Status Updates From A Fantastic Holiday Season

The edition I am reading has 599 pages.

The Ghost of Christmas Always by Kevin J. Anderson was an interesting story about Charles Dickens, told from his (meaning CD's) POV about a certain Christmas Eve. I enjoyed it. :-)

The Christmas Noun by Larry Correia was great fun. I read it smiling. My smile began after LC's in-the-story introduction and lasted through The End, where I may have chuckled just a bit. :-)

LaZelle Family Christmas by Nina Kiriki Hoffman was really good, very interesting, and incredibly poignant in the end. Each child's vignette shared the Spirit of Christmas, but Opal's Ornament was . . . Wow. :-)

I've read Cold Comfort by Ray Vukcevich twice now - first yesterday (late last night) and then again today (after a good night's sleep) - and it doesn't make sense to me! So a freezer calls in to report a dead body. . .and a date is made to connect with the human rep again next Holiday. Wait, what? But what about Ralph's head?! Did this story end in the middle?? :-/

So I guess not every story in this collection is a "fantasy" story? Because this last one, The Jolly Old Boyfriend by Jerry Oltion, and Dead Snow weren't so much fantastical as they were imaginative. I'm glad to say that I liked this story by Mr. Oltion much better than I did his first entry in this collection.

So I haven't actually started my JAK book. Christmas and Boxing Day were full to the brim, with no time to read anything. And this book is due back to the library tomorrow, so. . . Inquiring Minds Want to Snow by Rebecca Moesta: Told in verse, it was a rather fun retelling of Rudolph's birth. :-)

I decided to read Dead Snow before bed (and in bed). I kind of wish I had waited. It was an incredibly depressing story. I feel like crying. :'( What a start to Christmas. *sigh* On a happier note, it's Christmas now! Merry Christmas, All! :-)

I had intended to finish this book today. But watching four (FOUR!) DVDs and playing games took away too much reading time. I started Dead Snow by Kent Patterson, but I'll have to finish it (and the book) in a few days. For tomorrow, Christmas Day, I plan to read (or at least start) When All the Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz, my favorite author. :-)

Christopher's Crummy Christmas by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I don't understand why this story was called Christopher's Crummy Christmas. In the end, it seemed that this Christmas might be the best, yet.

Popcorn for Christmas by Debra Gray De Noux & O'Neil De Noux was a very poignant story about a cop and a ghost. I enjoyed it, though it was sad.

I read One Last Gift by Jerry Oltion yesterday. I don't understand why the crash investigator was so happy that Santa and his reindeer died. I mean, I get that he thinks studying them will be a real boon to science, but. . . :-/

My Favorite Christmas by David Farland was a bizarre story. In the beginning, it said that this was a story about a ghost. But if Edward was a ghost, why was he able to be seen and touched by everyone? And what was that blue stuff in the end? So I'm confused. :-/

These Halls by Kathy Oltion was short and depressing. I didn't understand if the "Santa Janitor" was truly a janitor or ... a ghost? Why did he show up in a photo but the women didn't see him when he spoke behind them and they turned to look? :-/

Nutball Season by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. This was an okay story. I wish we could have known whether magic was common to Mantino's world. As it was, it felt like Santa was in the story just so that there could be a story. (Does that complaint make sense?)

Well, The Wereyam by Kent Patterson is, so far, the shortest story. Only three pages long, it tells the story of how Bill Mauer was turned into a wereyam. Only, we didn't get to see him transform back to his human form, so why is he a wereyam? :-/

Foreign Exchange by Nina Kiriki Hoffman was also short and sort-of-sweet. ;-) It featured a really rude alien and I had to laugh in the end, when Marisa, speaking on behalf of herself and Neil, said "Thank you, but no way in hell" to the ministry's offer to visit the aliens for payback. :-)

Santa Claus Is Coming to Get You! by Kevin J. Anderson was short and definitely-not-sweet. Jeff and Stevie are so frightened of the Santa in their imagination that they poisoned the milk and cookies. Next morning, they're alive and well and worried that they killed Santa. So they decide to go wake Mom and Dad and...The End. Depressing? You bet.

Jukebox Gifts by Dean Wesley Smith. This was a neat story with a fun premise. A jukebox that transports you back in time to a strong memory of hearing a song, giving you the chance to change your life? Like I said, it was a neat story. :-)