25GoC: Danielle Joseph + Contest

8 Reasons why I love to celebrate Chanukah!
By: Danielle Joseph

1. Because I'm Jewish:)!
2. It means I get to eat potato latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) with applesauce.

3. It's a great excuse to buy my kids more books since we have eight nights of present giving to cover.

4. It brings us together as a family and more family time is always precious. This usually means we are watching the Rugrats' Chanukah special. It would be nice if there were a few other Chanukah movies out there. Would someone make one please? Charlie Brown's Chanukah would be great:)!

5. Oh, and even though my husband is not Jewish, he makes a mean matzo ball soup with french onion broth.

6. Love lighting my menorah with the kids and then hearing them sing Chanukah songs. Luckily they inherited their singing abilities from my hubby's side of the family.

7. Playing dreidel is a lot of fun, especially when you win all the gelt.

8. This year after eight days of celebrating, we get a little breather and then it's time for Christmas. My kids really make out since we celebrate both holidays in my house.

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25GoC: Nicole

Reasons The Holiday Season Beats Any Other Time Of Year

1. Christmas Songs


I'm Catholic, but Christmas is more for gift giving and spending time with the family than my religion. (I'm more spiritual than religious.) However, the first thing I do once December hits is break out the Christmas songs! I don't care who you are - tell me those songs don't make you happy.


My Favorite Choice? Kristin Chenoweth's "A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas" CD


2. Gift Giving


I have a bit of an OCD when it comes to giving gifts - I cannot give a gift unless it suits the person perfectly. This year, a lot of my gifts were prints ordered from deviantArt, as my friends are headed off to college and needed decoration for their dorms. I love the feeling you get when you're giving gifts, though. So much better than getting!


My Favorite Choice? L.A. Meyer's Bloody Jack or Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games

3. Sales


The holiday season starts with Black Friday, and though I do not understand how those early morning shoppers function - hello, some of us need sleep! - I love sales just as much as the next person.


My Favorite Choice? Macy's



4. Television Specials


Harry Potter marathons! The Wizard of Oz on every night! The Santa Clause on TV! New holiday episodes and Lifetime movies!


My Favorite Choice? Lifetime's The Twelve Men of Christmas

5. Food


I don't know about you, but with the holiday season comes the best food. I come from an Italian household, so we've got cookies and cakes and so much food that you could feed an army. (Of course, it barely sustains our family. We are Italian.)


My Favorite Choice? Rainbow cookies

6. School


We're in Santa hats or holiday colors; everybody's laughing and goofing off rather than arguing; the heat is on!; teachers relax and let you take the night off. Can't beat it.


My Favorite Choice? No homework.

7. Family


This is the one time of year that my family gets themselves together. We argue, we laugh, we argue, we open gifts - mainly, we argue. But hey, that's what families do!


My Favorite Choice? Grandma's cooking

8. Friends


All of y'all reading this, my friends in real life - it's a time for us to get together and go, "Damn, we got old."


My Favorite Choice? I love them all.

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thanks so much for sharing Nicole! check out Nicole's awesome blog HERE

There's no contest today but that gives you the perfect oppurtunity to enter previous contests!

I need more entries for most all and your participation decides if I'm continuing this next year.

Also feel free to post about this on your own site or grab a button. Someone has kindly made me new ones I just haven't gotten them up yet. In the meantime feel free to use those and spread the holiday cheer!

Thanks so much!

Jill

25GoC: Darlene Ryan + contest

Adventures in Candy-making

By: Darlene Ryan

Maybe it was because I had all my Christmas shopping done early.  Maybe it was because I’d already made three kinds of cookies and two different kinds muffins.  Maybe it was because the recipe sounded so easy and the picture looked so good.  Whatever the reason, I decided last Christmas that I was going to make Christmas candy—white chocolate peppermint bark, to be specific.  How hard could it be?  I bought English mints—two kinds—and Swiss white chocolate. 

The first step was to crush the peppermints between two sheets of waxed paper with a rolling pin.  How hard could it be?  Well, unless your rolling pin is made of cast iron and you have arms like trainer Jillian Michaels on The Biggest Loser, hard. 

The mints didn’t crush, they didn’t even crack.  My rolling pin quickly ended up with a dent in the middle.  With two new sheets of waxed paper I moved the peppermints to the basement workbench and traded the rolling pin for a rubber mallet.  Now I will concede it turned into a pretty good triceps workout, but after several minutes of hammering all I’d done was crack one mint.  One.  They were obviously some kind of mutant English mints. 

However, I am nothing if not persistent.  With two more new sheets of waxed paper I attacked the mints with a hammer.  Success!  Unfortunately the top of the work bench now looked like the surface of the moon and there seemed to be some crushed bits of wood in with the crushed mints.  But they were crushed and half a container of filler handled the divots in the top of the workbench. 

In the kitchen I melted the white chocolate in a bowl over hot water and gently stirred in the crushed mints.  Well, maybe not gently.  I had to use the big wooden spoon and two hands.  The resulting mixture didn’t look anything like the picture in the recipe.  For one thing it was the color of pea soup with flecks of red (and, okay, the occasional wood chip.)  It smelled, well, peculiar, and it wouldn’t spread in the pan.  It wouldn’t pour into the pan.  It lay in the bowl like some blob from outer space. 

Somehow, defying the laws of physics and chemistry, the mints and the chocolate had created something that was harder than a bowl of cement, harder than those uncrushed mints had been.  I couldn’t get it out of the bowl with a spoon.  I couldn’t get it out with two spoons, and a spatula.  It took boiling water, two barbeque forks and a large serrated knife to pry the blob out of the bowl onto the counter.  I tried to at least cut a slice off of it.  I would have had better luck slicing a bowling ball.

“It looks like something Sam hacked up,” my daughter commented, Sam being our neighbors’ dog.  She was right.  I dropped the blob in the garbage can, put on my coat and headed for the candy shop at the mall.  (No, I didn’t pass off store-bought candy as my own.  I swear.)

Last week I found this very simple-sounding recipe for dark chocolate almond bark.  No, I didn’t even look in the bin of almonds at the market.  I didn’t even buy a taste of the Dutch chocolate.  But I did buy some chili paste and dried peppers.  Because I found a recipe for tortilla chips too.  Has anyone ever made their own tortilla chips?  Really, how hard could it be?

Comment below to win a prize pack that includes a copy of Five Minutes More, a copy of Saving Grace and a gift bag of holiday treats.

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Contest closes December 25th
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thanks so much

Jill

The Secret Year Review

Title: The Secret Year          
Author: Jennifer R. Hubbard
Release Date: Jan. 7, 2010

Summary from Amazon:
Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one—not even Julia’s boyfriend— knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can’t mourn Julia openly, and he’s tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia’s journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he’s desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?


Outlined Review:
Character Development: 9/10
Originality: 8/10
Hookability: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Voice: 9/10
Recommendation: 10/10
Total Score: 55
Grade: A

Age Appropriate Rating:
Cussing: 8/10
Drugs, alcohol, etc.: 7/10
Sexual Content: 9/10
Violence/Disturbing Images: 5/10

Written Review:

The Secret Year was deeply moving. It got me hooked almost immediately and at just under 200 pages it was a quick read that held true depth. The novel opened with Julia’s sudden and tragic death and gained even stronger emotion from there.

The word choice in this novel was wonderfully done. Within the short book, the painfully real words keep you turning the pages. Julia’s voice was just as evident as Colt’s through her many journal entries and memories. She seemed so vivid and full of life in Colt’s memories that it was hard to imagine her gone but also made you sympathize so much more with Colt’s loss.

Julia and Colton had amazingly believable chemistry and the descriptions of their relationship only intensified it. Seeing the relationship through both Colton and Julia’s eyes gave the reader a deeper understanding of what the relationship meant to each of them. And the intricate details and passion gave the relationship another layer of depth that strengthened the relationship that much more.

Colton’s feelings of pain and loss were easy to sympathize with. Colton's relationships with Syd and Kirby were blanketed by feelings of loss and pain at memories of Julia as he struggled to heal, and move on and without anybody to properly grieve to, he was stuck in a state of numbness and feelings of guilt over Julia’s death.

