Christmas on the Tails of Halloween

Silly me. Happy me. I posted a goofy picture of myself on Kailani's Halloween costume contest, and thanks to you for indulging me in votes, won a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

Jennifer encouraged me to spend it on myself and you know what? I did just that. It was burning a hole in my pocket and I haven't bought any books in - oh goodness - at least 3 weeks! (It's a problem, people - I know!)

First up: Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life Ooh baby, nothing but nothing beats the lady on writing! This is just a simple collection of some of her profound thoughts on writing, intelligently organized and bound into a beautiful little volume. My new goal (one of them - I'm always making new ones!) Collect every single work by Madeleine L'Engle, as old a version as possible. It was here when I got home from work tonight - yippee. It's almost like a little daily calendar for writers (and readers).

Next: Glimpses of Grace: Daily Thoughts and Reflections Oops, what have we here? Yes, another MLE special - this being a devotional of sorts featuring some of her thoughts on the spiritual life. I'll confess, when I first read some of her works a few summers ago and then began to do some research on her life, I was a bit taken aback by her approach to God. Definitely not your traditional out-of-the-box testimony. But as I began to read more, I was blessed by how she humbly acknowledged what she did not know about God and that humility drew me to her writing even more. It's when we stand in awe of God that we can begin to truly know him. Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this little book.

Lastly: A Carol for Christmas I rarely buy fiction. I read it way too fast to justify the expense, although I do respect that's how authors make their living, so I purchase a lot of it for gifts, which I read first (hey, you gotta taste the sauce to make sure it's good enough, right?) Hehe. AND I have a hard and fast rule about indulging in anything Christmasy until Friday following Thanksgiving. No Christmas music. No Christmas movies. No Christmas decorations. And definitely no Christmas books! But I made an exception this year and bought Robin Lee Hatcher's A Carol for Christmas. After an exceptionally long week at work, it was a treat to come home tonight and find this one waiting for me. I won't tell you how long it took me to finish it but I got home from work at 9:00 and it's 12:30 am and I did manage to make pizza and do dishes in that bit of time also.

A Carol for Christmas is the sweet story of a couple of newlyweds, Jonathon and Carol Burke, as they struggle through a difficult first year of marriage. Carol's musical talent and Jonathon's determination to prove himself to his father threaten to drive the young couple apart. It's a beautiful reminder of how God uses the desires of our heart to draw us to him, not to mention a quick read and a great gift. (Christmas shopping prior to Thanksgiving is highly encouraged, so long as I can stay out of stores!)

I guess it's time to start thinking of next year's Halloween costume!