I'm BACCCCCK!

I finaly made it home after a wonderful visit with my newest nephew Baby L and his incredibly entertaining big brother Lil G.


Home Sweet Home

Headed to the station tonight so tomorrows post will be a little late, and normal posting should resume on Wednesday.  Hope everybody had a safe and happy holiday!

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

 

Twas The Family Before Christmas

It's Christmas Eve!!!!!! Night of anticipation for children everywhere, and this year I actually get to see most of my family at some point during the holidays! YIPEEEEEE!  So in their honor I present to you the Night Before Christmas that best suites each and every member of my crazy awesome family.

The Zombie Night Before Christmas

For my Hubbin, A Zombie filled night of joy, revelry and carnage

Mary Engelbreit Night Before Christmas

For my Mammasan because it is good to be Queen

Rocky Mountain Night Before Christmas

For Daddy the original Mountain Man

Twas One Crazy Night Before Christmas

For my siblings...I think this is pretty self explanatory :-)

A Pirates Night Before Christmas

For my nephews because when I finally get my pirate ship they will all be my crew

Mr. Men The Night Before Christmas

For all of my inlaws, outlaws and friends who may as well be family because let's face it Christmas with my family is a little weird and a lot of fun

 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a very merry happy book filled good night!

 

Also I will be either at the station or out of town for the next week so posting will be be a little spotty until after the new year.  Please be safe and happy and when in doubt read a great book!

What The Mistletoe?!?

I pick a new holiday inspired book to read each year around Christmas time to help get me in the mood for the holidays and this years pick was Billy Christmas.  The premise sounded awesome, a boy gets a tree that comes with 12 special ornaments, each ornament is associated with a task and if he completes all the tasks he will receive his greatest wish.  I love the idea of this, kind of a twelve days of Christmas with a twist idea.  Unfortunately the story did not live up to the premise.  The ornaments and the tasks were kind of a side bit to the bigger story of Billy Christmas and his family.  This would have been fine if that story made any kind of sense. SPOILER ALERT SPOILERS AHEAD.
Essentially the story is this.  Billy's father disappeared completely on his way to go get milk on Christmas almost exactly one year ago (minus the 12 days for the tasks of course)  Billy's mom has become withdrawn and depressed and Billy has to manage the household by himself.  Billy brings home a tree that comes with a bag of ornaments (ice skates, an axe, a replica of his bike, a pie, five golden rings, an iron bar, mistletoe, a sheet of music, four connected gold rings, a tiny lipstick, a dog, and a candle.)  After looking at the ornaments the tree comes to life and starts talking to Billy, telling him that every night between now and Christmas the tree will give him one of the ornaments and the task associated with it. OK so far so good, I'm liking the idea of this and I am ready for the tasks to start.  This is where it starts getting weird.  I'm not going into to much detail 'cause it still doesn't make a whole lot

of sense still. Billy is asked to do increasingly bizarre things, things that actually seem hurtful to some of his loved ones.  On occasion these odd requests help set up things for later, but most just seemed to be a test if Billy was willing to go as far as he was told.  Billy has a friend Katherine and an enemy turned friend Robert who get caught up in this insane quest.  The reward of all this of course is to get his father back and it is this thought that propels Billy to continue. The quest/tasks themselves don't follow their own rules, Billy was told to do certain things by a certain time and even when it did not get done, he just made it up later.  Some tasks were combined, some were used multiple times, it seemed he could do pretty much whatever and the events were going to proceed regardless.  By the end of the story we randomly learn that Katherine and Billy's father are some sort of magic tree people and Billy is half-human half tree thingy.  Katherine is supposed to be a very important tree thingy and was sent to our world to forget who she was for her own safety and Billy's father actually disappeared because he was protecting her, not that we found out exactly why she was/is important, who she needed protection from or where Billy's father had been.  Oh yeah and the kindly vicar turned out to be an evil knight 'cause um yeah. The ending was extremely abrupt and by the time the story ended I felt I had no idea what actually happened, who anybody was supposed to be or why any of this happened in the first place.

