Author Archives: Kristin

‘Tis the season to be running around getting last-minute stuff done before the holidays. While Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday, I am not a fan of all the stress that goes along with it. It doesn’t help that all my friends and family are three time zones away from me. So, I have to purchase and order stuff way in advance so that I can wrap it and ship it out in time. Craziness I tell you. However, while the weeks may be non-stop between various errands and last-minute post office runs, I always make sure to veg out on the weekend and watch some of my favorite holiday movies. Ironically enough, this book blogger does not read holiday books… and I’m sure there are a ton of holiday romances out there. I just like my movies. Plus, if I’m being honest with your guys, I’ve been trying to read the same book for almost two weeks now. 🙁 Not because it’s bad or anything, I just don’t have time to sit down and read. So, movies are definitely my thing.

While I don’t read holiday stories, I do feel like I still get bookworm points for watching the Harry Potter saga every year. We always start watching the movies around Halloween time, and then slowly watch a movie every weekend up until Christmas. I’m not overly sure when it started but it’s been a thing of ours for the last handful of years. All I know is that it’s the perfect holiday series to watch because they incorporate the holidays into the films. So, while it’s not a movie that revolves solely around Christmas, it does have mention the holidays, and they open presents… so that has to count for something, right?

We also watch Elf every year. I mean, how could you not? It’s a story about a human baby who crawls into Santa’s bag of presents while Santa is putting presents under the tree. He travels all the way to the North Pole (where they realize that there’s a stowaway on board) and is raised by the elves. When he’s an adult, he decides he wants to meet his real father and makes the journey to NYC to find his dad. Let’s just say that things don’t go quite as planned. To me, there’s no better holiday story out there. It’s funny, endearing, and it never fails to put me into the holiday spirit. Plus, The Mister loves everything Will Ferrel is in, so this is an absolute must for us every year.

Another must for us is Four Christmases. While The Mister is a huge Will Ferrel fan, I seem to love any movie Vince Vaughn is in. Then you add Reese Witherspoon into the mix and you have a really great duo. If you don’t know about the story, it’s essentially about this couple who instead of going home for the holidays, they make up this crazy lie about volunteering in some third world country when they really go on an exotic vacation. However, due to bad weather, all flights are cancelled and they are strong armed into going to see their families for the holidays. Both of their parents are divorced… and their families are a bit dysfunctional and crazy, which makes for some hilarious moments. The Mister and I have even used their code-word “Mistletoe” when we are out and about, and one of us has had enough and is ready to get out of there without outwardly saying so.

And last but certainly not least, one of my all time favorites is White Christmas. I used to watch this movie with my parents when it would play on the TV every year around the holidays. So, when I got married and moved away, I made sure I had the movie on DVD so that I could watch it every year like I did growing up. It’s just a classic. The story revolves around two old Army pals (who are now big entertainers) who come across their old commanding officer (who runs a snow lodge) while on break for the holidays. The only problem is… there’s no snow. Needless to say, there are no visitors staying at the snow lodge when there’s no snow. With money being tight and the future looking grim for their old commanding officer, they decide to put on a Broadway show at the lodge to attract people to visit. There are a couple of surprises thrown in there for him and let’s just say it’s kind of emotional. I cry my eyes out every time they line up in their old uniforms and sing “The Old Man”. Gah. It guts me every time… but they are happy tears. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about.

Oh wait! I forgot to mention our actual Christmas day tradition! So, a couple years ago, when The Force Awakens came out, a couple of friends of ours asked us if we wanted to see the movie with them on Christmas morning. The Mister and I had nothing going on and hadn’t seen the movie yet so we decided to go. I’ve honestly never been out and about on Christmas before. Usually I stay inside, play with my new gifts, stuff my face with food, and watch movies. So, it was a whole new experience going out to eat and going to see a movie on Christmas day. The following year, we were just hanging out around the house when The Mister randomly tells me he wanted to see the new Star Wars movie. He really liked going on Christmas day the past year and wanted to do it again. It was fun, but our friends weren’t able to come out with us, so we just wound up going to see the movie and then coming straight home. Since The Mister has declared this our new Christmas thing, I got together with our friends and we looked for a fancy movie theater, the one with recliner seating, and was able to find one that still had seats available on Christmas day. Seriously, who knew Christmas was the day to see Star Wars? We are clearly not the only ones who have made a tradition out of this. Anyway, it’s a relatively new tradition here, and one that is reliant on Disney cranking out a Star Wars movie every year right before the holidays. But as long as they keep on the same schedule, we will have a fun Christmas day tradition. 🙂

Anyway, those are our Christmas movie traditions. There are so many holiday movies out there though. What are some of your favorite holiday movies to watch this time of year?

When I first started the book blog, I finished every book I read. I think it was partially because I was excited to be given books to review, and I was also just getting back into reading and was devouring every book I came across. However, I got burnt out real fast and soon decided that it wasn’t worth pushing myself to read a book that I just wasn’t into. Basically, if I’m bored while reading it, and am loath to pick it back up after putting it down for a break, I give it the heave-ho. There are just way too many books out there to spend it on one that just isn’t for me. However, do I still turn around and write a review on the book I just gave up on reading? If I have something to say about the book, then the answer is yes, and here’s why.

A lot of times a do not finish for me just left me feeling “blah” and I don’t have anything to really write because the book didn’t leave me feeling anything. When that happens I just move on. However, there are times when a book snags my attention but still just isn’t for me. Even if I don’t love a book, or didn’t finish it, I still want to try to share it with you guys. Let’s face it, we aren’t always going to like the same books. There are many huge fandoms over books that I just don’t get. So, I realize that even though I may not be feeling a particular book or story, you may love it. So, even though I don’t know how the story ends, I can still share the book with you and maybe explain why the book didn’t work for me. Sometimes the reasons I list may be things that ping your interest. One thing I always try to be in my reviews, even when I don’t finish them, is respectful to the author. They worked hard on that story and that is their baby. I’m not here to knock it down or anything. I just want to share the book with you guys. Heck, there have been one star and do not finish reviews that I’ve read on some of my favorite book blogs that made me pick up a book… and I really enjoyed them!

So, yeah, if I have something to say about a book to give you guys a sense of what it’s about and why it didn’t work for me, I’m going to write a review. We’re aren’t going to love every book we read and we aren’t all going to love the same books. So, the book I am unable to finish may be a book that you can’t put down.

To all my book blogging friends out there, do you write reviews for the books you don’t finish?