I was immediately compelled by Colt and Julia’s romance. The intensity and raw emotions portrayed drew me in almost instantly. Colton’s distinct voice kept me in the novel as he tries to heal from a love that ended before it really had the chance to begin.

Overall, The Secret Year is a quick read with plenty of depth and emotion that is worth checking out.  A powerful love, a tragic death, and a year of secrecy wrap up this beautiful novel about finding the strength to let go of a love that was never truly yours to begin with.

Thanks

Jill

25GoC: Erin Dionne + Contest

Erin Dionne’s Five Fave Christmas Movies

Okay, I love Christmas movies—but they’re not always the ones that you expect. Yeah, Elf was funny, and It’s A Wonderful Life is touching, but I like my holiday fare to be a little…darker (for the most part). Here are my top five Christmas movies, in order. You can find these playing at my house any time after Thanksgiving. Come on over and bring the popcorn!

5. The Nightmare Before Christmas. Watch as the residents of Halloweentown kidnap Santa and take over Christmas in an effort to cheer up their leader, Jack Skellington. It’s Tim Burton at his best—dark, funny, and suitable for TWO holidays!

4. Die Hard. Yep. The original takes place at Christmastime. You get Bruce Willis, an LA skyscraper filled with terrorists and hostages, explosions and gunfights. Makes arguments with relatives and your annoying Aunt Margaret seem easy to deal with by comparison. Yipee-ki-yay!

3. Love, Actually. Okay, a no-brainer, and probably (on the surface) the sweetest one of the bunch. But there’s more to this film than Hugh Grant’s awkward charm or Colin Firth’s smile. Look a little closer--Billy Mack singing nude on New Year’s Eve? The Naked Couple? Or how about poor, sad, Laura Linney and her inability to find love because of her obsession with her brother? Oh, Love, Actually. You are funny, sweet, and dark. Cheers!

2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. This is a Dionne family tradition. My parents, sister and I—and now our families--have been watching this movie on Thanksgiving for upwards of 20 years. Chevy Chase is at his bumbling best putting up the external house lights and dealing with his brother-in-law. But it’s Todd and Margot, played by Nicholas Guest and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, that put this film over the top.

1.      Better Off Dead. Lane literally wants to kill himself when his hot girlfriend Beth dumps him for a ski god in this John Hughes classic. Don’t think this is a Christmas movie? Ah-ha! Check out the Christmas morning scene, when Lane’s family opens frozen dinners as gifts and gets fashionable aardvark fur coats. HYSTERICAL. My husband and I watch this classic every year as we decorate the tree.

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Erin Dionne’s debut novel, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies, published by Dial Books for Young Readers, was selected as a Featured Title for Scholastic Book Fairs and was nominated to the 2010 American Library Association Popular Paperbacks list. PEN/New England’s Children’s Book Caucus named an early version of the Models manuscript as one of its 2006 Susan P. Bloom Discovery Night award winners.  Her second book, The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, will be released January 7, 2010. It is also a Scholastic Book Fairs Featured Title. Erin lives outside of Boston with her husband, daughter and dog, and teaches English at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA.

Website: www.erindionne.com

Blog: bostonerin.livejournal.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/erindionne

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those are some great choices but I tend to stick to the classics----ya know, Santa Claus is Coming To Town, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, A Christmas Story, etc.--- but to each their own...

Comment below to win a bookmark!

closes Dec. 25th

U.S. only

thanks so much and happy holidays!

Jill

25GoC: Linda Gerber + Contest

My Top Five Christmas Travel (Mis)Adventures:
By: Linda Gerber

5. The Cabin - Our first year in Japan, we rented rooms in a multi-family cabin near Miyajima for Christmas. The place was heated by kerosene and the fumes were so bad, we all got headaches Christmas morning and reeked of it for the rest of the trip.


4. Shopping in Paris - My dear husband forgot to put my suitcase in the car when we left on this vacation and we didn't discover it until we reached the airport... Which is why my first shopping spree in Paris was scrambling on Christmas Eve to buy essentials like toothpaste and deodorant before all the stores closed!


