In past years I've seen some shows of over the top lights and displays on houses or entire neighborhoods. (I can get dizzy just thinking of the power bill). Merry Christmas, America! Megawatt Displays Across the U.S.A., by Bruce Littlefield features some of them. There are tips on doing your own display, and stories from the home owners on how it all started for them. Since the book came out in 2007 there are now houses with even more lights!

A wonderful book from decades ago ... White Snow, Bright Snow, by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvosin. It combines a wonderful poem with Caldecott Award winning illustrations of a snow fall.

Remember all those books on Lighthouses back in July? I had to return to that trail when I found Lighthouse Christmas, story by Toni Buzzeo, pictures by Nancy Carpenter. What will Christmas be like at this remote lighthouse? When a storm changes their plans will there even be a Christmas? Set in 1929, it was fun learning about a service that continues today.

Not every one lives in a nice house, but everyone can offer a bit of Christmas spirit. December, by Eve Bunting and illustrated by David Diaz is a sweet story about just that. I love the little tree, and how it is decorated.

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December 12 is Poinsettia Day. For a delightful look at where it came from, when it started showing up in stories and cards, symbolism, how the word is pronounced, and so forth, read Poinsettias: the December Flower: Myth and Legend - History & Botanical Fact, by Christine Anderson & Terry Tischer.

I don't know about you, but I have a few favorite movies I watch each year around this time, ending with White Christmas on December 24th. Christmas Story is another one, but for some reason, I like to watch Sound of Music in the summer. :-)

The Christmas Story Treasury: a Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All American Holiday Movie, by Tyler Schwartz celebrates the 30th anniversary of this much-loved movie. There are lots of photos, some with sound buttons to push to hear those favorite phrases. Learn how the actors were chosen, how a pregnancy was hidden, and go behind the cameras to see how some of the scenes were filmed.

Another book about a movie that seems to air around this time of year is The Sound of Music: a Behind-the-Scenes Celebration of the World's Favorite Musical. It's a nice look at the movie: how the actors were picked and a little bit about each of them. Good pictures throughout, too. (There's one minor glitch where Rodgers is spelled Rogers). I thought the trivia was especially fun.

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Have you mailed your Christmas cards yet? December 9th is Christmas Card day. I know there are lots of books available on making cards, and Merry Christmas from ... 150 Christmas Cards You Wished You'd Received, by Karen Robert is a collection of some of them. Some are clever, others silly but all are unique (no store bought cards included). Note: the designs here are done with photos rather than with scrapbooking type crafts ... I have a few friends that make amazing cards this way, too. :-)

Laurien Berenson writes a delightful cozy mystery series which includes dogs and the most recent is The Bark Before Christmas. The annual Christmas Bazaar was suddenly thrust on Melanie when the original organizer skips town for a sunnier locale. Then Santa bails just 24 hours before the doors open. The new Santa doesn't return after a break ... a valuable show dog goes missing .... and so on ... ;-)

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What happens to a mitten when it's left outside on a cold winter's night? There are many versions of this story, but here, The Mitten is retold by Jim Ayelsworth and illustrated by Barbara McClintock.

Sleigh Bells and Snowflakes: a Celebration of Christmas, compiled and illustrated by Linda Bronson combines poems and song lyrics with unusual illustrations. Look carefully, they are three dimensional! The more I studied them, the better I liked them. :-)

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It seems there are several traditions concerning just when to put up a tree: modern tradition is to put it up the day or weekend after Thanksgiving; classic tradition is December 13, that is, twelve days before Christmas; some prefer December 6 in honor of St. Nicolas.

The evergreen tree has been featured in stories since the dawn of time. Or so it seems! Read many of these stories from around the world and down through the ages in The Solstice Evergreen: the History, Folklore and Origins of the Christmas Tree, by Sheryl Ann Karas.

I have a memory of an aluminum Christmas tree, someone in my neighborhood had one, complete with the four color rotating light that would make the tree change colors. However, I did not know that some of these trees rotated as well, or why you never put a string of lights on them until I read Season's Gleamings: the Art of the Aluminum Christmas Tree by J. Shimon & J. Lindemann.

The Star Tree, written and illustrated by Gisela Colle, and translated by Rosemary Lanning is a charming story from Germany. An old man, dismayed of all the bright lights and isolation of city life sets out to light up a tree in the forest. Will anyone else even notice?

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry is one of my all time favorites! I love what happens when a tree is just too big for the space it occupies!

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A recent gathering of friends, all of us of that 'certain age' inspired today's book trail. We like to sing so I'm starting with The Baby Boomer Songbook: 65 Hit Songs from the Hal Leonard Corporation. So many familiar songs! Song that were popular, songs from movies and tv shows, even songs from when we were young. Fun, fun, fun!

Atlas of the Baby Boom Generation: a Cultural History of Postwar America, by Neil A. Hamilton was stuffed full of all kinds of information. For each decade there were entries on what was going on world wide, with the bomb (and any protests), what was on TV, what was being worn and so forth. Just a wealth of memories here. :-)

The companion book to the PBS series, The Boomer Century: 1946 - 2046: How America's Most Influential Generation Changed Everything, by Richard Croker proved to be an excellent read. So many big changes! Gender roles, health issues, changing the work place, resisting mandatory retirement ages ... the good and the bad, triumphant and heart breaking, this was an excellent look back as well as forward. (Seems there are about 78 million of us)!

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The Nature of the Beast is the most recent Louise Penny book. This time it seems like it was a darker story (based on a true story), and one that brought up bad times for many of the folks in Three Pines. As always though, I was totally captivated. I love that even without gun battles and speeding cars the ending got my heart pounding! I've said it before, this is an amazing author! Start with Still Life, it is good to read them in order.

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