Tampa Book Buzz

my christmas loot

I’ve always heard that the holiday season can be an odd mix of happiness and sadness, of joy and nostalgia. I finally understood that this year.

This was the first Christmas without my dad, who died in May. But it was also the first Christmas with my precious niece Morgan, who was born in October.

My usual sibling rivalry and jealousy (my sister went to culinary arts school and I can barely boil water) was set aside when we left her house with our bellies stuffed with delicious food and our bags full of homemade fudge, truffles, and other wonders.

My excitement over my interview in my college alumni newsletter (which I’ll post the link to as soon as it’s up, don’t worry) was muted by the fact that my mother cared more about the above-mentioned precious niece Morgan burping or smiling or…pretty much anything. Any future accomplishments of mine will always pale in comparision to the fact that my sister popped out a kid. Oh wait, there’s that sibling rivalry again.

After a month of receiving Christmas cards in the mail — a welcome break from the usual round of bills and junk mail — on December 22 I received a summons for jury duty for January. Merry Christmas to me.

But as far as presents go, it was all happiness and joy. In addition to the ton of non-book related gifts (like the Hello Kitty toaster!), I got a biography of Cary Grant, a book about Harrison Ford’s movies, a book about the top 100 greatest TV stars, and The 100 Greatest American Films:A Quiz Book by Andrew J. Rausch. The quiz book is very interesting and fairly difficult, plus a fun way to annoy your in-laws.

I love Christmas loot!