As you can probably guess this was not one of my favorite books.  I loved the original idea and want to steal the ornament quest idea and rewrite a book the way I want to read it.  The rest of this story was just to disjointed and unrealistic for me to enjoy in anyway.  I have no problem introducing fantastical elements into the story, but you have to make some sort of logical case for it, and this book just kept tossing ideas with no substance out there, kind of like the author had a couple different ideas for the story and just kept throwing things into the mix as he thought them up.  I do seem to be in the minority on this one though, the few reviews I have been able to find seem to like it a lot, words like lush and imaginative are used a lot.  I felt the book was slow and confusing and not very well thought out.  Don't let this stop you from reading it, I would like to hear what other people thought of it and maybe you all can find what I am missing.

Do you trust reviews when they are all five stars?  What is worse a great idea and bad execution, or a boring idea but great execution?  What is the weirdest holiday book you've ever read?

Shop Til You Drop

So I just looked at the calendar and had a minor heart attack (which was ok 'cause I was out riding the ambulance until 0700 this morning so I just applied the AED pads and gave myself a little shock) I can't believe I am just about out of shopping days, quick throw some stuff into the cart.

Yep this is what my shopping cart usually looks like (looks a lot like last year :-) ) Now to drag myself home to wrap and ship and wrap and ship and wrapppppppzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

On a completely different side note, who is hoping this is what under the tree looks like for you this year?  Ok rambling non-sensicle sleep deprived egg-nog induced post over, I will attempt coherency tomorrow.

Holly Claus

I love this book so much, I just wanted to get that out there, this is my own little personal Christmas tradition is to read this book every year.  What book am I talking about?  The wonderfully amazing The Legend of Holly Claus.  I picked up this book several years ago based on an absolutely beautiful cover and have been reading it every year ever since.

Quick run down.  In the land of Forever Nicholas and his wife Vivianna (better known as Santa and Mrs. Claus)  rule the realm of Immortals.  Here Nicholas and his wife are young and hearty folk, ruling a country where people who do great deeds in their mortal life come to receive immortality and continue their good works.  One day Nicholas is reading through his letters to Santa from the children of the world when a 

special one catches his eye.  In this note a young boy asks what Santa wants for Christmas.  This simple wish of an unknown child grants Nicholas and Vivianna a child, a little girl they name Holly.  Holly is the first child ever born within the realm of Forever and she is loved and cherished by all...except of course by the evil warlock Herrikhan who to escape his hellish imprisonment must find a way to possess the purest heart in existence.  Herrikhan encases Holly's pure baby heart in ice and then seals the gates of Forever until the curse is broken.  No new immortals may enter and only Nicholas can leave on Christmas Eve.  Holly must now live in a cold environment to keep her heart from melting which leads to a very lonely existence.  Her only true companions are the wolf Tundra, the fox Alexia, the owl Euphemia, and the penguin Empire.  One day while reading through her fathers book of legends which contains the stories of the deeds and tasks of every being in Forever, Holly realizes that her page is blank, containing only her name.  She becomes determined to do something to become worthy of living in Forever.  Holly finds a way to come to 

New York  City in the late 1800's and there she proceeds to make the lives of the children of the city magical.  She eventually finds work in a little toy shop and uses her magical skill at creating dolls to give the perfect gifts to all of the children.  Along the way Herrikhan disguised as a wealthy city man tries to seduce Holly into giving up her heart to no avail.  She is also troubled/intrigued by the toy shops mysterious owner.  Eventually Holly discovers that the shop owner is the same child that asked Santa to make a wish for himself which led to the existence of Holly.  The two begin to get to know each other when Herrikhan comes out in the open and threatens all of those Holly loves to get her to give up her heart.  Holly decides to not only give up her heart, but to truly love the evil warlock as well.  This of course breaks the curse leading to a happy ending a story being added to Holly's page in the great book.

