Just When You Think Christmas is Over

the post brings a box which is totally unexpected:

Inside the wrappings I uncovered:

• an authentic quill pen with bottle for ink
• a Snowflake Origami kit (they sparkle!)
• a journal with an ocean liner on top (take me to Italy!)

all accompanied by the sweetest note from one of my oldest blogging friends. Bookfool and Lesley were the first blogging friends I had in this book blogging world, always they will be a joy and an inspiration to me. Thank you for four years of friendship and joy, both of you. Thank you, Bookfool, for knowing just what would thrill me on this rainy (in Chicago?!) New Year's Eve.

Happy New Year to all!

Only One, Please, Only One. In Almost Everything.

My husband gave me a bracelet of pearls for Christmas, knowing how much I love Japan. And beauty. And that he would never in a million years be able to choose a book for me.

But, that's not what this post is about.

This post is about possessions. I looked at the jewelry boxes already stacked up on my dresser and knew I would need to find a superior way of storing them.

So we went to Target, bought one of those plastic bins which is supposed to fit under your bed (unless you have a sleigh bed like mine under which nothing fits but little dust bunnies). I filled it up with the empty boxes for my jewelry, my iPod classic from several years ago, my fountain pen from many years before that, and I went to bed burdened.

As we look at our reading goals for 2011, I have a few more: don't anticipate trouble for tomorrow when you can enjoy today; don't be obligated into doing things because you haven't established boundaries; don't buy anything more! (Read what you have, and in so doing participate in C.B. James' TBR Dare.)

Seriously. I'd like only one, please. One pen (my Mont Blanc fountain pen bought in Germany in 1984). One perfume (Guerlain's Mitsouko). One lipstick (Revlon's Fire and Ice). One book.

Wait a minute. NOT one book.

But, one of everything else. Do you know what I mean? Do the things you own come out at night and crawl around your bed taunting you with their clutter? Am I the only one who feels overwhelmed, and guilty, in owning so much stuff?!

Oprah's Pick Sticks In My...

Oprah's latest pick for her Book Club, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations: Two Novels,  sticks in my craw.

I realize I'm alone in this opinion, at least I was at the lunch table in the teacher's lounge the day before break, when I last expressed it: "Thank God we have Oprah to discover great literature for us."

Somehow, I'm offended. Like she's claiming Dickens as her own personal author. Or, find.

My mother, ever the Voice of Reason, suggests otherwise. She says, much like my colleagues, "Imagine the people who aren't as well read as you, who haven't read Dickens before. Now they'll be aware of him, and possibly pick him up for the first time."

In the name of educating the unwashed masses, fine. Make a classic work of literature the pick for your Book Club. But, I won't pretend that he's just newly discovered now that his novels have a fancy new cover.

With Oprah's endorsement.

A Christmas Wish For You

I'd love to put up a passage from Dickens, or a poem from Longfellow, or even an inspiration from Martin Luther, but I've found a quote from a woman I'd rather share with you here:

I can understand people simply fleeing the mountainous effort Christmas has become... but there are always a few saving graces and finally they make up for all the bother and distress. ~May Sarton

If your Christmas has been a bit like mine, almost Too Much Christmas For Just One Girl for the last three weekends, may you find a saving grace to make up for the hectic pace. I wish you every blessing this Christmas Eve, for Christmas Day, and in your New Year to come.

Merry Christmas,
Bellezza

My Reading Year in Retrospect

I've read 99 books in 2010. Sadly, I doubt I'll have time to squeeze in that last book to make the total an even 100.  The following twenty are my favorite for the year, not listed in order of preference, but listed in order of reading them:

1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
2. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
3. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
4. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
5. Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
6. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
7. Out by Natsuo Kirino
8. Silence by Shusaku Endo
9. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
10. Of Bees and Mist by Eric Setiawan
11. The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
12. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
13. Madame Bovary by Gustauve Flaubert
14. The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski
15. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
16. The Guardians of Ga-Hoole: The Capture by Kathryn Laski
17. Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
18. The Catcher in The Rye by J. D. Salinger
19. The Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
20. The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

Stats. For posterity.

