What We Read Before/After Christmas

December is one of my favorite months. Not just because it's Christmas and all the wonderful food and festivities that come with it. It's also the time I have a complete month off from work and can read to my heart's content.

We do a lot of reading around here anyway, but in December we got in a whole lot.

For Me:
Susan Witting Albert's China Bayles Series:

There are many books in this mystery series, but I picked up three of the more recent ones. I'm not sure where I came across a recommendation for these, but "Bittersweet" was on my list. One of the great things about these books is there are recipes in the back that go along with some of the meals dished out through the book. I tried the taco casserole recipe last week, and the family says it's a keeper. I hope to make the carrot cake cupcakes this weekend and the herb quiche soon.

For the Kids:
Patricia Polacco Books

Patricia Polacco might be my favorite children's book author. Her stories are so sentimental and gratifying. We came across her last year on a reading list with the book "Mrs. Katz and Tush." We bought the book because we couldn't find it at our local library, and Jack asks me to read it ALL - THE - TIME!!! We recently read "The Bee Tree," which is at our local library, and then picked these four up in early December. I want to read everything she's written now. They are that worth it.

Poetry:

We are big into poetry here. I have four anthologies we own that I read something from every day. I recently found an entire shelf at our local library devoted to famous poets. We read Langston Hughes and Edna St. Vincent Millay a while back, and I picked up Walt Whitman, Edgar Allen Poe and an anthology edited by Jack Prelutsky, undoubtedly the best modern poet for children's poetry, that we are still working our way through.