That was a very bare bones description of a very rich and detailed book.  I have heard a lot of complaints that the plot is meandering and overly long...which I guess I can see, but I actually like the pacing, I feel it gives you time to really watch Holly grow instead of her being a baby one moment and then a fierce heroine the next.  The book gives the character a lot of time to develop and gives her many reasons to leave the beauty, safety and love of her 

home.  I also like that Holly is not a "kick-ass" heroine.  A lot of what she does is not only out of kindness, but out of sheer naivete of the class system.  I enjoyed how the author tried to get a lot of different legends from many different cultures gathered in Forever, it gave it a flavor of everybody is connected somehow. Her animal companions are actually very well done, which is surprising 'cause I am usually not an animal companion fan, I especially like Alexia the bossy, fashonista fox.  My favorite part of the book is probably the illustrations.  I have this as both a hardcover book and an Ebook and the drawings are just stunning, nice enough to just flip through on there own, they add the perfect touch of magic to this book.  I have to confess, Victorian era Christmas is always the standard Christmas for me, I love how it is celebrated with all of the extravagant traditions, parties and decorations it just screams holidays for me.  The fact that the "real" world part of this is set in New York during the Victorian era really makes this book pop in a Christmas way for me (that makes sense right?).  There are a couple parts that could have been done better, some of the logic of what makes a person or creature immortal was a bit shaky and of course my biggest pet peeve is how quickly the ending seemed to wrap up, but there are very few books that I am satisfied with the ending so that is nothing new. Some of the characters needed more development, especially Christopher (the toy shop owner) and everything that brought him to the point Holly found him, it just seemed tossed in there with no coherent explanation.  Overall I find this book to be the perfect mix of fantasy, legends, real world compassion, and Christmas spirit I look for in a good holiday story and I will continue to read it every year unless something even more spectacular comes along!

What book gets you in the holiday mood?  What era do you think celebrates Christmas the best?  Are you all surprised how much I love this middle grade, sweet, typical story?  How much do you love amazing pictures in your books?!?  Is it amazing how many times I can use the word existence in a single post?

Lure Of A Book

The Lure of a Book

Ah this is totally how I feel about books!  Seriously instead of sitting here at work I hear my book calling me to walk into this amazing world that is just waiting for me! Also deviantART is the best site in the world to completely lose all track of time...

Gingerbready Goodness!

I love the smell of gingerbread, it is sweet and spicy and signals CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Now I am not an amazing baker so I rely on outside help to get my fix.  Here are some great literary versions done in gingerbread.

Hogwarts

What a beautiful edible Hogwarts!

Minas Tirith

An amazing Lord of the Rings tribute, you have to check out the website for some killer pics and how it was made!

Narnia Wardrobe

The baker, baked the designs right into the gingerbread!

Queen of Hearts Palace

Oh my goodness this is AWESOME, click link for amazing close up detail shots!

The Brothers Grimm Castle

Again click link to see the stunning detail!

I hope you all enjoyed my foray into the realm of sugar and spice and everything bookish.  This has inspired me to try and build my own favorite literary gingerbread creation...next year.  Send me pics of your book inspired visions!

Do you like to eat or look at gingerbread better?  Do you ever start a gingerbread house and run out of candy decorations because you ate it all?  What baked medium would you like to see used in these creations?

Heartbroken

Today's news about the elementary school shooting in Connecticut has left me very sad for these families who have lost loved ones.  As a first responder I see this tragedy on a small scale on a nightly basis and there are no words to describe the pain these friends and family members go through, and to see a whole community so affected by this complete and utter senseless tragedy is heartbreaking.  Please keep this community and all involved in your prayers as you gather your loved ones close, hug them tight (either in person or virtually) and take a moment to remember just how blessed we are.

Christmas Scenes

It's Christmas, It's Christmas Falalalalalalala!  I always try and get a new holiday book to read around Christmas time, you know to try and get into the spirit of things and this year I took to Facebook to ask for suggestions.  I got several lovely idea's and picked out my Christmas book, but amidst these was an interesting suggestion from my lil bro.  He suggested all of the Christmas scenes in the Harry Potter books, which got me thinking of all of my favorite Christmas chapters in books that are not necessarily about the holidays as a whole, but have them as part of the timeline, here are some of my favorites.

Harry Potter Series- As my brother pointed out these books tend to place a special emphasis on Christmas in each book.  I think my favorite one is the first book when poor orphan Harry finally gets a Christmas were he receives gifts and love instead of used tape and disdain.  Of course any Christmas scene with Dobby is great too, think mismatched homemade socks and Harry Potter face Christmas ornaments. Also I want magic Christmas Crackers!

Little Women-One of my favorite parts of this book is the Christmas in the beginning of the book where the girls give up there long awaited for feast so that a poor starving family can eat.  I love how each girl purposefully gives up a treat they love, even if it did take some internal struggling.  For some reason this one always sticks in my head as an ultimate Christmas scene.

