A Reading Life (36) and All the Holiday Events!

*Christmas Spirit read-a-thon plans at end of post*

I'm going to do this Reading Life post a bit differently this time. Just going to mention what I'm reading/have been reading, some holiday/reading events and a few of the books I recently acquired. Let me just say that life has been going great, although I'm busier than I've ever been. I really can't believe that the holidays are here again, but it's my favorite time of year so I can't wait for all the goings on. How about you?

Currently reading:
Howard's End, E.M. Forster
The Tudor Vendetta, C.W. Gortner

Audio:
Bag of Bones, Stephen King (one of my faves from SK...third read for me!)

Family Reading Project (20 minutes daily, alternating titles):
We have kind of stalled with this. Trying to pin down a teen and preteen is difficult. We last left off abandoning Jurassic Park, as it was too much for them...too technical, a bit boring. We picked up Salem's Lot during Halloween season, but didn't get far. We're still reading Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave and I think we will continue with that and do some Christmas reading during the season.

TuesBookTalk - We are currently reading Howard's End by E.M. Forster. In December, our Christmas read is The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore.

Lit Collective - our theme for our March retreat is Venice. We are reading and will be discussing books about or set in Venice. Our non-fiction title is Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd and our fiction titles are The Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker and Stone Virgin by Barry Unsworth.

Events/Reading and Holiday:

The 5th Annual Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge started today. You still have time to sign up. You can get all the details at this POST. The Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon is also going on this week through Sunday. You can still sign up and join us HERE.

The 2014 Sharing the Joy event at The Christmas Spirit kicks of tomorrow on Rudolph Day. Get all the details at this POST. I invite any authors or bloggers out there who love Christmas to contribute a guest post, if you would like.  It can be anything Christmas-y...a story, poem, top ten lists, favorite things, share pics of your Christmas decor, etc., etc.  If you would like to contribute, please contact me via the form which can be accessed in the menu at the top of the right sidebar at The Christmas Spirit.

Recent Book Acquisitions:

From Better World Books -
3001 Things We Love About Christmas, The Zondervan Corporation
A Christmas Secret, Anne Perry
A Wish for Christmas, Thomas Kinkade
The Christmas Kitchen, Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan
Christmas Around the World, compiled by Maria Hubert

My Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon plans:

• finishing The Tudor Vendetta by C.W. Gortner
• finishing Howard's End by E.M. Forster
• A Home for Christmas by MK McClintock
• Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett
• Day of Fire by Various Authors

Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon: Reading Plans

I'm hosting this read-a-thon over at Seasons of Reading so if you haven't signed up, why not join us!? It runs today through Sunday and kicks off my annual Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge, which I'm hosting over at The Christmas Spirit blog.

I'm hoping to at least read Barbara Briggs Ward's The Snowman Maker and Richard Paul Evans' A Winter Dream and perhaps get to A Christmas Home and the Nutcracker book. We shall see. My sister and her daughter (plus my grand-niece and nephew) are coming into town on Tuesday to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with us (yay!) so I have a lot of preparation this weekend, including decorating for Christmas!

Christmas Reading Challenges!

Okay, so although I've already started reading my Christmas books, I'm just now officially signing up for my own reading challenge! Yeah, I'm pretty much late for everything.  It's the cross I bear. =O(

Here are the levels for The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge.  You can read all the rest of the details HERE.
            --Candy Cane:  read 1 book

            --Mistletoe:  read 2-4 books
            --Christmas Tree:  read 5 or 6 books (this is the fanatic level...LOL!)
          Additional levels:
            --Fa La La La Films:  watch a bunch or a few Christmas movies...it's up to you!
            --Visions of Sugar Plums:  read books with your children this season and share what you read
          *the additional levels are optional, you still must complete one of the main reading levels above

I'll be reading at the Christmas tree level and will be doing Fa la la la films and Visions of sugar plums levels too! Here are some of the books I'll be reading:


I actually already finished and reviewed The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts today.  Read my review HERE.

There will probably be other selections added to this list or swapped out.  Never know where the mood will take me!

I'm also overlapping with this challenge:


Christmas in July in Dec., hosted by Wall-to-Wall Books  Here are the details:

So here's the challenge -
*During the month of December to read only Christmas books (or as many as you can) there is no set number as to how many Christmas books you have to read. Read at least one and post about it.
*To do giveaways involving Christmas books (I have quite a few planned!) Please do at least one Christmas book giveaway for the challenge.

My first giveaway - is any Christmas book from Amazon under $10.00 - I will have it shipped to your house! You have till Nov. 30th to sign up.
Winner will be chosen and announced on Dec. 1st.
And Reading Challenge will begin Dec. 1st.
*This giveaway is for Bloggers only!
*Any Blogger who signs up to do "Christmas in July, in Dec.", and posts about it, will be entered!

Sign up HERE.

