Earlier today, Julie, of Booking Mama fame, and I both reviewed The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman – you can read my review here and her review here.  We both enjoyed the book and it got us thinking about the importance of friends, especially during this time of year.  Julie and I both wanted to do something a little special for the upcoming Holiday Season, and since we live so far away from each other, we can’t get together to celebrate.  We thought we’d do the next best thing – a Virtual Cookie Swap with all of our book friends!

For the next twelve days – hence the title The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies – Julie and I will take turns posting some of our favorite cookie recipes.  (We might even throw a surprise or two in there to make things more fun.)  And then, on the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 27th), we want you to share some of your favorite cookie recipes with all of us. We will set up Mr. Linky’s on both of our blogs, and we ask that you link your cookie recipe blog posts to us. I will be hosting the traditional cookie recipes and Julie will be hosting the chocolate cookie and candy recipes.

To entice you to join us in our little Cookie Swap, we will both be giving out copies of  The Christmas Cookie Club to two lucky participants who link their recipes to our blogs. That means that you can enter to win on both of our sites by linking a traditional cookie recipe to my blog and a chocolate treat to Julie’s. Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog — just leave you recipes in the comments section!

And to make things even “sweeter,” each of us will be giving one of our winners a BIG Cookie Prize Pack which includes one of the copies of The Christmas Cookie Club, a cookbook, and other cookie-related items.  You’ll have through Thursday, December 3 to leave a link if you want to be eligible for a prize.

We’re hoping that a lot of our friends out there in the blogosphere will join us. Please think about what recipe you want to feature and help spread the word about not only the virtual cookie exchange but also some of the great prizes you can win! Make sure to check Julie’s blog tomorrow because she will be kicking off Day 1 of The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies with a very easy and very yummy treat!

Marnie is the organizer of The Christmas Cookie Club -  a group of twelve women who gather once a year to ring in the holiday season and exchange cookies.  Everyone brings thirteen dozen cookies – a dozen for each of them and a dozen for a charity.  The club has been meeting for sixteen years and has some strict rules:

1. No chocolate chip cookies.
2. No cookie bars.
3. No paper plates covered in saran wrap.
4. No more than twelve in the group.
5. You can’t miss a year.
6. You have tenure after five years.
7. It’s always on the first Monday in December.
8. Bring copies of the recipe for everyone.

Since Marnie is the organizer, she is the common bond between all of the women and knows everyone’s secrets.  For the most part, these women are supportive of each other through life’s ups and downs, and boy, do they do they have their fair share of struggles.

The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman takes place during one of the club’s meetings.  A little bit of each character’s back story is filled in so the reader learns how they’re connected to Marnie and how they came to be a member of the club.  I enjoyed spending an evening with the ladies of the club.  Most of the women in this character driven novel have had their share of adversities and have become stronger because of them.  It was a pleasure getting to know them and reading about how their friendships helped them survive the tough times.  This book did tug at my heart strings at times and I became teary-eyed at more than one point while reading it.

For me, The Christmas Cookie Club isn’t really a Christmas story at all – it just happens to take place during the holiday season.  Instead, it’s a story about the strength of women and the importance of friendship.  After finishing the book, I reflected on how lucky I’ve been to know some remarkable women over the years.

The Christmas Cookie Club also includes recipes and interesting information about cookie ingredients such as vanilla and sugar.  I found that information fascinating and learned a few new things!

Ann Pearlman is hosting a Christmas Cookie Club Party on Facebook from December 4 to December 8.  You can see the details here.

Since this book includes recipes and great information about cookie recipes, I’m adding it to Weekend Cooking, a great feature on Beth Fish Reads.  You might want to go over there and check out the other great links included today.

I was given this book at an author Sign Around at the SIBA Trade Show.   I am an Amazon Associate.

Feeling flush after finishing my first challenge EVER (the World War II Challenge) and with pressure encouragement from my friend Julie, I’ve decided to sign up for the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge.  This challenge is hosted by Nely and the rules are:

1- Challenge will start Friday, November 20 and will end Thursday, December 31.

