ONLY 48 MORE SLEEPS!

by Heather the Jane

Oh yeah ... Christmas is coming. I'm big-time into it already. I'm one of those overly enthusiastic/slightly annoying people who start bouncing around in mid-October singing Jingle Bells (oh, or Jingle Bell Rock – there, I'm cool again). I usually buy some little thing every Boxing Day for the next Christmas, just so I can feel like I have a start on it. Yep, I love the Christmas music, the whole spirit of Christmas, dinner at my sister's home, watching my family open their presents, calls to my brother's family in Nova Scotia, outings with friends, putting up the tree....

Sigh .... 48 more sleeps ... so many!

I also am one who actually enjoys the chaos of the stores that's coming soon. It's true. I know people complain about the crowds and the cranky shoppers and all that, but I honestly don't see a lot of it. And I sure don't feel harried or cranky myself. Of course, I always plan on taking plenty of time when I head out shopping, and know I'm in for a line-up. It comes with the season – I am forewarned. But there is an excitement to the chaos! A thrill to the hustle and bustle.

Of course, I'm a big one for giving books. Yes, yes, I'm a book nut. Well, I'm a writer – comes with the territory. And while out and about at the malls and looking around online, I've come across some interesting titles again this year. Some are already tucked away in my Christmas closet for gift giving.

And some have ended up on my wish list. Here are three of the latter:

Unbearable lightness: A story of Loss and Gain, by Portia de Rossi

“I didn’t decide to become anorexic. It snuck up on me disguised as a healthy diet, a professional attitude. Being as thin as possible was a way to make the job of being an actress easier . . .”

I loved Portia de Rossi from her Arrested Development days. And though I'm thinking this will be a heartbreaking read – the journey into the dark and dangerous world of an eating disorder – I'm betting it will also be a victorious one for de Rossi. Definitely on this year's wish list.

Winter World: the Ingenuity of Animal Survival, by Bernd Heinrich

From the front flap:

From flying hot-blooded squirrels to diminutive kinglets to sleeping black bears and torpid turtles to frozen insects and frogs, the animal kingdom relies on staggering evolutionary innovations to survive winter. Unlike their human counterparts who alter the environment to accommodate physical limitations, most animals are adapting to an amazing range of conditions.

Years ago I took a Natural History course through Carleton University (got an A+ ... cough, cough), and it definitely spawned in me a fascination with nature. And I'm very much intrigued by winter world adaptations that animals use to survive. This book looks awesome to me.

Bad Girls Don't Die, by Katie Alender

From the author's website:

When Alexis’s little sister Kasey becomes obsessed with an antique doll, Alexis thinks nothing of it. Kasey is a weird kid. Period. Alexis is considered weird, too, by the kids in her high school, by her parents, even by her own Goth friends. Things get weirder, though, when the old house they live in starts changing. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Kasey is changing, too. Her blue eyes go green and she speaks in old-fashioned language, then forgets chunks of time. Most disturbing of all is the dangerous new chip on Kasey’s shoulder. The formerly gentle, doll-loving child is gone, and the new Kasey is angry. Alexis is the only one who can stop her sister — but what if that green-eyed girl isn’t even Kasey anymore?

Oh, wow! Need I say more?