lindapanzo's mini-holiday challenge

Now that I've finished my 1010 challenge for the year, I've got about 5 weeks of reading dabbling. I'm aiming to read at least the following, in a countdown to the new year:

(Revised to make it more festive!!)

(Revised, thanks to Terri's #2 partridge in a pear tree comment.)

5 gold rings (and holiday fiction)--read 5 of 5

1. Shrouds of Holly by Kate Kingsbury--finished on Nov 25
2. Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier--finished on Dec 3
3. A Christmas Odyssey by Anne Perry
4. An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor
5. Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop by Otto Penzler

4 calling birds (and books off my shelves)--read 4 of 4

1. Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout--finished on Dec 18th
2. Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie--finished on Dec. 20th
3. Black Orchids by Rex Stout--finished on Dec 25th
4. Berried to the Hilt by Karen MacInerney

3 French hens (and nonfiction books)--read 3 of 3

1. From Altoids to Zima by Evan Morris
2. The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David L. Ulin
3. Christmas 1945: The Story of the Greatest Celebration in American History by Matthew Litt

2 turtle doves (and ER books)--READ 2 of 2

1. The Little League That Could: A History of the American Football League by Ken Rappoport
2. Little Big World: Collecting Louis Marx and the American Fifties by Jeffrey Hammond

and...

a partridge in a pear tree (and a classic novel)--Read 1 of 1

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

And a partridge in a pear tree!

I've dropped by to star you. A great way to kick off the Festive Season!

There are 4 or 5 Pennyfoot Hotel cozies with a Christmas theme. I've read one and hope to read a few more. In fact, I started one of them this morning, during a lull in the holiday's events.

I've read one and have several more in my TBR pile. I have scheduled myself to read one of them for the 1010 challenge. I really enjoyed the other Pennyfoot Hotel book I read.

Last year, I read the second Pennyfoot hotel holiday one, thinking it was the first. Yesterday, I read the third one, thinking it was second. Now I've asked for the first one on ILL. No Clue at the Inn is first, I think.

Shrouds of Holly by Kate Kingsbury

I enjoyed this ultra-cozy holiday mystery in the Pennyfoot Hotel holiday series. Cecily's husband, Baxter, and Samuel head off, by carriage, to bring back holly for decorations fora Christmas party. The horses bring the carriage back, empty, except for the dead body of another man, with no sign of either Baxter or Samuel.

Nice seasonal atmosphere.

I read Slay Bells. I have No Clue at the Inn lined up for next month. I have Shrouds of Holly, Ringing in Murder, and Decked with Folly in my to be read pile.

From Altoids to Zima by Evan Morris

For my November TIOLI, I'd suggested a challenge: read a book with Z in the title. Well, I never got around to the long nonfiction book I'd been hoping to get to. Instead, I read this breezy little look at the origins of 125 brand names.

Not great writing but entertaining nonetheless.

Some, I already knew, such as Starbucks. Others were a surprise.

Starred your new thread! (My,you are ambitious with just a little over a month to do this!)

#10 Not to mention reading Jane Eyre with Mark and his group. It's long.

Might not finish that til 2011, which would be fine--it'd count towards my chunksters category then.

The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David L. Ulin

I had high hopes for this short little book, not much more than an essay, really, (albeit a chapterless essay), about the place reading has in the current age.

I was hoping it'd compare favorably to the recent Pat Conroy book, My Life in Reading. It's not bad but certainly not Conroy-like great. Though it has its flashes of brilliance, mostly, it just meanders. It's not what I'd hoped for so, in that sense, I was disappointed with it.

Although Ulin muses about various things, using overly long quotations from books, I might add, this book is more about how we read now than it is about books. He has a knack for stating the obvious. Nothing earthshattering. Mostly just bland.

His musings on blogs, the internet, anonymous electronic comments, e-books, and other reading-related topics were somewhat interesting but those moments were too few and far between.

Do I sound disjointed and of two minds about this book? I am. I'd recommend it, with some reservations. I'm glad I read it but I'm sorry I wasted my gift certificate dollars on it.

I'm still waiting for someone to LOL (or at least chuckle!) at my response in #2. Sheesh. You people are far too serious. ;o)

#13 I chuckled. I just didn't say so. :)

#13 Me, too, Terri! :)

Linda, the way you set this challenge up in your first message, it really did just ask for that (#2) response ;)

I'll have to fix it.

Don't you dare!!! *giggle*

Oh, gosh, you made it even better! LOL!

Too late...

Since whatever number of books for 12 in 12 is probably too much, I'll have to do the whole song in 2012

Hmmm ... now you've got me wondering how that song would work for setting 12 categories . . .

