Little Whale Cove
Depoe Bay, Oregon
Christmas Eve 2024
And just like that, another year has come to a close. It was a busy month with a book launch party for Rod, my birthday celebration, several social events, and of course, Christmas. We enjoyed having my younger brother and one of his daughters here to help us celebrate Christmas, which was a lot of fun. My niece and I enjoyed a leisurely coffee date on Christmas Eve (we had fun playing chess in the cafe), and after the gifts were opened Christmas morning, we all had fun working on a puzzle, playing more chess, listening to holiday music, and baking cookies. It was a very festive week! I am currently working on my year-end review, but wanted to get this final monthly summary posted before the beginning of 2025.
I had an excellent month of reading, which surprised me since December is usually super busy. Since retirement, however, I have a lot more free time to get things done for the holiday season, so reading doesn't need to take a back seat. Not only did I read a lot of books, but they were mostly all winners.
Books Read (click on the title for my review):
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (4/5)
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (4.5/5)
Recitatif by Toni Morrison (3.5/5)
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (3.5/5)
In Memoriam by Alice Winn (5/5)
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (4.5/5)
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy (4/5)
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (4/5)
Movies & TV Series:
The Day of the Jackal - Excellent! Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch are outstanding.
The Quiet Girl - Based on Claire Keegan's novella, Foster, this film is simply lovely. Spare, yet full of depth and tender moments.
Shrinking (Season 2) - Still enjoying this one! Great cast.
Joy: The Birth of IVF - Another quiet film that I enjoyed. Bill Nighy is one of my favorite actors.
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Granite Harbour - Watched two episodes and gave up.
The Agency - Watched four episodes and gave up. Too slow and convoluted.
Bad Sisters (Season One) - Great series! These sisters crack me up.
Christmas 2024:
Wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year!
Happy new year, Les. Of the books you've written about I have read four, am in the middle of one and have two on my to-read list. Also, I very much apprecaite and enjoy when you post about tv shows and movies you have tried. Several have been written now in my notebook of I-hope-the-library-gets-this-dvd !
ReplyDeleteGreat holiday photos and it's so nice to visit with your family. Looks like you all had a great time. That puzzle looks hard!
Happy New Year to you too, Tina! I think you and I are reading twins. :) Hope you get to watch some great shows this year, too.
DeleteYou know, when I first saw the puzzle I thought, "Oh, no!" But while my mom and niece did the majority of it, I found it much easier than anticipated. It helped that there were "only" 500 pieces. :)
What a lovely tree and the pictures of your family and celebration are great! OK, that is one of those 'little' girls you lived near in Nebraska, right? Wow! Kids do grow up and it always seems so fast. It's not actually, but....
ReplyDeleteKay, I love my mom's little tree. It holds a lot of ornaments, but isn't too big so it fits nicely in the living room which is good when we have family visiting. Yes, Emily is one of my two nieces that I was "nanny" to when they were little. She's now 20 and her sister is 22. Amazing, isn't it?!
DeleteLove the photos & decorations! You all look great. And you had a great reading month despite all the busyness -- I don't know how you did it, lol. But a bunch of reading winners. I'm curious about Season 2 of Bad Sisters we might start it later in January. The actresses are fun. Happy belated birthday -- I must have missed it. Robert had his bday yesterday -- a crazy time of year but we continued on with gift giving celebrations, lol. Hope yours was nice too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan! I don't know how I managed to read so many books in December. Maybe the low page counts helped. There were all pretty quick reads with the exception of In Memoriam (although I couldn't put it down!) and Ina's memoir.
DeleteI've only watched a couple of Season 2 of Bad Sisters. They women crack me up, but we'll see how this new season feels.
My birthday was on Dec. 13th, but I didn't post anything about it. Had a lovely dinner out with Rod and my mom, and coffee with a girlfriend. December is so busy, so it's tough to do much unless I plan ahead. ;) Happy belated to Robert. Hope he had a nice one, too.
What a wonderful series of photos! And a great list of TV/Movies; I'll have to look those up. I really liked Keegan's novel Foster and would like to see the movie.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Helen. It was a fun month!
DeleteHappy Holidays and Happy New Year. Lovely photos. And thanks for the reminder about Lil Boxfish! I need a book for a challenge that has a category of first + last name in title.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too! I hope you enjoy Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. I liked it, but it's not one that I loved...
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