2- You can read anywhere from 1 to 5 books for the challenge and, of course, if you’re like me, you are more than welcome to surpass that number.

3- And now, here’s the clincher… they must be holiday related books. That’s right, the holiday doesn’t really matter, but it would be more “jolly” if your choices were Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.

4- The size of the book does not matter, nor does the genre. It is also okay for the book to overlap with other challenges. The only thing I ask is that they are not children’s books. YA is okay. And so are re-reads. I for one tend to read the same books every Christmas – they are tradition.

5- To sign up – leave a link back to your challenge post. There will also be a post for review links as well as one for challenge wrap-ups.

6- And…. there will be goodies. That’s right, we’ll call them presents. At the end of every week that the challenge is running I will choose one winner from the review links and I will allow them to pick a book of their choosing (of course, I will provide a list). Meaning the more books you read, review and link up, the more chances you have at winning a “present”.

Since I’ve already read one Christmas book and should finish another today, I don’t have many to choose from in my TBR pile.  Of course, this is subject to change at any time.  Right now, I plan to read:

• Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Hannah Friedman’s parents are what I like to call free spirits.  Her dad is a not quite successful hippie musician and her mom is a former animal trainer who has taken in a monkey that is treated like a member of the family.  They did off-beat things like build a car to resemble a shoe and take Hannah and her brother out of school for a year to join them on a band tour of England.

Hannah is very bright and hard working, but had a lot of trouble fitting in socially in middle school.  Thinking that she would fit in better at a prep school, Hannah applied, and was accepted to one of the most prestigious schools in the country.  She felt like she had a fresh start and worked hard at being cool and found that she was!  She was part of the popular crowd, she was class president and she had a cool, older boyfriend.  But along with all of that, she developed a drug habit and an eating disorder.  She also felt like she was watching her life instead of living it.

Thankfully, Hannah saw how self-destructive her habits were and how shallow her “friends” were before it was too late to change her life.  When she began her college career, she was thrilled when someone from her past recognized her and called her “Monkey Girl” – a name she used to despise.

It took me a few chapters to get into Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman, but once I did, I couldn’t put the book down!   Hannah is brutally honest in her memoir and I really got attached to her and her misguided attempts to fit in.  I was appalled by the actions of some of the girls in this book and can’t help but wonder why adults dismiss such behavior.  This book made me realize just how much more difficult it is to grow up in today’s society than it was back in the dark ages of my youth.

I think everyone who has a child (especially a daughter) approaching high school should read Everything Sucks.  There is some language, drug use and sexual situations in it, but I think it presents a very realistic picture of what young people of today face.   I also think students who are struggling to fit in may find some comfort in this book because it shows that fitting in isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  In case you’ve missed the trailer for this great book, here it is:

Review copy provided by the author.   I am an Amazon Associate.

A little while ago, I read and loved Angels by Chuck Fischer.  Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to ask Bruce Foster, the paper engineer responsible for making the book pop-up, a few questions.  Bruce has engineered many books – you can see the complete list here and also worked on the Disney movie Enchanted.  I was so fascinated with his work on Angels and had so many questions that I had trouble putting my thoughts together in coherent questions.  Bruce was very kind and stuck with me through the whole process.  This is what we came up with:

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure, my wife, Lori, and I are nearing our 20th wedding anniversary. We live here in Houston, Texas with our 16 year old daughter, Lydia. Our first born, Nicole, is now off at college in a BioMedical Sciences program. We also have four cats and a dog. I am originally from Louisiana, growing up in a small B&B plantation town, St. Francisville. Pretty much a Mayberry kind of childhood. But we moved to Nashville when I was in high school, which led me to college at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I started in the PreMed program, but soon found my true calling in the art program. (Looks like my daughter may reverse that process!) I was in the painting/drawing program there, but had strong inclinations toward sculpture, so my paintings began to morph into three dimensional objects. After college I worked as a graphic designer in Nashville for awhile. But eventually I returned to Louisiana, specifically New Orleans, later meeting my future wife, Lori in Ft. Lauderdale. She had a job transfer to Houston which brought us here where we’ve been ever since.

