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A Celebration of Autumn (Mariana Books Rhyming #3)
A Celebration of Autumn (Mariana Books Rhyming #3)
Roger Carlson | 2020 | Children
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Have you wanted your child or children to learn about the seasons? Most if not all children know there are four seasons in a year. I just read another book that deals with the season we call "Fall" called "Autumn." The book's name is "A Celebration of Autumn" by Roger Carlson.

The book talks about the month changing and temperatures drop. "A Celebration of Autumn" is the third book in the series. What a fun way for this book to start. The first paragraph in this book is below:

When August fades and turn to September,
and you start to feel a nip in the air;
it can only mean one thing:
Autumn is nearly there!

Children will learn about the season. They will also learn to rhyme as well. Kids will want their older siblings or parents to read this book repeatedly if it's not a favorite already. What fun activities can children come up with that goes on during this season. The illustrations are colorful and bright. The colors remain shown and represented nicely throughout the book.

I know they mention two autumn holidays that we celebrate during this time. Can you name them? We have fun and games for one and the other we get together as a family to have a meal. Autumn is when children are getting ready to go to school or started school for the year. I am surprised the school does not get a mention in the book. It deals with the different seasonal changes and temperatures that we deal with this season.
  
Santa Claus Worldwide
Santa Claus Worldwide
Tom A. Jerman | 2020 | Biography, History & Politics
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Are you into learning about Santa Claus or how he came about? I have found a book that is called “Santa Claus Worldwide” by Tom A. Jerman; it a decent and excellent book. I learned quite a bit about Christmas and some of the many holidays. The history is not bad.

This book is primarily nonfiction and stands set on the history of Santa Claus. How it the name Santa Claus come about? The many different characters that Santa Claus exists and become. You will be surprised at how many other names are associated, and these lovely children call him.

You will learn a bit about the origin of Christmas and Santa Claus. I learned much about how the Christmas tradition came about and how it changed over the years. What we know about our Christmas traditions today differs from when they first came about and how our practices have evolved.

This book is okay for me. It was not rated low because of how it was written. It was slow and tedious for my taste. Suppose you are a fan of nonfiction books and would enjoy learning about the history of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift Bringers. In that case, This book may be just for you. I enjoy learning about St. Nicholas and the many other holiday gift-bringers. I just thought it was not for me. But not where I did not understand what it was about. This book was okay, and I enjoyed learning new history.
  
Reap This Three: Getting Back Mine (Oh So Happy Holidays #3)
Reap This Three: Getting Back Mine (Oh So Happy Holidays #3)
Rafe Jadison | 2021 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
REAP THIS THREE: GETTING BACK MINE is the third and final book in the Oh So Happy Holidays series. I would definitely read this as a series, or at the very least, read book 1 before this - which is the beginning of Seamus and Mine's story.

In the seemingly hopeless quest to get back Mine, we travel to the past, once to the time of the Witch Trials, and then further back to before the places we know even exist.

For me, this book is split into parts - Before, Witch Trials, Beginning, and After. If I'm being completely honest (which I always am in my reviews), I loved Before, adored and cried at the Witch Trials, enjoyed Beginning, and smiled at After. Make of that what you will!

I'm really REALLY hoping for more. I don't know if I'm quite ready to let go of Seamus, Mine, and family. The ending didn't leave me with a feeling of finality, so who knows? Maybe if I whinge and whine at Mr Jadison, he may relent. But then, I felt the same way after books one AND two, so maybe I'm just very greedy *grabby hands*!

A brilliant story and series that I have thoroughly enjoyed, and have no hesitation at all in recommending!

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 30, 2021
  
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Merissa (11958 KP) rated Reap This Too (Oh So Happy Holidays #2) in Books

Nov 11, 2020 (Updated Aug 14, 2023)  
Reap This Too (Oh So Happy Holidays #2)
Reap This Too (Oh So Happy Holidays #2)
Rafe Jadison | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reap This Too is the second book in the Oh So Happy Holidays series and this time we meet up with Ian, Seamus' brother. He has been more interested in travelling than learning which colour candle means what but some of the things have stayed with him.

This is a fast-paced novella that takes you from the pyramids in Giza to Boston, just in time for Samhain. Seamus is there, of course, and we even get a cameo from Mine - but not in the way I hoped!!!

I think it would help if you have read book one because previous circumstances are mentioned in that book and it would give you a better idea of their family too. However, you COULD read this as a standalone if you really had to.

The connection between Khnurn and Ian is instantaneous but there is a depth to it that comes from their previous associations. I loved how sneaky Khnurn was toward the end and I'm sure these two have more adventures to tell us.

All in all, this was a great seasonal read with characters I either know and love or have loved getting to know. A great addition to the series and one I highly recommend. I just hope Mr Jadison has another story planned for Seamus and Mine!!!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 11, 2020
  
The Boyfriend Swap
The Boyfriend Swap
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Robyn and Sydney are similar in many ways. They are both successful in their careers. Robyn is a music teacher and Sydney is a lawyer. They both have boyfriends that are very attractive. They also both don't want to take the boyfriends home with them for the holidays. For Robyn, her family is tired of seeing her with artsy men who have no future. For Sydney, she is tired of her father monopolizing the holiday with shop talk. The holidays are supposed to be fun, not judgmental and hostile. So, even though they've just met, Sydney comes up with brilliant idea, swap boyfriends for the holiday. It's just a few days, what's the harm? When Robyn finds out Sydney is dating her childhood crush, will she be able to hold it together? And how will her family handle this? Is this swap really such a good idea?

Thank you to Meredith Schorr, NetGalley, and Henery Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

First of all, I'm not sure this is something I would have ever been able to do. To trade boyfriends at all, but with someone I don't even know. I'm not sure it would work out for me. It's been a while since I've read a book quite like this. It was cute and quirky and I can easily see this being made into a movie.

Robyn's Story
For Robyn, whenever she brings home a guy who is good to her, she has fun with, and is artsy like her parents, they let her know that he is not the right guy for her. She needs a guy with a steady job someone with a 401K and a savings account. Robyn and her boyfriend Perry have been together for almost a year, and they have a lot of fun together. But is he really, "The One"?
Bringing home Will is going to shock the hell out of her family. He was her childhood crush and now he's pretending to be her boyfriend. Will she be able to keep up the farce over the few days they spend with her family or will the secret be revealed before it's even started?

Sydney's Story
Sydney has to bring home a date for Christmas. If not her parents will try to set her up with some hideous guy she would never be interested in, but would be good for business. And she doesn't want to bring home Will. Will is a lawyer just like Sydney, and like Sydney's father. If she brings him home, all her father will do the entire time is try to recruit him to their law firm, and Sydney doesn't want to subject him to that. She also likes keeping her personal life to herself.
When Sydney brings Perry to the family dinner, she is surprised at how well her family likes him. This was not how she had planned this to go. And then when Perry deviates from her script, it makes things even worse. Will they be able to make it through the holiday without killing each other.

This book was a funny, romantic read that had me routing for one character to the end. This is the first book I have read by Meredith Schorr, but it won't be my last. I look forward to reading more of her books.
  
Vacation (2015)
Vacation (2015)
2015 | Action, Comedy
7
6.4 (11 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Family holidays will never be the same
It was 1983 when Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo made the infamous decision to take their family across the US to “America’s Favourite Family Fun Park” in National Lampoon’s Vacation.

Being the best in the long-running series, it seemed natural for it to receive a fully-fledged sequel of some kind, but it has taken up until now to get the balance right, but does Vacation evoke memories of that brilliant road-trip comedy?

Ed Helms takes on the role of an adult Rusty Griswold as he, like his father makes the epic trip to Walley World theme park alongside his long-suffering wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and his two sons James and Kevin, played by Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins respectively.

Everybody’s favourite thunder-god, Chris Hemsworth makes a rather revealing cameo as Rusty’s brother-in-law and ladies’ man, Stone Crandall, and helps lift Vacation out of what could have been a half-way lull.

Naturally, there are many tasteful references to its predecessor but this isn’t just a lesson in comedy history. Writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley inject some much-needed modern humour into the film – this is most definitely a movie from the 21st Century.

Ed Helms and Christina Applegate have real chemistry as the married couple but it is in their children that most of the laughs are. James and Kevin are the stereotypical, bickering siblings but like everything in Vacation they are turned up to eleven.

From raw sewage infested hot springs to a would-be maniac truck driver, the gags on the whole hit the spot every single time – by no means an easy feat when writing a comedy over 90 minutes in length. There are a couple of ill-placed laughs like a Four Corners police brawl that threaten to stop the film in its tracks, but thankfully these are few and far between.

Short but sweet cameos for Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo towards the climax anchor Vacation to what came before it and it’s nice that the writers didn’t forget to honour those roots in more ways than sickly nostalgia.

The direction is also positively inspired. Acting like a tourist brochure for the USA, Vacation makes you feel like you’re part of the vast locations. From desolate highways to bustling cities, it’s all here and beautifully shot.

Unfortunately the plot seems to run a little out of steam towards the end. After all, there’s only so much déjà vu a story can take and it seems that the writers put all their best work in the first two thirds of the movie, as is the case with many films in the genre.

Nevertheless, Vacation is a confident film that knows exactly what it’s trying to be. Acting as a standalone comedy for newcomers and a decent sequel for fans of the original, it has something for everyone.

The acting is sublime and the casting choices are spot on, only a lacklustre final third pull it back from the edge of glory.

I probably won’t be planning that road trip any time soon.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2015/08/23/family-holidays-will-never-be-the-same-vacation-review/
  
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