I’m excited about this month as I really want to make up for our last Christmas, which if you’ll recall was spent in the hospital. Fingers crossed that this will be a much more enjoyable holiday. The month did start with us feeling a bit under the weather as we got our COVID-19 boosters. It totally knocked me down for a day. Felt very achy, chills, and super tired but in a way I think it probably was good to hang out in bed and get some rest. Very glad we got those done.

I’ve been trying to get Casa Bookgirl in the Christmas spirit by putting up our mini tree (where are the hooks for the ornaments?!) and planning our Christmas menu. I’ll be honest I’m stuck at chocolate croissants and other baked goods. Haha. I still have some shopping to do but we’re keeping things simple here as again it will just be my husband, my mom and me. I really hope in 2023 we’ll be able to see our families.

On the reading front I do have several books in progress which I’ll tell you more about later but one book I wanted to mention is A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year, edited by Jane McMoreland Hunter. I haven’t quite kept up with a poem a day with this book so I’m a couple of weeks behind but I do plan to finish it by the end of the year. I’ve loved this book so much and if you enjoy poetry, or would like to get in to poetry a bit more, I think this would be well worth your time.

Have a wonderful week ahead and more book talk soon. In the meantime, I leave with you with this poem I read a couple of weeks ago that reminds us of the beauty around us.

Alone in the night
On a dark hill
With pines around me
Spicy and still,

And a heaven full of stars
Over my head
White and topaz
And misty red;

Myriads with beating
Hearts of fire
The aeons
Cannot vex or tire;

Up the dome of heaven
Like a great hill
I watch them marching
Stately and still.

And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty.

Stars by Sara Teasdale.

Is it me or did November fly by? We had a great week last week despite the cold, rainy weather. I relaxed, read and did a bit of shopping.

Reading wise, I finished four books and was really hoping it would be more but oh well. I read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion for Nonfiction November. Not my favorite read to be honest. I’m glad I read it but I didn’t feel the emotional connection I was expecting.

I also visited with Maisie Dobbs and finished The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear. This is the 16th book in the series and I liked this one a lot. The fear in the title is a running theme throughout the story and understandable as the characters have lived through WWI and now are deep in WWII.

I took a short detour to Painters Mill the fictional setting for Linda Castillo’s, Chief Kate Burkholder series and read Long Lost, a short story after book number four. Despite the quaint setting there is grittiness to this series. This short story was a bit more light as Kate and her partner, John Tomassetti are on a much needed vacation but of course they can’t resist falling into a mystery.

Finally, the last book I finished was The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves which is the first in the Vera Stanhope series. I’ve enjoyed some other Ann Cleeves novels a lot but this is my first time reading any of her Vera Stanhope books. I haven’t watched the television production either. While I don’t think I needed a 500 page mystery, I found it an engaging read and will definitely read more. And, Vera is such a character!

Sadly, I didn’t finish some of my reading projects I wanted to complete and only read one book for Nonfiction November. Oh well, it was still fun to plan and dream about which books to read. I did start one book for Novellas in November and hopefully will finish this week.

Looking forward to December I’m excited about bookish gifts (yes, I may buy myself some bookish gifts – haha), end of year reading review and of course planning for next year! I may be tired from all the craziness of this year but I’m also excited about December and a new year.

Tell me what you are excited about or looking forward to in December.