How did you get into paper engineering?

Here in Houston, I was working for a marketing firm and we received an assignment for Hi-C juices. They wanted to create a piece that would incorporate three D techniques. Part of that was a pop up promoting their very first juice box, specifically, Ectocooler. I designed the box to pop up with Ghostbuster’s Slimer swinging up to take a sip. It worked, but looking back on it now, oooh, I’d really do it differently! Anyway Ottenheimer Publishers, a pop up publisher based in Baltimore, saw it and began sending me freelance work. Little by little, I learned the art form (okay, I’m STILL learning the art form!), and eventually made in-roads to the big publishers in New York and beyond.

What books have you worked on besides ANGELS?

Oh, gosh, I’ve designed, not including my early work at Ottenheimer, nearly 40 pop up books now! Besides Angels, my recent work includes “Wow! The Pop-Up Book of Sports” for Sports Illustrated Kids, “Big Frog Can’t Fit In!” by Mo Willems, and “The Sound of Music” for Simon and Schuster/ Rodgers and Hammerstein. “Angels” is my third collaboration with Chuck Fischer. Previously we produced “Christmas Around the World” and “In the Beginning”, the book of Genesis in popup form, and currently we’re working on “A Christmas Carol”. I’ve done work for many publishers and for all age groups, from children’s books like “Bee Mine”, “Sammy’s Suitcase” with Sachiko Yoshikawa, and “Peanuts: A Pop Up Celebration” with Paige Braddock of the Charles Schulz studio, to adult subjects like “The Pop Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns” with Mick Coulas and a collection of artist pop ups for the avant garde publisher, Visionaire.  I’ve done work for museums, like The Museum of Modern Art with a book on the shaped paintings of Elizabeth Murray and two books for other museums on the treatises of Ginny Ruffner. I also design pop up cards and books for Up With Paper as well. But my work has even transcended the printed page with popups designed for television and movies, the most notable being Disney’s “Enchanted”. Not only the opening montage popup book, but also making several scenes of the last four minutes of the movie transform into pop ups. Not easy, since we had to work from completed filming and animation, finding the sweet spot that could freeze and be computer manipulated to fold down or spring up!

What is involved in creating a pop-up book like ANGELS?

Angels is a little different from most of my assignments. Usually, I’m given a manuscript or outline of a book and I work out what the scenes are going to be, what is going to pop up, and then work with the illustrator on the project to work out the final product. In the case of Angels, Chuck Fischer is orchestrating the book. While not a paper engineer, he does have a good pop up vision for each spread and provides a sketch of that image. So I work with him to realize that as a finished pop up. Sometimes we push each other back and forth to make them better, exploring new ideas until we are both in agreement as to what the pop will be. Chuck then illustrates the pops. We’ve followed this formula for three books, and now a fourth.  In almost all pop up books, however, the painting doesn’t begin until the pops are worked out, making sure that the pops will open and close over and over. I’ll experiment with paper sculptures and provide those along with tracings of each piece for the illustrator to follow. Then I do the computer work as well, inputting scans of the work, tweaking them in photoshop when necessary, drawing the die lines (the cookie cutter patterns), and working with the printer to make sure the final book matches the work as intended.

How long does it take to complete a book like this from start to finish?

A book usually takes a year from beginning to end. In my case, I usually have three or four projects working simultaneously. So there is a lot of leapfrogging, a spread for that book, then a spread for this one, all while the other members of the team do their parts. All in a very cyclical fashion, keeping the books moving along constantly.

How is a book like ANGELS mass produced?  Is it all done by machine or is there some human involvement?

ALL pop up books are hand assembled after having been printed and diecut! Sometimes there might be a force of hundreds working on a single book. Pop up books are produced in Asia: Hong Kong, Thailand and the Philippines. The printers actually will build a factory with dormitories. The assemblers might stay there for the work week and return to their homes on the weekends. These people are extremely talented and, might I add, patient! I can’t imagine having the patience to mass produce upwards of 100,000 copies of anything by hand, piece by piece!

Do you have any input in the artwork that is used or are you given a completed book to transform?

Rarely am I given a finished work to transform into pop ups. Imagine: a pop up is made of PIECES that are assembled into a finished whole, while most books are made using finished paintings of a scene. For example, if I have a character that needs to move his hand from the front of his body to swing outward, I will need a body without that arm, and also that arm as a separate piece. It makes so much more sense for the illustrator to paint the pieces as needed by the pop up rather than the pop up to follow a single piece of art. That said, I HAVE had to do so! For the Sports Illustrated Kids book, I was given a selection of photos of the sports scene we wanted to feature. So I had to study the photos not only for composition, but action, and keep in mind that someone would have to do heavy Photoshop retouching to remove elements and fill in the missing areas. I’ve done that myself on a few books like my Hindu Altars pop up, but in this case, Sports Illustrated Kids has some really talented artists who were able to do amazing things in the computer.

What do paper engineers do besides pop-up books?

It depends on the paper engineer. Most paper engineers get into this because they were illustrators first and wanted their work to pop. So they can do other kinds of illustration besides pop ups. In my case, I came into this as a designer first, so I know how to work with this as kinetic sculpture and direct the illustrators. In my case, I’ve been fortunate the past four years doing this full time, although before that did popups on weekends and nights while working as an art director by day. Talk about burning the candle at both ends! It’s still a very small field. I’d guess that there are fewer than a couple dozen people in the entire world who are lucky enough to do this day in and day out!

I find the world of paper engineering fascinating and I’d like to thank Bruce for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer my questions.

Anna of Hachette Books is generously allowing me to give away THREE copies of Angels by Chuck Fischer with paper engineering done by Bruce Foster.   To enter to win a copy,  simply leave a comment on this post.  Contest is open to US and Canadian residents only (no PO Boxes, please).  I will use random.org to determine the winner.  Contest ends at midnight EST, Friday November 27, 2009.  Winner will be announced on Saturday, November 28, 2009.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading.  If you want to play along, grab the new button (or the old graphic), and join the fun!  (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.)

All of today’s words came from The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

1. syllogism – “Once he found his way up to the clock tower and spent an afternoon watching the huge rusty iron pendulum sway back and forth, following the massive gears and levers and catchments as they turned and meshed, carrying out their mechanical syllogism, until the glow of the setting sun shone through the tremendous backward clock face.”

Syllogism is a subtle, spacious, or crafty argument.

_____________________________________________________

2.obstreperous – “They were a highly visible clique, always earnestly conferring with each other and having fits of obstreperous public laughter, conspicuously fond of themselves and uninterested in the greater Brakebills populace.”

This word seemed really familiar to me – it seems like it’s been used by someone for a WWW post, but I couldn’t find it.  Obstreperous means marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness.

_____________________________________________________

3. sigil – “Quentin watched his lab partner Surendra dust his hands with white powder (equal parts flour and beech-wood ash), draw certain invisible sigils in the air with a freshly trimmed willow wand, and then bring the wand softly down on his marble (nickname: Rakshasa!), slicing it neatly in half with one stroke, first try.”

A sigil is a sign, word or device held to have occult power in astrology or magic.

_____________________________________________________

What new words have you encountered lately?

Today I’m participating in Eco-Libris Green Books Campaign.  100 bloggers are reviewing “green books” – books that are printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper.  These books have been provided by over 35 publishers.  My book was published by Ronsdale Press and it is printed on “Ancient Forest Friendly ‘Silva’ (FSC) – 100% post-consumer waste, totally chlorine-free and acid-free” paper.

_________________________________________________________

Zosia Hoffenberg was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland.  Her father and his brothers owned a successful men’s clothing store so Zosia led a comfortable life, even though her mother was somewhat distant.  As a young child, Zosia and her siblings, along with their nanny, vacationed at a resort area and met the Bluman family.