• Total books read: 99
• Children's books:  14
• Short story collections: 0
• Graphic novels: 0
• Nonfiction: 4
• Poetry: 5
• Play: 0
• In translation: 18 
• Classics: 23
• Rereads: 14
• Favourite authors discovered this year: Sarah Waters, Marghanita Laski, Emile Zola, Ivan Doig
• Best reading months: March (10 books read) and July (11 books read)
• Worst reading months: September (five books read) and December (only 3 read)
• Completed challenges: 6 out of 8.
• Completed read-alongs: 10 out of 10

Highlights from 2010:

• Starting the year with the Woolf in Winter shared read hosted by Claire, Frances, Emily, Sarah.
• Paris in July hosted by Tamara and Bookbath.
• Dr. Zhivago and Madame Bovary shared reads hosted by Frances.
• The Japanese Literature Challenge 4 I host (still a month to go!).
• Persephone Secret Santa hosted by Claire of Paperback Reader.

Reading Goals for 2011:

• Less challenges, more personal choices.
• Read mostly from the lists in my To Be Read section (Guardian's 1,000; Pulitzer Prize winners; Virago Modern Classics; Haruki Murakami's books, etc.)
• Read the books I've bought before buying more. (That goal should last about a week or so... :)
• Remember this quote from St. Exupery's Little Prince: "L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." ("What is essential is invisible to the eye.")

Thanks to Claire of kiss a cloud for much of the statistics outline. Miss her so much, and hope that she'll return in 2011 if it's possible within her schedule.

Not Finished Yet, But It Just May Be My Favorite Book of 2010

To readers and museum visitors who are curious to know whether the pain I endured that day was owing to the death of my father or to Fusun's absence, I would like to say that the pain of love is indivisible. The pains of true love reside at the heart of our existence; they catch hold of our most vulnerable point, rooting themselves deeper than the root of any other pain, and branching to every part of our bodies and our lives. For the hopelessly in love, the pain can be triggered by anything, whether as profound as the death of a father or as mundane as a piece of bad luck, like losing a key: such elemental pain can be flamed by any sort of spark. People whose lives have, like mine, been turned upside down by love can become convinced that all other problems will be resolved once the pain of love is gone, but in ignoring these problems they only allow them to fester. (p. 228)

I'll have a review when I finish this book (when I finish teaching, when I finish entertaining, when I finish thank-you notes, when I finish shopping, baking, cleaning). Until then, I just want you to know how much I love this novel which is a close up look at love, relationships, Istanbul, and the mystery within all three.

Free Jane Austen e-books Part 2: Easy Access, Really

Yesterday, there was a bit of a problem with the links to Jane Austen e-books which are available for free in honor of her 235th birthday.

That's all fixed now.

Click here for easy links to download the special edition Austen books, beautifully illustrated in color, for free, today only.

Thanks again, Sourcebooks!


XRWXG8KU3FDA

Persephone Secret Santa Revealed for 2010

How exciting it is to anticipate the arrival of a Persephone book, especially when you don't even know what the title will be. Several weeks ago, I came home to find the familiar white mailing envelope, stamped with the pink address of Persephone in the upper left hand corner. Upon opening the mailer, I found this:

which I refused to open further until The Right Day. Which is Now:

There's a card bearing the message Happy Christmas (love that!) with this message:

Dear Bellezza,

I hope you'll enjoy this book, which I picked for you both because you have enjoyed the author in the past, and because it's one of Persephone's best loved titles. Wishing you and your loved ones a very wonderful Christmas,

Your Secret Santa,

Ana (aka Nymeth)

It is written so beautifully that I blush at the enclosure I sent to Colleen with mine:

Merry Christmas. Love, Bellezza

So, now I have another Marghanita Laski novel to keep company with The Victorian Chaise Longue and To Bed With Grand Music. How very thoughtful of you, Ana, for sending it to me (and Claire for hosting such a lovely piece of Christmas gifting). Thank you, with all my heart.

The Voyage of The Dawn Treader (novel, not film)

Although the third film in the Narnia series was released on Friday night, I have yet to see it. Perhaps I'm a bit reluctant to do so because I wonder how Disney can truly convey all that C. S. Lewis does in this novel for children adults.

I began reading it to my class about three weeks ago because I wanted them to know of the story from literature before the movie. I wanted them to hear what C. S. Lewis said fresh from his words rather than images filtered through the vision of Hollywood.

It was slow going at first. The vocabulary was a bit advanced for third graders, not used to sophisticated language such as I was when I read C. S. Lewis and E. B. White in my childhood. But, I explained it to them as we went along, and by the time sulky cousin Eustace was turned into a dragon my class was entranced.

