That Just Happened!

This year I participated in the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge. I read 5 books (well 6 if you count that I sneaked in Matchless  by Gregory Maguire, but I won’t be posting a review).  It was definitely eye-opening!  I never knew how many Christmas/Holiday themed books were out there for adults. Really, it just never occurred to me. So now I have read five and I have a bucket load more on my TBR list for next year.

Reading these books definitely got me in the Holiday spirit (after reminding me what that is of course).  A lot of the books were very sweet and acted as reminders for what the season is all about.   So my original list can be found here, but I did have to stray a bit as the library was a little low on selection. (Don’t get me started on that. Go here for a reminder about how I feel about the library).

The following is a list of the books I read and my overall thought about it.  Hopefully there is one or two you can add to your TBR list for next year, or this year as there is still a few  2 days left until Christmas.

1. Skipping Christmas by John  Grisham  I really liked it (better than the movie Christmas With the Kranks, and I liked that a lot).  It was very punny and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good holiday read.
2. Dashing Through the Snow by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark.  So good!  I gave it 5 golden rings out of 5!  I absolutely loved this book. It is a must read.
3. What is Myrrh Anyway? by Jonathan Green.  To avoid you wasting your time here is the summary: all modern Christmas traditions are based on pagan rituals and people in the 1800′s would eat just about anything.
4. The Gift by Richard Paul Evans.  It was a very touching read.  Have kleenex, or avoid altogether if you are not looking for a good weep.
5. A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber.  A nice Christmas related story. Very punny and a quick read. I liked the characters and am considering reading the other books in her series.

The final one I wasn’t really planning on reading, but it seems as though everyone  read this book.

    6.   The Gift by Cecelia Ahern.  Meh. I think I was more impressed that the author was co-creator of the show Samantha Who?  Read it only because everyone else has and no one likes feeling left out.

Well, that’s it for Holiday reading for me!  I’m off to create my own Christmas stories.  Happy Holidays!