These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things

Like a lot of you may be, if I were asked what is your favorite book? Or what book would you take with you to a deserted island? I would say Scriptures, or the Bible etc. But what if you could take more than one?

What is your favorite book?

I would say the non-scriptural book that has influenced me the most, and that I could read, over and over, is:
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

If I were stranded on a desert island I would want it, or Swiss Family Robinson( by Johann David Wyss), or Robinson Crusoe(By Daniel Defoe) because I love those stories as well, and I could probably learn something from them in that situation. And as you know, Jane Eyre now makes the list. I like lots of books, but these are the ones I love.

I know there are seemingly numberless amounts to choose from, but what is your favorite book? And if that's really too hard a question, What was your favorite book of 2008?

The Tie Has Been Decided

I wrote the two books on pieces of paper and had one of my kids draw it out of a hat. The winner was... Moby Dick.
Sorry for the delay. (For those of you who don't know, my oldest put his hand in a snow blower and severely broke his finger. He goes in for surgery to reconstruct it on Wed. So please forgive my randomness lately. I'll be back to normal in a week or two. On the plus side I should be able to get lots of reading done in the waiting room.)

Thanks to everyone who voted and Happy Reading!

God Bless Us Everyone

(I have a busy week next week, so I'm posting this just a couple of days early, but discussions will be open until the 10th as usual.)
So what did you think of A Christmas Carol?

I must admit that this short of a book was perfect for my Decemeber. The plan of reading it to my kids however, turned into reading them the Childrens', Great Illustrated Classic, edition. It was too much for the little ones. They all loved it, however, and I enjoyed watching them laugh at the changes Scrooge went thru in the end.

If I'm being perfectly honest, I find Dickens to be a little overly descriptive. When it speaks of the Ghost of Christmas Present surrounded by food, I could have just been told that there was turkey and drinks and lots of fruit. I don't need to know how golden the skin was and the exact discription of how it smelled. I found myself more skimming over those parts than reading them.

I was actually surprised at how little Tiny Tim was mentioned. He was definitely a part of the story, but it seems to me like the movies always put more emphasis on him.

I loved the book though. It was a perfect addition to my Christmas reads. I love the change in Scrooge, the Spirit of Christmas, and the message that it's never too late to change.

I hope that all of you had a WONDERFUL holiday season!!! Please leave your thoughts on A Christmas Carol and take time to vote for February's book on the side bar. I hope you enjoy The Scarlet Letter this month.

The Sounds of Christmas

Every Christmas Eve, my family reads the Nativity story out of the Bible. But I also love to read lots of other Christmas related stories through out the month. (Plus we always watch a few favorite movies, that it just wouldn't be Christmas without.)

So for this months "in between" question I thought I'd ask, What other Christmas stories are you reading this month? What Christmas story is your favorite?

I think mine is definitely the poem The Night Before Christmas
It's just a classic, it's a must read, to the kids, every year. Although, I'm very excited to introduce a few new ones this year, since my children are getting old enough, like A Christmas Carol. I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to my two oldest for the first time this year, and they loved it. I've never heard them laugh so hard. The only problem was my 11 year old boy thought I'd lost my mind when I started crying in the last chapter.

So,how about you?

To Fill You In

Thank you to all who voted for January's book.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, won the vote and will be the book selection for Jan.

I hope you have all had a chance to get started on A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. The discussion will be here on Jan. 5th, and I will be on time, this time.

Also, I just remembered that when the book club started, Mrs. Brooke had a monthly give-away.
Due to our family budget, the fact that this is a monthly deal and my proximity to book stores, I will be giving a $5 Barnes and Noble gift card to the winner. (I am looking into email-able certificates from different locations, but for now, I will have to snail mail the real deal.)

I forgot to do it last month. So I decided to do both last months and this months at the same time. For the Nov discussion on Oct.'s Book Pride and Prejudice I had my children pick a number. They chose 2. The second commenter that month was Sharon from KY.

For this months discussion on Nov.'s book, Jane Eyre I played eeny-meeny- minney, mo between the two who commented and again the winner is Sharon from KY.

So congratulations Sharon! If you will email me (shimmywith4[at]yahoo[dot]com) with your address, I will send you a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card. ($5 for each month)

This month's in between question will be up on Dec. 15th. Until then, "Happy Reading!"