The Eleven Books of Christmas

As I was telling a friend earlier, Autumn started and I hit a reading slump. I lost interest in everything I was reading. I've only managed to finish three books since September. My family and I have been preparing to visit the grandparents, though, and what better place to read than the back seat of the car on a twenty-four hour road trip?
Here are the books I am taking along:


The top four are audiobooks and the bottom seven are actual books.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck. Every time we drive more than four hours away from home, we take this audiobook and its sequel (see the Second Book of Christmas) with us. A Long Way From Chicago is one of the best books I have ever read. It's a collection of connected short stories set during the Great Depression. Each story takes place in a successive summer where two Chicago children go to visit their grandma in small-town America. As a reader, we get to watch Joey and Mary-Alice grow up and grow to adore their quirky, trigger-happy Grama Dowdel. These stories are expertly written with great characters and hilarious storylines (for instance: what happens when Grama Dowdel decides to hold a wake in her living room for a criminal? Or, what happens when she steals the sheriff's boat to go illegal catfish hunting?). I highly recommend this book (and it's sequels) to any fan or student of good writing. Everyone should read this collection at least once in their life.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. This is the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. Like it's predecessor, this book takes place in episodic chapters. Instead of each story taking place in a different summer, however, these stories follow Mary-Alice as she moves in with Grama Dowdel for a year.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck. This book takes place about ten years after A Year Down Yonder and follows a young preacher's kid and his family as they move in next door to Grama Dowdel. I'm really looking forwards to listening to this one again because—unlike the first two books, which we have listening to and read countless times—we've only listening to it once before!

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
I Am Lavina Cumming by Susan Lowell. This is one of my favorite childhood books. Once upon a time, we used to get it out on cassette tape (what are those?) from the library all the time. We ended up buying the tapes from the library when the library was incorporated into a bigger branch. Fast forward many years and we finally had them converted to CD. I can't wait to listen to this story again! In this book, a young girl named Lavina moves away from her father's ranch in Arizona Territory to live with her aunt in San Francisco, shortly before the San Francisco earthquake.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I first heard of this book last year when it came out. All the "Booktubers" were including it in their book hauls. Since the description says that the book is about a nomadic group of Shakespearean actors, I was obviously interested. Some friends read this book over the summer and enjoyed it. I finally picked it up the other day when I saw it at the library. Sadly, I don't think I'll get to this one before it has to be returned.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
The Martian by Andy Weir. I have heard only good things about this book and the movie based off of it. If you didn't know, it's about a man who is trapped on Mars after his team leaves, thinking that he's dead. The book is written in a series of log entries, which is epic! I love stories that are told through unconventional means such as diary entries, letters, or code. Also, the author has made the book very scientifically accurate, which is pretty impressive! I hope to start this book as soon as I finish two or three of the books I'm currently reading.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Murder for Christmas, an anthology of Christmas-related crime stories. I picked up this book at a thrift store a few years ago and decided to read it this Christmas. So far, I'm really enjoying it! This anthology includes Christmas themed mystery stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, and Baroness Orczy, among others. I'm taking notes as I read, so expect a review before the end of the year! I hope to finish this in the car on the way to Minnesota.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Winter by Marissa Meyer. My friends and I went to the launch party of this final book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. It was so much fun! Our books are even signed by the author! This young adult series is basically Star Wars mixed with fairytales. If you're looking for something light, fun, creative, and romantic, then you might want to pick up the Lunar Chronicles! After the launch party, I avidly started to read Winter, but then hit my reading slump and lost interest halfway through. I'm hoping to pick this one up again when I'm in Minnesota. Maybe after I finish Murder for Christmas.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Prince Without a Kingdom by Timothee de Fombelle. This is the sequel to a book called Vango, which I read last month. This story is like Tintin in novel form. The main character, Vango, has a mysterious backstory like Tintin, and the story jumps from place to place like Tintin. Poor Vango is being chased all over the pre-World War II world by several different groups of people, and he doesn't even know why. This is a very enjoyable story filled with lovely characters and exciting destinations and zeppelins. My only complaint is that the author tends to tell instead of show, and he does jump around from place to place and from time to time very quickly. Although, that might be the fault of the translator, as this book was originally published in French.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. This is my favorite Jane Austen book. I decided to re-read it after re-reading Sense and Sensibility in September. You can read my previous review HERE. I'm hoping to finish this one in the car, as I do not have much left to read.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson. This is a nonfictional biography of the composer Shostakovich, who is one of my favorites. This book is marketed as young adult nonfiction, which is interesting to me as I wouldn't say that Shostakovich is incredible popular with today's teens. I'm hoping that, since this book is young adult, it won't be dry, but will hold my attention to the end (something, unfortunately, many nonfiction books don't do). It has pictures, so that should help! If a book has pictures, I will automatically enjoy it more than a book that has no pictures. I'm hoping to start this one on the trip home from Minnesota, after I (hopefully) finish Murder for Christmas, A Prince Without a Kingdom, and Mansfield Park.

What are YOU reading this Christmas? Have you read any of the books I mentioned above? Do you think you'll check any of them out because of this post?

Live long and prosper.