From the turkey and stuffing to all of the fixin's... Who's cooking your Thanksgiving dinner this year? What dish are you most looking forward to?

My mom, aunt and uncle are coming into town and we're going to eat at a restaurant at the Inner Harbor.  (Very excited; I hear the food's great.)

Thanksgiving isn't one of my favorite meals (turkey and mashed potatoes are okay, but I hate stuffing), but I do love pumpkin pie. :)  So that's what I'm looking forward to the most--pumpkin pie.  (And also sleep.)

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Finished An Amish Christmas by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller & Barbara Cameron for Thomas Nelson.

An Amish Christmas is three novellas, all set in Paradise (town in Pennsylvania).  They're interconnected (characters from one pop up in the other two) but also standalones so if for whatever reason you don't read them all at once, you can follow each one without remembering the other two.

(But good luck not reading them all at once.)

The three stories are all really good, but I think my favorite was A Choice to Forgive (the one by Beth Wiseman).  But that in no way indicates that I didn't love A Miracle for Miriam (Kathleen Fuller) and One Child (Barbara Cameron), too.

The book opens with A Miracle for Miriam, which is about a woman with incredibly low self-esteem who finds herself being courted by Seth.  In school, Seth was the most popular boy and he broke Miriam's heart.  But now he's older and wiser and wants to make it up to her.  But can she trust him?  (And, more importantly, should she?)

Then there's A Choice to Forgive.  Lydia is a young widow with three children.  Her dead husband is the brother of her first love (Daniel), who broke her heart when he vanished on Christmas.  Except now he's back and he wants to be re-baptized into the faith.  He clearly still likes Lydia, but can she get over her hurt (and feeling like she's betraying her husband by wanting his brother)?

And finally One Child.  Sarah and her husband are still grieving the baby they lost over Christmas a year ago.  Then, during a really bad blizzard, a very pregnant Englisch woman and her husband show up.  They had a car accident and need somewhere to stay.  Sarah has to help a woman with the only thing she wants and lacks: a baby.

This book also has discussion questions and recipes. 

This would be an excellent stocking stuffer for a girlfriend of yours who reads.  (Especially if she has a fascination with the Amish, which I think most of us do.  Or is that just me?)

An Amish Christmas: A Choice to Forgive/A Miracle for Miriam/One Child (Inspirational Amish Christmas Romance Collection)

Beth Wiseman

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Finished Shadowland by Alyson Noel.  This is the third book in her Immortals series, after Evermore and Blue Moon.

I couldn't really discuss the plot of Blue Moon because of spoilers, and it's even harder to discuss this one.  I think it's my favorite of the three, so you can imagine my annoyance that book four isn't due out until next summer.

(But then this one was supposed to come out in February, so maybe Dark Flame will come out early, too?)

Anyway.  Ever and Damen are trying to be together, even after the bad events at the end of Blue Moon.  Except now there's this new guy she's met and she feels drawn to him, too. 

I cannot wait to see what happens next.  (And really, how rare is it to find a series that keeps getting better?)

Shadowland: The Immortals

Alyson Noel

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Finished Liar by Justine Larbalestier.

This is one of those books where it's almost impossible to discuss with someone who hasn't read it.

Micah is a compulsive liar and she's also the narrator of this book.  Her boyfriend--or the guy in her classes who she says is her boyfriend--is found murdered and she's a suspect.  She says she didn't do it. 

This is a weird, complicated book.  I liked it, but I'm not entirely sure what happened.  (I know what Micah's said, but I'm not sure what's the truth.) 

If you don't mind books that make you work, this is a great read. :)

Liar

Justine Larbalestier

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I have Thursday and Friday off this coming week, which means that I will get a Thanksgiving like real people. :)  And what makes it even better is that my family's coming to Baltimore and we're going to have dinner at one of the restaurants downtown.

(By the time I leave work Wednesday night, I'll have worked seven days in a row and I will not be in the mood to drive to Salisbury on Thursday and back home on Friday.)

So yay! :)

In a perfect world, I'd get a lot of reading done, say, some of the books that I got on my recent Amazon binge:

Liar

Justine Larbalestier

Marcelo in the Real World

Francisco Stork

Beautiful Creatures

Kami Garcia

King of the Screwups

K. L. Going

A Friend of the Family

Lauren Grodstein

Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity

Lauren Winner

Scribbler of Dreams

Mary E. Pearson

A Room on Lorelei Street

Mary E. Pearson

Or the book I have coming from Thomas Nelson:

An Amish Christmas: A Choice to Forgive/A Miracle for Miriam/One Child (Inspirational Amish Christmas Romance Collection)

Beth Wiseman

Or the book I have coming from a contest I won (thanks, Emily!):

The Phantom Tollbooth

Norton Juster

OR I could watch movies:

The Proposal (Single Disc Widescreen)

Observe and Report

Live at the Roxy

But most likely?  Most likely I'll be facedown in pumpkin pie.  We may go to the movies (if we can find a movie we'll all agree on, which is unlikely) and I think my mom and I are going shopping on Black Friday, which will likely mean that I will need a bunch of caffeine beforehand and even more vodka- or tequila-based drinks after.

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Finished Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner.

As detailed in her memoir Girl Meets God (which is amazing and a must-read, in the world according to me), she was an Orthodox Jew before converting to Christianity.  In this book, she talks about 11 specific things Jews do that would possibly enrich Christian lives.

For example, she says that much of Judaism is an action--specific prayers, for instance, and rituals--and there tend not to be counterparts for that in Christianity.

So she compares and contrasts things like weddings and the Sabbath/Shabbat and mourning and even eating. 

I think the mourning chapter was my favorite (I know, right?) but it's so fascinating and, I think, appropriate the way the Jewish faith deals with mourning.  (It's broken up into specific segments--the first week is the one most people have heard of, where the bereaved sit shiva and don't leave the house.  But then there's another month where each Shabbat, they get increasingly involved back in their lives (specifically getting more involved in synagogue again).  And then there's the rest of the first year of mourning.  There are specific prayers and rituals, and I think it's just a really meaningful thing that makes a lot of sense.  Mourning isn't something that's done by the time the funeral's over.

Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Disciplines (Pocket Classics)

Lauren F. Winner

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Finished Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner.

As detailed in her memoir Girl Meets God (which is amazing and a must-read, in the world according to me), she was an Orthodox Jew before converting to Christianity.  In this book, she talks about 11 specific things Jews do that would possibly enrich Christian lives.

For example, she says that much of Judaism is an action--specific prayers, for instance, and rituals--and there tend not to be counterparts for that in Christianity.

So she compares and contrasts things like weddings and the Sabbath/Shabbat and mourning and even eating. 

I think the mourning chapter was my favorite (I know, right?) but it's so fascinating and, I think, appropriate the way the Jewish faith deals with mourning.  (It's broken up into specific segments--the first week is the one most people have heard of, where the bereaved sit shiva and don't leave the house.  But then there's another month where each Shabbat, they get increasingly involved back in their lives (specifically getting more involved in synagogue again).  And then there's the rest of the first year of mourning.  There are specific prayers and rituals, and I think it's just a really meaningful thing that makes a lot of sense.  Mourning isn't something that's done by the time the funeral's over.

Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Disciplines (Pocket Classics)

Lauren F. Winner

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Finished The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate.

I absolutely loved this book. :)  I've read all her books (this is the eighth, I think) and this is my favorite.

Rebecca Strand is not doing so well.  Her job isn't a perfect fit (she's a paralegal at a divorce law firm, and she's surrounded by angry couples all day) and things aren't right with her boyfriend either (he's a partner at her firm).  But the worst thing is that her dad's dying of cancer.  And one day, not long before the end, he tells her that she has a half-sister that she didn't know about, one who's two years younger than she is (making the sister 26).

After her dad dies, Rebecca heads to Maine, where her sister (Joy--so the title's clever) lives.  She has this big fantasy that she and Joy will be insta-BFF, but Joy's not so excited to meet her back.  So now Rebecca has to figure out what to do with her life and how to make Joy her sister.

I think part of the reason I loved this book so much is that a lot of it is true for me, too.  It's not exactly right--my dad did die of cancer and I do have a half-sister, but from my biological father, not my dad.  But it's hard, because she's 10 years younger than me and we're not close.  And we may never be, but that's okay.  There's a line in the book that Joy says, and it's something like, "We're not sisters. We're related by DNA."  (That is not an exact quote.)

And that's the thing.  My best friend Jen is my sister.  Meredith and I are related by DNA.  (And not even good DNA; our biological father is an ass.)  But I think most people get the distinction.  There are people that you consider family and there are those that you're related to.  And "family" doesn't always mean that there's a blood tie.

But her books are always good, so even without the weird family dynamics I have, I bet you'll like it. :)

The Secret of Joy

Melissa Senate

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Finished The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley for Bethany House.

I really enjoyed this book--it's a compelling, sweet story about a mother's love for her son.  Mary is a single mom and her eight-year-old son, Jack, is deaf and mute.  They're also on the run from her husband, who is not a very nice person.  It's hard for her to find jobs, because she has to keep him with her and most would-be bosses frown on that.

Then it turns out that her son is sort of psychic, and this is sort of a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, it's possible to turn that into money (money = security) and on the other, it brings attention (attention = possibly being found by the ex).

I recommend this for anyone who's in the mood for something uplifting.

Silent Gift, The

Michael Landon

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Finished A Measure of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling for Bethany House.

This is the start of a new saga set in Blessing.  I was able to follow this even though I hadn't read any of the other books set there, but I think it would've added a lot to the experience if I had read the others.

Astrid is training to be a doctor (and this is set in the early 1900s, so awesome!) and considering whether or not to go to Chicago for further training.  (It would be a good idea, but it's probably not strictly necessary, as it isn't like their clinic gets a ton of patients all the time.)

To further complicate things, she meets a guy. 

That's about all you need to know, plot-wise. :) 

This is also a Christian novel, and the characters pray and praise God a lot.  (A LOT.)  So if this would be a turn-off for you, you should probably not read this book.  :)  It's not like there are a couple mentions and that's it; these people love God.

The book ends on a cliffhanger of sorts (not a Hunger Games-type of cliffhanger, but you will definitely want to know what happens next).  There are also multiple narrators, which was a bit of a problem for me, because I really only cared about Astrid, not about the other people.  (I think this is because I haven't read the other books.)

Measure of Mercy, A (Home to Blessing)

Lauraine Snelling

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