3. The Blizzard - In 1999, we drove from Ohio to Arizona to spend Christmas with family and got caught in the worst blizzard of the decade. The Interstate closed and we ended up stuck in a hotel, just in time to snag one of the last rooms available.

2. Down Under - This didn't happen on Christmas day, but it was our holiday trip... In Sydney, we carefully avoided the cool beaches like Bondi because we had heard those beaches were clothing-optional and, you know, we had our kids to think about. We hit a so-so beach instead and the first thing we see coming out of the water? Some topless lady's leathery grandma boobs drooping down to her waist. Should have guessed the kids would be more amused than traumatized...

1. The Christmas Grinches - On another road trip from Ohio to Utah, we stopped in Denver for the night. I thought I had been really clever to have everyone prepare an overnight bag to take into the hotel so we wouldn't have to unpack the whole car. Big mistake. While we slept, someone broke into the car and stole luggage, Christmas presents, everything. Bah, humbug.


I think we've learned our lesson. This Christmas we're staying put!


How about you? Do you travel over the holidays? What's your most memorable travel adventure?

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Comment to win a signed copy of Linda Gerber's latest book,

DEATH BY DENIM

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I hope all of your holiday travels go smooth!

Happy Holidays!

Jill

25GoC: Ashley from Books make Great Lovers

CHRISTMAS PROS AND CONS
By: Ashley from Books Make Great Lovers

Christmas has many pro’s and some cons as well. I though I’d take some time to share a few of my pro’s and con’s this winter.

Pros

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1. You get presents. This year I asked for a laptop (my dad said no but I’m working on him), some clothes and books (probably also a no because they see that I have a whole TBR bookshelf). But hey any present is a good one.
2. You get to eat tons of crap and nobody will stop you. I love this sugar cookie balls that are coated in powdered sugar. There are probably 8 million calories in one but Christmas calories don’t count (:
3. The music is all upbeat. This is the one time of year when even our favorite rappers take a break from degrading us women to belt out some “Jingle Bells”. What could be better then gangster frosty the snowman (:
4. You get to see the family that you only see once a year. Everyone gets super excited, “I haven’t seen Aunt So-and-so since last Christmas” but by the end of the holiday we remember why we never call that family up and invite them over. They are just plain obnoxious! But we love them (:
5. The Cute cups at Starbucks. Okay so maybe nobody else cares about it but I love the red Starbucks cups. They just make me feel all cheery and the drink tastes even better!

Cons

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1. You have to see THAT person. You all know the one I’m talking about. The adult who still thinks your 10 even though you’re 16 or 17 or even 18. “Your too young for a boyfriend” or “look at you, your quite the cute little girl” are common sayings.
2. You are reminded that you’re lonely. You don’t have a boyfriend but your sister does. She’s getting fancy gifts from her love and your just hoping Santa will bring you something near as good as those diamonds her man bought her!
3. No school…for TWO weeks. This could be a bonus but not usually. A week off of school is nice but 2 weeks of being stuck with your family (non-stop if there is a blizzard) is just too much!
4. You get treated like a kid again. I don’t mean just in general. When it comes to driving your parents request to take you everywhere. “I don’t want you driving in the snow, kiddo. You might have an accident.” It’s nice to be pampered but who wants dropped off at a party by their mommy?
5. The mysterious 10 pounds. Even though nobody can tell you to stop eating during the holidays they sure can comment on the weight you gain from eating after the fact. “Wow Ashley. You sure put on some weight eating all those snowball cookies.”

I love Christmas guys (: Don’t get me wrong. Just taking a minute to relate all the problems we have all faced at least once. Merry Ho-Ho- Holidays (:

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visit Ashley's marvelous blog at http://booksaremylove.blogspot.com

And don't forget to check out all the contests going on all December in the sidebar!

Thanks so much and Happy Holidays!

Jill

25GoC: Laura Wiess + Contest

10 Reasons I Love Christmas

1. Tis the season to wear velvet, fa la la la la, la la la la. (Soft, plush and luxurious: I indulged in a funky, black velvet maxi coat this year and I swear I'm going to wear it until falls off of me in rags.)
   


2. My sister's Christmas cookie extravaganza. (She bakes - I'm not kidding - something like 35 different kinds of cookies, with like four dozen each. And then she gives them all away! I love my sister.)
   


