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HoHoHo Readathon

It's my favorite time of year, and one (if not the only) readathon I've faithfully participated in each year since I've been blogging. I don't know about you, but I love holiday stories!

Hosted by Kimba over at Caffeinated Reviewer (click this link to read all about it), we spend a week reading holiday or winter themed books. There are contests and prizes associated, and I've truly enjoyed myself each year. I will set out my potential books I'm thinking of reading, and keep everyone posted along the way. At the end of the week, let's see how much holiday cheer I've packed in!

Here are the initial (always subject to change) books that I have selected.

Click the links for each book to be taken to the Goodreads description. I will update throughout the week once a book is completed, and give a wrap-up total at the end of the week.

Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan (link)
Read 11/14 - 11/15 150/295 pages
I didn't finish this one, but got halfway through before the end of the readathon. I've read the first two Little Beach Street Bakery books in this series, and even though I haven't finished, I can say that this one is right on par with the others. Will likely be a 3 to 3.5 star read.

Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (link)
Read 11/8 - 11/10 400 pages 4 stars
Loved that this one was all in letter format. A great new way to look at history with the correspondence between two soldiers, a war nurse, and the friends and family back home in London. This one takes place during the war years of World War I, which is not a war that is written about as often in historical fiction.

Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand (link)
Read (audio) 11/9 - 11/10 262 pages 4 stars
I teared up at the end of this fourth volume in the Quinn family saga. I'm going to miss my yearly dose of this family with all of their trials, tribulations, but enduring love for family. Loved it, but definitely suggest that you read the series in order.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak (link)
Read 11/11 - 11/13 368 pages 4 stars
A highly entertaining story of a family forced to spend 7 days under quarantine in their home over Christmas week. Of course all sorts of issues come to light. There was humor, serious issues, family drama, secrets revealed and pretty much anything related to being house bound. Some parts were a little far fetched, but my overall enjoyment caused me to disregard them.

Hiddensee by Gregory Maguire (link)
Read 11/10 - 11/11 304 pages 2 stars
Firstly, go look for a copy of this to feast your eyes on the cover, because it is spectacular! Then read it for the great writing, and the parts toward the end that you will glean information about the Nutcracker story. These were all pluses for me. Being that I do not like magical realism, you can then understand why my rating is as low as it is. Once the knife started talking to the boy, a high rating was pretty much not going to happen. If you like a well done magical realism story, you will love this, and I can highly recommend. If like me, it's not your thing, there are still the parts above that make me glad I still read it until the end.

Total books read = 4 1/2
Total pages = 1484

Can't wait until next year! Happy Holiday reading!!

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