Endless Christmas // Book Review

9 days left until Christmas!! Have you got all your Christmas shopping done? I haven't yet.... Hopefully on Tuesday though!

Today I will be sharing a book review.

About the Book:
Both in their eighties, Dodie and Wilson Binder celebrate every Christmas as if it were their last. This year, their only grandson, Micah, asks his girlfriend, Katie, to marry him -- in front of the whole Binder family. But things go terribly wrong when she says no. Now Katie is stuck. Too many people, too much snow, and too little room should be a recipe for disaster. But, sometimes too much is just enough. Especially, when it's Christmas.
Will Katie let herself love and be loved before it is too late?


This is the first book I've ever read by this author. It was really enjoyable. I honestly wasn't sure if it would be a book I'd like or not, but it was on sale on CBD so I decided to pick it up. A friend of mine and I decided to read this book together which made it fun, but I also really enjoyed the story! It was so sweet. Micah is such a great guy and I enjoyed reading about Katie and his relationship. The whole Binder family was so fun, although I couldn't keep track of everyone. ;) I enjoyed this book quite a bit and it's probably one I'd read again sometime.

I give this book 8.5 R's out of 10

You won't want to miss Faith's post for today, so don't forget to hop on over to her blog if you haven't already!

Favorite Christmas Movies - Part 1 // Video

Welcome to day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas blog party! Are you having as much fun with this party as I am?
I love a great Christmas movie. In this video I share some of my favorites! :)


What's one of your favorite Christmas movies?
Don't forget to check out Faith's blog to see her fun post and to find all of the links to the other bloggers posting today!

Christmastime is Here ~ 12 Days of Christmas and a Book Review

Christmas is only 12 days away!!!! It's really sneaking up!
Today is also the very fabulous, fantastic, fun 12 Days of Christmas blog party hosted by my dear friend, Faith over at Stories by Firefly! This is the 4th year Faith has put on this party and also the 4th year I've participated.

I'll be doing a fun, Christmas related post each day through Christmas Day. Faith will too. You should totally check out her blog each day as well. Not only will she have a fun post going up each day, she'll also be linking to the other participants posts. These next two weeks will be very fun!
For my first post I will be doing a book review.

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From the Back Cover: Christmas is coming, but this year feels different for Alyssa Sing. Not only is she in Florida instead of the snowy Northeast, but Alyssa misses having good friends like she did in her knitting club at her old school. Things seem to look up at the Palm Meadows Holiday Festival when Alyssa meets Rachel, Elle, and Becca, who all show an interest in Alyssa's homemade scarves. But trouble arises when Alyssa finds out her new friends used to be friends with each other...but aren't anymore. While Alyssa is glad to have Dasher, a mysterious cat that appears in her backyard, to confide in as she navigates her new school, she can't help but wonder: Will Florida ever feel like home?


This is a fun, sweet book. I recently read this book to see if it would be okay to give to my book club girls, ranging in ages from 9-13, and yes, it passed the test! It was a fun book about a girl and her family moving to Florida and the main girl Alyssa getting used to a new state that has no snow, and settling into school and making new friends. Alyssa really enjoys spending time with her new friends, but she soon realizes that her new friends used to be friends with each other but aren’t anymore. So Alyssa sets out to try and mend those friendships. Even with that part of the story there really wasn’t all of that drama that some books have. It’s an appropriate book that is great for younger reader and one that older readers may find enjoyable as well. 

I give this book 8 R's out of 10

Are you as excited about The 12 Days of Christmas link-up as I am?

The Baby Name Challenge Tag

Victoria, over at Victoria’s Book Nook tagged me for the Baby Name Challenge Tag.  

1 // What are your favorite boy and girl name from the top 100 of the year?
Girl:  Elizabeth
Boy: William

2 // What are your least favorite boy and girl name from the top 100 of the year? 
Girl: Penelope
Boy: Oliver

3 // If you had twins, what would you name them?
Girls: Ashleigh and April

4 // If you could change your name to anything, what would you change it to?
Well I do like my name, but if I had to change it I would go with my middle name: Ashleigh

5 // If you had four children, any gender, all with the same letter, what would their names be?
Ashleigh
April
Autumn
Andrew

6 // What is your favorite animal inspired name?
Umm…none?

7 // What is your favorite color inspired name?
Girl:Violet
Boy: I have no idea. ;)

8 // What are your top three favorite boy names?
William, Samuel, Eli

9 // What are your top three favorite girl names?
Ashleigh, April, and Elizabeth. I also like Laura though.

