Happy Holidays!

Only two weeks left in the year! I can’t believe it! Ever since I hit my goal of 200 books in November, I haven’t had much desire to read. It’s been a long year, and especially with the Holidays rolling around, I needed a little bit of a break from my usual pace. But now with two weeks left, I can’t help but feel the thrill of competition – even if it’s just with myself! How many books can I read? How much faster could I read? It was just the push I needed to get back into the spirit of reading. So far I’ve read titles I’ve seen on my Overdrive feed for months, a few Middle Grade novels I’ve always wanted to read, and even a few historical fiction novels! It’s a reading-a-palooza!

Besides reading, most of my time has gone to Christmas prep – wrapping presents, mailing out gifts, ugly sweaters and baking cookies! How do you celebrate the season?

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Beloved by her suitors and mocked by the women at court, Catherine couldn’t care less about the courtly gossip, unless it was about her infamous lemon tartes. Catherine would like nothing more than a shop of her own, to make the best pastries in all of Hearts, but her mother, of course, has other ideas, she’d like nothing more than to see her daughter as queen. Trying her best to pursue her dreams and please her parents, Catherine can’t deny she feels nothing for the dimwitted king, and perhaps too much for the mysterious court jester, but in a land of magic, madness, and monsters, she’ll find it difficult to escape the hands of fate.

“The easiest way to steal something, is for it to be given willingly.”

I absolutely adore Marissa Meyer – a brilliant story teller, she maintains the perfect balance between nostalgia and creativity. At first meeting, I couldn’t imagine sweet, innocent Catherine as the future Queen of Hearts, infamously known for her fondness of the phrase, “Off with their heads!” What could possibly go so wrong to turn such a lovely young lady into a cruel and heartless queen? Except something does happen: she falls in love. Jest is the perfect Wonderland love interest, though technically from Chess, he’s a mysterious character full of mischief and word play, with just enough tricks to keep Catherine both in and out of trouble. But, as we all know, love isn’t part of the Queen’s story, and so, the story must have an unhappy ending – and yet, I couldn’t help but root for Catherine, hoping she’d find a way to change her story, and finally, understanding that nothing could be done.

“Perhaps we know each other in the future and you’re only remembering backward.”

** There was ONE thing that still bothers me, though. Why in the world was the Caterpillar a cobbler?? He doesn’t have any feet! And a human shoe would be too impossibly large for him to make! **

Rating: 4 Stars       Goodreads

What have you read lately?