Advent Calendar 10th December

Advent Calendar 10th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 1'th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !

Here you are my creation for the 10th day of the month.
I was inspired by a nice Christmas movie starring two actor I love very much.
The film in question is BUTTON: A CHRISTMAS TALE (2018) and the 2 actor I was talking of are Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke.

Starring also Jane Seymour, another acterss among my favs.

and the film's narration is performed by none other than Robert Redford and Kate Winslet!

___ THE STORY : Two orphan girls have only one wish: is to find a forever home for Christmas.
With a little help from their guardian angels, they come discover that miracles can truly happen if one find the strength to believe.

Even though the film is not based on any book and is not a classic, I really liked it and recommend everyone to watch it during this Christmas time.

(NOTE : Sorry for any errors in my text, English is not my native tongue. :-) Thanks for stopping by! )

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Advent Calendar 9th December

Advent Calendar 9th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 9th day Christmas countdown

Hello my lovely friends !

Here we are for another sparkling image in our calendar. Today my illustration offers few pictures from the cheerful musical film HELLO DOLLY (1969) starring the great Barbra Streisand and the talented Walter Matthau , directed by Gene Kelly based on the Broadway musical with the same title.

Brodaway's musical in turn was based on The Merchant of Yonkers, a 1938 play by Thornton Wilder.

The quote I chose tells how crazy and cheerful this film is and, if you think about it, both for better and for worse, this quote says exactly how things are in the world.

There is a little bit of madness in all of us, the secret is to bring out the good madness, the creative and optimistic one that helps us to always see the glass of life half full.

(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 8th December

Advent Calendar 8th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 8th day Christmas countdown

Hello, here we are on the Immaculate Conception Day.

December 8th. Today, I would have liked to choose a more religious film, but I was watching an old Hollywood classic among the musicals on TV and so I chose: HOLIDAY INN (1942).

In addition to the very cozy scenography, this film features an exceptional duo:
Fred Astaire perhaps the greatest dancer in American cinema and Bing Crosby among the most beautiful and talented voices of the 40s (and here he sings the song "White Christmas" which would later give its name to another Christmas film from 1954).

Music by Irving Berlin a great American composer and lyricist.

The quote I chose is taken from the song and brings back memories of our childhood Christmases.

It doesn't matter if they were Christmases with snow or not, what matters is that childhood memories, for most people, represent a serene memory, in which there were no problems, because we were children and we felt pampered and protected from our family.

Everything becomes more difficult as we become adults, which is why childhood memories must be kept in the heart like precious possessions!

(Note : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors in my text )



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Book review : The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen

The Twelve Clues of Christmas
A Royal Spyness Mystery Series Book 6
by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing ! 5 FULL STARS absolutely well deserved and I would add a sixth GOLDEN STAR !

One of the best Christmas mysteries I've ever read (and I've read many), which has remained firm for years in my TOP 3 of "whodunits" set at Christmas (and in the TOP 5 of all genres Christmas books).

____ THE PLOT ______ 1933. Lady Georgiana, affectionately called Georgie, is stuck in the castle of her brother and his unbearable wife, in Scotland, when she finally receives an invitation for a job as a hostess, at an elegant party that will run for the full 12 days of Christmas in Tiddleton.
The village is truly enchanting and the snow makes it seem like something straight out of a Dickens story... however, strange accidents and unexpected deaths will soon occur.
While Georgie's lover, the charming Darcy, was supposed to be in South America, our heroine will find him among the guests and together with him she will live a thrilling adventure to unmask the culprit and prevent further deaths.
Not far away, in a cottage in the same village, Georgie's frivolous but in her own way affectionate mother is spending her holidays.

___ SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT ___
---> It is common in recent years for mystery crime authors, especially those who write series that feature the same protagonist in each book, to write a novel or often just a short story, set in the Christmas season.

___ :-( Unfortunately for most of the books I have read, Christmas is only mentioned in words here and there in the book or worse only in the title. :-( ______
An example ? We have it from the queen of mystery with "Poirot's Christmas", anyone who has read it can confirm that there is no Christmas atmosphere, on the contrary the "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding " is extremely Christmassy and there is a pleasant festive air.

__YEAHHH ! :-D ----> This is why I loved reading this book: the 12 Christmas crimes, throughout the book the Christmas atmosphere is palpable, imbued with the charm of old English traditions, both in the celebrations and in the events that happen, thus determining the mystery to be discovered.

____ THE MYSTERY ____ the murders and therefore the mystery to be discovered, are not only really well thought out by the author, but they are even more engaging for the reader, because they are related to an old traditional Christmas song: THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.

Despite being a cozy mystery, the writer also gives us a bit of traditional English history which for me always has an added value. Especially for non-English readers, therefore not so aware of British habits and customs, it adds an extra charm.

____ THE HISTORICAL and TRADITIONAL PART so interesting ___ In this Christmas mystery, set in England in the 1930s, we experience 12 days, from 22 December to 1 January, joyfully traveling together with the protagonist and the supporting characters through all the traditions of the old traditional English Christmas (Old fashioned English Christmas).
---> The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings' Day).

---> The crimes committed in the book refer to one of the oldest Christmas songs: "The 12 Days of Christmas". According to what I learned from Wikipedia (this song does not exist in Italy and it is not customary for us to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas), the music is of unknown origin, although present in the British and Scandinavian areas as early as the 16th century.
The text is a children's nursery rhyme published for the first time in the book Mirth without Mischief in London in 1780.
It had to be recited by some players in a circle during a memory game in which the players took turns reciting a verse from the nursery rhyme, in sequence.
The interpretation of the meaning of the text is not universally recognized.

Some sources would trace the origin of the song to English Catholics during the period in which the Catholic religion was banned in England, between 1558 and 1829. The "12 days of Christmas" would represent a mnemonic form for children in order to learn the basics of the Catholic faith.

Years later, the game and nursery rhyme were revived by a collector of folk songs, Lady Gomme, as "Great entertainment for the whole family before dinner on the Twelfth Night of Christmas."
This historical/traditional part is certainly what made the detective story so gripping to me.

___ ICING ON THE CAKE ___ I absolutely would never have guessed the murderer!!! It often happens that you can guess halfway through the book or towards the end who the culprit might be, sometimes even by exclusion or because it is often the least suspicious person... But of all the least suspicious people, I wouldn't have guessed the culprit here.
I must say it was partly a shock to me, but a surprise ending is what makes a mystery definitively successful (obviously it has to be well justified, not like in some books where the surprise ending makes no sense).

Despite the high number of people in this "cozy mystery" (too many characters are sometimes difficult to remember), it is a perfect Christmas read: every preparation, every entertainment game, every tradition in the house and in the village is described so well in colors, scents and sensations that seems to be there on the scene together with the friendly heroine Lady Georgiana.

__ A NICE HINT OF ROMANCE between Georgie (Lady Georgiana Rannoch) and her lover Darcy ____ This book can be read as a "standalone", so much so that in the past I read it as my first book in the series.
Those who know the series, however, will know that there are 5 other books before this one in which Lady Georgiana, carrying out various jobs, to survive the post-war poverty, becomes involved in various mysteries and murder cases, during which she meets Darcy, a spy in the service of the English Crown.
The two fall in love and the story grows slowly in each book of the series.
However, I assure you that this book has the most beautiful and exciting romantic content and if you have never read the previous books, don't worry, the book is absolutely enjoyable and the author will inform you, during the story, of all the important details previous ones!

_____ IN CONCLUSION ____ The festive atmosphere and the old fascinating traditions will pleasantly involve you.
There are many twists and turns, the moments of romance between the protagonist and her lover are sweet, the desire to discover the culprit while reading is pressing and the author expertly manages to mislead the reader until the final twist.
It is a book suitable for lovers of the genre: light detective stories with a historical setting:
I am sure that, after this book, you will want to read other adventures of the enterprising Lady Georgiana from the "Her Royal Spyness mystery series"


( Too long review, I know, but I couldn't contain my enthusiasm!
Also my English isn't that good...I'm Italian, please,be patient with me and all grammar or form errors in my text)

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LIBRO disponibile anche in EDIZIONE LINGUA ITALIANA, presto disponibile la mia recensione !

La mia valutazione : 5 stelle su 5 !

I dodici delitti di Natale
Libro 6 di Her Royal Spyness
leggibile anche come standalone
di Rhys Bowen

Bellissimo ! 5 stelle piene e assolutamente ben meritate !

Uno dei misteri natalizi più belli che abbia mai letto ( e ne ho letti tanti ), che rimane fermo da anni nella mia TOP 3 dei "whodunit" ambientati a Natale ( e nella TOP 5 generica dei libri natalizi ).

____ LA TRAMA IN BREVE ______ 1933. Lady Georgiana, affettuosamente chiamata Georgie, è bloccata nel castello del fratello e della sua insopportabile moglie, in Scozia, quando finalmente riceve un invito  per un posto di lavoro come hostess, presso per un'elegante festa che durerà per tutti i 12 giorni di Natale a Tiddleton. 
Il villaggio è davvero incantevole e la neve lo fa sembrare uscito da un racconto di Dickens... tuttavia ben presto si verificano degli strani incidenti e morti inaspettate...
Mentre l'innamorato di Georgy, l'affascinante Darcy, avrebbe dovuto essere in Sud America, la nostra eroina lo ritroverà tra gli invitati e insieme a lui vivrà un'avventura da brivido per smascherare il colpevole e prevenire altre morti.
Poco lontano, in un cottage dello stesso villaggio, trascorre le vacanze, la frivola, ma a modo suo affettuosa, madre di Georgie.. Presente tra i personaggi anche l'ex poliziotto nonno di Georgie... il che aggiunge un tocco di calore familiare, seppure originale e non tradizionale, a tutta la storia.

E' usuale negli ultimi anni che gli autori di mystery crime, specialmente quelli che scrivono delle serie con gli stessi protagonisti, scrivano un romanzo o spesso solo una breve storia, ambientato  nella stagione Natalizia. Purtroppo per la maggior parte dei libri che ho letto, il Natale viene solo nominato a parole in qua e in là nel libro o peggio solo nel titolo.
Un esempio ? Lo abbiamo dalla regina del giallo con "Il Natale di Poirot", chiunque l'abbia letto può confermare che non vi è alcuna atmosfera natalizia, al contrario il "Giallo del dolce di Natale" è estremamente natalizio e si respira una piacevole aria festiva.
Ecco perchè ho adorato leggere questo libro : i 12 delitti di natale, in tutto il libro è palpabile l'atmosfera natalizia, intrisa del fascino delle vecchie tradizioni inglesi, sia nei festeggiamenti sia negli eventi che accadono determinando così il mistero da scoprire.

______ IL MISTERO ______ gli omicidi e quindi il mistero da scoprire, non solo sono davvero ben congegnati dall'autrice, ma coinvolgono maggiormente il lettore perchè sono relazionati ad una vecchia tradizionale canzone natalizia : " I 12 GIORNI DI NATALE ".
Pur essendo un cozy mystery ( gialli leggeri dall'atmosfera accogliente ) e quindi un libro poco impegnativo, la scrittrice ci regala anche una parte storica e un po' della magia delle vecchie tradizioni inglesi, cosa che, per me, rappresenta sempre un valore aggiunto e soprattutto per lettori non inglesi ( e quindi non così consapevoli degli usi e costumi britannici ) aggiunge un fascino straordinario alla storia.

______ LA PARTE STORICA e  TRADIZIONALE _____  In questo giallo di Natale, ambientato nell'Inghilterra degli anni '30, si vivono i cosiddetti 12 giorni di Natale, dal 22 dicembre al 1° gennaio, percorrendo in allegria insieme alla protagonista e ai personaggi di contorno tutte le tradizioni del vecchio tradizionale Natale inglese ( Old fashioned English Christmas ).    ---> I 12 giorni di Natale sono il periodo della teologia cristiana che segna l'intervallo tra la nascita di Cristo e la venuta dei Magi, i tre saggi. Inizia il 25 dicembre (Natale) e dura fino al 6 gennaio (l'Epifania, a volte chiamata anche il Giorno dei Tre Re).

---> I crimini commessi nel libro fanno riferimento ad una delle più antiche canzoni natalizie : "I 12 giorni di Natale". Secondo ciò che ho appreso da Wikipedia, la musica è di origine ignota, benché presente in area britannica e scandinava già nel XVI secolo.
Il testo è una filastrocca infantile pubblicata per la prima volta nel libro Mirth without Mischief (Gioie Innocenti) a Londra nel 1780. Doveva essere recitata da alcuni giocatori in circolo nel corso di un gioco di memoria in cui i giocatori recitavano a turno un verso della filastrocca, in sequenza. L'interpretazione del significato del testo non è universalmente riconosciuta. Alcune fonti farebbero risalire l'origine del canto ai cattolici inglesi durante il periodo in cui la religione cattolica era vietata in Inghilterra, tra il 1558 e il 1829. I "12 giorni di Natale" rappresenterebbero una forma mnemonica per i bambini al fine di far imparare le basi della fede cattolica. Anni dopo, gioco e filastrocca furono riproposti da una collezionista di canzoni popolari, Lady Gomme, come "Un bel divertimento per tutta la famiglia prima della cena della dodicesima notte di Natale."

______ CILIEGINA SULLA TORTA DEL MISTERO _____ Io non avrei mai assolutamente indovinato l'assassino !!! Capita spesso di intuire a metà libro oppure verso la fine chi possa essere il colpevole, a volte anche andando per esclusione oppure perchè spesso è la persona meno sospettabile... Ma tra tutte le persone meno sospettabili, qui non avrei indovinato il colpevole e devo dire che in parte è stato uno shock, ma un finale a sorpresa è ciò che rende un mistero definitivamente vincente ( ovviamente deve essere ben giustificato, non come in alcuni libri dove il finale a sorpresa non ha alcun senso ).

Nonostante l'alto numero di persone in questo "cozy mystery" (per chi non lo sapesse sono definiti così i gialli con atmosfera accogliente, privi di scene di violenza e sesso e parolacce ), è una lettura natalizia perfetta: ogni preparativo, ogni gioco d'intrattenimento, ogni tradizione in casa e nel villaggio viene descritta così bene in colori, profumi e sensazioni che sembra di essere lì sulla scena insieme alla simpatica protagonista Lady Georgiana.

______ UN PIACEVOLISSIMO ROMANTICISMO tra Georgie (Lady Georgiana Rannoch ) e il innamorato Darcy ____ Questo libro è leggibile come "standalone ", tant'è vero che in passato io lo lessi come mio primo libro della serie.
Chi conosce la serie però, saprà che ci sono altri 5 libri prima di questo in cui Lady Georgiana, svolgendo vari lavori, per sopravvivere alla povertà del dopoguerra, viene coinvolta in diversi misteri e casi di omicidio, durante i quali incontra Darcy, una spia al servizio della Corona inglese. I due s'innamorano e la storia cresce pian piano in ogni libro della serie. Vi assicuro però che questo libro ha il contenuto romantico più bello ed emozionante e se non avete mai letto i libri precedenti, non preoccupatevi, il libro è assolutamente godibile e l'autrice vi metterà al corrente, durante la storia, di tutti i dettagli importanti precedenti !
RIPETO : questo libro sta nella mia TOP 5 dei miei preferiti di Natale e sta esattamente al 3° posto !

_____ IN CONCLUSIONE ____ L'atmosfera festiva e le vecchie affascinanti tradizioni vi coinvolgeranno piacevolmente. Tanti sono i colpi di scena, dolci sono i momenti di romanticismo tra la protagonista e il suo innamorato, incalzante è la voglia di scoprire il colpevole durante la lettura e l'autrice riesce sapientemente fuorviare il lettore fino al colpo di scena finale.

E' un libro adatto agli amanti del genere : gialli leggeri e con ambientazione storica e dopo questo libro sono sicura che vorrete leggere altre avventure dell'intraprendente Lady Georgiana della serie Serie Her Royal Spyness
di Rhys Bowen
10 libri in italiano Edizione Kindle
Purtroppo le copertine messe dal GIALLO MONDADORI sono davvero orrende ( ecco perchè io preferisco i libri in lingua originale LOL), ma vi assicuro che i gialli di Rhys Bowen sono stupendi e godibilissimi.

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Advent Calendar 7th December

Advent Calendar 7th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 7th day Christmas countdown

WO-WO-WO-WOW !! The first week of December is almost ended!
...and today, as a daily image for the Advent Calendar, I have chosen a beautiful Christmas novella by Agatha Christie (to me the best short story by A. Christie): THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING , first published in 1960 in a short story collection.

Equally engaging and enjoyable is the television adaptation, from 1991, with the excellent David Suchet, the one who, in my opinion, represents the true and only Poirot among all those brought to the screen.

The festive atmosphere can be felt from the start to the end and there are no deaths, just a mysterious theft to investigate, which makes the story even lighter and more cheerful.

The quote may seem silly, but actually it says a lot: the little things are the really important ones, the small and simple things, without delusions of grandeur, are what makes us truly happy.

Each of us takes many things for granted, actually they are not, because not everyone on this earth has what represents normality for us.

If you like collecting bookmarks and/or postcards or illustrated images, then it might be a good idea to download the image and use it as a bookmark.

I usually print with a color printer, paste on cardboard and then apply a transparent adhesive paper on both sides, so that the bookmark does not get damaged and the image remains intact for years.

(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 6th December

Advent Calendar 6th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 6th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !
Here I am with another image showing a quote and few pictures from a 2005 touching film, that was inspired by a real event happened during World War I.

The film's original title is "JOYEUX NOëL" that means "MARRY CHRISTMAS" and talks about the Christmas truce of 1914 between German, French and Scottish trench soldiers.

The purpose of this film is to demonstrate the absurdity of war, but as we can see from the news, evidently there is no one worse deaf than the one who doesn't want to hear, because every day there is more than one war in every part of the world.

Of all the films I like to watch during the Christmas period, this is one of those that touched my heart the most.

If you are interested in learning more, there are many books you can read about it, all very touching.

The book I read is a collection of letters from the soldiers themselves who wrote to their families, telling of this incredible miracle, which however was then silenced by the authorities in order to continue the war. Only later, in modern times, many letters were recovered from the English archives and then published, while the German ones were mostly destroyed.

Here is the cover and title of the book I read, but as I said before you can find many other titles on that subject:
Christmas Truce by the Men Who Took Part- Letters from the 1914 Ceasefire on the Western Front



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Book review : The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall by Benedict Brown

The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall
A Standalone 1920s Christmas Mystery
Lord Edgington Investigates series Book 4
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is part of a series ( Lord Edgington Investigates and this is installment #4) but was written by the author as a standalone and I was happy with the choice of the "English mysteries" group because I love "whodunits" set at Christmas.

The writer has a smooth and funny writing style and I loved the protagonist, a young 17-year-old, nephew of Lord Edgington, who still doesn't have a clear path in life, he doesn't know what his best qualities are but he doesn't hold back in front of nothing (even if he often would like it)

___ THE PLOT ___ England, 1925. When Lord Edgington receives an invitation to spend the Christmas holiday with an old colleague from the police, he expects fine food, good conversation and the warmth of a roaring fire. But on arriving at Mistletoe Hall with his family, they discover the house deserted and no explanation for where their host or his servants could be. After a while they found a body in the garden and as more guests appear, the master detective begins to question what could connect the disparate group of newcomers and if the culprit could be among them.

The narrator is the young nephew of Lord Edgington, while the second protagonist, the one in charge of the investigation is the eccentric Lord, who, receiving the invitation to his friend's estate, brought with him his daughter, the 2 grandchildren, the faithful driver, the cook and the waiter.

___ MY OPINION ___ I only gave 3 stars because there were aspects that I liked in this book, while for others I couldn't wait to move on to the next book.

__WHAT I LIKED ___ I liked all the main characters (therefore Lord Edgington's family and his nephew's friends), except Lord Edgington himself. I liked in particular the young nephew, who, ironically about himself and sometimes about his family, in a kindly manner obviously, frequently tears laughter at the reader.

The Christmas atmosphere is very present in the book thanks to the descriptions of decorations, songs, festive dishes, the search for the tree and the emotional warmth that is perceived among family members.
It may seem obvious, but not all mysteries set at Christmas are truly Christmassy and when they aren't, it disturbs me greatly, I perceive it a bit as a rip-off.

__ WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE __ I hadn't read, in the plot presented by Gooodreads, that the book was a bit like "And there were none" by A. Christie, a book that many love but which I didn't like at all ! (I love all of A. Christie's mysteries except 3, and that is one of the 3 that I didn't like).

The main reason is that there is a claustrophobic atmosphere, and while in Christie's book, the characters are stuck in a house on an island, here they are stuck in a house full of horrible extravagance, surrounded by so much snow that it is impossible to leave. The killer is there and everyone is in danger.

THIS MAY BE FASCINATING IN A "WHODUNIT" TO MANY PEOPLE, so don't be put off by my impressions.
The other book which, in my opinion, inspired this book is "Mystery in White" (1937) by Jefferson Farjeon (the plot is similar in many ways, I also liked this in many respects, but the sense of claustrophobia disturbed me ).

---> The second thing I didn't like is more serious: in my opinion the mystery wasn't exactly well constructed. It makes little sense.
____WARNING SPOILER ___ [ the culprit, the policeman, wants revenge on his former superiors for having framed his father, who was actually guilty of murder, many years ago.
So far so good... it doesn't make sense, however, that he would invite other people to the estate and kill them just because they had delinquent fathers and were ashamed of it... I find this motive really weak ]__SPOILER END ___ .

---> Furthermore, among all the guests there is a female character who is never actually suspected, although it is clear that she lies about her acquaintance with the host. And yet even at the end it isn't really made clear what his connections with that person sound like.

---> Lord Edgington then suspects someone who claims to know the dead man well, citing the fact that the dead man had never mentioned that boy in his life.
Well in the end it turns out that the boy is telling the truth and therefore all Lord Edgington's logic loses sense... that is: if your friend never told you about someone, it doesn't mean that someone didn't know your friend well.
In this case I found Lord Edgington a little presumptuous and a little too convinced of his own ideas.

---> Detective Lord Edgington also makes me nervous with his way of speaking, he talks, talks, talks and in fact never says anything concrete...even his nephew tells him several times to stop talking through riddles...because that way nothing is understandable.

___IN CONCLUSION___ the book isn't bad for me, but I've read better. However, I advise you to try reading it, because overall, if the sense of clautrophobia doesn't bother you, you might like it.

I will definitely give this author another chance, because his sparkling writing style captured me!

(last note: sorry for my English, it's not my language and I wrote the review quicker than usual, before going to work...sorry for any errors in my text)

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