Happy Holiday Reading!

From Goodreads best of the year to Amazon bestsellers it's a tricky thing finding the perfect book. My latest reads come from the shelves of friends, I love nothing better than a book recommendation and an amazing friend who loans me the actual book. So this holiday season, I say cheers to the book sharers, willingly giving your precious reads to the people you love.

Happy Holidays!

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One family's journey through time, distance, and love.

Start from the beginning. It feels as if this book really reaches into the darkest depths of history and provides the answers to questions that many people struggle with today. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi provides generations of the same family, and each chapter begins with the new generation. When I first read the description I thought this is either going to be the choppiest book I've ever read or a masterpiece. I'm halfway through this novel and completely sure she has achieved something remarkable. The novel begins with the birth of two characters to the same mother. These sisters will lead completely different lives across villages, coasts, and continents.

Starlight, Moonlight, Hope

The heart is built of starlight And time, A pinprick of longing lost in the dark. An unbroken chord linking the Infinite to the Infinite. My heart wished upon your heart and the wish is granted. Meanwhile the world spins. Meanwhile the universe expands. Meanwhile the mystery of love reveals itself, again and again, in the mystery of you. I have gone. I will return. In this Newberry Award winning novel, there are several stories intertwined that all collide in the most beautifully written fashion. The main character Luna is an inspiring troublemaker, trying to find out who she is and what she can do to save her dear grandmother, Xan. The story begins in a town covered with sorrow. Each year a baby in this town must be sacrificed, left in the forest, for the witch of the woods. Turns out the witch is a delightful and kind woman, Xan, who brings the babies to new towns and loving families. One year Xan accidentally feeds the "sacrificed" baby moon...

I found there was, within me, an invincible summer

In Brooklyn during 2015, the snow storm of the decade transforms three lives immeasurably. It's a bit of cliche to have characters meet by coincidence fall in love, fight for each other's safety, and create a bond that lasts a lifetime. However, Allende is not one for simple lives and predictable paths. Each character has faced torture and disaster that leaves a permanent scar. The back story for Lucia, Evelyn and Richard is woven into the journey they take together, recounting their pasts as they face the future together. One of the most interesting aspects for me as a reader is the way Allende includes the history of both Chile and Guatemala within the novel. There is a sense of familiarity when describing home life, family relationships and growing into an adult. However, there is also the gut wrenching inclusion of the gangs Evelyn's grandmother must face off against in Guatemala, and the political disappearances Lucia write...

My Magical Read

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