December 2019 Holiday Selection - The Solstice Evergreen: History, Folklore, and Origins of the Christmas Tree

[La Tonya]

This is thread #2.

Enjoy Reading,
La Tonya 📚

[Leslie]

I know many of us enjoy a seasonal/holiday read as well, so I thought I'd post a thread for that. Of course, all religious backgrounds, etc. are welcome. It's your individual read (you select your own choice), and I do hope you will feel comfortable sharing it with us. Have fun with it! And Happy Holidays to each of you in advance!

Leslie

[Leslie]

Again, I am somewhat randomly selecting a book from my own To-Read shelf for our home page to represent the month's theme. You do not have to read this book, but are welcome to!

I chose The Solstice Evergreen: History, Folklore, and Origins of the Christmas Tree by Sheryl Ann Karas

[Deb]

Leslie wrote: "Again, I am somewhat randomly selecting a book from my own To-Read shelf for our home page to represent the month's theme. You do not have to read this book, but are welcome to!

I chose [book:The..." Hi Leslie -- this sounds like a great selection. I'm going to copy your example and read this one, too.

[Leslie]

Deb how fun! Last night I dug around my real life bookshelves and found a few more.

I still haven't read this author and have had this one for awhile too.
The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark.

[Leslie]

Something fun from the historical archives (for free!) :-)

https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/12/...

"Christmas Night, 1776: How Did They Cross?" BY William M Welsch

Here's the website where I found this: https://allthingsliberty.com/category...

[Leslie]

Another one I'm hoping to get to this December is A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.

[Agnieszka]

A Christmas Mystery by A.L. Jambor 2* 12/1
Swamp Santa by Jana Deleon 5* 12/2
Sara in Montana by Morris Fenris 2* 12/3
A Father's Prayer by Linda Wood Rondeau 5* 12/3
The Christmas Stalking by Lillian Duncan 4* 12/3
Unter dem Sternenhimmel by Elisabeth Büchle 4* 12/4 lit. transl: Under The Star Sky
Melody's Cookiest Christmas by Melody Kim & Edward D. 1* 12/4 (No more available on iTunes and I didn't like it enough to add it to GR but can do it if there's any interest)
Twas The Night Before Christmas: A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore 3* 12/8
Festive in Death by J.D. Robb 5* 12/16
Cindy and the Prince by Debbie Macomber 2* 12/21
Weihnachten im Readerschein: 24 Geschichten zum Fest by 24 authors lit. transl: Christmas in the Glow (or Light) of the eReader: 24 Stories for the Holidays 3* 12/24 (single story ratings: 2*, 4*, 5*, 4*, 6*, 0*, 3*, 3*, 6*, 2*, 2*, 1*, 4*, 3*, 3*, 5*, 5*, 3*, 4*, 5*, 3*, 5*, 2*, 2*)
Das Geschenk=The Christmas Train by David Baldacci 4* 12/26
A Sandy's Seashell Shop Christmas by Lisa Wingate 5* 12/31
Crashing Into Love - Where Personal Tragedies, Faith, & Love Collide by Yvonne Lehman 5* 12/31

(not on GR)

[Megan]

Sounds like fun ! Not sure what I’ll read yet.

[Raymond]

I have chosen A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories.

[Agnieszka]

Raymond wrote: "I have chosen A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories."

This one looks so great, unfortunatelly it's rather expensive, so I set if on my Amazon watch list and hope for a nice deal sometimes in the future. Thank you for the recommendation!

[Leslie]

Agnieszka wrote: "Since I had to change some of my books for a challenge I started an hour ago with my first Christmas book (actually an entire Christmas series). Unfortunatelly there's no English edition for any of..."

Wow! Good luck on your Christmas Challenge!!! :-) How fun. I love to read too. Normally I've read tons more but I'm going through something traumatic these days so haven't had the time and/or mental energy for much more!

I have a few more on my To-Read list as well. It's exciting once you get going.

[Leslie]

Raymond wrote: "I have chosen A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories."

How nice! This looks good. I saw this too, but am tight on time.

[Agnieszka]

Leslie wrote: "...I'm going through something traumatic these days so haven't had the time and/or mental energy for much more!"

I'll pray for you!

[Deb]

Leslie wrote: "Deb how fun! Last night I dug around my real life bookshelves and found a few more.

I still haven't read this author and have had this one for awhile too.
The Christmas Thief [bookc..."

I'm sending positive energy and prayers your way for your personal situation. I finished The Solstice Evergreen -- what a well-researched and interesting book. So glad you mentioned it.

[Leslie]

Deb, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :-) And thank you both for the prayers. They are always appreciated.

[Agnieszka]

I read today the first two short stories A Christmas Mystery by A.L. Jambor 2* 12/1 & the first one in the Advent Calender Weihnachten im Readerschein: 24 Geschichten zum Fest (by 24 authors) lit. transl: Christmas in the Glow (or Light) of the eReader: 24 Stories for the Holidays - but didn't like them very much. To balance it out I started Swamp Santa by Jana Deleon too - a series I usually enjoy very much.
I'm off again to have some fun with Fortune and Co :-)

[Agnieszka]

I finished today Swamp Santa by Jana Deleon and enjoyed it as much as I expected as well as the 2nd short story in Weihnachten im Readerschein: 24 Geschichten zum Fest by 24 authors lit. transl: Christmas in the Glow (or Light) of the eReader: 24 Stories for the Holidays which I enjoyed much more than the previous one. Even if it was rather flawed and the characters not very likely somehow I still liked the modern variation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol and rated it 4*

[Agnieszka]

Today I finished Sara in Montana by Morris Fenris 2* 12/3 - can't really recommend it, especially not if you're looking for a Christian Christams story.

And read the 3rd of the short stories in Weihnachten im Readerschein: 24 Geschichten zum Fest by 24 authors lit. transl: Christmas in the Glow (or Light) of the eReader: 24 Stories for the Holidays - an entertaining though very biting story about a man whose mind eloped out of his live and the following events on Christmas Eve
plus A Father's Prayer by Linda Wood Rondeau 5* 12/3 a delightfull Christams romance I plan to re-read time and again in the future.