{25 Days of Holiday Book Reviews}: Allison's favorites

Today's guest poster is my little sister, Allison.  You may remember her from her post on Wonder over the summer, and her weird aversion to The Clockwork Angel (and the rest of the series).  I think she was hoping that the Mayan prophecy would come true when she signed up for this day, but joke's on her!  haHA!  Rather than wrack my brains thinking of a cute introduction for her, I'm going to use the one she came up with!  

About Allison:  

The ever adorable hilarious younger sister of Amanda. Horse-crazy since birth, avid reader,
photographer, flowboarder and outdoor enthusiast, I currently work at the local police
department (in which I do not carry a gun, handcuff or badge).

 

 

Today, she's writing about a variety of favorites, including The Berenstain Bear's Christmas Tree, The Christmas Day Kitten and Santa Cows (never heard of Santa Cows?  Oh you're missing out.  It's a hoot!)

Growing up with a family that loves to read sometimes leaves me trying to chose a favorite Christmas book to write about.  For some reason, I don't recall my favorite Christmas books being the "traditional" ones read; like "The Night before Christmas" and other classics like that.  For me, it was books like: "The Berenstain Bear's Christmas Tree", "The Christmas Day Kitten" and "Santa Cows"

   

(clicking the images will take you directly to Amazon)

The last two books should not be a surprise that they were my favorite Christmas books.  I grew up on a farm with cows, cats, a dog and eventually horses.  So, with "Santa Cows", my child-like imagination could easily hope that our cows in the field behind the house would somehow start flying on Christmas.  With "The Christmas Day Kitten", the   summarization of the book being the best Christmas present was a little kitten who was orphaned probably made me think of my cat.  It also probably didn't help that my cat was like the kitten, being an active kitten and acting like he thought he was a dog too.

Finally, "The Berenstain Bear's Christmas Tree".  Many of us remembers this beloved family and the numerous books from this series.  This particular book is somewhat longer then the normal story but nevertheless still as charming.  How many of us spend time searching for that perfect Christmas tree, gift or meals, yet forget the real meaning of Christmas.  This book teaches us the meaning of Christmas; of the love, hope and joy found in Christmas.

Thanks, Allison!

Guest Post & Giveaway: Allison's thoughts on Clockwork Angel

Amanda's note:  I got the most hilarious text from Allison while she was reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, which inspired me to ask her to write this post.I hope you enjoy :)

Click the image to take you to the amazon site

Ever have one of those moments that freaked you out but people must still remind you of?  Sort of like those embarrassing moments in middle school that forever traumatized you (please refrain from asking me about mine but it involves a lion).  (*Amanda note:  its a doozy!  thanks for reminding me, Allison!)

Well, I was traumatized when reading the Clockwork Angel. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the whole theme of putting punk rock (Steampunk) with back in the 1800s or whenever the timeframe was.  Heck, I wish I had some of the clothes they were (although I hear some clothing companies are looking into that idea).

But, what freaked me out the most were the automatons. Sure having little robots help you with things are great, I can’t live without modern technology being like robots sometimes (seriously Siri is so much fun to ask questions and things like that, it’s like a personalized robot).  Automatons are not cute, especially as the author describes it as having a bloody/glistening hand reaching out to come hurt/maim/kill you. I freaked out at that point and was even texting Amanda about how freaked out I was (in which she responded by hilariously laughing at me). I had nightmares that night I believe. Several months later, I was watching a movie, I think it was Hugo. When they got the robot to work I started freaking out that it was going to start killing people or whatnot.

Yes, I admit, I have a fear of automatons now. Most people of normal fears of like flying, death or in Ron’s case in the Harry Potter series, spiders (“why spiders, why can’t it be follow the butterflies?”). But don’t let the fears of automatons (hey it’s a phobia: Automatonophobia, thanks Wikipedia) keep you from reading an otherwise awesome kick-ass book.

*And now for the giveaway!*

We're giving away a copy of Clockwork Angel, because, lets face it, Allison isn't going to borrow it!  All you have to do is leave your name, email address and your silliest fear in the comments section.  Allison and I will judge (when I get back from vacation).

The ever adorable hilarious younger sister of Amanda. Horse-crazy since birth, avid reader, photographer, flowboarder and outdoor enthusiast, I currently work at the local police department (in which I do not carry a gun, handcuff or badge).