Winter Solstice
Ngaio Marsh: Off With His Head (Death of a Fool)
Festive Tasks Master Update Post HERE Festive Tasks, Door 19 — Community Traditions & Folklore: Read a fairy tale, or folklore story, or books based on either. Marsh’s third (de facto) holiday mystery, though not exactly set on Christmas but on and around Winter Solstice — because here her focus is on creating (with […]
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Ngaio Marsh: Off With His Head (aka Death of a Fool)
24 Festive Tasks: Door 10 – First Day of Carnival, Book: Read a book about starting over, rebuilding, new beginnings, etc., or a book where things go “BOOM!”, or with fireworks on the cover. I decided on a minor Ngaio Marsh mini binge, following up Tied up in Tinsel (my NYE book) with another one […]
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Donna Andrews: The Gift of the Magpie … and Yule Candles, Candy, and Other Christmas Cheer
24 Festive Tasks: Door 1 – Winter Solstice (Yule – Dōngzhì – Soyal – Yaldā Night), Book, Task 1 and Bonus Task #2: Book: Read a book that takes place in December, with ice or snow on the cover, where all events take place in a single day or night, that revolves around the solstice, […]
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Looking Ahead to 2021
Since I posted my 2020 Year in Review post yesterday, I figured I might as well go ahead and follow up with the preview post for next year — again, taking the relevant “Festive Tasks” items as my cues. So, without further ado: 24 Festive Tasks: Door 19 – Hanukkah, Task 1: Time to […]
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2020: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
We’re still a month away from the end of the year, but my reading will probably consist mainly of Christmas books in December, and I hope and pray that life won’t come up and throw anything else at me in the final month of the year, either. So I might as well post my “Year […]
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Storytelling
24 Festive Tasks: Door 17 – Winter Solstice, Task 4 (Soyal – Zuñi & Hopi / Native American): While systems of written symbols and communication already existed with the Pre-Columbian Native American cultures, to many tribes even today (including the Zuñi and Hopi) the oral tradition is still important. Have you ever had stories told […]
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Mary Kelly: The Christmas Egg
24 Festive Tasks: Door 17 – Winter Solstice, Task 2 (Yaldā Night – Persia / Iran): Stay up all night reading a good book (or at least stay up past your usual bedtime). I stayed up until 3:00 AM last night reading the first half (approximately) of this book — which contrary to recent […]
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Yule Candles
24 Festive Tasks: Door 17 – Winter Solstice, Task 1 (Yule – Germany / Scandinavia): Burn a Yule log – or if you don’t have a fireplace, light a candle to chase away the winter and welcome in the longer days. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, light a candle to mourn the slow […]
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24 Festive Tasks: Door 17 – Winter Solstice (Yule / Yaldā Night / Dongzhi / Soyal)
Door 17: Winter Solstice (Yule / Yaldā Night / Dongzhi / Soyal): Task 1: Yule task (Germany / Scandinavia): Burn a Yule log – or if you don’t have a fireplace, light a candle to chase away the winter and welcome in the longer days. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, light a […]
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Agatha Christie: Three Blind Mice and Other Stories
24 Festive Tasks: Door 17 – Winter Solstice, Book: Read a book that takes place in December, with ice or snow on the cover, where all events take place in a single day or night, that revolves around the solstice, set in Persia / Iran, China or the American Southwest or prominently featuring Persian / […]
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24 Festive Tasks: The Eight Final Holidays
The calendar’s eight final holidays and associated book tasks are: Door 17: Dec. 21 – Winter Solstice (Yule / Yaldā Night / Dongzhi / Soyal) Book: Read a book that takes place in December, with ice or snow on the cover, where all events take place in a single day or night, that revolves […]
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24 Festive Tasks: PSA – Gävle Goat, Holiday Book Joker, 2019 Reading Plan and Reading Year in Review Posts, etc.
First things first: The Gävle Goat did survive this year! Here are the website, Twitter, and Instagram pages to prove it. So, I am going to add a bonus point to the score of everybody who guessed correctly. (If you did, please respond to this post or in the Bingo Group to confirm and make […]
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Jill McGown: Murder at the Old Vicarage
24 Festive Tasks: Door 18 – Winter Solstice / Yuletide, Task 2: Tell us: What book did you read this year that felt like it was never going to end? I’m going with the book I read yesterday for this: Mind you, this is by no means a bad book (I gave it 3 1/2 […]
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A Book Cover Herd of Reindeer
24 Festive Tasks: Door 18 – Winter Solstice / Yuletide, Task 3: Round up a herd of reindeer on book covers and in book illustrations. … well — and a bunch of boars. Can’t let this one go without a bow to Sir Terry, after all! Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/1820163/24-festive-tasks-door-18-winter-solstice-yuletide-task-3-book-cover-herd-of-reindeer
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Bibliomancy
24 Festive Tasks: Door 18 – Winter Solstice / Yuletide, Task 1: Bibliomancy: Grab one of your larger books and flip to the indicated page and line number to answer the following questions – then post those answers for us: Will I read all the books on my TBR? (page 378, line 29) Will any […]
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Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale
24 Festive Tasks: Door 18 – Winter Solstice / Yuletide, Book Somewhat too self-involved for my taste, though in a first novel dealing with identity and the autobiographies we create for ourselves that probably shouldn’t have come as a total surprise … and I’ll grant Setterfield that it doesn’t exactly have “first novel” written right […]
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24 Festive Tasks: The Seven Final Holidays
As explained in this year’s Rules / Mode of Play post, we’re going to reveal the seven final holidays included in the card and the respective book tasks early on, so as to allow enough time to complete these books. The final holidays and book tasks are: Winter Solstice / Yuletide (December 21): Read any […]
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16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Final Tally
The Markers: Stack of Books: Books read Red Bows and Ribbons: Other Tasks completed Joker cards used: The Squares, Books and Other Tasks: Square 1: November 1st: All Saints Day / Día de los Muertos & Calan Gaeaf Book themes for Día de Muertos and All Saint’s Day: A book that […]
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Two Favorite Chinese Dishes – and Sherry Cream Dessert
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Square 11 – Dōngzhì Festival Tasks for Dōngzhì Festival: If you like Chinese food, tell us your favorite dish – otherwise, tell us your favorite dessert. Alright, I admit I haven’t made these in a while (so the pretty pics aren’t mine), but the Chinese recipes are from a […]
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My Grandma(s)
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Square 9 – Mōdraniht Tasks for Mōdraniht: Tell us your favourite memory about your mom, grandma, or the woman who had the greatest impact on your childhood. –OR– Post a picture of you and your mom, or if comfortable, you and your kids. Bonus task: Post 3 things you […]
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