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December 16, 2005

As I wrote the headline to this newsletter, I was humming it like a song in my head. Much progress in our house on the holidaze front. My gifts are wrapped, except for the ones that are still on order. I have been wrapping gifts as soon as they arrive trying to keep from the Christmas Eve wrapping marathon where there's never any tape and I contemplate bandaids for closure.

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December 2005

Happy holidays, or as I am calling it, Happy Holidaze! Here comes school vacation and all kinds of holiday celebrations.

We're keeping our message here short and sweet. We have a VERY full lineup this month, with our Best of Titles, as well as a What to Give/What to Get Guide for any of you who still need to give or get.

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December 9, 2005

Life in our house is never dull, but the holidaze definitely ramps up the excitement. Like last weekend. We had a lovely tree decorated in our front foyer. It was done in golds and burgundies and just looked perfect. It was "done." Then I got a brainstorm while at the Charity Tree Event last Thursday night. I saw a fabulously decorated purple tree. Now anyone who knows me knows I love turquoise. So the wheels started turning on doing a turquoise and silver tree for NEXT year. Well, I have never been one to have patience so why wait for next year?

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Interview: Lisa Grunwald, author of Women's Letters: America From the Revolutionary War to the Present

Dec 7, 2005

Bookreporter.com's Carol Fitzgerald and Jennifer Krieger interviewed Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J.

What book published this year would you want to give multiple copies of --- and why?

December 2, 2005

December 2, 2005

Many people remember lines from books. I remember scenes that take place in places I know. One is in Stephen King's THE STAND where he writes about all the cars backed up in the Lincoln Tunnel with dead bodies in them. I drive into the city through the tunnel many days and that scene streams back into my consciousness as I drive through the white-tiled tube.

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Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah

December 2005

As Christmas approaches, Joy Candellaro, recently divorced and estranged from her sister, decides to escape the turbulence of her life and boards a plane bound for the rural Northwest. But when the aircraft crashes and Joy miraculously survives, she makes a bold and desperate decision that will greatly impact her future.

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Teacher Man: A Memoir by Frank McCourt

December 2005

In this final volume of his memoirs, following the heartbreaking ANGELA'S ASHES and 'TIS, Frank McCourt delightfully details his thirty years in the New York City school system, the many students whom he taught, and how this rewarding career shaped his second act as a writer. 

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Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis

December 2005

In his popular question-and-answer style, Kenneth C. Davis introduces and explains the great myths of the world, as well as the works of literature that have made them famous. He offers a starting point for further research and a lifelong love affair with the great mythic literatures of the world. 

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December 2005

If you are like me, you are caught up in the holidaze. My lists have lists, but somehow this year is calmer than others. I don't think I am more prepared. I do think I have made a pact with myself to just enjoy the season and not get myself frenzied. So far, with two weeks to go, it's working. Each night I am making time for personal reading, which is something I usually forego as the pace ramps up going into the holiday. It really makes a difference to just give myself those few minutes of escape!

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