10 // What is your favorite month inspired name?
Girl: April  — No surprise there!
Boy: August...? — I’m not actually a big fan of this name but it seems to be one of the only month names for a boy.

11 // Choose a name from a movie.
Girl: Caroline (Little House on the Prairie)
Boy: Lee (When Calls the Heart)


12 // Choose a name that is already in your family.
Girl: Samantha— I have a cousin with this name
Boy: Andrew — One of my cousin’s husband has this name

13 // Choose a name from a book.
Girl: Natalie (Child of Mine)
Boy: Troy (Circle C Adventures)


That tag was a bit hard because I'm not that good at coming up with names.

Books I Read in November // Book Video

Here's my video for the books I read in November!



Thanks for watching!! =)

Behold Blog Tour

Today is the release day for my good friend, Faith's, newest book! It's a collection of Christmas short stories. The fun thing is that today is Pearl Harbor Day and a few of these short stories take place during World War II.

About the Book:
A collection of short stories honoring the birth of the Savior
From two siblings caught up in the harrowing days of World War II to separated foster children in the US...
From a memorable road trip across the Southeast to the reunion of a war-torn family...
You’ll be swept into the Christmas spirit with the endearing stories tucked inside these pages. The storylines range from family to romance to the bond of community, with settings scattered across America and beyond.
Behold the beauty of the Savior’s birth with this gathering of stories that warm the soul and bless the heart.



My Review:
Behold is a wonderful Christmas book with four short stories in it. Each story was amazing and felt so Christmasy. Not only that, each story had the true meaning of Christmas in it.
The last story is about Charity and Ryder from Dandelion Dust. So if you’ve read that particular book, this last story will be especially fun! If you haven’t read Dandelion Dust then you should definitely give it a try!
A lovely Christmas book that I'll definitely be reading many more times!

You can buy it on Amazon!

You can also add it on Goodreads!

Author Bio

Saved by God’s grace, Faith Potts is a teenage writer and homeschool graduate, living with her family and beloved yellow labs in the North Carolina mountains. When she’s not weaving stories, consuming large amounts of coffee, reading stacks of books, or studying American Sign Language, she can be found laughing harder than is healthy, daydreaming, and—of course—blowing dandelions.

Blog

Website

Facebook
Instagram

Goodreads

There's also a giveaway that you won't want to miss!!

First place:​​ paperback copy of Behold

Second place: ​​ebook copy of Behold

Go here to enter!

Thanksgiving, A Trip to the Zoo, and the Hallmark Store ~ My November Highlights

November was another great month!!!

~I started off the month with a girls night with two friends of mine! We watched some fun movies and had lovely chats.

~My mom, sister, and I went shopping the first Saturday of the month. We bought some fun Christmas decorations, along with stuff to put in the Operation Christmas Child boxes. We also went to the Hallmark store!! I got a fun shirt and a bracelet

~My uncle came to visit for a few days. It was a lot of fun seeing him again! My uncle, grandparents, and and my mom and siblings came to get lunch at the deli that I work at. It was fun seeing them all. (My uncle is a good tipper too! ;))

~A friend and I went to this book sale thing. It wasn't actually a sale though because all of the books were free. We both got some stuff, but it was crazy! Tons of people!

~I started watching Hallmark Christmas movies!!!!!

~On November 19, my mom, and my two younger brothers went into town. I got the day off work and I had a ton of fun!!!
We got lunch at Chick-Fil-A, went to the library, and went to the zoo!! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

 Going down the slide at the zoo

 

Picking up speed

 Falling off the slide.  We don't have a picture of this, but after falling off the slide I kind of went flying and landed on my stomach. ;)

 Having fun on the animals...and sliding right off it....(yes, I did fall all the way off. ;))

My brothers and I

~Thanksgiving was a fun day. A simple dinner, a family game of Clue with hot chocolate, and dessert and some friends house.

~Unfortunately I only posted one book video. Be on the lookout for all the Christmas ones that will be coming!!

~Our town had a parade and tree lighting the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The place that I work at participated in the lighted parade. It was a lot of fun. My co-workers and I rode in an old truck decorated with Christmas lights. We waved to people as we drove by and threw candy as well.
The tree lighting was my first one, and lets just say it wasn't a Hallmark moment. There was hardly any lights on the tree...

~I stayed over at some friends house, while their parents were out of town, and helped watch the younger siblings. After we put the younger ones to bed, my two friends and I stayed up a little later and watched movies together.


How was your Thanksgiving? What was one of your favorite memories from November?