Because Santa brought us a stomach virus as an early Christmas present, and because I had been sleeping days as well as nights to catch up from being up at night, I awoke early Christmas Eve-Day and decided it was the perfect time to rip into a box of donations for my Little Free Library, and dig in. As I went through the books, I wanted to add many to my TBR shelves, but there simply was not room. Discovering that several of the donated books were already on my TBR list, some from years ago (It had been a long time since I had cleaned out my TBR manilla folder full of scraps of paper and newspaper reviews.) I decided to hold my own Christmas Eve-Day marathon.

I spent from 5:30 a.m. CST until 10:45 p.m. CST alternating between reading books, reading blogs I was so far behind on, and snacking on whatever would stay down (mostly water and saltines).

Books I began and finished:

Your Flying Car Awaits by Paul Milo–This one was a clip of a review in The Houston Chronicle from 2009. It was a fun read which described predictions of “robot butlers, lunar vacations, and other dead-wrong predictions of the twentieth century.” (cover blurb)

Books I had already started and continue to read:

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin–The second novel in “The Broken Earth” series, a sci fi adventure/thriller/mystery/poetically written novel started as our read-to-each-other for My Better Half and I, but when I needed an “O” for my Alphabet Challenge, I asked permission to go ahead and finish this on my own.  Things just became too busy as the Holidays approached. I now have about 250 pages to finish.  Just “getting back to it” was an accomplishment.

Books I started Christmas Eve-Day and am continuing at the present:

Modern Lovers by Emma Straub was a book I checked out of our local library and began reading Christmas Eve Day while recuperating.  I have only read 106 pages. This refreshing novel was also from a review in The Houston Chronicle’s “Zest” section where books are reviewed on Sundays.

What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker was a donation to my LFL from a friend who is eventually moving and who is “fixing up” her home ahead of schedule, planning construction and remodeling work over the Holidays. I began this one Christmas Eve Day and have read only sixteen pages.

Books I’ve Barely Begun:

Magic Words @Work by Kaminsky and Penney, part of the “Magic Words Series” was a donation by the same friend. I started it Christmas Eve Day, but I only read to page 47 before I had to wait until My Better Half woke up so I could retrieve my Quotes Notebook from the main bedroom to copy many of these “pearls of wisdom” down.

I have failed miserably at catching up with blogging friends’ posts, especially those done just for Christmas.  Honestly, I just wasn’t in the mood to read them, and listened to Christmas music with the lights dimmed and tried to stop my stomach from roiling.

This morning,  I’m “over it all.”  PTL!  I went outside about six a.m. and brought in the paper, then put a nice beef roast in the slow cooker for a late dinner or even maybe supper, depending on how tender the roast is.  The fact that I can write this description of food without becoming nauseous testifies  to how much better I feel. God is good, and happily, today I celebrate His birth!