December 15 - holiday reading

Nine of us gathered at Nancy's for our annual Christmas meeting and Yankee Swap. We had loads of wonderful appetizers, the standout being Michelle's shrimp cocktail, served with an actual cocktail-- and desserts--Lisa's espresso cake took the cake. The Yankee Swap was our usual mostly-tame affair, with lovely gifts, Heather's bug shirt being the standout here; thanks for making it non-lethal this year, Heather! ;-)

Many holiday reads were discussed. Here's the rundown I captured:

The Red Suit Diaries by Ed Butchard
The 13th Gift by Joanne Huit Smith
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron
An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor
Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler
A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd (book movie is based on)

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (book movie Christmas with the Kranks is based on)

All I Learned About Christmas Came From a Little Golden Book by Diane Muldrow

Some non-holiday reading was recommended as well:

True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan
Sous Chef by Michael Gibney
The Calle Sisters (where the Brothers Grimm got their stories) - I could not verify this title, please let us know more, whoever suggested this.

By request, here are Heather's recommendations for movies:

The Nativity

Danger in the Manger

NEXT MEETING

We need to figure out where and when, but we have a book! As folks were heading out the door, we realized we hadn't spent a second discussing our next meeting. Lisa mentioned hearing NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan's top twelve of 2014. Someone else said, "Let's just pick on of those," and someone else said "Number seven." OK! So I present to you or first read for 2015:

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters