Book Chatter

National-Lampoons-Christmas-Vacation — National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Let’s see, it’s already November 15th so it took me awhile to even write this post, but I noticed that as soon as November 1st hit, so did Christmas. No kidding! I know some of you have noticed it too. It seems the stores have completely forgotten about Thanksgiving and that’s a shame, because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for many, many reasons. Why rush it?

I adore Thanksgiving because of our annual Thanksgiving in PJ’s tradition. If you are new to the blog, you may not know but after years and years of hosting and forcing my family to take the all important Christmas card photo, The Teen and Girl told me that they really hated that aspect of Thanksgiving. The FORCED stuff. The nice clothing, the having to drop everything to take the damn pic, the fact that there is always some sort of drama to be had. Oh, and the Hub hated it too. In the midst of all of it I’d be cooking a freakin’ meal, sweating up a storm in my Christmas sweater. So when the kids (and hub) complained, I listened.

From that point on, we stay in PJs. We eat, we watch movies, we eat. Sometimes we do puzzles or play a game but there are no rules really and it’s made the holiday SO wonderful. Oh, and we don’t have anyone over either. It’s just us and the Otter Pup and we like it that way!

So for the stores and everyone else to rush us into Christmas so early, I gotta say that it saddens me. I love Christmas music and I do admit to breaking it out early because it eases me into a holiday that is wrought with commercialism but the stores. Geesh. I went out on November 1st and the decorations were up around town. TREES were up. People had lights up. Come on. I like Christmas for the traditional stuff (baking, the decor, the holiday drink menu, etc.) but the stores. Ugh. It pains me. Putting the stuff up early means that people buy the stuff early and then what? They just keep buying! Why? Because they can! I hate to think of all the families going into debt. We’ve been there. It’s not fun to take an entire year to pay off Christmas. Don’t do it.

Instead, buy a few gifts, make a few gifts, see a play or concert, check out the Christmas lights, drink eggnog, make cookies (and eat them!), visit with friends, read a great book (or six), stay in and watch Christmas Vacation, make soup, build a gingerbread house, cozy up by the fire and take a nap, make peppermint hot cocoa, watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.

You get the idea. It’s so easy to be overwhelmed by the obligation to buy stuff. Do family gifts. Auto Club memberships, zoo and museum memberships mean that that family will get to enjoy your gift ALL year long. With everything going on in my life right now, this return to simplicity almost seems like a requirement to me, not a choice. I am sick of electronics and gadgets and the need to keep up with all of them. Yes, it’s my job but it blows sometimes. I want simple back.

Don’t forget about Thanksgiving this year. It’s a wonderful time to spend with family and friends and it shouldn’t be skipped. I am SO looking forward to it and there is no way in heck, that you will see me in a store shopping on Thanksgiving day! No way.

Now that I got all of that off my chest, what do you have planned for Thanksgiving? Any new recipes to try? I am actually craving banana cream pie so I may make one in addition to the traditional pumpkin pie that we normally have.

Doctor Sleep
By Stephen King
(Scribner, Hardcover, 9781476727653, September 2013, 544pp.)

The Short of It:

A solid follow-up to The Shining as far as the story goes, but I was disappointed with the execution.

The Rest of It:

Readers of this blog know that I am a King fan through and through. A Constant Reader, if you will. He writes a book, and I read it no matter what it’s about because the man can write. And yes, I did enjoy The Shining quite a bit and for those of you that aren’t in the know, Doctor Sleep is the sequel to that much-loved book. So going in, King had a lot up against him since the first book was written so many years ago and written when he was battling alcoholism. I’m sure that writing Doctor Sleep in a sober state presented its own challenges too.

But, I was not all that impressed with Doctor Sleep and it pains me a little to say it. The story is a about a young man, Dan Torrance, who finds himself battling the demons of his youth. He sees things and he has special talents that even he has yet to fully understand. He’s also an alcoholic because the drink, is just about the only thing that puts his “shining” to rest. As he moves through life, he encounters a young girl who shares his talent and the two get to know each other quite well when they are forced to fight a band of wandering life suckers called the True Knot.

Doctor Sleep is ultimately a battle between the good and the not-so-good. Some of the characters are more developed than others. I felt that King took more time with Dan and I expected that since he is one of the original characters from The Shining. But Abra, the young girl he encounters, seemed cartoonish to me. I had a problem with her age. She felt younger to me than she was. I also had a problem with the main villain, Rose. I never really saw her as a viable threat and I think that is what really disappointed me about the book. You need a really evil villain, one that you can really remember, and Rose was weak in my opinion.

The ending wrapped-up too quickly, whereas other parts of the story seemed to plod along. Was it entertaining? Yes. I’d say that most of King’s books are and there are glimmers of wonderful-ness here and there, but overall, it was a little too safe for me to love it. However, I did feel as if King did Dan justice in the story itself. It was not a bad story line at all. I just wish it had finished a little stronger than it did.

I read this as part of a read along so if you are interested in those posts, you can read them below. I never did a final wrap-up post, just this review so count this as the wrap-up!

Doctor Sleep Read Along (Chapters 1-6)

Doctor Sleep Read Along (Chapters 7-13)

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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