Now as the holiday season draws to a close, I'm both happy and exhausted. Today should be about packing away decorations, cleaning, and organizing... but I think reading, napping, and watching football will likely be the order of the day.
Holiday reading//
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
This was a perfect holiday read... comforting, heart-warming, and entirely predicable. I'm so glad I saved it for Christmas week. An endearing mix of characters find themselves together for Christmas in a country home in Scotland. Naturally there is a snowstorm, a family crisis of sorts, unexpected romance, and a happy ending. Though it doesn't quite reach the level of The Shell Seekers, this was still a delight. I've already decided to read another Rosamunde Pilcher novel next Christmas. Any suggestions?
(read/listen combination, audio edition narrated by Jilly Bond)
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
I've decided to begin 2023 with a book from my shelves. Purchased last summer with a birthday gift card, I'm only a few pages into this 2020 Booker Prize winner and plan to spend more time with it this afternoon. Have you read this one?
Our Christmas puzzle//
I'm a fan of the New York Puzzle Company, especially their New Yorker covers. Our fall 1000 piece puzzle turned out to be unbelievably hard, so we opted for an "easier" 750 piece puzzle to work over Christmas. "Skating in the Park" was much more manageable, but the white lettering in the tree branches was definitely a challenge. Overall, a lot of fun!
Coming up on the blog//
I'm working on two posts for the upcoming week. My list of 2022 favorites will come first. Next weekend I'll post a 2022 wrap-up with 2023 resolutions.
The week ahead//
We'll be back in central New York visiting my parents this week. A couple of appointments are on the schedule and we'll see other family and friends while we're there, too.
My knee is slowly improving, but daily walks have not resumed. I miss both the exercise and time with audiobooks!
How was your holiday week? What have you selected for your first book of 2023?
The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.
I am a big fan of Pilcher and my all tiime favorites are Shell Seekers and Coming Home. There is a book called September which follows Noel, the son in Shell Seekers where he is a nicer character. I own Coming Home in hardcover and Kindle version.
ReplyDeleteLove that puzzle. And wow, what a busy holiday you had with visiting and activities! You deserve rest, the heck with putting decorations away :-)
Tina - I'm pretty sure I read September years ago, but remember nothing about it. Maybe I'll try that. Coming Home looks really good, too!
DeleteHappy New Year! I like your New Yorker puzzle; we do Liberty Puzzles at Christmas and I've just ordered myself a new one to do in the new year.
ReplyDeleteHelen - The Liberty Puzzles are gorgeous! I'll have to try one.
DeleteThat puzzle!!!! I went to their website and see that you have to grab a puzzle you want when you first see it because they sell out. Good to know!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to spend Christmas with your daughters and partners and Winnie!
Happy New Year!
Jinjer - Yes, a lot of the NY Puzzle Company puzzles sell out. I found out the hard way. Now if I see one I want, I don't wait very long to order it. Their newsletter said our Christmas puzzle was their second most popular puzzle this year.
DeleteUkrainian Christmas is January 7th, so you can leave the undecorating for another week! Wishing you a very very happy (and less eventful New Year -- except for happy things, of course.
ReplyDeleteAudrey - Excellent! I will wait until after Ukrainian Christmas to deal with decorations and just relax today. Hope you have a very happy and healthy 2023!
DeleteI read Winter Solstice last year and enjoyed it. It is so wonderful to spend time with family, but it is also wonderful when everyone goes home and things get back to normal. That New Yorker puzzle looks difficult. It is always interesting how difficult 1000 piece puzzles are. Hope you are able to get back to walking soon! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteGretchen - You've got that right about family time... it's so wonderful, but I love my normal routine! I usually stick to 500-piece puzzles, but we decided to up the game this fall. I'll be back to smaller puzzles when I do one alone, lol!
DeleteI'm glad to see how much you enjoyed Winter Solstice. I gave away my copy of Shuggie Bain, unread, but I think I can borrow it back if you give it a thumbs-up.
ReplyDeleteAnd to celebrate the new year…
Here’s a bit from a lovely old (1850!) poem:
“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true…
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws…
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.”
And a toast: Here’s to a year of wonderful reads and small joys!