Little House Series-I love the various descriptions of each years Christmas in these books.  I like how they change from almost primitive and child like in The Big Woods, all the way to trying to put together your first Christmas as a married adult in The First Four Years.  I always looked forward to the Christmas Scenes in these books.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- One of my favorite reading memories is the scene in this book where Father Christmas finally breaks through into Narnia, signalling the end of the White Witches never ending winter without Christmas.  I liked how a bit of our world and a bit of this other world combined to give us a familiar touchstone.  I also loved the gifts that Father Christmas gave the children and wanted my own bow and arrow for many a Christmas after reading this scene.

What is your favorite holiday scene in a non-holiday book?  Are you ever surprised how important the holidays are in certain books?  What would your perfect holiday scene be like?

A Thorny Problem

I am not one hundred percent sure why I picked up Champion of the Rose this time around.  I know why I had it in my stack, I had read a couple of reviews that had some intriguing concepts in it, but for some reason I did not expect to like it that much.  Shows how much I know because I really enjoyed this book.  I was in desperate need of a true fantasy book with magic and elves and all that good stuff and this fit the bill in an unexpected way.  It is full of magic and the Fair Folk, but there is so much more to this world then fairy tale trope.

The story is about Soren who has been chosen to be the Champion of the current ruling monarch...the only problem is that there is no King or Queen, and has not been in close to 200 years.  In Tor Darest the fictional country where our story is set, the set-up is a bit unusual.  The beginnings of the country started when the Queen of the Fae gifted the land that became Darest to Domina Rathen a powerful mage who in turn placed a powerful enchantment over her whole future lineage and the country itself.  The enchantment manifested in the form of The Rathen Rose and it's job was to pick a person who was most suitable to
become whatever the current ruler needed most, protector, lover, advisor, parental figure, it varied from ruler to ruler.  The Rathen Rose would do whatever it could to protect the Rathen line.  Eventually the Rathen line died out and the country has been held by the Reagent's who while powerful mages themselves can never wield the true power that a Rathen can.  This is the state of the kingdom when a blooming rose is discovered on the vine for the first time in centuries and Soren sets of to find her king or queen.  She eventually stumbles upon a man called Strake who it turns out has been caught in some sort of time phase thingy which eventually makes some sort of sense and has now returned 200 years later.  On their way back to the palace the Rose takes over both Soren and Strake and forces them into an act which results in Soren being impregnated with Strake's child.  This understandably causes no end of tension between the two, with Strake not able to separate Soren from the Rose that perpetrated this pretty awful act.  Meanwhile a killer from the past seems to have followed Strake through time and is now

hunting him again.  Soren and Strake return to the palace and immediately try to set things to right.  Many court games are played, and Strake tries to find a way to end the enchantment of the Rose.  Unfortunately they discover that any move against the Rose would probably end in Soren and her unborn child's death so they decide to try and find a different way.  Meanwhile they hunt and try and find out more about this mysterious killer who can appear and disappear, who uses razor claws to dismember victims and who has the appearance of a you Fae boy.  A council of the Fair and Humans is called and surprisingly we get some straight forward answers...which I will not reveal (don't you love how sometimes I spoil everything, and others I make you go read for yourself, I'm fickle that way) and all seems to be going right...until an assassination attempt on Strakes life from a very unlikely source happens (which actually did take me by surprise which was cool).  This provokes the Rose into taking over Soren again and she has had enough of being controlled.  She convinces Strake that they need to destroy the enchantment once and for all so that nobody else including their unborn child can be controlled.  The ending is quick and I will let you read it for yourself.

