Tuesday, November 29, 2016

A Literary Christmas 2016


In the Bookcase is hosting A Literary Christmas reading challenge, and since I have a couple of Christmasy books I'm hoping to read in December, I thought it would be fun to join.  I'm planning/hoping to read Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, but we'll see if anything else turns up.  If you're interested in joining the challenge too, click the link above!  Oh, and there's a giveaway, too...

19 comments:

  1. Hi! Thanks so much for joining the Christmas link-up!

    I simply love "A Christmas Carol". I'm going to have to re-read that one at some point. This year I'm reading some other books that are based on the idea of "A Christmas Carol", so between these, I'm getting a full refresher course on the original story.

    Anyways, I'll be excited to hear more on your thoughts about the holiday books you're reading as we make it through the season. :)

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    1. Thanks for hosting, Tarissa!

      I haven't read A Christmas Carol in probably 20 years, so that one will be an adventure!

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  2. Oh! Only this morning I was thinking I had a couple of books I wanted to read for Christmas that I had forgotten about. It would be nice to join a challenge...should look into it.

    I look forward to your reviews on the Tolkien. I've never read it. I've read the Dickens only once... touches the heart. Happy Christmas Reading!!!:)

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    1. Risa, I hadn't even heard of this Tolkien book until a couple months ago. It looks so fun!

      Happy Christmas reading to you as well :-)

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    2. I think I heard about it around the time I read The Hobbit novel all that long while ago. I don't know why I never bothered to look it up though. I figured it might be very child-like considering the title and the fact that he wrote it for his son (I'm not sure why I even thought that when I loved The Hobbit!).

      I also don't think I have seen it available on amazon india or in any bookstore! I look forward to your thoughts on it.:D

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    3. I've only flipped through it a little bit, but they're the cutest little letters, one a year, from Father Christmas to his kids, often with notes from his head polar bear, I guess? They reproduce a lot of the letters, which are gorgeous, and then there's other text too, but I'm not sure what.

      Do you live in India???

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    4. Sounds pretty!

      And yep, I do. :D

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    5. I suppose I should add that I'm an Indian.:)

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  3. I need more Christmas book inspiration! I just want to see what everybody else reads since I have so few on my list.

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    1. Livia, if you're interested, Carissa has a whole list of Christmas books she's reviewed right here on her blog. Might be a fun place to draw inspiration.

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  4. I'm thinking I might join in this, just because I already have a pile of Christmas reads stacked up for December (figuratively, as three are on my Kindle and two waiting at the library)!

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    1. Elisabeth, that's cool! I really only have those two... but I have a bunch of Christmas movies I'm itching to watch :-)

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  5. Oh fun! I'm thinking about rereading A Christmas Carol. We will see what happens.

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    1. Movie Critic, do you have any favorite movie versions of ACC? I'm partial to the one from the late '90s starring Patrick Stewart, and also the Muppet version :-)

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  6. Sounds like fun. I've read various shortened versions of A Christmas Carol over the years, but I'm not certain if I've ever read the whole real thing. I will certainly be curious what you think of it; I wonder if you'll find Scrooge or the ghosts at all likable enough to enjoy the story. And Tolkien actually wrote something as innocently beautiful as cute letters from Father Christmas to his KIDS? Suffice it to say, I shall be very curious about anything you have to say about these books. Are you planning to post reviews of them?
    --Marcy

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    1. Marcy, I've read A Christmas Carol before, but not for many, many years. I have a great fondness for the story and characters, actually.

      I post reviews of just about every book I read, and I will definitely be reviewing these two, especially since I'm participating in this event!

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    2. Okay, so my mom just read aloud a (really) short version of A Christmas Carol this afternoon for old time's sake, and we decided that this Christmas we will finally read the whole thing! Now I'm going to really look forward to your review.

      And I hope I didn't sound like you couldn't like the characters or as if I was being sarcastic about the possibility of you liking them or anything. I have a habit of second-guessing myself, and re-reading some of my comments a day or two after publishing them I sometimes wonder if I sound too sarcastic or harsh or contradictory or whatever. I wish I could get my tone into what I'm writing and then I wouldn't worry! Anyway, I just wanted to say that however it sounds written down, anything I write to you is always in friendliness, and even if I happen to disagree I'm never trying to take you down. Probably you knew this, but I'll just feel better for having said it.
      --Marcy

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    3. I figured you were just thinking, "Hmm, Hamlette says whether or not she likes characters is make-or-break for her, and Scrooge isn't likable, so is she going to like that story?" Because you'd be right -- it's a bit odd that I like the story when he's such a jerk through most of it. We'll see how I feel after this read-through!

      And I appreciate your thoughtfulness in coming back and explaining yourself more thoroughly. I have the same problem myself sometimes, of saying something that I think is funny or in jest, and then people take it seriously -- that's the trouble with written communication. Nuance is tricky!

      I've started Letters from Father Christmas and it is So Very Cute!!!

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