A Christmas Carol

Can you believe that Christmas is over already and January is just around the corner?  I cannot!  Oh how the time flies.  That being said, it was time to make a spot to talk about our December selection so we can start thinking about our January reading. :)  So go ahead and leave your comments here.  Happy reading.

Voting for February

We have our two options for our February book.  Voting will run through January 5, 2013.  I decided to leave voting open a bit longer this go round because of the upcoming holidays and I know we will all be busy with our families and possible travel.  Hopefully this will give everyone an opportunity to stop in and vote. 

 

Safe Haven

by Nicholas Sparks

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

(I wondered when we might have on old voting selection pop up again.)
 

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

January

After the end of the vote I had a couple of people express interest in reading "Two Kisses for Maddy".  We will go ahead and make this the January book selection. 

I will put up the two choices for our February selection in the next couple of days and will leave the voting open through the end of the month.  Things are busy with the holidays so hopefully this gives people time to stop by and vote.  The other option would be to make "Two Kisses for Maddy" a January/February selection and not vote again until the end of January.  Would you like more than one month to read a book?  If I don't hear back from anyone we'll go ahead and vote for February. 

Just a reminder as well that if there are any books out there you would like added to our list for voting make sure to leave them in a comment somewhere so I can add them.  It's always nice to have some new options.

Thoughts?

So no one voted for our January selections.  I need some input.  Is everyone burned out of this?  Is everyone just busy right now and didn't have a chance to vote?  Did neither of the book choices appeal to you?  Do we need to take a month off?  Do we need to make voting an every other month thing instead of monthly? Do we need to try some different books?  Do we need to call it quits? 

I have noticed our numbers dwindle month after month. I know we are all busy and that is OK.  I don't expect everyone to want to or to be able to read every book but it does take a bit of work to keep up the blog and the selections and the voting so if no one is interested in participating any more then I would like to know.  I am happy to continue on with the all of the above but only if someone is participating.  Otherwise I know I can find a use for my time else where.

I just want to know what your thoughts are, whatever they may be.  Any thoughts or suggestions for improvement or how you would like things to change?  We are all busy.  I would like to know if you are done or if you would like to see things continue.  Let's try to figure out where we stand and how we want to proceed.

Thanks for your input and your thoughts.