The Amazing Christmas Tag

I've seen the Amazing Christmas Tag on a couple of blogs this week, and since I still need to take photos for a few blog posts I have planned, I've decided to give it a go, too.

There are sixteen questions and sixteen answers, and if you want to know where I'm spending Christmas this year, what colour my Christmas lights are, or what I left out for Santa when I was a kid, today is your lucky day!

1. When do your decorations go up?

I used to start decorating for Christmas on the 1st of December, but these days, it varies depending on when I can catch a good pain day. I try to do my bedroom decorations during the first week of December (although, I haven't yet this year), but the last few years, we haven't got to the main decorations until a few days before Christmas. This year? We're actually planning to tackle it today!

2. Who is the Scrooge in your family or friendship group?

It's definitely my Dad. He's not anti-Christmas, but it's more of a religious holiday to him, and he can get annoyed if the decorations go up too early, and by the excessiveness of it all. I've lost count of how many times he's jokingly told us Christmas was cancelled over the years.

3. If money were no object, how and where would you spend Christmas?

I'd love to experience Christmas in New York; in a log cabin somewhere in Scandanavia with a lot of snow and views of the Aurora Borealis; and also somewhere hot and tropical, like Australia. But, in all honesty, I think nothing would compare to celebrating Christmas at home.

4. Who do you find the hardest to buy presents for?

My Dad is a nightmare to buy presents for. He doesn't really have hobbies anymore, he can't drink because of his health, his idea of a skincare regime is soap and water, and he's diabetic, so sugar is out. And to make it worse, his birthday is a month before Christmas, so it makes it twice as hard to come up with something new that he'll actually like. I struggle with him every year.

5. What did you leave out for Santa when you were a child?

We usually left out a mince pie, and a shandy, plus sometimes a carrot for the reindeer. 

6. Where did you spend last Christmas?

I just spent it at home in The Cotswolds, with my family.

7. Do you have a real or artificial Christmas tree?

We have an artificial tree in the living room, but I always get a small real tree for my bedroom, too. Best of both worlds!

8. Which celebrity would you love to spend Christmas with?

I'm not sure I'd actually want to spend Christmas with a celebrity. I'd probably be too nervous to actually enjoy myself, or they wouldn't be as nice as they appeared on TV, and it would change how I saw them.

9. How are you spending this Christmas?

I'll be spending Christmas at home with my family, like I always do. We'll do some baking, and have a family buffet on Christmas Eve, with lots of tasty nibbles. And on Christmas Day, my sister, brother-in-law, and Auntie are joining us for the day, so it'll be a low-key Christmas with all the usual things- presents, Christmas dinner, movies, games, nibbles- and should be really lovely.

10. Do you own an ugly Christmas sweater?

Ugly? My Christmas jumpers are cute, thank you very much!

11. If you could be under the mistletoe with anyone, who would it be?

I wouldn't say 'no' to Jason Momoa.

12. Have you ever had a white Christmas?

Only once. We had one of the coldest winters I've ever known in 2010, with temperatures well below freezing in the day time, and icicles the length of my arm hanging from the windows. We had a few heavy snow falls before Christmas, and while it didn't snow on Christmas Day, so it's not an official white Christmas, we still had about a foot of it on the ground on Christmas morning, so I'm counting it. It was magical, and I remember my Mum buried the frozen turkey in the snow to save on freezer space! We don't get a lot of snow in south east England, so it was a real novelty, and I doubt we'll ever have a Christmas like it again.

13. Do you use coloured lights on your tree, or white?

We have coloured lights on the living room tree, and I currently use warm white lights for my bedroom tree. 

14. Have you finished your holiday shopping, or are you a last-minute gift-getter?

I actually finished my Christmas shopping last week! I always pick up presents throughout the year, to spread the cost, but I'm not usually this organised already. I'm not gonna lie, it feels good! I could never leave gift-giving 'til the last minute. I feel stressed just thinking about it.

15. What's on your Christmas wish list for 2024?

My Christmas list is 90% books this year, but I also have my eye on a few dresses, Erstwilder brooches, Too Faced make up sets, and some new bookshelves. I'll be blogging my Christmas wish list this week, but if you want to see what I have my eye on, you can find my Christmas list board on Pinterest here.

16. How do you plan to spend holiday cheer in 2024?

Just by giving presents and cards to my family and friends, wishing people a Merry Christmas, posting festive content, and if I have enough money to spare, I want to donate to a food bank, and put a box of goodies together for a homeless person.

And that is the Amazing Christmas Tag.

If you want to give it a go on your own blog, consider yourself tagged! Just be sure to leave me a link to your post so that I can have a read.

How will you be spending Christmas this year?

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Upon a Frosted Star by M. A. Kuzniar Christmas Book Review

Last Christmas, I read a gorgeous Swan-Lake-retelling from the author who wrote Midnight in Everwood, and it was one of the most magical festive books that I've ever read. I didn't finish it until after Christmas, so I've been waiting all year to share my review, and the day has finally arrived.

So, let me tell you why you need to read Upon a Frosted Star this Christmas.

Book Title: Upon a Frosted Star.

Author: M. A. Kuzniar.

Genre: Fantasy, romantasy, fairytale-retelling.

Edition: Waterstones Exclusive.

Plot:

Upon a Frosted Star is a devastating and wintry retelling of Swan Lake set in the Roaring Twenties, beginning with whimsical parties that give off Caraval and The Night Circus vibes, with hints of The Great Gatsby.

It's about a young artist called Forster who falls head-over-heels for a woman he meets at one of these enchanting parties, and becomes consumed with finding her again.

When they finally reunite, Forster discovers that the woman, Detta, carries a secret. Detta is cursed and can only remain human when it snows. When the snow melts, she turns into a mindless swan, and so she stays until it snows again.

It seems they're not fated to be together, but as any great fairytale will tell you, love is stronger than the distance between them, and absence makes the heart grow fonder. (Or some other soppy cliche about long-distance love).

Forster becomes a recluse from the world as he waits for Detta to return, year after year, and as Detta weakens with each year that passes, they realise he must find the man who cursed her if they have any chance of being together. But will Forster be able to track down the mysterious villain, or is Detta cursed to remain a swan forever?

Thoughts:

So... I'm just going to come right out and say it: I loved this book!

I haven't read the original Swan Lake story, so I don't know how it compares and differs, but I enjoyed this melancholy fairytale mixed with a 1920s setting, as it added so much romance and glamour to the existing story. 

It was so beautiful, whimsical, and romantic, and with all the snow and festive scenes, it was the perfect book to curl up and ignore the world with during the holidays.

The writing was so magical and descriptive, and it immersed me in every scene until I could almost feel the snow crunching underfoot, and taste the sugary cakes on my tongue. I particularly loved how Kuzniar described the enchanting parties, and the fun and imaginative ways the invitations were sent out each year. They sounded like the most magical parties ever, and I wanted to go to one so badly! And I hate parties!

Now, I admit, I'm not much of a romance reader, either, (unless it's romantasy and involves morally-grey fae warriors or vampires); I enjoy them even less than I enjoy parties. But I loved Forster and Detta's tragic love story so much. They were so cute together!

There are so many books about love lost and found, but having a couple fall in love, and then be separated by the cruelty of magic, weather, time, and distance each time the snow melted, made their story so unique and tragic. The fact that it happened continuously, and that they were lost to each other, despite remaining nearby made it all the more heartbreaking.

I love that they didn't concentrate on the time they didn't have, and always focused on making the most of every minute they had with each other. Although, as romantic as their stolen moments were, their heartwarming romance and declarations of love did become a little soppy and repetitive towards the end, and had me rolling my eyes at times.

Mostly, I just felt sorry for Detta and all she'd been through, and for Forster left behind in isolation from his friends, spending all year waiting for the snow to fall so he could be with the woman he loved. It was so damn tragic, I became so invested in their hunt for Rothbart in the hope that they could break the curse, and have their happy ever after.

I did feel that the ending was rushed and wish that it had been developed more, but I adored this book, and it was one of my favourite reads of 2023.

Rating: 5/5 stars!

So, basically, this book stole my heart, and if you enjoy devastating fantasy romance, and fairytale retellings, I think you'll love it, too.

I'm so tempted to reread it again this Christmas!

Have you read Upon a Frosted Star yet?

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What I Read in November 2024

Look at this; I'm here bringing you a 'What I Read' post at the start of the following month, and not at the very end for once! Miracles do happen. Maybe Trump will stop being a raving narcissist next! Or maybe pigs will fly...

Anyway, November wasn't a bad reading month for me. I finished 9 books, and began 2 others, and 5 of them were big beasts over 600 pages. I loved everything I read, and became obsessed with a few of them, so it was one of the most enjoyable months of reading I've had in a while.

This is what I read in November:

Reading Stats:

📖9 books completed, 2 started.

📖4 hardbacks.

🎧5 audiobooks

📖2139 pages (3953 pages including audiobooks).

🎧73.55 hours listened at 1.1x speed.

📖5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!

📖3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Average rating: 4.44 stars.

📖Average book length: 624 pages.

📖Average time to finish: 8 days.

I Read:

📖The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. 5⭐

📖Lightlark by Alex Aster. 3⭐

📖Gold by Raven Kennedy. 5⭐

📖Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy. 5⭐

🎧Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).

🎧Crescent City House of Sky and Breath Part Two (Dramatised) by Sarah J. Maas. 4⭐ (Reread).

🎧Fourth Wing Part One (Dramatised) by Rebecca Yarros. 4⭐ (Reread).

🎧Fourth Wing Part Two (Dramatised) by Rebecca Yarros. 4⭐ (Reread).

🎧Iron Flame Part One (Dramatised) by Rebecca Yarros. 5⭐ (Reread).

And I Started:

📖The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent.

🎧Iron Flame Part Two (Dramatised) by Rebecca Yarros. (Reread).

Although, I began both on the final day of the month, and I didn't get far with either.

Favourite Reads: I have three that I can't possibly choose between: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, and both Gold, and Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy.

I told you how much I loved The Spellshop last month, before I'd even finished it, but I'll say it again; I loved this book so much! It was one of the cutest, cosiest, most comforting books I've ever read, full of magic and whimsy, and it's earned a place on my all-time-favourites list. I'm so excited that's there's going to be a prequel.

My other loves of the month were Gold and Goldfinch, the last two books in The Plated Prisoner series- a brilliant dark adult fantasy series I've become completely addicted to this year. I became obsessed with both books, and a week after I finished the last one, I still can't stop thinking about them. They were both action-packed and deliciously tense, empowering and inspiring, and Goldfinch was so devastating that it's annihilated me emotionally. It was sadder than The Ballad of Never After, The Assassin's Blade and Kingdom of Ash combined, and I'm not sure I'll ever recover. Seriously, I sobbed my heart out, and feel like I have second-hand grief from reading it. But, I think being so emotionally affected by a story is a sign of a good book, and I've also added them to my favourites list.

Favourite Listens: The Fourth Wing books were really fun to reread as dramatised audiobooks, but I think I'd have to go with Kingdom of Ash. It's one of my favourite books, and with all the torture, trauma, battles, and emotions running high, it made for an epic listening experience. I might've cried through half of it- especially through the deaths and torture, the battlefield rescue scene, and Fenrys and Gavriel's blood oathes, but it was the perfect end to a fantastic series, and I honestly couldn't love this book or series more.

Least Favourites: I had a pretty strong reading month all round, and enjoyed everything I read, but my lowest rated book was Lightlark by Alex Aster, with three stars out of five. It was a fun read, but it was perhaps a little too predictable, and needed a little more excitement. I'm hoping the worldbuilding, story, and characters develop more as the series goes on. And if Isla doesn't end up with Grim by the end, I'm throwing them all out the window.

Well, those were my November reads.

What was the best book you read in November?

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The Christmas Book Blogger Tag

I saw the Christmas Book Blogger Tag on a couple of blogs, and thought it would be fun to jump on the band wagon, so here we are. Let's do this!

What is your favourite Christmas scene in a book?

I love the Christmas scene in Little Women when Beth is recovering from scarlet fever, and Mr. Lawrence gives her his late daughter's piano. It makes me cry every time.

Oh, and also the scene in A Court of Frost and Starlight when Azriel takes it upon himself to fix the Solstice decorations Cassian and Feyre made a drunken mess of hanging; when he gets exasperated, and gets caught downing Rhys' good wine. His reaction is hilarious!

Do you have any Christmas book traditions?

Not really. The only ones I can think of are that I try to read festive books during December, and my older sister and I usually go sale-book-shopping between Christmas and New Year. I might have to make shopping for new festive books before Christmas a thing, though.

Do you prefer to get presents of book vouchers or books?

I honestly don't have a preference. Either way, I get new books. I love receiving new books people have chosen for me or picked off my wishlist, and gift vouchers are great because I'm a pro at getting more for the money during the Boxing Day sales.

Do you give books as presents?

Yes, I do. My family are all readers, so I gift books as part of their presents almost every year. A few people will be getting books off me this year, too.

What bookish item is on your Christmas wishlist?

I'm unlikely to get them, especially as they're from international brands, but I would love the Everything Nice Reading Companion from The Quirky Cup Collective; and the Kingdom of the Wicked Favourite Sin blanket from Litjoy Crate.

What three books would you love Santa to have in his sack for you?

1. The T. Kingfisher set of The Twisted Ones, The Hollow Places, and House with Good Bones from Illumicrate.

2. The Bride of the Shadow King trilogy from Illumicrate.

3. The King of Scars Annotated Special Edition Boxset from Litjoy Crate.

Fake Christmas tree or real Christmas tree?

We always have a fake Christmas tree in the living room, and I always get a small real one for my bedroom, so I have the best of both worlds. I always thought I prefered real ones, but I think fake trees are much less hassle.

What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

I particularly love seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations brightening up in the dark winter nights; giving gifts to my family and friends; and watching Christmas movies.

What Christmas book would you recommend?

I'd recommend:

♥ Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

♥ Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar.

♥ Upon a Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar.

♥ A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

♥ A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas.

♥ Noel Streatfield's Christmas Stories.

♥ A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott.

What dish on the Christmas menu are you most looking forward to?

My brother-in-law's goose-fat roast potatoes. They're so damn good! And also my blackberry and apple trifle and my sister's Squidgy Chocolate Log, because they're both delicious.

When do you open your Christmas presents?

We open ours once everyone is up on Christmas morning. And then exchange presents with my older sister and brother-in-law when they arrive around midday.

What's your favourite Christmas song?

It's probably between Last Christmas by Wham, I Believe in Father Christmas by Greg Lake, and It's Only Christmas by Ronan Keating.

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas?

I would love to have another white Christmas, as I've only ever had one (in 2010), and it was magical. It was so cold, we had snow on the ground for weeks, and icicles the length of my arm hanging from the windows! It rarely snows in Oxfordshire at the end of the year, though, so it's unlikely to happen again any time soon.

I hope you've enjoyed The Christmas Book Blogger Tag. If you want to take part, consider yourself tagged! Just make sure to leave the links to your posts in the comments so I can have a read!

What's your favourite Christmas book?

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OPI Wicked Mini Nail Lacquer 12 Day Advent Calendar Review With Spoilers

This year, I'll be counting down the days to Christmas with the OPI Wicked 12 Days of Thrillifying Shades nail polish Advent calendar, and I'm here to review it for you- with plenty of spoilers of the contents!

So, this year's OPI Advent calendar is a collaboration with Wicked the movie, and features twelve bewitchingly beautiful mini OPI nail polishes in shades inspired by the characters, which are perfect for the holiday season and beyond.

There are Glinda pinks and Elphaba greens, yellow-brick-road yellows and ruby-slipper reds- and a whole ensemble of other magical nail colours in between. 

I love the mix of nail shades included in this set, and that there is a colour for every mood, and occasion. Whether you're looking to get into the holiday spirit, feeling feminine like Glinda, or going for dark and edgy like Elphaba, there's a shade for it. It's been so well curated.

Here's a full list of the mini 3.5ml nail polishes you'll find inside. (Descriptions taken from OPI's website):

♥ Ga-linda- a light pink shimmer nail polish that'll ga-lindafy you.

♥ Oh, for Oz Sake- a white polish with pink and green pearlescence that'll unleash magic.

♥ Ozitively Elphaba- a green polish with gold pearlescence.

♥ I'm the Wonderfullest- a blue polish with multi-coloured shimmer.

♥ Glinda, the Good!- a hot pink shimmer that screams 'good witch.'

♥ Love You So Munchkin- a yellow and gold polish.

♥ Deflying Gravity- a black nail polish with blue and silver shimmer.

♥ Nessa-ist Rose- a rosy red nail polish that's Nessa-sary.

♥ Let's Rejoicify- a purple nail polish with red and gold shimmer.

♥ Oz-mazing- a light gold shimmer.

♥ Witch o'clock- a positively green polish that's Wicked.

♥ Fiyero's My Man- a cobalt blue polish that nails every prince-iple.

It was the greens, Ozitively Elphaba and Witch o' Clock, that sold me on this calendar- both shades look dreamy- but the black and purple shimmers, Deflying Gravity and Let's Rejoicify, and classic rosy red, Nessa-ist, look like they're going to be favourites, too. I haven't worn or even swatched any of them yet, as I'm saving that treat for when I open them, so we'll see if my favourites change later.

All of the nail polishes included in the calendar are 3.5ml minis, but they're still a reasonable size, and you'll get at least a few manicures out of each bottle. I can't deny, it would've been nice to see a full-size nail polish included for the final day, though.

The calendar itself is smaller than a paperback book, which is so cute, and perfect if you're short on space. It's made of sturdy, recyclable cardboard, and features a Wicked-inspired design in green and gold, with Glinda and Elphaba from the movie on the front.

Pull back the giant green nail polish, and it opens on a hinge to reveal the twelve numbered windows, in numerical order, and split into two sides. The left is green and purple for Elphaba, and the right is pink, purple, and yellow for Glinda. It's such a pretty design- especially the green side.

The windows are also clearly numbered with a modern white font, so it'll be easy to locate the correct one each day. And you'll find the name of each nail polish shade on the reverse of each window. You'll want to make a note of each one in case you wish to order a full-size bottle of your favourite shades, as, annoyingly, once again, they aren't printed on the bottles. I wish OPI would just print the names on the mini bottles already- it would make identifying them so much easier.

The OPI Advent Calendar retails for £52, which is expensive for twelve mini nail polishes, but it's fair when you consider the full-sized bottles retail for around £16 each. It's also currently included in a lot of Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals, so you should be able to grab it for much less. 

Overall, it's a fantastic, reasonably-priced nail polish Advent Calendar to count down to Christmas with, with a gorgeous variety of high-quality nail shades that will keep your nails looking their best long after the festive season is over. I'd highly recommend it.

You can find it from: Amazon, Boots, Nail Polish Direct, OPI, and Pretty Little Thing. (OPI currently have the best deal)!

Which Advent Calendar have you chosen this year?