Alas, no one reads this blog but I DON"T CARE!!! I have something to say and, darn it, I will say it.

Thanksgiving done, I found my inner-reader and sat down to immerse myself in teen chick lit. I read "Peaches" by Jodi Lynn Anderson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was in such a good mood. The dishes were done. I had no programs to plan for. My article (for a local freebie weekly) wasn't due for another 36 hours and it was mostly written. So, on Saturday (this past Saturday) I did nothing but read. Oh, and I took a walk and made leftovers for supper.

So the book (Peaches, see above) is about these three teen girls who are totally different. They know about each other since they all live in the same town but one is a wild woman, daughter of the town "slut". One is the home-schooled daughter of the peach orchard's owner. Her mother left recently. And one is the second daughter of the "best" family in those parts and cousin to the peach girl. The three of them meet up at Spring Break at the orchard and work with the migrants and connect, sort of. But when summer rolls around they all return and bond with each other and some cute guys. Of course, there are some roadblocks to total summer chick bonding happiness and it looks like the orchard's going to be turned into condos but in the end... Oh read it. Not all endings are happy, just the best ones. I actually think I liked this better than the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.

I felt so good after I finished "Peaches"!! The world was drenched in sunlight and grace. A fun read will do that to you.

I also picked up Philip Gulley's "If God is Love", a testimonial on Gulley's theology. Gulley's style is so easy to read - as evidenced in his "Harmony" series - that this is one inspirational book I won't have to labor through.

I discovered some new holiday books - in bookstores, book reviews and online - and some old favorites. NO ONE responded to the desperate plea in my last post. No matter! I have friends and family who DID tell me their favorite holiday reading, although the friend who told me she reads vampire books was not altogether helpful. I may even post my informal survey results here early in December. Vampire books will not be on that list. I'll save them for my Valentine's Day list. Hehehehehe!

Anyway, as to NEW holiday books, Dave Barry came out with a memoir-like novel, "The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog". Only Dave Barry could write a Christmas book in which frozen bat poop plays a dramatically important part. So read it already.

"The Best Christmas Ever" by Chih-Yuan Chen is my favorite picture book for the year. A poor family has a surprisingly satisfying Christmas, rediscovering their favorite things. The illustrations are spare and full of feeling.

I have a list of my ten favorite -or rather - most notable new books for Holidays 2006. I'll post that with my survey results, too.

Well, that's enough for now. I have books to order and catalog.