Hi all. It looks like we’re winding down the year … so I wanted to I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or whatever holidays you observe for the week ahead. May your time with family and friends and loved ones be special and dear. Or should I say deer … like this one who showed up yesterday evening to eat from our bird feeder, lol.
Anyways, thanks for taking time this year to stop by here, whether occasionally or regularly. It’s been a fun journey to discuss books and reading with you in particular … as well as shows and movies and music. Your thoughts and insights always make things more enjoyable and richer.
My husband and I will be having a quiet Christmas at home this year with our two Labrador dogs and some gifts. He always goes a bit overboard even when three gifts is the proposed limit.
Usually I get all my books from the library … but around this time of year I’ll make an exception and ask Santa for a few. Here is my Santa list this year (above). I have asked for three nonfiction books and two big novels to read. Have you read any of these or have them on your TBR?
And now I’ll leave you with a review of what I finished lately.
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood / Scribner / 176 pages / 2025
5 stars. This transfixing novel, which I read as a buddy read with Tina at Turn the Page, came at just the right time in my year-end reading and packs a lot in for a short book.
Set in the early 1960s, Thomas Flett, 20, is the young man who carries on his family’s business of shrimping with nets aided by a horse and cart when the tides go out in his seashore town in northwest England. It’s cold and dreary hard work amid the Irish Sea, and Thomas does it almost by rote but not with much joy. He’d rather be practicing songs on his guitar, which he hides from his mother (since he bought it by selling his grandfather’s timepiece). But it’s just Thomas and his mother now in their meager home and he must provide.
Then comes a stranger to their door — an American film director named Edgar Acheson — who wants to hire Thomas to help on location. It’s just the grim shoreline and place Edgar’s wants for his next film. And Thomas can help by showing him the best spots and pointing out the dangerous “sinkpits” to avoid.
Edgar is quite the character and the plot takes a couple mysterious twists and turns … during which Thomas goes through an awakening of sorts. The writing wonderfully conjures up the frigid conditions amid the rain and stormy sea … with the steadfast horse by Thomas’s side while lugging the nets. It’s sort of a dark small gem of a tale, but it also has a shred of light too. It made a strong impression on me and I will look for whatever British author Benjamin Wood writes next. He’s one to watch.
That’s all for now. What about you — what books do you want for Christmas? Happy holidays.
I’m glad that you and Tina both liked Seascraper. Sounds interesting!
I enjoyed reading both your and Tina’s thoughts about Seascraper. It’s on my list for 2026.
It sounds like you and Robert will have a very nice Christmas together. Rod & I have switched our gift giving ideas around the past few years. We each buy ourselves a few gifts that we want, wrap them, and then unwrap them on Christmas morning. It’s fun to watch and see what the other has bought, and we wind up getting exactly what we want. Since we don’t really need much, we aren’t wasting money on silly items that neither would really want. I bought myself several books (including Buckeye!), as well as a weight bench for my workouts. I’m very curious to see what my husband bought! We do set a $$ limit so we don’t go crazy.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year!
I read both The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and Raising Hare, and I found both of these books to be full of beautiful writing. I have Buckeye here for next year’s reading, I think. Both the nonfiction books on your list are new to me, and of course that makes me very curious about them.
We are also having a quiet holiday this year. Happy holidays!
The Loneliness of S & S is definitely on my list of books to read soon, and more and more bloggers are reporting positive things about it. I liked your review.
Have a great Christmas week!