Monthly Archives: December 2014

Bookish Talk, Lists

Christmas Wish List

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Wrapped Gift

I am trying so hard this year to make the holidays enjoyable while keeping it simple. I’ve been pretty good so far. Some events were combined into one, serving double-duty, and that has helped a lot. Usually I have a small list of things I’d like to have for myself, but this year I really don’t want anything besides time to do the things I love.

That being said, this year’s list is a little different:

  • Time to sip lattes and look at Christmas lights. Maybe I should make it hot apple cider after that last blood pressure reading.
  • Time to read at least a couple of books from my review copy stash. I have so many.
  • Time to watch the following movies (Jingle All The Way (watched!), Christmas Vacation, Christmas with the Kranks, Deck the Halls, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Family Stone, Elf, Love Actually, A Christmas Story, White Christmas, all the old claymation faves like Rudolph and Frosty and I’d like to add at least one more holiday classic that I haven’t seen like Holiday Inn. Oh, and Die Hard and Lethal Weapon somehow end up in the mix when the Hub and Teen show up.
  • Time to enjoy the Christmas meal like a normal person. I just made reservations for Christmas so I am really looking forward to a day without cooking. I plan to savor every bite.
  • Time to listen to some music, whether it be holiday music or just music in general. I don’t listen to music enough and I really enjoy classical pieces.

What’s on your Christmas list this year? Also, (here’s where I get a little serious) if you are struggling this year and just need some positive thoughts or prayers, let me know. I don’t mention it enough but the daily interactions with all of you matter a lot to me and I would be more than happy to pray or think happy thoughts for you.

Book Review

Review: A Gathering of Old Men

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A Gathering of Old MenA Gathering of Old Men
By Ernest J. Gaines
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780679738909, June 1992, 224pp.)

The Short of It:

A short but powerful read.

The Rest of It:

Borrowed from Goodreads:

Set on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation in the 1970s, A Gathering of Old Men is a powerful depiction of racial tensions arising over the death of a Cajun farmer at the hands of a black man.

If you’ve been watching the news lately, racial tension is at an all-time high. How fitting that our book club chose A Gathering of Old Men for this month’s meeting. Of course, we picked the book back in January so we had no idea how it would mesh with current events but mesh, it certainly does.

The story is told very simply and perhaps that is what makes it so powerful. The book opens with the death of a Cajun farmer and in order to protect the person who did it, Candy, a white woman, confesses to the crime. Realizing that many will not believe her story, she gathers a group of elderly black men, all with shotguns, thinking that it will be impossible to investigate the crime if she and others come forward and take responsibility for what happened.

This story has many narrators, all of them distinct. With so many narrators, sometimes it’s hard to follow a story through but I enjoyed the different points of view. This is a book that you should take some time reading. It’s short but there is a lot to digest and think about. And when these men come together to stand-up for what they believe in, the outcome is somewhat unexpected.

My book club will be discussing this book during the holiday gathering that we have every year so I hope we actually get to discuss the book. I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts.

Source: Borrowed
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