Top Ten Tuesday | My Christmas Reading List

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Today’s theme is a Holiday/Seasonal Freebie, so I went with my Christmas reading list for the month of December. Cover links will update as I post my reviews.

Make it Monday | Santa Lucia

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Whenever I say, ‘Santa Lucia,’ I can’t help picturing – and, frankly, hearing – Don Knots attempting to sing the traditional Italian song as Barney Fife in The Andy Griffith Show. So many other, better singers have recorded it, but for some reason, Knots’ is the version that sticks in my head.

However, that was not my first interaction with the celebration known as the Feast Day of St. Lucy. I first learned about the primarily Swedish holiday from Kristen’s Surprise, one of the books in Kristen’s American Girl series. Being part Swede and part Italian myself, Santa Lucia Day has become a holiday that fascinates me.

Make it Monday | Thanksgiving

America, Culture, Family, General, Holidays, Make it Monday, Personal Thoughts, Seasons

I love Thanksgiving. One of my favorite parts about the holiday is hosting the big feast. There’s nothing better to me than a table full of food and surrounded by family (or those adopted as family for the day).

Despite my love of the holiday, I know Thanksgiving has a lot of pressure. It may be one day out of the year, but on it, we pack a momentous dinner, a myriad of family dynamics, and the start of the Christmas season. Perhaps that is why there is so much fuss to push Christmas off until we’ve given Thanksgiving its due. And yet, have we actually remembered what Thanksgiving is all about?

Make it Monday | Making Cranberries

Make it Monday, Recipes, Writing Spot

With Halloween in the rear-view, our attention is turning toward the upcoming holiday season. In the United States, Thanksgiving is the next major holiday, though Christmas preparations like to make an early appearance. However, whether your focus is on Thanksgiving or Christmas first, there’s a little berry that often shows up on tables over the next two months. The Cranberry.

Reading Wednesday | An Easter Prayer

Bible, BookLook, Books Review, Children's Fiction, Holidays, Seasons, Writing Spot

Spring is all about new life. What better way to show that to little readers than an adorable touch-and-feel board book? An Easter Prayer, by Amy Parker and illustrated by Alison Edgson, wonderfully captures this spirit.

Reading Wednesday: Bridgewater Holidays

Books Review, Short Stories, Writing Spot

Bridgewater Holidays, by Marion Marchetto, is a heartwarming collection of short stories revolving around the various national holidays in the United States. With a dash of historical narrative, the stories bring to life characters living in and working for the Bridgewater mansion.

A Writer’s Advent – Peace

Culture, God's Character, Holidays, Personal Thoughts, Thoughts on Writing, Writing Spot

It’s that most wonderful time of the year. But even with lights, family, presents, holiday movies, and great food, one emotion often eludes us: Peace. We can have everything on our wish list, but that settled calm seems to slip through our fingers.

The Writer’s Advent – Joy

Culture, Family, Holidays, Personal Thoughts, Thoughts on Writing, Writing Spot

Joy, an emotion that lights up the eyes of a child when they open a gift to find their dreams come true. It fills the soul like a warm cup of soup on a winter’s night. It switches out wrinkles for smile lines on the eldest person’s face. No time is joy more easily come by, nor taken away, as at Christmas.

The Writer’s Advent: Love

Bible, Culture, Holidays, Personal Thoughts, Storytelling, Thoughts on Writing, Writing Spot

Love. What better topic to cover during this Christmas Season? As writers, we cover the topic of love from many different angles. It’s a desire that drives a character to good or evil. The reason behind a character’s action. Of course, there’s romantic love. So what makes Christmas Love even more special?

A Writer’s Advent: Hope

God's Character, Holidays, Personal Thoughts, Thoughts on Writing, Writing Spot

I love the Christmas season. It is a time when a child’s wonder is most allowed in adults. Lights sparkle on every street corner. Cheer is in the air. Snow is even more welcome. It is at this time of year, amid all the trials and tribulations of adulthood, that we can take a few weeks to remember the innocence and joy of childhood.