OK so this sounds like a pretty typical fantasyish story and it is, but there are a couple things the author did that I really liked.  The main thing was the world she built felt very complete.  There were traditions, religions,  taboos, commerce, festivals everything that a society of that time period would have...with what I think is an awesome twist.  Genders are completely...hmmm I'm not quit sure how to put it...fluid is the only word I can think of.  The author treats both genders completely equally, not giving dominance to males or females and relationships in the world are fluid as well, with both genders loving across all boundaries equally,
male/female, male/male, female/female.  It is not unusual for a person to be with a male lover and then later a female in fact tri-bonding is a common way for two females and a male or two males and a female who all love each other equally to form a type of family and enable the birth of children.  The best part was that this was not a big deal at all, it is just the way things are, nobody is gay or lesbian or bi, they just love each other regardless. Now I know this is not every body's cup of tea, which is totally valid, I just thought it made this world even more unique and different from our own, just one more way to not make it Medieval England with faeries.  I also like how the author played with our assumptions and would turn even little things around on you in the blink of an eye.  I personally did not care for the ending, it happened very quickly and a little to neatly/happily ever after for my taste.  It was like she thought she might write a sequel so she did not answer every question (which is fine), but she wasn't sure if she would get around to it so she gave it a complete ending just in case.  This is one of my pet peeves is when you read this great book and then the last 20 pages are just a quick "oh crap I have to finish this somehow um yeah here ya go".  The author also has a couple of favorite words that get old very

quickly (seriously if somebody shutters their eyes one more time!) and the reconciliation between Strake and Soren was a little quick/forced but other then that I enjoyed it.  I have heard a lot of mixed opinions on the event at the beginning of the book the leads to Soren's impregnation and a lot of people have called it a rape that the Rose forced Soren to do to Strake, but when I read it, it seemed the Rose took over both parties and the reason it was marginally worse for Strake (even though it was Soren who has to carry, give birth and raise a a baby) was that he could struggle enough against the Rose to be more aware of what was happening, while Soren was completely blanked out by the Rose.  Read it for yourself and let me know what you think on that particular matter.  Over all I would recommend this book for the over 15 crowd, I found it thought provoking and fairly well written and well worth the read.  I will be looking for another book from this author to see if she continues writing in this thoughtful manner.

What do you think of forced pairings as a plot device?  How do you feel about gender fluidity on worlds that are not supposed to be Earth?  Are you starting to get why I call these ramblings?

Christmas Book Trees

Finally got the tree all the way put together and it looks fabulous!  Thanks to my wonderful Hubbin for helping me :-)  Here are some tree's for the book minded among us.

Easy to Build Tree

I like this one 'cause you can build pretty easily in your own home

Tree Book Display

This is pretty much my Christmas wish come true

Gleeson Library Tree

I love love love this stacked book tree...hmm I bet I have enough books at home to try this

Bookshelf Tree

Super simple, super easy, super cute

Polish Book Tree

Big and Shiny just how I like it! (so many books!!!!)

I hope you have enjoyed our little foray into the world of Christmas tree book building, now I want to see pictures of your book tree, I'll post mine in a little bit.

How big a tree do you think I can build from all of my books?   Do you think you could manage to build a tree without damaging the books?  Don't you just love Christmas, and books, and holiday drinks, and books and cookies, and books!

The Utter East

Continuing with my annual Narnia re-read I have just completed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VDT).  While the first book (LWW) will always hold a very very very special place in my heart, VDT is hands down my favorite in the series. I think this book is responsible for my love of the open ocean and exploring places unknown.  A quick synopsis (quick being relative because a lot happens in this book)