Since I'm already doing a giveaway for my challenge and I'm doing another Christmas event with another blogger with a giveaway, I have that covered! However, I will not be able to read only Christmas books, as I have a few review obligations.  But, as you can see above, I'm still planning on doing a lot of holiday reading. =O)

TTBA Weekly News and Mailbox Monday

This feature was inspired by It's Monday! What are you reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey and by The Sunday Salon.

Yes, I am in the midst of the frenzy that is NaNoWriMo and I'm behind (WAY behind) so you're probably wondering why I'm doing this post.  I'm a creature of habit...what can I say!

EVENTS/NEWS

You can still sign up for the Bag of Bones read-a-long I'm hosting over at Castle Macabre.  You can check out the details and sign-up HERE.

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge has been announced! You can find out the details and sign up over at The Christmas Spirit HERE.



Read 2 Review has officially opened their doors and they have some exciting features and events planned, including a twitter contest and a Grand Opening Competition.  Head over and join in the fun HERE!

NEW FEATURE

I have a new weekly feature, which I'm cross hosting between here and Castle Macabre.  It's Wednesdays on the Trail(er)...where I post a new or favorite book trailer on Wednesdays.  At Castle Macabre, these will be horror/speculative fiction trailers for books and movies.  I started last week so be watching for this week's trailers.  Hope you enjoy it!

WHAT I'M READING
Last week:
--finished A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (no review yet)
--yesterday, read and reviewed The Art of War by Angela Panayotopulos (REVIEW)
Currently reading:
--Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (still trying to catch up...should I give up?)
--What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen (TuesBookTalk)
--Under the Dome by Stephen King
--The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe (for review)
Next Week:
--Bag of Bones by Stephen King (for my read-a-long at Castle Macabre)
--Women of the Cousins' War by Philippa Gregory, etc. (Crazy Book Tours-Review on Monday)
--The Luminist by David Rocklin (review and author interview on Wednesday and Thursday)

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is currently on tour. This month, Marcia is hosting it herself on the Mailbox Monday dedicated blog HERE.(want to read a book description? Clicking the book covers will take you to the book's page on Amazon).


WON:
Weight of Stone: Book Two of The Vineart War by Laura Anne Gilman...from Crystal at My Reading Room
The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson...from BookTrib
The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls by Wendy Delsol...from Princess Bookie/Contest Craze

FOR REVIEW:
Jane Was Here by Sarah Kernochan...Crazy Book Tours-tour stop on Castle Macabre (December)
Lifting the Wheel of Karma by Paul H. Magid...tour with Tribute Books (January)

FROM DOUBLEDAY BOOK CLUB (INTRO PKG):
Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir  <3
Lost December by Richard Paul Evans
A Clash of Kings (Book 2-ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin
The Farm Chicks Christmas by Serena Thompson
Christmas in Williamsburg: 300 Years of Family Traditions by Karen Kostyal
Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts
2011 Christmas with Southern Living

PURCHASED FROM GOODWILL:
The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
The Remedy by Michelle Lovric
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Magi by Daniel L. Gilbert
The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage
Midwinter by Matthew Sturges

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT READING CHALLENGE & THANKFULLY READING WEEKEND

I'm hosting this reading challenge and I'm just now doing my sign up post! Bad on me! So here is my official sign up post for The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge hosted by me over at my Christmas blog, The Christmas Spirit (go HERE to sign up, if you haven't already).  I LOVE Christmas books so I'm aiming for the Christmas Tree level, which is 5 or 6 books.  I will be choosing my reads from this list (not going to lock myself in...will see where the mood takes me!):

• The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig (I was lucky enough to win this from the lovely ladies at Historical Tapestry and it came in the mail yesterday!)
• Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber
• The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin
• Christmas in Harmony by Philip Gulley
• The Christmas Scrapbook by Philip Gulley
• The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott
• The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne
• Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb
• Charles Dickens Christmas Books
• Christmas Stars (stories) edited by David G. Hartwell

The choices could change too...I have SO many Christmas books...the possibilities are endless!  =O)

This weekend I'm going to try to join in on the Thankfully Reading Weekend, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, Devourer of Books & Jenn's Bookshelves.  I'm going to work on finishing the three books I'm currently reading and try to catch up on some reviews here on the blog.  Books I'm currently trying to finish are:

• By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
• The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Who knows...I might even try to sneak one of my Christmas reads in this weekend!

If you would like to sign up for the reading weekend, go HERE.

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT READING CHALLENGE

It's that time of year again and once again this year I'm hosting my Christmas reading challenge! However, I'm renaming the challenge to The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge and I will be hosting it from my Christmas blog, The Christmas Spirit.  The challenge will run from Friday, November 26, 2010 (Black Friday) through Thursday, January 6, 2011 (Twelfth Night or Epiphany).  For furthr details and for sign up, head over to my Christmas blog HERE

Hope you will join me this year!