A Reading Holiday

I'm often told I read too fast. I'm not sure how that's a problem, but there it is. Or another version I hear is: "How do you read so many books?" Answer: See the first sentence.
But even a speed-reader like me needs a holiday to catch up. I read because I like to read. If it becomes a chore, or if it feels too much like work, then there is no point to doing it anymore.
So I will take two reading vacations each year. One will be during the traditional winter holiday season, and one in the summer.
That will allow me to recharge my reading batteries and to catch up on books I've been setting aside for months (see the photo for a small part of my stack). This will be my last post until Jan. 2. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, to cooking a big Christmas Day lunch, and to reading, reading, reading.
And since many of you ask me what I'm reading on any given day, here is my list of books that I'm ready to dive into:

• A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (thanks, Leslie!)
• The Devil's Star, by Jo Nesbo 
• The Fig Eater, by Jody Shields
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu, by Susanna Clarke
• The Tudors, by GJ Meyer
• Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories
• A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (getting ready for the 200th birthday event in Feb)
• The Keeper of Lost Causes, by Jussi Adler-Olsen
• Miss Timmins School for Girls, by Nayana Currimbhoy
• Dreams of Joy, by Lisa See (this will be reviewed in 2012 with an author recipe!)

Enjoy your own holiday with your loved ones ― and your books.
See you in 2012!

What the Dickens?

Charles Dickens had the power to shape history and to change behavior. His classic A Christmas Carol helped revive Christmas traditions and to usher in new ones (for the time) like Christmas trees and holiday cards.

He also inspired a renewed interest in charitable giving and in helping other less-fortunate people. A Christmas Carol has become such a beloved holiday tale that it has not been out of print since it was first published in December 1843.
It's probably the most well-known of Dickens' works, and it is definitely my favorite.
I feel very protective of the story. Although I'm not a traditionalist in most things, for some reason I want the story of Ebenezer Scrooge told in all its Victorian glory. Don't change a holly twig or a "Bah, humbug," or I'll become the spirit of Christmas crackdown.
I don't feel that way about other classic literature. I'm a big fan of Clueless (based on Jane Austen's Emma), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (based on The Odyssey), or even West Side Story (Romeo & Juliet). But don't touch A Christmas Carol. I'm talking to you Bill Murray.
There is a production of the story playing locally, with a Jamaican woman narrating the play. Sigh. And why? A viewer is jarringly taken out of the dark and spooky Victorian era every time the poor woman speaks. It isn't her fault, it's just the high (or dare I say great) expectations of the story.
I'm not the only one who can find herself in a high dudgeon over Dickens. New productions of his books are in the works, all in preparation for the upcoming 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth in February. Evidently, the BBC has decided to change the ending of Great Expectations and has written an ending for the previously-unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood (click here for the article).
I'll reserve my judgement of those two until after I see them. Meanwhile, I'll finish reading A Christmas Carol for probably the 100th time. And I'll say of Dickens, as Scrooge did of old Fezziwig, "The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune."