Christmas - some bad news and little book reviews.

Hi friends. How were your Christmases?

My Christmas was pretty good until the end. I did not get many bookish things but I did get a BN gift card from my boyfriend and this box that looks like an antique book that opens up all secret like from my parents which I love! I got lots of other awesome non-bookish gifts, but I know you're here for the books! LOL.

On my way home Christmas evening I was in a car accident. I was stopped behind a man who was waiting to turn left when I was slammed from behind by a 16 year old driving an SUV. I was then forced into the car in front of me. My car is a brand new Nissan and now has a lot of damage. The bumper is completely gone and the side of the car is all screwed up. I have been dealing with a lot of frustration over the past two years with the insurance companies and it will only continue. I cannot get a rental or send my car in for repairs until it is investigated and they don't know how long it will be. I am, for the most part, fine, but I've been feeling nauseous and my back is becoming stiff. I have been very emotional and frustrated and have cried more times than I can count in the past two days.

In other news, I also did two book blogger Secret Santas this year - the same two I've done for the past three years. I did the Book Blogger Holiday Swap and the Book Monsters Secret Santa. Unfortunately, I have only received one of my gifts. I'm not sure which swap it was from either, but I am really excited about the gift I received! I got a book from my wishlist called Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante. Thank you very much to my Secret Santa! I can't wait to read it! If this was you, could you let me know which swap you were from?

I am pretty sad that my second gift never came. I put a lot of thought into the packages I sent out and I have not heard back from the swaps about what to do in this situation. This has not happened to me before. Any ideas? Jenni has posted about the package I sent her and I was really excited about the goodies I sent to her. I sent her three books from her wishlist, two books that I picked out, and a cat bookmark because she is a fellow catlover! I have not seen anything from the second girl who I sent a package to yet, but it was delivered and I hope she likes it!

So that is my Christmas drama and despair haha! I hope you had a better Christmas than me. I have tried to look on the upside about the accident, which is this - my Dakota dog usually rides in the car with me, but Charles (my boyfriend) and I drove separately that night, and I asked him to take Dakota with him. This must have been fate, a real miracle. If he had been with me, I don't know what would have happened, but he could have gone through the windshield and died, so I am grateful that my sweet dog is okay.

Sorry that this post is all over the place. I just want to do some mini reviews of my final Christmas books of the year:

In The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts, we meet Ambrose, an old cat on his ninth and final life. He hopes to make this final life count, and when he is rescued off the street by a firefighter named Zach, he wants to pay him back. Ambrose works tirelessly to get Zach and Merilee, the sweet cat lover from the Pet Palace, together in time for Christmas. I thought this book was really adorable and I loved Ambrose. The narration switches from Ambrose's POV and Zach's, and I particularly enjoyed hearing from Ambrose who had me laughing. If you're a cat lover looking for a sweet little story, this would be good for you. I rate it 3.5/5.

The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne, follows two young brothers, Molar and Aaron, as they volunteer at a children's hospital during the holiday season. They make friends with some of the children patients and participate in the Christmas pageant. Most importantly, they learn the true meaning of Christmas. I liked the lessons in this story and the nostalgic feeling, as Molar is recalling the whole story as a flashback from his childhood. However, I didn't feel very interested in the story and felt that it was kind of dry. For me, this book was okay. I rate it 2.5/5. I do, however, highly recommend Milne's other novel that I read and loved, The Final Note.