Top Ten Authors I Want At My Thanksgiving Dinner

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.



For future Top Ten Tuesday topics through January, can be found right here!

This week we're celebrating Turkey Day, Bookish style. Here are my (Tahleen's) top ten authors I would want to be at my table on Thanksgiving.

1. Bill Bryson. Duh. Number one, always. If you all know anything about me, you know that I want this man to be a member of my family/my best friend. I'm sure we would spend Thanksgiving listening to hilarious stories of Thanksgivings past, and learn a lot about the history of the holiday too, told in an entertaining manner of course.

2. Maureen Johnson. Another fun house guest I'd love to host. Things would not be boring, and my life would be richer for it.

3. John Green. If the Nerdfighter videos and his books are anything to go by, John Green would make another fun guest. Plus, he's already friends with Maureen Johnson, so they would know someone! :)

4. Libba Bray. Another one I've met in real life, and another lovely person who is also funny and a good conversationalist. Also, friends with John Green and Maureen Johnson. The banter would be never-ending and awesome. BTW, Libba, I would tell you if you had something in your teeth. ;)

5. Madeleine L'Engle. If she were still alive, I'd be honored to host her in my home. She and her books have made a huge impact on my life.

6. Jane Austen. Since I'm including authors who've passed on, what the hell. I love her books and she seemed like she'd be a real kick to have around, if her biographies are telling the truth. (I'm sensing a theme here—I like fun people.)

7. Sherman Alexie. I love his books, especially The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and he seems like a really nice guy from what I've read of his personal writing and Twitter. (Have I mentioned how much I love Twitter? I love Twitter.)

8. Laurie Halse Anderson. I've actually met her before and can attest to her awesomeness first hand. She is a wonderful lady and I would love to have her at my table. Plus her books are pretty fantastic.

9. Veronica Roth. She is just so adorable.

10. Rebecca Rasmussen. Such a sweetheart. She always has the nicest things to say and would bring warmth to any gathering she attends.

It's too bad that my authors either are dead or have families of their own to spend Thanksgiving with. I hope you all have a lovely holiday with your family and friends! Enjoy the time around the table and with your loved ones.

Daisy's Favourite Places to Read World Wide

We had a Top Ten Tuesday once regarding your favourite places to read. I didn't participate back then, but I wanted to show you guys some beautiful places I've been and read at around the world.


First off is Jardines de la Ciudadela in Barcelona:

I can't even begin to describe the awesomeness that is Barcelona in general, but the day me and my boyfriend spend in this park was just perfection! It's so beautiful. There's a zoo in the park or right next to it, I can't remember correctly, but in the park they have little green and yellow parrots flying around and sitting in the trees and bushes everywhere. It was just so cute. We spend the whole day sitting in the shade of a tree and just reading. It's one of the best days I've ever had. I'd go back there in a heartbeat. You actually weren't allowed to walk on the grass, but people were sitting on it everywhere, so we figured we'd be okay.



Hyde Park, London:

Well, of course I had to show you this one! I'm a huge anglophile and kept squealing when my boyfriend agreed to make a trip to London. I want to go back there so bad! They have amazing bookstores.
And parks. Oh my gosh, the parks! They are everywhere. Big ones, little ones. Filled with these little guys -->
They are so cute and pretty tame, if you bring peanuts they'll just eat them right out of your hand. I loved it.



Marmaris, Turkey:

I went there with one of my best friends from high school and it was so HOT! It was about 40-45C and even in the shade it was almost too hot to read (note: almost). The water is so blue there and the skye is almost purple, it was really beautiful.




And then finally, a little closer to home: Goffert Park & Kronenburger Park, Nijmegen, The Netherlands:

We have two pretty parks in Nijmegen, where I live and go to the university. I love to be outdoors while I'm reading, it's just so relaxing.


So, this is me, how about you guys? Any beautiful spots to share? And please, please do leave links to pictures if you can! I love discovering new places :)

Regarding Jana and "The Perfect Christmas"

Title and author: The Perfect Christmas, by Debbie Macomber

Publishing info: Mira, 2009

How I got this book: Haha. Last November my mom had Swine Flu, so I became “Mom” to my family during the very end of the final semester of my senior year in college. I was so busy and stressed with turning in my senior project, writing papers, studying for finals, and working retail during the holiday season, that being a full-time mom as well almost pushed me over the edge.  My mom felt bad for me and bought me this book to cheer me up during the stressful time. Needless to say, I was too busy to get around to it!

Why I read this book: I really love a good sappy Christmas romance during the holidays. I always have to read at least one!

Stars: 3

I really do love this time of year, and I love taking in as much sweet stuff as possible, both by way of mouth (unfortunately) and by way of entertainment! I watch Christmas movies all month, make Christmas cookies and fudge, design Christmassy jewelry, and listen to the Carpenters wish their darlings a merry Christmas. Finally, I’m guilty of hunting down the cutest Christmas romances all year and saving them for after Thanksgiving. This kind of book follows the same formula that all other Christmas romances follow. The people are sweeter than candy canes, merrier than the elves, and jollier than Saint Nick himself. And of course… there’s the woman going through her quarter-life crisis, hoping for a boyfriend for Christmas, followed by a bun in the oven and a white-picket fence. I’m typically not a sappy person, but for some reason I enjoy this during the holidays! Here’s a synopsis for you that I snagged from Goodreads:

“What would make your Christmas perfect?

For Cassie Beaumont, it's meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance.
What's left? A professional matchmaker. He's Simon Dodson, and he's very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a children's party, and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all—and she's finally ready to meet her match.

But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!”

Haha. Doesn’t that synopsis just make you smile? I knew that, ultimately, the entire book would be pure, predictable, fluff. But it was extremely sweet, and I did really enjoy it! I got pretty tired of listening to Cassie complain for the first 30 or so pages, but it got so much better once she was done introducing us to her predicament and venting about it. I adored Simon’s character. He was the scrooge of the book, who did not believe in love even though his profession was to help others find it. He was hard, cold, and not very likable at first. I loved the banter he and Cassie shared back and forth. As Cassie goes through the process of completing her three tasks, she experiences some funny things and also some heartwarming things. You grow to like her, and her totally awesome brother (I’d date him!). It does have a very sweet ending, and everyone is overflowing with happiness and the spirit of Christmas. I could have used some more content, and a few twists, but I think that might be asking for too much.

It was a cute, fast, fluffy read but I love that at Christmastime! Now, it’s not a piece of  literary genius, nor does it have a very original plot. It’s very predictable, and I knew from the very beginning what was going to happen. If you’re looking for a challenge, or looking to be captivated, then this is probably not the book for you. If you’re looking for a quick dose of cute  (and clean) Christmas sappiness, then perhaps you’d take from this book the same thing I did!

Discussion: What makes your Christmas perfect? Do you have special traditions? If you celebrate a different holiday, what makes that one perfect?

As always, happy reading and happy holidays!

** P.S. – Thanks so much to my Secret Santa for the book, Confessions of a Shopaholic and the rainbow pens! I plan to begin that book shortly, and will be reviewing it on here! And those pens… I love them! Definitely the kind of pens I'll enjoy journaling with.  Thanks again, so very much! **

Tahleen reviews "A Season of Gifts" by Richard Peck

Title: A Season of Gifts
Author: Richard Peck
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2009
Where I got it: Found it at my library, hooray!

Rating: ★★★★½

Grandma Dowdel, who some readers will recognize from A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder, makes a comeback in this recent novel from acclaimed novelist Richard Peck. The large, tough, but very big-hearted Mrs. Dowdel is the next door neighbor of the Barnhart family, newly moved from Terre Haute, Indiana to the tiny town in Piatt County. Mr. Barnhart, a Methodist preacher, was assigned the small, broken-down church in the tiny town, and all of them have a rough start adjusting to the change of scenery. And though Mrs. Dowdel is not a church woman or one to neighbor, things sure turn around for the Barnharts throughout the second half of 1958, seemingly by circumstance. The narrative starts in the dog days of August, going through the fall season and the major holidays, and finally ending with Christmas.

Richard Peck has such a lovely way of crafting his stories. It never seems rushed or hurried, even when something exciting is happening. Life meanders along, despite all of the crazy schemes and scenarios that seem to crop up when Mrs. Dowdel is around. There are a few marked differences from the two companion novels, besides being set in the late 1950s instead of the Depression—there is a somewhat disturbing scene near the beginning where Bob is bullied pretty badly, to the point of physical abuse. However, this is a pivotal scene, as it gives Mrs. Dowdel a reason to notice him and provides a background for the rest of the story.

The way Peck concocts schemes is genius. Things happen and the reader isn't sure where they're going, but when they fall into place it's nothing short of brilliant. Mrs. Dowdel manages to do all the right things without seeming like she's doing them on purpose, which takes some obvious skill. What she accomplishes for the Barnharts, and how they react to them, is just wonderful. And to see how some of them get involved is not only unexpected, it never failed to make me smile.

All of the characters are believable and their own people, though 6-year-old Ruth Ann adorably starts to talk and act like her elderly neighbor, using phrases like "hoo-boy" and pushing up imaginary spectacles. Phyllis is your typical angsty teen, and Bob is eager to grow up but knows his responsibilities and limits, for the most part. An interesting difference between this book and its companions is we get to see a parental element—the previous volumes just had children reacting to their grandmother, while here we see adult insight as well as that of a child.

This makes great reading for an older audience as well as for children. There are so many references and scenes where younger readers might not get the full picture right away, but adults will understand what is going on while it's happening or right after it happens. Most things are clearly explained by the end of the chapter for those who missed the clues along the way, though there are a few comments that will go unnoticed and unrecognized by younger readers that adults and older children will probably catch—and the story works just as well even if you don't catch them.

One nitpicky thing I disliked was the epilogue. It was a little too obvious for my taste, and didn't quite go with the rest of the tone of the book. My favorite aspect of Peck's writing is his subtlety, and this lacked it completely. Of course, it ended being a Christmas story and with it came some schmaltz, which I normally like, but I felt like this didn't need any. It's a lovely story all its own, and though it's nice to find out what happened to the Barnharts after they left Piatt County, Peck laid it on a bit thick in the last few sentences.

I really liked this book, and anything with Grandma (or Mrs.) Dowdel is sure to be a good time. She has a mind for scheming and a good heart, always looking to do the right thing and to get a little bit of justice for those who can't get it themselves. It's a nice, short book to read right before Christmas, or any time of the year really.

Kimberly's Top Ten Holiday Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers. Don't worry if you don't have ten or if you have more than ten! Post what you can!


Next week the topic is-- Top Ten Characters I'd Like to Be Best Friends With

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Just when winter is starting to settle in and you can just feel the holidays right around the corner! I have a few books that I read around this time every year, I love holiday books. Here is a list, in no particular order, of my favorite holiday books.

1.How the Grinch Stole Christmas- Love this book! I love both movie versions as well.

2. The Christmas Sweater by Glen Beck- Ok, now I know what your first thought is going to be when you see who the author is. There is nothing political about this book whatsoever. So even if you don’t like Glen Beck, you’d probably like this book. It’s a very sweet, heartwarming story.

3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens- Probably my very favorite. I own a Christmas village that is based Charles Dickens’ works. I have some buildings that appear in A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist and a few other books. Every year when I put the village up, I have to take out Christmas Carol and read it again! And then watch the Alistair Sims version of the movie!

4. Harry Potter series- Yes, weird I know. For some reason I always have an urge to reread at least one of the books from the series this time of the year.

5. The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg- This became a favorite after seeing the movie years ago.

6. God Bless Your Way by Emily Freeman- A rather beautiful story of Christ’s birth. It’s told from the point of view of a man who follows Mary and Joseph into Bethlehem. Beautiful artwork too.

7. The Christmas Thief/Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark- I’m a fan of her anyway, but I really enjoy her Christmas books.

Ok, so I couldn’t think of any other holiday books! I thought I’d have more… but I couldn’t think of any others. So what are some of your favorites? All of mine are Christmas books, can you think of any that are about other holidays?