Finished for Friday: Free Christmas Books and Music

I'm spinning into the holiday around here, wondering how I'm going to get it all done.  I notice a lot of friends on Facebook are already addressing Christmas cards.  Ack!  I hadn't even thought about mine yet.

I'm also busy driving the kids back and forth to the next city for Nutcracker rehearsals.  The preparation for that includes a grand scavenger hunt (girls can only wear Rimmel lipstick color #202, boys can only wear a particular shade of brown that's impossible to find.)  I still need to sew white elastics on one pair of black ballet shoes and black elastics on a different pair.  Tell me the truth, if you're watching The Nutcracker, do you notice the color of the elastic on the shoes of the dancers?  I suppose someone does.  Far be it from me to mess up the grand designs of the costume mistress.

There are two sure things that get me in the holiday spirit.  One is music, the other is a good Christmas story.  I'll share a few I've been enjoying this past week.

For your mp3 player, I recommend "The Wexford Carol" by Andreas Vollenweider.  This is some decidedly different harp music that would work great in a playlist that includes artists like Mannheim Steamroller.

If you haven't downloaded music from Amazon before, it's very simple.  You'll be prompted to download their tool, which just takes a few seconds.  Then your music will automatically show up in iTunes (or whatever player you prefer to use on your computer).

Amazon has a lot of free music, often for a limited time.  It's worth checking throughout December because they feature a new free holiday song each day.  You may also be interested in one of their free "samplers" of Christmas music. I recommend the Sugo Music Free Holiday Sampler and Timeless Christmas.  If you don't like all the tracks, you can always delete a few and keep the ones you like.

On to books.  Although this one is no longer free, it was a lovely holiday read and you may want to add it to your list of books to pick up.

A Simple Amish Christmas is about Annie Weaver, a young woman who has left the community for a few years and become a nurse.  We begin by seeing her in a familiar busy hospital setting, but soon venture with her back home to a life of quiet simplicity.  Once there, she faces challenges and decisions about how she will use her skills and find her place within her community.

I haven't read much about the Amish, so the descriptions of everyday life and home were fascinating to me.  It was definitely a book that brought some calm and peace to my busy days.  Now I want to read some more in this genre.


I've also enjoyed a few shorter works, which are free.  Beasley's Christmas Party is a charming old-fashioned tale from Booth Tarkington.  The Bird's Christmas Carol is a forgotten classic that's very sweet and funny and finally The Burglar and the Blizzard, while not particularly Christmassy, is witty and fun along the lines of P. G. Wodehouse.  All recommended for some cozy fireside reading.

What have you been up to this week?  Link up and show us.  Have a wonderful weekend.  I'm off to order my Christmas cards now.