Reading.

thanks for the link to Soule Mama. i was wondering if you have suggestions for 1st Christmas gifts from anna & simon's 1st Christmas? our baby girl, madison, will be 8 months on Christmas day.

Mary Oliver is so marvelous. I saw her speak last fall at our community college on Cape. She was as wonderful in person as on her pages. My favorite: On Angels and Trees.

I just read a book called "The Sabbath World" also about the Sabbath--I'll have to check out this one!

Oh, man do I love Mary Oliver! She is hands down my favorite poet.

We have a tradition that we have done for many years that helps us slow down during the busy-ness of Christmas. Around Thanksgiving I wrap up all our Christmas/winter books and put them under the family room tree (we put up two trees). Every night in December someone chooses a book to unwrap and we read it together as a family. My youngest child is 11 and we still enjoy this tradition. Sometimes we all have a cup of hot chocolate, sometimes I have a special treat, sometimes we barely have time to read one of the short books, but it is a great tradition!

A great book that we love is called Red Ranger Came Calling by Berekly Breathed. A really good story!!

I love Ken Follett... he's quite prolific...but keeps your attention. Enjoy.

I am excited to pull out our Christmas books as well. I have a weakness for children's literature and buy so many books. The Christmas ones are my favorite. If you don't have it already, I highly recommend the book "Santa Calls". The book is beautifully written with incredible illustrations. The story is so wonderful that I get goosebumps and tear up each time I read it. If you are looking to add to your collection, this one will not disappoint.

http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Calls-William-Joyce/dp/0060211334/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290034121&sr=8-1#_

There is one book that I save for Christmas Eve when everything is done. I put my tired feet up, grab a little spiked egg-nogg and read " A Round of Applause for Mrs. Claus". Every tired mama desired copy.

I also like Mary Oliver. Another poetry book I love is called, I Saw God Dancing, by Cheryl Denise--a wonderful, earthy poet. The author grew up as a Mennonite, in Canada and now lives in the U.S. She writes poetry you can understand--you might want to try her book--Amazon carries it.

Even though I don't have children, I always read "The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas" by Madeleine L'Engle and "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson every December. Great stories to get me in the Christmas spirit!

I found this treasure in a thrift store: The Christmas Tree by Julie Salamon. From the book jacket, "The Christmas Tree is about growth, learning to love, and, finally, being able to share that lovw with others, allowing it to be reborn, remembered and cherished forever." It's narrated by the chief gardener from Rockefeller Center and although it is a work of fiction, it wa inspired by an actual event. It is such a beautiful Christmas story. I loved the story so much and I know my 10 year old will too. Ironically, the little girl's name in the story is Anna!! :)

i picked up the book basket tip from you a few years ago... now the basket and types of books rotate with each month! love looking forward to a new metal red bucket this year and adding some readers for my 5 1/2 year old!!! thanks, Ali!

I just added two more to our growing collection today. Right now Ella still believes, but I wonder for how much longer :(

Ali, I wanted to recommend Bill Bryon's "At Home: a short history of private life" to you. It's a sort of history of houses and the rooms and furniture in them, and how our concept of housing, comfort, and standards of living evolved over the last several centuries. He talks a lot about how everyday life used to be, how it is now, and how it got that way. As a bonus, it's also tremendously funny - seems like a book you'd enjoy, ties right in with a lot of the themes that are important to you.

Ali, I love your blog and wish my kids were still small. You have such great ideas. Although my youngest of 3 children is 15, we still like to read Christmas books together. One of their all time favorites is "Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree" and when it first came out (and pre-movie alteration) the beautiful story "The Polar Express". We have many and like you they are packed up until after Thanksgiving.

I love to read and and am writing down all of these suggestions.

I too put the Christmas books away with our decorations Ali, and am excited to get everything out after Thanksgiving. I have really had the Christmas spirit early this year, humming Christmas songs and planning gifts, the Christmas card, and baking. Usually I don't even think about it until after Thanksgiving. Our favorite Christmas read aloud is The Littlest Angel. Looking forward to snuggling up and reading all together.

I just started Fall of Giants too. I'm excited to read it, I love Ken Follett. If you like this one, you need to read Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. Two of my favorite books ever!

Mary Oliver is fabulous....one of my favorites too!

Just ordered Sabbath for $1.39 at half.com.