Friday Reads 12/30/16

It's that time again! Time for a wrap up of what I read this week. It was a wonderful quiet week and honestly I expected to read more than I did but I guess I try to read too many books at once and therefore don't accomplish as much as I think I am. In total I read 5 books. 2 of them were rereads and 2 of them were specifically Christmas themed.


A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup
     This is a middle grade book reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Mysterious Benedict Society: intelligent children on the run from villainous men. This book was alright, cute in a way, but for me it lacked the originality of other books in the genre. It was a quick and easy read but it's not a series I will continue on with.

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
     The first of my rereads this week, this is the third installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events and one of my personal favorites. Who doesn't love Aunt Josephine and her constant grammar correction? Only two weeks until the Netflix series is released!!!

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
     This is a charming picture book recounting Christmas through the eyes of a child. Even though this is a picture book I don't see it holding the attention of a child because it reads almost like poetry. As an adult however, I loved the sweet and simple reminiscences of a different time and place. 
     "Looking through my bedroom window, out into the moonlight and the unending smoke-colored snow, I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steadily falling night. I turned the gas down, I got into bed. I said some words to the close and holy darkness, and then I slept."

The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien
     I had heard of this book but had never gotten my hands on a copy until earlier this year when I discovered it at a garage sale. I happily purchased it for 25 cents and tucked it away until the appropriate time of year...and then I, of course, forgot about it. Luckily I saw it on my shelf just a couple days before Christmas so it all worked out in the end. 
     Every year Tolkien would write a letter to his children from Father Christmas relating the many adventures that happened to him during the preceding year: tales of battles with goblins, stories of the accident prone north polar bear who was always breaking things, and mischievous reindeer who sometimes managed to get loose. 
     These letters are just wonderful, so imaginative and fun. This is definitely a book I will pull out every Christmas and reread!!!

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery   
     The second of my rereads this week. I don't even know how many times I have read this trilogy. In my mind it is the perfect series to curl up with next to the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. Emily is our spunky young heroine who (like most of us) takes things a little too hard, loves a little too deeply, and grieves to the depths of her soul. The tragicomedy of her life is something that I think we all can relate to. (Just in case you were wondering, I am halfway through book 2 in the trilogy. I was hoping to finish that one today but I don't think that will happen.)



I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas! We'll see you in the New Year!!!