Deb - I'll let you know about Shuggie Bain... still to early to tell. Plus I started an essay collection this afternoon, too. Happy 2023!
DeleteHave a wonderful year in 2023. I hope your knee recovers completely and you can do whatever you choose to do! And lots of good visits with your daughters.
ReplyDeletebest… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks, Mae. The problem with the knee appears to be tendon-related and just takes time... but I get impatient! Happy New Year!
DeleteIt sounds like you had a lovely but busy time with your family visiting. I hope you made some wonderful memories! Happy New Year JoAnn!
ReplyDeleteWe sure did, Jodie. Happy New to you, too!
DeleteHappy New Year! Winter Solstice sounds like the perfect read. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYvonne - I don't think you can ever go wrong with Rosamunde Pilcher. Happy New Year!
DeleteFamily visits are wonderful and reconnecting is so important. BUT, the quiet when everyone leaves is also wonderful :) I had grand plans to have all my decorations down by today.....not happening I think. I just putter at it for a while, fill a couple bins then take a nice long break. I figure no one is going to see the house for a while, and hubby isn't helping, so - I don't care how long it takes me. And today is Sunday, my day for blog hopping......I have that Pilcher book on my TBR so I'll earmark it for next Dec - that's a good tip. Hope 2023 brings you lots of reading time and lots of good books! Thanks for the visit.
ReplyDeleteTerrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
Terrie - I sure am appreciating that after-visit quiet today! And I've decided to let the decorations stay put just a little longer and take it easy today. Pilcher is really a perfect comfort read for me and I'm going to read her again next December. Hope you can enjoy Winter Solstice then, too! Happy 2023!
DeleteHave you read September? It's kind of the sequel to The Shell Seekers and is a good story. I'm glad you enjoyed Winter Solstice. I read it years ago and have been meaning to reread it for some time. Happy New Year and have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - I have a feeling I read September years ago, but don't remember a thing about it. Will give it a try, especially if it features characters from The Shell Seekers!
DeleteJoAnn, so nice to see a post from you and hear about your great holiday time with your family. Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to a better year of reading in many ways - like actually reading a book - ha! I've read three since December 20th and hope to have turned a corner. And I'm back to walking, which I had not been doing - bad when I don't do it - bad for my mental health. Hope you knee improves. Oh, and Pilcher's COMING HOME is very good - long, but good.
ReplyDeleteKay - It sure sounds like you've turned the corner. Three books since the 20th - wow! So glad you're walking again, too. It does wonders for my mental health too, but this darn knee! It is getting better, but patience isn't my strong suit, lol! Coming Home sounds wonderful! Tina mentioned it, too, so I'll be sure to check it out. Wishing you all the best for 2023.
DeleteSounds like a great holiday week. Love the puzzle. Happy New Year!!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Cindy! Thanks for visiting.
DeleteHappy New Year, JoAnn! I've heard so many great things about Winter Solstice. Glad you enjoyed it too. Hope you have a wonderful time visiting family this week!
ReplyDeleteDiana - You have to be in the right mood, but Winter Solstice is just delightful! Hope to read another of her books this year. Happy 2023!
DeleteHappy New Year! I do love Pilcher's books, and recall reading that one a couple of times. Maybe I need to dive in again.
ReplyDeleteYour First Book of the Year looks good...mine is a book by Therese Anne Fowler, A Good Neighborhood.
Enjoy your week! Here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
Laurel-Rain Snow - Pilcher is such a comfort read for me and I'm already looking forward to another one next holiday season. Hope you enjoy A Good Neighbor. Happy 2023!
DeleteSounds like you had a great holiday. Your puzzle looks like it was tough. Your books sound good too. Come see my week here. Happy reading and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteKathy - The puzzle was a little more challenging than we'd bargained for, but still a lot of fun. Happy reading this week and all of 2023!
DeleteI had great plans to put away Christmas decorations yesterday, but here I am--sitting here and looking at the decorated tree! Sigh! Maybe today I'll get to it! - Melinda @ A Web of Stories
ReplyDeleteMelinda - Our tree is still up, too, but I sure had a relaxing Sunday. Maybe next weekend. Happy New Year!