We had such an interesting discussion about Eustace's transformation. Before he became a dragon, they described Eustace as a whiner, baby, pain, complainer, crybaby and mean, selfish, or greedy boy. When he was a dragon they saw him as sad, hurt, confused, scared and lonely. After being de-scaled by Aslan, they noticed that he was happy, out of pain, and grateful. What brilliant children to see the changes that He brings to our human nature.

I loved Lucy going to the magician's book in Chapter 10. Bravely, she crosses the corridor, ventures into the room where the big book is held, and lays her hand upon its pages.

It was written, not printed; written in a clear, even hand, with thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes, very large, easier than print, and so beautiful that Lucy stared at it for a whole minute and forgot about reading it. The paper was crisp and smooth and a nice smell came from it; and in the margins, and round the big coloured capital letters at the beginning of each spell, there were pictures.

As if that wasn't enough, Lucy is tempted by the spells the book contains. First, there is an infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals. And later, after seeing Aslan's face staring into hers from the page, she turns to a spell which would let you know what your friends thought about you...

What would you do, when confronted with the knowledge of secrets? Or, of knowing the future? What an awful temptation to fall under these spells, with awful consequences which could never be erased.

"Child," said Aslan, "Did I not explain to you once before that no one is ever told what would have happened?"

There are so many lessons in the books of Narnia, so much on faith...

My favorite character in this book is Reepicheep because he is small, but brave.He never fails to address his fears and draw his sword, undaunted by his stature. May I possess the courage of that valiant mouse, while remembering the lesson from Lucy: trust the outcome without knowing what it will be for certain.

Butter Cookies For Christmas

I have not grown up with Christmas cut-out cookies. My mother and I made such delights as shortbread. Gingersnaps. Ribbon cookies and Raspberry Meringue Kisses which are both too hard to explain here, but we did not roll out dough or frost cookies in bright colors.

So, for the last few years I have taken my favorite food group (that would be butter) and made it into a cookie following the recipe from the classic 1950's Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook which we have used all my life:

What I turn out are these:

They are best with just a sprinkling of raw sugar. As well as a stick of peppermint if you have it.

The recipe is as follows:

Mix together thoroughly 1 C. soft butter, 1/2 C. sugar, 1 egg.

Stir in 3 tsp. of flavoring (vanilla, lemon, etc.)

Sift together and stir in 3 C. flour, 1/2 tsp. baking powder.

Chill dough. Roll very thin. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet. If glazed cookie is desired, brush mixture of 1 egg yolk and 2 T. water over top of cookies before baking. Bake at 425F for 5 to 7 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen, 2" cookies.

Special thanks to Sara for sponsoring this cookie recipe exchange.

To Us A Son Is Given

When we arrived at the hospital the stars were still out, even though dawn was breaking. The four white pillars before the entrance had been wrapped in swags of greenery, and they gave the hospital a festive air.

I, at any rate, was festive. I had just eaten an Egg McMuffin, with an extra large coffee and a hash browns, because it was the last meal I expected to eat for many, many hours. This day had been carefully planned, well thought out, and long anticipated.

It was the day my son was born.

In what we now know to be his customary fashion, he'd taken his time to arrive. When first given his due date, we thought we'd have a Thanksgiving baby. We didn't know I'd have to be induced so we could have him for the First Sunday of Advent.

That day was long. It was filled with joy and awe, but it was long. I won't talk about the state of the art birthing room, the way my husband cut the cord, the way that my parents stood by anticipating the new life to arrive. I won't talk about holding my son for the first time, and being overcome by two disparate things: his little fingers are exact copies of mine, and was I really to be responsible for him forevermore? Could I do it?

I never sent birth announcements when he was born. I felt it would be incredibly presumptuous of me, in the season of our Saviour's birth, to say, "Hey! I had a son, too!" To me, every birth pales in comparison to Mary's.

Her birthing room was dusty, her husband probably didn't have the proper scissors, and her parents weren't around to be an encouragement. But, she had a heavenly host, she had a shining star, she had gifts from the Wise Men, and she gave us a gift. The promised Saviour.

As I remember the birth of my son, on this day twenty years ago, I also remember the birth of the Lord. It's His birth announcement which I want to proclaim every year.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas. May His peace be with you always.

(Find more posts for the Virtual Advent Tour here.)

Snow, So Beautiful

now then, let's go out

to enjoy the snow...until

I slip and fall!

~Basho (1688)

Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans

I wanted to like this book. I really did. But, maybe it was a mistake to go from Boris Pasternak to Richard Paul Evans. Or, maybe I'm just not able to appreciate romance of the more popular kind.

While the writing was awful (it sounded like a high school student's in an Advanced Creative Writing class), I held some hope for the premise; however that, too, quickly evaporated.

Beth Cardall's daughter, dying of cancer, makes her husband promise that he will take care of her mother. This is a promise which he keeps. However, when he entered her life, I wasn't sure if he was an angel or a stalker. The truth behind Matthew's mission surprised me.

There were several holes in the story, seemingly contrived for the benefit of the plot. But, if I point them out, it will spoil the secret behind Matthew. It will spoil whatever parts of the book I haven't spoiled already.

So sorry, this book did not work for me.

Literary Blog Hop: December 2-5

This week's question comes from Gary at Parrish Lantern: What is your favorite poem and why?

My favorite poem from literature is the one that I read when I was fifteen years old, upon encountering The Lord of The Rings for the first time. I remember reading it in study hall, when we were supposed to be working on Algebra, or French 5, but who can work on even fairly interesting subjects when one has a Tolkien novel in one's bag?

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

This poem by J. R. R. Tolkien, found twice in The Fellowship of The Ring, has long stayed with me because of its majestic power. Because of the way it speaks of courage, and wrong becoming right. It gives me shivers every time I read it.

Challenges in 2010

Japanese Literature Challenge 3: (Finished)
1. Underground by Murakami
2. The Housekeeper and The Professor by Ogawa
3. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami
4. Oh! A Mystery of Mono No Aware by Shimoda
5. Yakuza Moon by Tendo

Women Unbound: November '09 through November '10: (Finished)
1. Real World by Natsuo Kirino
2. STiLL ALiCE by Lisa Genova
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
4. Out by Natsuo Kirino
5. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

What's In A Name 3 Challenge: January 1 through December 31, 2010:
(color)The Woman in White
(body of water) Wide Sargasso Sea
(title) Mrs. Dalloway
(plant) The Wind in The Willows
(place) Shanghai Girls
(music) Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

Flashback Challenge: (Finished)
1.The BFG by Roald Dahl
2. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
3. A Wind in The Door by Madeleine L'Engle
4. Little House on The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
5. The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Of Clover, Bee and Reverie: January, 2010 through December 2010

1. The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
2. The Beauty of The Husband by Anne Carson
3. Dorothy Parker: Complete Poems
4. The Ordering of Love: Madeleine L'Engle
5. Marvelous Math: A book of poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
6. Sailing Alone Around The Room by Billy Collins
7. Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian
8. Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech

Once Upon a Time IV: March 21 through June 20, 2010: (Finished)
1. Merlin's Harp by Anne Compton
2. Tender Morsels by Lanagan

Japanese Literature Challenge 4: June, 2010 through January, 2011: (Finished)
1.  Out by Natsuo Kirino
2. Real World by Natsuo Kirino
3. Silence by Shusaku Endo
4. Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
5. NP by Banana Yoshimoto
6. A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe
7. Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa
8. Hiroshima in the Morning by Rizzuto
9. The Temple of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima

 R.I.P. V from September 1 until October 31, 2010: (Finished)
1.The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
2. Nighttime Too Afraid to Scream by Todd Strasser
3. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
4. The Tales of Beadle The Bard by J. K. Rowling
5. The Victorian Chaise Longue by Marghanita Laski

Read-Alongs in 2010:

The Brothers Karamazov Read-Along with me: (Finished)
Part 1: April 08, 2010

Part 2: April 15, 2010

Part 3: April 22, 2010

Part 4: April 29, 2010

The Woman In White: Big Read V: (Finished)

Time Quartet Read Along:
January: A Wrinkle In Time
February: A Wind In The Door
March: A Swiftly Tilting Planet
April: Many Waters
May: An Acceptable Time

Woolf In Winter: (Finished)
January 15: Mrs Dalloway Sarah
January 29: To The Lighthouse Emily
February 12: Orlando Frances
February 26: The Waves Claire

The Divine Comedy Read-Along with Richard: (Finished)
July 2-4: Inferno

Middlemarch Read-Along with Nymeth: (Finished)
August 23-29

Madame Bovary Read-Along with Frances: (Finished)
Part 1: Thursday, October 14 (58 pages)
Part 2: Thursday, October 21 (141 pages)
Part 3: Thursday, October 28 (106 pages)

