplyDeleteChristmas Cookies is really all you need! :)
ReplyDeletePresents are gotten and wrapped...however I still feel like I am missing someone but I guess I will find out soon enough lol
I hope you have an amazing Holiday, AJ! Happy Reading!
I haven’t wrapped yet either :)
ReplyDeleteWishing you a great reading week, and a very Merry Christmas!
Those biscuits... what fun! And yet, I'm feeling mildly guilty for laughing:). Have a lovely Christmas - I've still got a lot of wrapping to do, too!
ReplyDeleteThose cookies - I had to look twice at them to get it *lol* Merry Christmas to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteWell you are ahead of the game. I haven't even really done any shopping. Have a happy holiday season and Merry Christmas with family, relaxation, great reads and yummy food.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post
Hahahaha the polar bear pic is amazing. I literally LOLed. My reading has been super slow lately too, but I think I feel it coming back. Hope yours does too!
ReplyDeleteOoh I love mini- reviews. Yay! And haha what's up with Germany's folktales? I'm amazed sometimes how dark folktales can be. Anyway Christmas cookies are the best, and so is driving around looking at lights. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteI am cackling over that polar bear picture. I was like, scarves, but once I read the caption, I just couldn't unsee the gore. The Germans totally scared their children into submission. I took a class in college, where we read the original Grimm's in German, and those were some dark tales.
ReplyDeleteBook slumping is the worst! I'm sure you'll get your groove back soon! Happiest of holidays!
ReplyDeleteAhahah, yes, here too some neighbors have A LOT of Christmas spirit and going a little... overboard, if you ask me, with the christmas lights and decorations hahaha :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll have a wonderful week and better luck with your reads! <3
It sounds like you're nice and organized for Christmas, even if you haven't wrapped stuff yet. I haven't even finished shopping which is terrible!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week, and a wonderful Christmas! :)
Reading Blindness at this time of year? Oh goodness no! Blindness has to be one of the bleakest books I have ever read (note to self: make a Bleakest Books Ever Read list one of these days).
ReplyDeleteI added Folktales of the World to my wishlist, hoping someone would get me a copy of this book for Christmas. I guess we shall see.
Have a lovely week! Merry Christmas!
AJ I should do the same to get into Christmas spirit and drive in my town! Merry Christmas to you already!
ReplyDeleteI think I saw the movie of Blindness. Is that a thing, or am I imagining it? Like, maybe with subtitles? I know Google could answer these questions, but I prefer a little mystery in my life. LOVE the gory polar bears. And have no fear, you'll get your reading groove back. Slumps happen. I hope you and your family have a happy and cookie-filled holiday!
ReplyDeleteChristmas cookies! 😍😍😍
ReplyDeleteThe fairytales book sounds great. I'm going to add it to my TBR for next December. 👍✨
Have a wonderful Christmas week! 🎄
Ok, that giveaway is seriously amazing! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI always love driving around and looking at decorations. Some people sure know how to do it right. Have a great week and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThat poor polar bear! It does seem like a lot of people have a whole lot of spirit but not me. Congrats on getting your shopping done! I hope you have a wonderful holiday, AJ!
ReplyDeleteI may never stop laughing at that polar bear pic, lol. We have a holiday lights competition in our neighborhood so it gets a little Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation here too. It's fun to drive around and look at them though. I just finished wrapping everything I've bought but still have a couple more gifts to buy tomorrow so I'm focusing on the positive right now too. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI also still need to wrap my presents. Love the polar bear picture! :)
ReplyDeleteKrystianna @ Volumes and Voyages
Cute cookies and I wanted to bite a head off anyway...
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you only have two weeks without finishing a book. You need to read more 900 page books :)
Merry Christmas,
www.thepulpitandthepen.com
I did finish books but I've pushed back on my schedule to read more slowly. My weekly update
ReplyDeleteThose Polar bears, lol! I feel like there are a few in our neighborhood that have a LOT of Christmas spirit, too. Like drain-the-power-grid kind of spirit, lol! :)
ReplyDeleteThose polar bears are too funny! I mean, I know what they were going for, but the way the icing dripped, it doesn't quite come off. Kudos to whoever captioned the photo.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your description of folks with A LOT of Christmas spirit. There's one house in this town that goes WAY overboard on the outside decorating, and it's so much fun to see what they add each year. You can't help but smile when you drive by.
LOL I loved the Polar Bear picture :D I sort of understand about a book slump. Quite recently I finished Miracle Creek by Angie Kim and oh boy, my mental stamina went to an all-time low. Switched to something, well, fluffy and less intense, my mental stamina went back up :D
ReplyDeleteWhen my son and I went looking at decorations, whenever he saw a house with lots of decorations, he started calling it a nightmare in Russian (Kashmar, he is almost 4) he had me in stitches when he would say, 'look at that big nightmare!' Also, thanks for mentioning the folktales book! Perhaps in a few years, I'd love to get it to my son and introduce him to the world!
Sadly sometimes the mood to read just isn't there. At times like that I chill out with a night of my favourite films or a box set. I'm close to finishing the last of my challenges so luckily that is keeping me motivated!
ReplyDeleteI love driving around and looking at decorations, too - one of our neighbors down the street has an entire scene of huge blow-up decorations on his lawn, so that's always interesting to drive past.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a good Christmas AJ!
ReplyDeleteThe polar bear cookies had me in stitches of laughter! That's grim. :)
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! That meme with the Starbucks cookies is hilarious. I'm so glad that you liked all of your gifts!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
It's always fun to see what Christmas decorations people put up. I haven't seen as many impressive displays close to where I live, but I haven't really gone out and looked for them. Too bad about the DNF. Sometimes you're just not in the right mood for a book.
ReplyDelete