3. Snow on Christmas Eve. (Okay, that's never a sure thing but there was snow last year and it was magical, so I'm hoping it happens again.)
   


4. Donating to my favorite charities, including the Humane Society, assorted animal rescues, the local soup kitchen, and the Salvation Army bell-ringers standing outside of the stores. (I never miss an S.A. basket. I figure if they can stand out in the freezing cold for hours on end, trying to help people, then the very least I can do is oblige them.)
   


5. Scoring what I hope is the perfect gift for someone, then watching them open it, and seeing that yes, it really was.
   


6. Christmas carols and church bells. Both make me cry. So do holiday movies. I'm a total sap this time of year, and I love it all. Especially this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WzAyderAKU
   


7. Walking into my parents' house calling, "Merry Christmas!" and hearing my family call back. (I love the happy welcome and the smiles in their voices.)
   


8. Family, friends, kindness, laughter and Santa. And the jingle horse.
   


9. Decorating the tree, and the memories that come with each of the ornaments
   


10. A crisp, clear, night sky full of stars, a fireplace with a crackling fire, cats curled up sleeping, a tree with twinkling lights, laughter, fresh coffee, good music, a heart full of joy, peace and gratitude, and a wish that everyone and everything everywhere is warm, well-fed and loved. Happy holidays!

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I am so so so very sorry for not getting this post up sooner. Last night my computer, phone line, and TV all crashed. We couldn't get them fixed until this evening and I hadn't scheduled this post yet. Hopefully the giveaway and this fabulous post will make up for that.

Laura Wiess has kindly donated one signed copy of each of her 3 books (How It Ends (see my review HERE), Such A Pretty Girl, and Leftovers) There will be 3 winners. (First winner gets first pick, 2nd winner second pick, and the third winner will receive the last book)

Basic Basic Entry rules:
Open to U.S. only
Contest closes December 25th
+1 comment w/email
+1 follow me
Full entry rules can be found HERE

Remember to keep checking the contest sidebar for more contests all month long!

thanks so much!

Jill

25GoC: Suzanne Young

WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY DURING THE HOLIDAYS?

I’m a sucker for the holidays. You’ll never see me smile more than the weeks leading up to Christmas. Everything feels so loving and beautiful. It’s my favorite time of the year. Here are the things about Christmas that make me happy:

Christmas Music. You may think it’s annoying, but I start listening immediately after Halloween. And yes, I mean Halloween and not Thanksgiving.

TV Specials. Rudolph, Frosty, the Grinch? We’re talking magic here. You might even catch me watching the Hallmark channel!

Decorations. No matter how old I get, when I see pretty lights and decorations, I’m instantly five again. It’s a special moment for me.

Giving gifts. I’ll be honest, my husband kind of sucks at gift giving. Sorry, honey! But I love, love, love thinking of awesome things to get him and the kids. I’m also the WORST at keeping the gifts secret. I usually end up giving my husband his early.

Memories. When it’s the holidays, I think of my grandparents and how happy they made me when I was growing up. And even though it hurts a little to not have them anymore, I’m so grateful for everything. And I still feel them close by every Christmas Eve.

Suzanne Young is the author of the YA series THE NAUGHTY LIST, which has nothing to do with Christmas or Santa. But it is about catching cheating boyfriends. You can find out more about her at www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com.

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thanks so much for visiting Suzanne! Christmas music is my favorite too but after Halloween!?! I make it a rule of mine not to start listening until Black Friday. But from that day until the 26th of December you can be sure that it's playing non stop at my house.

I would also like to wish Suzanne a very happy birthday! I hope that you have a fantastic day and that all of your birthday wishes come true! And that you get lots and lots of birthday cake because truthfully, what could be better than birthday cake???

thanks again.

Jill

25GoC: Melissa Walker + Contest

Can't see the video? Click HERE

comment below to enter to win a copy of Lovestruck Summer!

Basic Entry rules:
Open to U.S. only
Contest closes December 25th
+1 comment w/email
+1 follow me
Full entry rules can be found HERE

and remember to keep checking the contest sidebar for more chances to win!

thanks so much!

Jill