Dr. Zhivago Read-Along with Frances: (Finished)

Paris in July with Tamara and Bookbath: (Finished)
Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolano
Seraphine (film)

Japanese Literature Read Along with Tanabata: (Finished)
March 10th - A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
March 29th - Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
June 28th- Silence by Shusaku Endo
August 23: Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
November 29: The Temple of The Golden Pavilion by Yokio Mishima 

Bleak House Read Along with Amanda: (Finished)
Aug 25 - Chapters 1-7
Sept 1 - Chapters 8-13
Sept 8 - Chapters 14-19
Sept 15 - Chapters 20-25
Sept 22 - Chapters 26-32
Sept 29 - Chapters 33-38
Oct 6 - Chapters 39-46
Oct 13 - Chapters 47-53
Oct 20 - Chapters 54-59
Oct 27 - Chapters 60-67

Books Read In 2010

~January~

1.   The Summer We Fell Apart by Robin Antalek
2.   Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange
3.   Aesop's Fables illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
4.   The BFG by Roald Dahl
5.   The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
6.   Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
7.   Tainted by Brooke Morgan
8.   To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
9.   A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
10. Sand to Stone and Back Again by Nancy Bo Flood

~February~

11.   Keeping The Feast by Paula Butturini
12.   Orlando by Virginia Woolf
13.   Dream House by Valerie Laken
14.   Heart Stones by Josie Iselin
15.   A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
16.  The Waves by Virginia Woolf
17.  Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian
18.  A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

~March~

19.   If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous
20.   poetry speaks who i am, edited by Elise Paschen
21.   Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
22.   A Wind In The Door by Madeleine L'Engle
23.   Merlin's Harp by Anne Eliot Compton
24.   The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
25.   Little Bee by Chris Cleave
26.   The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen
27.   A Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
28.   Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
29.   A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

~April~

30. I'm In Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor
31. The Island of The Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
32. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
33. Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight
34. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
35. Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda
36. Life A User's Manual by Georges Perec

~May~

37. To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
38. The S.O.S. File by Betsy Byars
39. The Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden
40. Little House on The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
41. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
42. The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin
43. Tender Morsels by Margot Lanagan
44. The Love Ceiling by Jean Davies Okimoto

~June~

45. Based Upon Availability by Alix Strauss
46. Out by Natsuo Kirino
47. Silence by Shusaku Endo
48. Real World by Natsuo Kirino
49. I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby
50. Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas
51. Guest House by Barbara K. Richardson
52. Dante's Journey by J. C. Marino
53. Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
54. Heart of Lies by Malcolm

~July~

55. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
56. Inferno by Dante
57. Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolano
58. N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto
59. Night and Day (a Jesse Stone novel) by Robert B. Parker
60. Split Image (a Jesse Stone novel) by Robert B Parker
61. STiLL ALiCE by Lisa Genova
62. Sea Escape by Lynne Griffin
63. A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe
64. Of Bees and Mist by Eric Setiawan

~August~

65. As The Great World Spins by Colum McCann
66. The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva
67. Middlemarch by George Eliot
68. Finny by Justin Kramon
69. Love in Mid-Air by Kim Wright
70. Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa
71. The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
72. The New Testament
73. Tough Customer by Sandra Brown

~September~

74. Light Years by James Salter
75. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
76. The Professional by Robert B. Parker
77. Clementine, Friend of The Week by Sara Pennypacker
78. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

~October~

79. Encyclopedia Brown and The Case Of The Midnight Visitor by David Sobol
80. Hiroshima in The Morning by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto
81. Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron
82. Madame Bovary by Gustauve Flaubert
83. Nighttime Too Afraid to Scream by Todd Strasser
84. Infidel by Ali Hirsi
85. The Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory MaGuire
86. The Victorian Chaise Longue by Marghanita Laski
87. Outside The Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller

~November~

88. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
89. The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger
90. Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
91. The Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky
92. Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
93. Buying A Fishing Rod for My Grandfather by Gao Xing Jian
94. A Darcy Christmas by Eberhart, Grange and Lathan
95. Alphabet Meditations for Teachers by Nancy Oelklaus
96. The Temple of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima

~December~

97. Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans
98. The Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
99. The Museum Of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
100. The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman