Holiday reading update

Nothing says the Holidays quite like doing something you don't want to. Wait. That didn't used to be true! Well, this year, like it or not, that is my reality. Yesterday was all about spending time with family (including my hyped up 3 year old nephew who was still so excited about Christmas that he was playing with his fire engine in bed at 11:30 p.m.), eating lots of delicious food, and opening presents. Today is about hunkering down in the much-anticipated blizzard and reading.

Last night I treated myself to the last book of the remaining 10 that I actually had an interest in reading: Adele Griffin's Picture the Dead. It's my second Adele Griffin book this year, having read and reviewed The Julian Game for School Library Journal. While Julian didn't really do it for me on a personal level, I quite enjoyed Picture the Dead. I can't think of too many Civil War historical fiction titles that take place in Brookline, Mass., and I enjoyed the local connection. I must admit, I also enjoyed the really short chapters, as my attention span was limited due to frequent interruptions by my nephew. The packaging on this one is absolutely gorgeous -- no wonder Bryan Selznick blurbed it -- and I will be keeping it, since I allowed my nephew to color all over the inside of it during the Christmas Eve Mass.

I'm taking a little break from Lish McBride's Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, my second book in a row about the dead (actually, I think a good percentage of my remaining to-reads are about the dead or the undead). I just read the most startling scene out of this entire year's worth of reading. Which is kind of weird because until that point, the book had been pretty funny with hints of weird stuff under the surface. Only 8 5/6 books to go!