There's something about Christmas.

     

I'm a sucker for a good romance.  Anyone who has browsed my DVD collection would know that, however my bookshelves have remained cheesy romance novel free.  Whew!  I can think of one childhood neighbor growing up who had every paperback romance novel known to man crammed into every inch of her basement.  As a child, I thought to myself, does she do anything but read?  I love the thought of reading hundreds of books but I thought reading cheesy romance novels was a waste of time.  It's better in real life, right?

Well, I've changed my tune.  There's something about Christmas that made me try another Debbie Macomber novel.  She's written many Christmas novels.  And in the last week, I've read three of them.  All of them were short and sweet, probably 250 pages or so.  Each with a leading lady who finds unexpected love as Christmas approaches.  Each story had different elements of Christmas that were fun to read and had me brainstorming ways to make my holiday jollier.  For example, There's Something About Christmas had be drooling for fruitcake.  Fruitcake!  Seriously.  Recipes were included in the book - one was for chocolate fruitcake...I must try this.  It sounds delicious!!

I also finished a Robert B. Parker novel.  This was a spur of the moment decision.  I had been talking to my mom about Christmas gift ideas for my brother.  He's a fan of the Jesse Stone series by Parker.  We now know he's more of a fan of the movies on CBS than of the novels, but the nonetheless I was intrigued by the series and decided to pick one up from the library.  Before my stroll down holly jolly lane with all of Macomber's books, I read Death in Paradise by Parker.  It was pretty good.  I almost think I liked it because I was reading it with the knowledge that Tom Sellick plays Jesse Stone in the movies.  I could visualize Tom Sellick and his mannerisms and drawl while reading the book.  I have another Parker novel checked out but I'm not sure I'll get to it... an explanation tomorrow.

In other news...Brent and I assembled our Christmas tree last night.  Brent did a great job putting on the lights.  Tonight we'll do the rest of the tree trimming.  Then photos will follow!