I'm at the library and can't figure out, right offhand, how many books that is. Less than 144 so maybe about 120. It seems a natural to me.

Aren't you the one doing a baseball theme next year?

Yes, I'm striking out into the baseball mode next year . . . at least, baseball-themed names for the categories. (Some of them are pushing the idea a little ...) :)

ETA to change singular to plural, as I'll have more than one category in my 11 in 11 challenge!

LOL! That's good! Except now my message #2 just looks stupid. Ah well, not the first time I've looked stupid here.

Terri, I'll have to go look for your basebally thread. Sounds like fun!

I agree - great idea for next year - I come up with a total of 78 books if you followed the song.

#24 Math was never my strong suit.

For me, 78 is too low but maybe I could modify it somehow.

For instance, 12+12+11+11 etc all the way down to 7+7 (which would give me 12 categories) adds up to 114, which is certainly doable.

Plenty of time to think about it next year.

Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier

This is a fun trio of Christmas-themed cozies. I loved the Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier stories. These are among my favorite cozy authors and the Meier one, in particular, was excellent, I thought. Not just in terms of the mystery but also tying in the "reason for the season."

I'd never read Laura Levine before but I believe she's got about 10 books in her series so far. Her story, about her California sleuth visiting her retired parents in Florida over the holidays, was ok. I liked it well enough to pick up the first one in her series, This Pen for Hire at a bargain price on my Kindle.

Linda: I am about halfway through the Hannah story in this book, and it looks like it will be a fun holiday read. I have never read Laura Levine either, and since you mentioned the bargain price for the Kindle, I checked the Nook offering as well. Yes, I downloaded it already lol!

I've been wanting to read Leslie Meier for a while, do I need to start with the first book?

#27 Not really. I think you can get by starting anywhere with Leslie Meier. The only difference is that the kids get older. Note that, as I learned from experience an early Leslie Meier Christmas mystery has undergone a name change. When I read it, I think it was Mail Order Murder but it was changed to something more Christmasy.

My only gripe with the Hannah story is that it seemed like the usual number of recipes so a big part of her "space" consisted of recipes.

>26 lindapanzo: & 27 I want to read it, too! But I haven't yet found it for much under $20, and that's too much for me. Last year the local B&N store had all their Christmas mysteries on sale for $5 about a week before Christmas, so I'll keep watching. Sometimes I think I'd save money with a Kindle or Nook -- and could read the new books before they're in paperback.

>28 lindapanzo: The one I just got is Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier. I think it's supposed to be the first one in the series, but I'm not sure.

>26 lindapanzo: I've read the first two in the book and hope to read the Meier book tonight and post my review.

The Little League That Could: A History of the American Football League by Ken Rappoport

At times in this history of the American Football League, the author has some interesting anecdotes. Far too often, however, the book just lumbers along.

I've read hundreds of sports histories/sports biographies and the best of them are well-organized and put the events of the particular sport into historical context in the rest of the world. This book did neither of those things.

Perhaps most annoying were the lengthy sidebars. Sidebars ought to be a half page or so and briefly address interesting little points. Some sidebars here go on for pages and totally wreck the flow.

The only good thing about it is that it was an ER book so I didn't waste my money on it. Unfortunately, however, I wasted my time on it. Very disappointing.

A Christmas Odyssey by Anne Perry

Mystery author Anne Perry is best known for her Monk series and her Pitt series but she also has a "Christmas series." This is the 8th book in the long-running series. Every year, I snap up the latest book in the series and read it before Christmas. I like this series quite a bit.

This was not one of the better installments in the series. The story itself, about a well-to-do man who, with several newfound friends, goes into the depths of the Victorian London underworld to find a friend's son, is only ok.

What's missing here, when compared to other books in the series, is the near total lack of Christmas. There's a mention here and there but this is a disappointment to me.

If you, like me, have read all the books in the Christmas series, you'll probably want to read this one. If not, this is not the one to start with.

Each year, we get several Christmas mysteries at the library. We often get the Anne Perry one, but I think we skipped it this time. Maybe it's just as well.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Of course, I already knew the story. Doesn't everyone?

At long last, I read (and greatly enjoyed) the Dickens Christmas classic. Re-reading this should become a Christmas tradition.

#34 Re-reading this should become a Christmas tradition

I've thought this for a long time but have never done anything about it. I think the last time I actually read the book - as opposed to watching a video adaptation - was 7th grade. Time for a re-read.

*hops over to library catalog*

Well, I found a copy and placed a hold on it. But what a nightmare! When I searched by title, I got all kinds of movies, and comics, and whatnot. I thought that refining my search by title + author would give me just what I wanted. But I still had to wade through more than one version of Barbie's Christmas Carol and similar "versions" to find the story in Mr Dickens' own words. I guess I need to go purchase a good copy so that I can have it whenever I want it.

#35 Sandy, I had the same problem trying to locate the correct copy of the book to add here on LT. When I said "Dickens Christmas Carol" I got tons of hits.

In our 8th grade production of A Christmas Carol, I was the Ghost of Christmas Past so I am amazingly familiar with the dialogue, even though it's 35 years later.

I ran into the same situation when I tried to add Frankenstein and MacBeth to my LT catalog. Too many different publications - and too many are "adapted" from the original, instead of BEING the original.

I was looking online for a copy of Christmas Carol, and decided that I will not order anything sight unseen. Borders had the book for a price, but then listed about a dozen formats - including audio and large print, but also different bindings and illustrations. I think one was even "suitable for beginning readers"! Since I rarely buy books, I want to be sure I've got an attractive hard bound edition with nice illustrations. And with all of Dickens' original sentences intact!

Mine specifically said "unabridged edition."

For the Kindle, I think it was either free or at a minimal price (49 cents or 99 cents, something like that).

I've never been to the Chicago production, by the Goodman Theater, and had hoped to go this year. I had a free afternoon during my upcoming downtown Chicago weekend but my friend and I are going to a Blackhawks game instead.

Can't complain though. Also going to see a stage production of White Christmas and attending the Chicago Symphony's annual Christmas show.

That sounds like a great weekend! Our local theater does an annual production of Christmas Carol that we attended for the first time 2 years ago and loved. However, that was the last year they were going to do that particular production and last year they did A Christmas Story instead. It was great! This year, they're back to Christmas Carol - a new production - but I'm not sure if we'll make it. They'll do it again next year, so we can catch it then if we miss it now.

I just had a thought - we're going to St Louis for the weekend in a couple of weeks. I ought to check to see if there is anything playing over there.

An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor

This charming, feel good novel about the Northern Ireland village of Ballybucklebo in 1964 is just the thing to read at the holidays.

As usual, both the older doctor, Dr O'Reilly, and his younger doctor associate, Dr Laverty, their lives, their loves, and the illnesses they treat present an enjoyable world to visit, one that really pulls in the reader.

This time, of course, with a lot of Christmas touches and a third doctor in town.

Terrific book, one I'd highly recommend. I tend to chomp at the bit during a slower-paced book but this series, I love.

>40 lindapanzo: I'm still not very far into it, but I'm enjoying it. The slow pace is perfect for this time of year, when I'm busy and distracted and want a book I can just relax with, and not have to keep track of characters or plot.

I've got 7 books to go to finish my mini-challenge.

This includes at least two holiday mystery short story collections Who Killed Father Christmas? by Patricia Moyes, a favorite mystery author, and Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop, which is a book I own.

The ER book I've been meaning to get to, well forever, is Little Big World.

Beyond that, the books off my shelf will involve whatever I feel like grabbing off my shelf. One definite is Christmas 1945. Not sure yet about the other three, however.

One most likely will be Silent Night (about the World War 1 Christmas truce) and one will probably be Lumby's Bounty.

Nothing is written in stone though.

Christmas 1945: The Story of the Greatest Celebration in American History by Matthew Litt

Between the annual viewing of It's a Wonderful Life tonight and the completion of this World War 2 Christmas history, I'm certainly in a Christmassy mood now.

This is an interesting look at wartime Christmases as well as the first postwar holiday. Beyond talking about what was going on here in the U.S., the author took a look at the military's desperate effort to get servicemen and women home in time for the holidays and what happened when that wasn't possible. (Many got back to the U.S. but not quite home.)

A look at the first postwar Christmas in Europe is also included, as well as an examination of America's generous spirit. Somewhat oddly, there's also a chapter on Christmas 1945 in American jails.

If you're really interested in reading about Christmas studies or World War 2, you would probably enjoy this book, too.

Still no working touchstones!!

Little Big World: Collecting Louis Marx and the American Fifties by Jeffrey Hammond

(Early Reviewers book)

This is the story of a middle-aged college professor who gets reacquainted with the Louis Marx toys/playsets of his childhood and starts to collect them again as an adult.

I did not have Louis Marx toys. In fact, the plastic toys I owned were not Louis Marx, after all. Thus, I was somewhat bored by the extensive discussion of Louis Marx. However, for me, this book really picked up when the author ruminated about collectors and their obsessions, why and how they collect.

If you collect and/or played with Louis Marx toys, you'd probably love this book. If, like me, you tend to accumulate (i.e., collect) stuff, you may enjoy it anyway. I'm neutral about it, overall. It had its moments but not enough of them.

David McCullough has a new Christmas book out now, In the Dark Streets Shineth. It's a light sort of book, which I didn't realize until I saw it at the store. More like a short story than a full sized book. Something about Roosevelt and Churchill and Christmas.

#45 I saw that. Checked it out of the library in fact but it's way too skimpy.

I think, but am not positive, that it's about the same topic as One Christmas in Washington, which I'm still hoping to get to this year.

I was really looking forward to it until I saw a copy! Now I still want to read it, but I'm sure not going to buy it or anything.

Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout

Finished this one on the train on the way to the city. Kept reading as we pulled into the station--it ws unputdownable.

This Nero Wolfe mystery reveals quite a bit about Wolfe's earlier life and the reader also meets his adopted daughter. Fencing and also international intrigue provide the backdrop for one of the best Nero Wolfe mysteries I've ever read.

Excellent!!

Hi, Linda. Just popping in to say hello. I hope you'll read an extra book for me, as I doubt I'll be able to finish my challenge this year on my own!

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

I set out to read 150 books again this year and read them I did.

This Hercule Poirot on a vacation mystery was entertaining, though I had a vague sense of having read it before (or maybe having seen a TV version perhaps). As usual, a solid mystery with a good plot from one of the masters.

Congratulations on reaching your goal of 150 for the year! You still have time left for a few extras.

Thanks, Sandy. Last year, I reached my all-time record of 155. That's possible but not likely. I'd like to get started on a chunkster presidential bio of Millard Fillmore next week, when I start my 4-day New Year's weekend.

For now, just reading an occasional story or two from my Christmas short story collection Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop and trying to decide which book off the shelf should be next.

Too many choices with no real plan. This is tough for me.

Congratulations on reaching 150! It looks like you're going to finish your mini-challenge as well! Very impressive!

Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop by Otto Penzler

I absolutely loved this collection of 17 Christmas-themed mystery short stories. I rarely read short stories but what made this one unique is that all somehow must relate to the Mysterious Bookshop, the New York City mystery bookstore owned by Otto Penzler. (Used to be on 56th, now on Warren.)

Some of the stories are by well-known authors, such as Mary Higgins Clark and Anne Perry, and some by lesser-known writers but there wasn't a dud in the bunch.

Very enjoyable!!

This finishes my Christmas fiction category, leaving me with just two books off of my shelves.

>54 lindapanzo: That one is on my wish list. I do hope that I get it before next Christmas!

Black Orchids by Rex Stout

Two novellas by Rex Stout. In the first, Nero Wolfe leaves the brownstone (for the first time I can ever recall) to attend a flower show. Besides an engrossing mystery, the reader also learns how Wolfe obtains the extremely rare black orchids.

In the second story, besides an ingenious murder method, we learn what Wolfe does with some of the black orchids.

A very satisfying read.

One left to go!!!

Ah, you're making me want to add a few Rex Stout to my 11-11 Challenge.

Off to check what will fit.......

Lisa, I think I've got one more Rex Stout book, handy, Too Many Cooks.

I was hoping to finish my final mini-holiday challenge book today but I got too wrapped up in the Bears game and then the Packers game. I should finish Berried to the Hilt, a cozy set at a Maine island inn, on Monday.

>58 lindapanzo: Oh - I need to add that Karen MacInerney book to my wish list! I've read the earlier ones, but I don't think that one had hit my radar screen until you mentioned it.

Berried to the Hilt by Karen MacInerney

I really enjoy this typical cozy mystery series featuring innkeeper, Natalie Barnes, who owns/runs an inn on Maine's Cranberry Island. There's always a lot of nautical information and this one, which features rival teams of divers, one from a for-profit group and one from the university, who aim to identify and excavate a sunken ship, does not disappoint.

This is the fourth in the Gray Whale Inn series. Love them.

#59 I like the characters in this series though it is pretty much a typical cozy series.

This most recent one came out in November.

Mission Accomplished!!!

Are you all done? Congratulations! And there are still 4 days left in the year - well done.

Thanks, Sandy.

I think I may just read whatever springs to mind. Maybe something that wouldn't fit anywhere.

I do want to get going on a chunkster but, at this point, still feeling like light and fluffy reading.

Congratulations, Linda!

Good for you! I've liked a lot of books you've read this year which may not be good for my wishlist. I need to look them over again before we move on to next year. See you over on 1111.

Whoops...... missed you crossing the finish line for the second time. Congrats!

Thanks!!

I am over in the 11 in 11 group, chomping at the bit to get going there.

Happy New Year and have a terrific reading year!!