book days of Christmas part 2

Two more books you should add to your Christmas list are Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie and The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas isn't very Christmas-y.  Murder will do that - put a damper on things so to speak.  I thought it would be highly appropriate to read this book over Thanksgiving break to help set the mood for the holidays.  It didn't.  BUT it was a great way for my brain to vacate.  Easy reads are always a delight during the holidays.  HPC is a good mystery.  There aren't too many characters despite the wealthy man's entire family being in attendance for Christmas.  I also liked that I was able to make some early deductions.  I feel like I'm part of the book when that happens.  Agatha Christie gave the right about details about the characters as they entered the scene to bring you in on the mystery but without giving the plot away. This book gets my stamp of approval.

I attended a mini-reunion tea with my former music major friends at the end of the summer.  I have one friend in particular who has recommended two of my favorite books to me (A Walk Across America and The Time Traveler's Wife).  I read a paragraph of the prose and immediately wanted my own copy.  Edith Schaeffer writes in a very poetic style.  I like the way she puts together words and sentences.  I also like the subject matter.  I am a homebody and crafty, so this was a perfect book for me.  However, you don't have to be either to read this book.  I think that if you are the very opposite of me, this is an even better book because of all the tips it provides in helping making your life and everyone's life you touch just that much nicer by the little.things in life.  The book is semi-outdated as it was published in 1971, but those small places in the book are few in comparison to the wealth of information.  The music chapter was definitely my favorite in her ideas of making music a part of your family life "even if it is not earth-shaking in its talent" (p 38).  And I starred "Stifling or squashing a natural expression detracts from one's personality." on page 39.  I pretty much underlined the entire chapter.  A lot of the ideas Mrs. Schaffer gave were ones my mother taught me as I was growing up, yet the book gave great insight into many areas of homelife that I had not considered.  In the food chapter, I was inspired by this statement, "Meals should be a surprise, and should show imagination" (p 120).  Since I am currently learning how to be a better cook (and show wider range than my three dishes I know how to make well that don't come from packages), this statement gave me hope that I can find cooking even more interesting than baking (we can only hope).  I do recommend this book.  I recommend reading it bits at a time to think over her ideas and see what you can come up with yourself.

For 10% off my Etsy shop, enter AGATHA at checkout.  This coupon is good through December 31, 2011.