Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

It’s obvious that no real posting schedule is going to happen between now and Christmas, folks–and is anybody surprised? Last weekend we had our ward Christmas party and watched an incredibly cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie as a family–it was a second choice, because Plex had our first choice labelled wrong and it wasn’t actually there–and this week I’ve been plugging away at life, parenting, and Christmas. (All three of which are feeling on the difficult side at the moment.)

Yesterday I finished listening to a less cheesy but still fluffy Christmas book, because I haven’t got the brain power for anything else–Susan Wiggs’ The Twelve Dogs of Christmas. Full disclosure: I don’t actually love dogs. I do, however, appreciate people who help animals in need, and I LOVE Christmas and snow and small towns, so this book checked plenty of boxes for me. The idea of a road trip from Houston to upstate New York with 12 dogs is totally entertaining as long as I’m not personally involved, and while I could see much of what was coming from a mile away, isn’t that kind of what’s supposed to happen with fluffy reads? Brenda is (of course) drawn into the small town of Avalon upon her arrival–which is much more dramatic than anticipated–and between the town itself and the cute single dad living on her host’s property, there is resistance and dealing with past trauma and love (in that order). Dog lovers should get a higher level of enjoyment out of the book than I did simply because of the rescue dogs, but I was still drawn into the story and enjoyed listening to it play out. If you’re looking for a fluffy Christmas read/listen, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas is worth trying!