We open with Lucy and Edmund the youngest of the four original children to travel to Narnia attempting to stay out of the way of their annoying cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb.  While up in Lucy's attic room the three come upon a picture of a ship that comes alive and transports them to Narnia.  Lucy and Edmund are overjoyed to find out that the ship is inhabited by an older King Caspian and his crew who have vowed to set sail until they have found the seven missing lords or avenged their deaths.  Eustace is miserable and has a hard time accepting that they are no longer in their own world.  The adventures start in the Lone Islands, a
place that is supposedly ruled by the King of Narnia, but since no one has been out there in many years it is mostly ruled by a regent governor and the slave traders.  Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep the Mouse are all captured by slavers.  Caspian is bought by what turns out to be one of the Lords he is looking for because of his face and is informed of all the going on's in the islands.  Caspian pretends to have a huge fleet instead of the only one ship and takes back the island installing the Lord as Duke of the islands.  This is the farthest that any known maps go so from here on out the voyage is into the complete unknown.  The ship barely survives a storm and lands on an island to be fixed and resupplied if possible.  While trying to avoid work Eustace stumbles upon a dragon hoard and while wearing an enchanted bracelet falls asleep only to awaken as a dragon.  Eustace is miserable, but finds that he can be useful for once.  The biggest concern of course is how
to bring a dragon with them on their voyage, he obviously won't fit on the boat, and feeding him would quickly become a problem. Eventually Eustace has an encounter with Aslan that results in him becoming human once more.  After this Eustace is a generally better chap, much easier to get along with and much more helpful. It is also discovered that the bracelet that Eustace had belonged to one of the lords they were searching for, so they are able to take him off the list.  Off the explorers go, they discover an island that is all burnt up and one with a pool that turns everything it touches to gold, including it seems the third lord they are searching for.  They name the island Deathwater and vow to never tell anyone what is on the island for fear of greed and war.  They also encounter a rather large, but dumb sea serpent who does significant damage to their ship, they limp along until they come across another island.  This island is different as it appears to be civilized with manicured lawns, kept gardens and a beautiful huge manor.  The crew discover that the island is inhabited by invisible beings who along with being absolutely hilarious want Lucy to sneak into the manor which is the home of a magician and undo the invisibility spell they put on themselves.  Lucy agrees and up she goes.  She finds the book and starts
exploring the pages, this is probably my favorite part of this book, because I too would get totally enthralled by a book like the one Lucy reads.  She eventually finds the correct spell and the inhabitants become visible along with the magician.  The magician is actually very kind and helps the crew repair and resupply the boat.  The invisible beings turn out to be dwarf like creatures with just one huge foot they jump around on like a giant spring.  They eventually call themselves Dufflepuds.  The Dawn Treader continues on and encounters a dark island where dreams come true, not nice daydreams but terrifying dreams that you cannot escape.  The crew pick up the fourth lord who had been trapped on the island for a while and are led out by a white bird.  They eventually land on a final island where they discover the last three lords in an enchanted sleep.  The lady of the island says to break the enchantment they must sail to the end of the world and leave one of their members there.  Reepicheep volunteers as this was his goal in the first place.  As they sail the water becomes sweet and still and a dream
like state comes over the crew.  Aslan tells Caspian that he must let Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep leave in the rowboat to complete the journey, while he returns to rule Narnia after gathering the sleeping lords.  The children and Reepicheep take the boat until they reach a perpetual wave marking the end of the world (this world if flat, not round like our own).  Reepicheep takes his little coracle right up to the wave and is taken up, presumably to Aslans country.  The children meet up with Aslan and Lucy and Edmund are told they will not be coming back.  They are then sent back to their own world, this adventure over.
Whew that was a doozy, and I did not even do this amazing story justice!  Like I said earlier I absolutely love this book.  I love the idea of risking everything just to discover something new.  I love the idea that every new place you go could contain anything!  I love the idea that their might still be places and things left to discover.  One of my favorite things about this book is the sheer variety of adventures that they encounter, each island is vastly different and the beings, things, and spells they find keep things interesting.  I just really love this book.  I feel like I could keep talking and talking about this book, but I would pretty much just be repeating myself over and over so I will end this here and let you go read it for yourself.

What book has inspired you to go explore?  Do you like all of the subtle nods to other epic voyages in this book?  Where do you go to the bathroom on an ancient boat?

Welcome To The World

I am the proud Aunt of a brand new perfect baby boy!!!!! He is my fourth nephew and I am already in love!!!! Welcome to the world Baby L!

Blessings For A Baby Boy

You Only Get One Chance

Calling All Book Lovers

Browsing for gift idea's and  found some of these phone covers and I am kind of in LOVE, what a perfect gift for any book lover on your list.

Pride and Prejudice Phone Cover

Perfect for any Austenite

Vintage Book Phone Cover

Great idea for the nostalgic types

Colorful Bookshelf Phone Cover
This one is made out of one of my favorite bookshelf pictures.

Cloth Book Phone Cover

I like how this one makes your modern device look like an old book

Alice in Wonderland Phone Cover

An instantly recognizable illustration from one of the best books ever.

These are just a tiny fraction of covers I found that relate to books, and once you get into holders, cord storage and charging stations the possibilities are endless, so go crazy!

Is it weird having a vintage book cover on a modern technological device that may replace books someday? Is there such thing as having to many book themed things?  Do you have a schedule to change out your phone cover on a daily basis so that you can have all the covers you want?