Well fellow readers, we have made it through another year. I have shared with you throughout 2024 many of my favorite reads. The Finder Chronicles by Suzanne Palmer and the thriller/horror books of Jennifer McMahon remain at the top of my list as must reads. I am currently still working on The Dragonriders of Pern and Christopher Paolini’s Fractalverse series. These I will be talking about in future blog posts this year. For this post, dear readers, I wish to share with you a my recent reads from the holiday season.
For myself, and I assume many of you, the holidays are filled with chaos of family get togethers, cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping presents, and more cooking. My reading time greatly decreases through the months of November and December! Through the bustle of the season I was able to read an interesting mishmash of books. I hope you enjoy my holiday reading list! (Note: I am NOT a Christmas book fan unless it involves something out of the ordinary. There will ONLY be one Christmas book in this blog.)
Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R Tolkien
Lets just get the actual holiday book out of the way right away! I am a HUGE J.R.R. Tolkien fan. Imagine my fan girl squealing when I discovered he wrote an actual Christmas book! This book is really a collection of letters Tolkien wrote to his children over the years posing as Father Christmas (Santa) and his endearing side kick Polar Bear. What a cool dad! Through these letters we get a glimpse into the everyday life and traditions of Father Christmas, Polar Bear, and all of the friends they meet along the way. Each letter offers more surprises and laughs interspersed with hand drawings of scenes from the North provided by Tolkien himself. Fans of Lord of the Rings will delight in the brand new languages (Goblin and Arktic) and the epic Goblin Wars! Fans of fantasy will not be disappointed with appearances of Elven armies, The Red Gnomes of Denmark, and all the talking bears. Learn the real story and secrets of Santa in Letters From Father Christmas! (This is a very quick read and can be enjoyed in one sitting. I will be making a yearly tradition of enjoying this story before Christmas).
Click HERE to request Letters from Father Christmas!
Fairytale Baking by Christin Geweke
I did a TON of cooking and and baking over the holidays. This cookbook is NOT holiday focused. Any of these recipes can be used year round. As a bonus the book includes a different fairytale with each chapter! A fairytale and dessert!? Perfection! From this cookbook comes one of my favorite recipes: Orange Pistachio Kugelhoph. This is a recipe that originated in Germany. Back in the day, families would bake Kugelhophs on Sundays as they were an easy and scrumptious cake to make so you could spend time relaxing after church. They come in many flavors and have the consistency of a coffee cake. You will need a Bundt pan to bake this, but Mead Public Library provides pans to check out! Yay! I find this recipe a go to for myself as it is VERY easy to convert to gluten free. My husband’s family has a few members with Celiac Disease so I need to bake gluten free for gatherings on that side. When it calls for ground almonds, just use almond flour. I have found it hard to find ground almonds, so I would do this for making it normal or gluten free. (Grinding almonds by hand is a PAIN). For doing a gluten free version I like to use Pillsbury’s 1 to 1 gluten free flour. I have made a variety of treats with that and everyone, even picky non gluten free family members, enjoy them. Happy baking!
Click HERE to request Fairytale Baking!
Disney Villains Devilishly Delicious Cookbook by Julie Tremaine
A friend of mine got me this book a few Christmases ago and I have been slowly working through some of the recipes. As a huge Disney fan I love this! I pulled it off the shelf to assist me in making some appetizers to bring to one of the many celebrations I went to this season. As a fan of the classic villains I get a good chuckle imagining them serving their signature recipes! (You do not need to be a Disney fan to enjoy these tasty meals!) The two recipes I have tried so far that I have most enjoyed are the Palm of My Hand Pies and the Pint of Ale Cheese Bowl.
Palm of My Hand Pies: This recipe comes to us from the villain, Dr. Facilier, from The Princess and The Frog. If you enjoy New Orleans Cajun food I would highly encourage you to try this recipe! I was too scared to try to make mini pies as I do not have a mini pie dough cutter. Instead I made a full sized meat pie following the recipe provided. (I did change the crawfish to crab as I prefer crab). The pie turned out delicious and even my picky husband liked it! I would make again!
Pint of Ale Cheese Bowl: This recipe comes to us courtesy of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. This is the #1 beer cheese recipe that I have ever tried! I used Oktoberfest beer in the recipe. Look, I know Gaston is the villain and all, but if he came to me with a bowl of this cheese dip I would just swoon. I took this to a family gathering and my family loved it! I felt a bread bowl would be too messy to take to a gathering so I served it in a regular glass bowl and brought pretzels for dipping. I would HIGHLY recommend giving this a try! Gaston may be arrogant and vain, but he could totally win a girl over with this dip!
Click HERE to request Disney Villains Devilishly Delicious Cookbook!
Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath
For a history buff this book was a TON of fun. Each entry is very short and comes with a very cool picture of the featured woman in the style of a Disney Princess. I learned a lot reading this and had a ton of fun in the process! Even my husband looked forward to me reading a few entries to him in the evenings. History is full of strong women roll models that we just do not hear about in school or popular culture. Granted, some of these women were truly terrifying, but why should male warlords only steal the spotlight? This is NOT a kids book. At times history can be quite graphic and this books tells it like it is thumbscrews and all.
Amazing women included in this book are Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Bathory, Ida B. Wells, Boudica, and Hatshepsut. Besides these well known women MANY not as well know women are featured such as Ching Shih (princess of the chinese seas), Wu Zeitan (China’s only female emperor), Mariya Oktyabrskaya (The tank driving widow), Tomyris (The head defiling warrior queen), and Khutulun (the wrestling princess). Check out Rejected Princesses and learn about these powerful women!
Click HERE to request Rejected Princesses!
Spooky Great Lakes by S.E. Schlosser
I love scary books. In particular I enjoy ghost stories from real places that I can wonder “did that really happen?” Spooky Great Lakes is part of the Spooky series by S.E. Schlosser. This author has a Spooky book for every state including one for Wisconsin (Spooky Wisconsin), which I would also recommend. I was pulled to this particular Spooky book as I have always been fascinated by maritime history and the Great Lakes in general. I was not disappointed! Get your sea legs ready for a wild ride! In Spooky Great Lakes you will encounter ghost ships, ghost pirates, premonitions, apparitions, and sailor superstitions from each of out Great Lakes. Living so close to Lake Michigan here we are very lucky to be right next to so much lore, history, and mystery. Take a dive into the unknown in Spooky Great Lakes!
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