The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge Is Over

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Leah

Banner The Christmas Spirit Reading ChallengeBut that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy and share Christmas spirit all year long :)

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2011 was hosted by Michelle/The True Book Addict and ran from November 21st through January 6th.

Unfortunately, I’m still reading one of the books I picked up for this challenge; it’s proving a trickier read than I expected.

I did reach my goal for both the book and movie levels,  Mistletoe and also Fa La La La Films, respectively.

My Book List
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – Read but did not review. It’s seems odd to “review” a story that’s been around as long as this one.
A Vampire Christmas Carol by Sarah Gray – Still reading. [Edited 1/10/12: Read and reviewed.]
All Through the Night by Mary Higgins Clark – Read and reviewed.

My Movie List
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
A Christmas Carol (1951)
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
One Magic Christmas (1985)
Christmas Vacation (1989)
Elf (2003)

Thanks, Michelle, for such a fun challenge!

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All Through the Night by Mary Higgins Clark

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Leah

Book cover All Through the Night by Mary Higgins ClarkA sweet holiday tale that may prove too predictable and lighthearted for hardcore fans of the thriller-mystery genre or Higgins Clark’s previous novels.

Synopsis

All of Alvirah’s deductive powers and Willy’s world-class common sense are called upon as the two stumble into a Christmas mystery. A woman abandons her newborn at a Manhattan church. Simultaneously, a thief is absconding with a treasured artifact, a chalice adorned with a star-shaped diamond. To elude police, he grabs the stroller and disappears. Seven years later, the mother returns to the scene and finds Alvirah and Willy helping neighborhood kids prepare for a Christmas pageant at an after-school shelter. Soon the savvy sleuths set out to solve the puzzle of the missing child and chalice — and to unmask scam artists threatening to shut down the shelter. (Source)

What I Liked Most

All Through the Night had a solid beginning and ending; there were questions for which I wanted answers. I’ll admit I even teared up a bit at the end. There was a positive vibe that warmed my heart which, as a Christmas story, it was probably meant to do.

What I Liked Least

During my teens I read several of Higgins Clark’s novels that I borrowed from my mom’s bookshelf. Those Higgins Clark novels were suspenseful, often involving a murder mystery, and usually featured a strong female lead.

All Through the Night lacked suspense and a strong mystery. It was too sugary for my taste. The mystery wasn’t really a mystery. The coincidences seemed way too thin to believe. And the connections Alvirah made in the story would, in the real world, have to be the result of psychic abilities, or some serious obsessing. I had to consciously suspend disbelief whenever Alvirah “solved” something because it was all just so darn easy. Sure, there was mild conflict but I didn’t believe anyone was in real danger; the overall tone felt like everything would work out fine for everyone anyway.

Final Thoughts

All Through the Night is a good selection for anyone, any age, who wants a quick and easy read filled with Christmas spirit. Remember, don’t expect anything thought-provoking or suspenseful, just light reading that’ll leave you with a serious case of the warm ‘n fuzzies.

Visit Mary Higgins Clark’s website for more about her this and other books.

I picked this up to read for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2011.

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My 2011 Reading Challenge

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Leah

Icon 2011 Reading ChallengeI challenged myself to read 75 books in 2011.

This year’s to-read list included many classics by authors such as Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens, George Orwell, and Oscar Wilde; plus, the “must-reads” for horror writers that I hadn’t read yet, such as Richard Matheson and M.R. James. I also wanted to delve deeper into the works of Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. However, there was modern fiction I’d been dying to read by authors such as John Ajvide Lindqvist and Stieg Larsson.

Well it took most of the year before I realized I wasn’t reading as much as I wanted. Instead I was wasting time – and I detest wasting my time – doing pretty much nothing. I used to read every day for hours in my teens. So, in the last quarter of 2011, I read like I have always wanted to: daily. I didn’t meet the 2010 or the 2011 challenges, during which I read 32 books and 60 books, respectively, but I believe I will read 75 books in 2012.

Fiction: 38 | Non-Fiction: 22 | Total: 60

January 2011

  1. By Cunning & Craft by Peter Selgin [About]
  2. On Writing Horror (Revised Edition) edited by Mort Castle [About]
  3. The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft edited by S.T. Joshi [About]
  4. Small World by Tabitha King [About]
  5. In the Shadow of the Master edited by Michael Connelly [About]

February 2011

  1. On Writing by Stephen King [About]
  2. Poe’s Children – The New Horror: An Anthology edited by Peter Straub [About]
  3. Fear by L. Ron Hubbard [About]
  4. The Year of Disappearances by Susan Hubbard [About]
  5. Great Ghost Stories edited by John Grafton [About]
  6. Classic Ghost Stories edited by John Grafton [About]

March 2011

  1. Ghosts: True Encounters with the World Beyond by Hans Holzer [About]
  2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James [About | Free eBook]
  3. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan [About]
  4. Let the Right One In (aka Let Me In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist [About] ←Small heart icon: You MUST read this book!
  5. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan [About]
  6. The Ultimate Unauthorized Stephen King Trivia Challenge by Robert W. Bly [About]

April 2011

  1. Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation… by Stephen Thrower [About]
  2. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. [About]
  3. The 5 Things We Need to Be Happy by Patricia Lorenz [About]
  4. The Everything Body Language Book by Shelly Hagen [About]
  5. Let It All Bleed Out edited by Alfred Hitchcock [Front and Back Cover | Contents ]

May 2011

  1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey [About]
  2. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan [About]
  3. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore [About]
  4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman [About | My "Review"] ←Small heart icon: You MUST read this book!
  5. Bones: A Forensic Detective’s Casebook by Ubelaker and Scammell [About]

June 2011

  1. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan [About]
  2. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris [About] (paperback)
  3. Darkness Creeping by Neal Shusterman [About]
  4. Now You See It by Richard Matheson [About] (hardcover)
  5. Hunted Past Reason by Richard Matheson [About] (hardcover)

July 2011

  1. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan [About]
  2. Cracking Creativity by Michael Michalko [About]
  3. Container Gardening Through the Year by Malcolm Hillier [About]
  4. Container Gardening for Dummies by Bill Marken [About]
  5. Window Gardens by Stephen Roberts and Jane Forster [About]
  6. I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells [About | My "Review"]
  7. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro [About] ←Small heart icon: You MUST read this book!

August 2011

  1. The Radleys by Matt Haig [About]
  2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley [About | Free eBook]
  3. The Unauthorized X-Files Challenge by James Hatfield [About]

September 2011

  1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [About]
  2. Debt Free for Life by David Bach [About]
  3. The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes [About]
  4. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke [About] (I stopped at page 82.)

October 2011

  1. The Millionaire Messenger by Brendon Burchard [About]
  2. The Power of Focus by Les Hewitt [About]
  3. Getting Things Done by David Allen [About | My "Review"]
  4. Silent Children by Ramsey Campbell [About]
  5. The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston [About]

November 2011

  1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris [About]
  2. The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber [About]

December 2011

  1. Tell No One by Harlan Coben [About]
  2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy [About]
  3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens [About | Free eBook]
  4. Digging into WordPress by Chris Coyier and Jeff Star [About | My "Review"]
  5. The Long Dark Night by Joseph Hayes [Front and Back Cover | My "Review"]
  6. All Through The Night by Mary Higgins Clark [About | My "Review" (Coming Soon)]
  7. Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto [About]
  8. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway [About]

Did you read as much as you wanted in 2011?

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Inspirational Quote – Topic: Kindness and Giving

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Leah

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

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Inspirational Quote – Topic: Kindness and Giving

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Leah

The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.

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Inspirational Quote – Topic: Kindness and Giving

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Leah

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.

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Songs for a Broken Heart

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Leah

Photo Red heart painted in a stone surface by Juan David FerrandoMusic is powerful: it inspires, awakens, heals, soothes, and unites our souls. So here’s a list of songs for a broken heart – before, during or after a breakup:

(The links take you to a video on YouTube – I listen with my eyes closed.)

Check out this page for 12 songs about loving someone you can’t have or loving someone you shouldn’t.

If you enjoyed these lists please Share them using the buttons below – thank you!

Photo credit: Juan David Ferrando

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Digging into WordPress by Chris Coyier and Jeff Star

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Leah

Book cover Digging into WordPressDigging into WordPress by Chris Coyier and Jeff Star is my first “real” book on WordPress. Until now I’d learned what I needed with a mixture of the Codex, online how-to articles, critical thinking, and intuition. But after creating websites for five different clients this year, I figured it best to study up, dig in if you will.

So I researched and compiled a list of print books. (Because you know how I feel about eBooks.) And, to be honest, at $75 USD Digging into WordPress wasn’t my first choice. But then some unexpected money arrived, yay!

Anywho, the book’s format is near perfect: spiral-bound, color-coded, and listed in a logical “quick reference” style. I did notice, from about chapter seven on, there were typos and missing words (oopsy!) Nitpicking aside, I’m quite pleased and foresee using this as a reference book for a long time.
Continue reading →

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Inspirational Quote – Topic: Kindness and Giving

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Leah

The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

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Stop Procrastinating: It’s Not That Complicated

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Leah

Photo Jigsaw pieceI experienced a huge breakthrough in my quest to stop procrastinating. It happened after I listened to my thoughts – and truly heard those thoughts – about repairs on my “To Do” list. I realized I was complicating simple tasks. Here’s how it went down:

On Sunday, November 20th I woke up with the intention of getting some things done around the house, many of which I’d put off for months.

I read the item, “Replace duct cap in yard’s northwest corner.” Then I heard, “Man, that will take forever and I want to play Just Dance 2 with my kid instead.”

I read the item, “Install hook and eye type ‘lock’ on pantry door.” Then I heard, “Man, that will take forever and I want to read instead.”

I read the item, “Prepare spring bulbs for winter storage.” And then, you guessed it, I heard the same over-exaggerated time to completion and what I’d rather be doing.

That’s when it hit me: I was putting off all these less-than-15 minute tasks because I perceived doing them right then and there would take up so much time I wouldn’t be able to do anything “fun” that day. When in reality not one of those repairs / maintenance would take me longer than 15 minutes (each) to complete.
Continue reading →

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