12 Days of Thanksgiving

~Rules~

1. List 12 things that you are grateful for

2. Tag as many bloggers as you want, making sure to tell them of their nomination. 

Thanks to my sister, Kara, for tagging me! Here are twelve bookish things I'm thankful for.
                   

1. The chance to review books for Bethany House, Tyndall and Revell.

2. The feel of a new book

3. The fact that they're working on another Narnia movie right now, from the book "The Silver Chair." Hope it comes out soon!

4. Julie Klassen and Melanie Dickerson for the books they write. Can't wait to see what they'll write next!

5. The anticipation of getting a new book in the mail.

 6. Bethany, Revell, Tyndall, and so many other publishing companies for making clean, fun fiction

7. That "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" were made into movies

8. That tablets and e-readers haven't replaced real books.

9. The picture that plays out in your head while you read.

10. The feeling of knowing a character personally, when really they're fictional.

11. That some of the Narnia books were made into movies
                               

12. For  "Robin Hood" made into an awesome tv show by BBC.

There are 12 bookish things I'm thankful for. What about you? What are you thankful for?
It's too hard to choose who to tag, so I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this.

The Christmas Joy Ride, by Melody Carlson

                                           The Christmas Joy Ride, by Melody Carlson

                                          Genre: Christmas Fiction
                                           
                                             My Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts
                                            
                                           Profanity: None
                                           
                                          Inappropriate Scenes: None 
                                           
                                              Description: 
             Miranda didn't include "adventure" on her Christmas wish list - but thanks to her 85-year-old neighbor, Joy, that's exactly what she's getting! Joy's determined to drive an old RV decked out in Christmas decorations from their Chicago neighborhood to her new retirement digs in Phoenix. Miranda can't say no - but this road trip may change her life! 
                                               Description from Christianbook.com 
    
                  My Review:
             This Christmas book was a good read. Joy's love of Christmas and her giving heart was inspiring, and her mission (bringing love and joy to others) gave the book a nice, festive feel. Miranda, although not as cheerful as her friend, Joy, was a nice character as well. 
 The story was well written, (albeit a little short- 176 pages or so) and the plot was pretty good a well. Also, the cover- it was great! Really cheery.
 Despite these good things about the book, there were some things  didn't like. For instance...
 There didn't seem to be a whole lot of character development- Miranda is sometimes called "the Grinch", but she didn't seem as Christmas-hating as I'd thought she'd be.
 The story seemed to be going smoothly for a large portion of the book, with only mild setbacks for the characters and the problems being solved quickly (although, when it's a shorter book, that's usually what happens). And for some reason, (perhaps from reading a description of the book from a catalog) I thought the book was going to be more comedic... my fault for the assumption, but a little disappointing when you find out differently. There was also a part in the book where a woman spends several days and nights in a single man's house, their only chaperon being a young girl. While nothing bad happened, the fact that they were virtually alone together didn't seem right. Another con was that the book's romance was extremely quick and seemed rushed to me. I've read books where the romance was rushed, but to me this one almost seemed too rushed. 
   All in all, this was a pretty good Holiday read. While it wasn't a favorite of mine and has some faults, it had it's good points, too. It sort of reminded me of a Hallmark movie. The Christmas Joy Ride didn't quite meet up to my expectations, but it was still a good book. 

 Note: I got this book free from Revell in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are my own. 

                                 
                                         

Every Girl Gets Confused, by Janice Thompson

Every Girl Gets Confused, by Janice Thompson

Genre: Contemporary Romance

My Rating: ♥♥♥ Three out of five hearts

Profanity: None

Inappropriate Scenes: None

About:

Katie Fisher and Brady James may be a match made in heaven, but that doesn't seem to guarantee them a happily ever after accompanied by angelic choirs. In fact, the sounds being heard at the bridal shop where she works are on the contentious side lately, as a bride- and groom-to-be try to mediate the growing rivalry between their basketball-obsessed families in the middle of play-off season. On top of that, Katie's parents are nagging her to get out of Dallas and come home to tiny Fairfield where her former boyfriend Carson is waiting for her, ready to rekindle their relationship. Oy vey! What's a girl to do? And will she ever be able to wear that gorgeous wedding dress she won?

 Description from Amazon.com

My Review:

 First of all, I didn't realize this was book 2 in a series (Brides With Style) until I received it, so reading it was a bit confusing, like picking up a story and starting right in the middle, after some crucial things have happened and relationships been established. It can still be read, even if you haven't read the first book, although it will just be a bit more confusing. Now, aside all that, here's what I thought of the book. 

  Ms. Thompson has a good writing style that I enjoyed, although it was in first person, which isn't my favorite, but that's just a preference choice. Also, though, while some have called the book comedic, I didn't really think it was too funny. That leads to the next subject- the characters. I liked Katie and Brady as characters, but her Aunt Alva and grandmother, Queenie, I wasn't as fond of. All of the elderly women in the book to me didn't seem funny a lot of the time, but kind of... clueless, I guess you could say. Now, this may all be because I didn't read the first book, and while the book didn't strike me as funny, my sister thought it was just flipping through it, so this definitely is not the case for everyone.

   The cover was really great looking, although I didn't really feel like it or the title had a lot to do with what the book was about. There didn't seem to be as much "choosing" in the book as the name and cover implied. Here is one thing I did like though- in most Hallmark movies or such, the city boyfriend is always the bad guy, while the country boy is normally the good guy. With Every Girl Gets Confused, this was not the case, as I inaccurately assumed from looking at the front cover. City boy Brady is just as nice as country Casey is. 

 Another thing about the book was that the characters discussed a lot about what happens during the honeymoon. Nothing bad is ever said in any way, nothing explicit, and I just got a bit tired and a little uncomfortable with the subject being brought up so much. 

 All in all, while not really my favorite, this was a pretty good book that fans of the first one (Every Bride Needs a Groom) will probably enjoy.

Note: I got this book free from Revell in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are my own.