DeleteSounds like great fun for the holidays. I might need a picture of Winnie the new grand pup, yay! I too would like to read Shuggie Bain this year. I hear it's dark but also great writing. The puzzle looks nice! Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteSusan - Winne is an almost 5-month-old brindle Whippet, full of energy, growing quickly, but still very cuddly. I'll share a photo soon. The writing in Shuggie Bain is gorgeous, but the subject matter is not especially cheerful. Very good so far.
DeleteHappy New Year! I like the look of that New Yorker puzzle, even though I'm not much for jigsaws. We had our NYC daughter with us for a week over Christmas because her plans to visit a friend mid-week were canceled when he tested positive for COVID after a Christmas Eve gathering. It was nice to have her but I didn't get anything done after work except dinner, cocktails, and movies! Today was my first day to relax at home, and the house is still a mess, but that's OK.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Glad you got to spend more time with your daughter over Christmas, but sorry covid derailed her plans. I haven't gotten much done lately either, but we've sure had fun. Hope you enjoyed your day of relaxation!
DeleteHappy New Year! It sounds like you had a nice holiday season with your family. Winter Solstice sounds like the perfect winter read. I am glad you enjoyed it. We put together a puzzle a day from an New Yorker advent calendar this year--it was such fun! I need to get one of those puzzle boards so we can do jigsaw puzzled more often. Because of the cats, it makes it hard to leave one out on the table. I hope you have a wonderful 2023!
ReplyDeleteWendy - Oh, I bet the puzzle a day Advent calendar was fun! That might tempt me next year. My SIL got me a puzzle board we keep in FL. I liked it so much, I bought one myself for CT. It would be especially helpful with in the house! Happy 2023to you and your family.
DeleteHappy New Year to you, my friend! It sounds like you had a happy (and lively) Christmas. Hope you've caught up on your rest. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed Winter Solstice so well. I love Pilcher's characters and am thoroughly enjoying Coming Home. Even though it's over 900 pages, I don't mind that it's taking a long to read. I'll be sorry to say goodbye to the characters and setting.
I haven't read Shuggie Bain, but it's on my list. I might have it on audio. I need to print out a list of all my audiobooks, so I don't forget what's in my library.
I know how you feel about missing out on your walks. When it's cold, windy and rainy here, I don't walk, which means I don't listen to my audiobooks. I should just sit in my quiet office/guest room with the light out and listen to those books, but somehow I can't just sit. Why is that? I sit when I read. ;)
Les - Yes, I have finally caught up on my sleep! We're having a very low-key visit with my parents... sleeping in, preparing simple dinners, talking, watching sports, and reading.
DeleteGlad you are enjoying Coming Home. I would have happily read 900 pages of The Shell Seekers and could have read much more of Winter Solstice. Pilcher is just so good!
Shuggie Bain is a slow novel... the writing is beautiful and the subject matter can be difficult, but I do like it. Just noticed that the audio is available on hoopla, so I may add that, too. It's a long book. I love the idea of sitting and listening to an audiobook while I'm missing my walks.... but that is SO hard! Hope 2023 is off to a good start for you!
Happy New Year! Hope your knee continues to heal so you can get back to your walks with your books. I was just mentioning to someone that I'm sort of getting into seasonal reads and definitely will add Winter Solstice for my TBR for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIliana - Thank you. My knee is slowly improving, but I think it will be a while longer before I can walk comfortably for any distance. Winter Solstice is first season read I've done in ages... so much fun!
DeleteShuggie Bain has been on my list for a while and I've decided to add it to my MustReadIn2023 list to make sure I don't forget about it.
ReplyDeleteCheriee - Shuggie Bain is a long book, but so well-written. The subject matter is tough, so it is a bit of a downer so far. We'll see how it goes.
DeleteI really like September, the sequel of sorts to The Shell Seekers. I know I liked Coming Home, but for the life of me, can remember nothing about it, so clearly I need to reread it. Apparently Pilcher also wrote under the penname Jane Fraser--no idea if the books under that name are a different genre, but might be worth checking out.
ReplyDeleteJaneGS - I had no idea Pilcher had a pen name! I'll keep an eye out for them... wonder if any are still in print.
Delete