Years later, Zosia and one of the Bluman boys, Natek, were re-acquainted and fell in love.  Natek’s family imported dried fruits and nuts and they sent him to the United States to study for a year.  In the US, Natek learned that the situation in Europe was much more grave than the Jews in Warsaw believed.  He urged Zosia to join him in the US where they would get married.

Arranged marriages were common in that time and place, so Zosia refused Natek at first, even though she was desperately in love.  Natek returned to Warsaw for Zosia just as the Nazis began bombing the city.  Natek left for Romania to try to make arrangements to get the Hoffenberg family into the US.  Things deteriorated in Warsaw and Zosia begged her father to allow her to join Natek in Romania.  Her father agreed that she could be gone for two weeks.

I Have My Mother’s Eyes by Barbara Ruth Bluman is the story of Zosia and Natek’s perilous escape from Europe at the beginning of World War II.  (Barbara is their daughter.)  There’s a little bit of Barbara’s own story sprinkled throughout.  Zosia and Natek have a fascinating journey – they managed to escape through grit, determination, luck and the help of people like Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Consul in Lithuania, who provided travel visas for over 6000 Jews, against direct orders he received.  I wasn’t as emotionally connected to Zosia and Natek as I would have liked – I think that’s because the book is told in the third person one generation removed.  I wanted to know how Zosia and Natek felt as well as how they managed to escape.  I still liked this book and think others interested in World War II will as well.

This is my 8th book for the World War II Challenge, which means I have finally completed a challenge.

Review copy provided by Ronsdale Press.   I am an Amazon Associate.

Thanks to Marcia of The Printed Page for hosting one of my favorite memes, Mailbox Monday. Check out her blog to see what everyone else got last week or to play along.  These are the books I found in my mailbox last week:

Monday

• Lone Star Legend by Gwendolyn Zepeda from Hachette Books for a blog tour in January – watch for my review on January 25

Thursday

• Hex in High Heels by Linda Wisdom was a win from Peeking Between the Pages
• The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver came from Harper Collins
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton came from Harper Collins (my whole family is fighting over this one)
• The Information Officer by Mark Mills came from Random House
• The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl was a win from Bookish Ruth

Friday

• Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson was a win from 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews

Saturday

• Double Take by Kevin Michael Connolly came from Harper Collins

What books came into your house last week?

A young couple lived on New York’s East Side at the turn of the twentieth century.  They had five girls aged twelve to four.  Papa owned a junk shop, so the family didn’t have much money.  They spent their days much like a typical family – the children went to school and the library, resisted doing chores and refused to eat certain foods.  The girls were sweet and enjoyed holidays, surprises and each other’s company, and boy, do they get a fun surprise!

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor was written in 1951 and reminded me of the books of my youth.  The stories and characters are sweet and a little simple.  There are a few things that are offensive by today’s standards, but probably weren’t at the time the book was written.

For me, the best part of this book is that the family (their last name is never revealed) is Jewish. Because of this, readers learn some things about the Jewish faith such as the meanings of several Jewish holidays.  I even learned something since I wasn’t familiar with the holiday of Succos and how it is celebrated.  I think it’s fantastic when readers can gain knowledge from a work of fiction.

This was my second book for the Shelf Discovery Challenge and I enjoyed it, but I wonder if it’s sophisticated enough for the young girls of today.  All-of-a-Kind Family is the first in a series of books based on the author’s childhood.  The Sydney Taylor Book Award was established by her husband after her death.

I am an Amazon Associate.

I wanted to highlight a few things and thought I’d combine them all in one post.  The picture of Milou hogging the clicker is just for fun.  She really doesn’t watch that much TV – she’s only interested in it if there are animals involved.

Have you heard about the Book Blogger Holiday Swap?  I participated last year, and it was so much fun, I signed up right away for this year’s.  Not only did I send and receive great gifts, but I met a wonderful blogger in the process.  You can sign up through November 12 and should have the name you’re buying for by November 17.  Lenore’s husband designed the button – isn’t it adorable?

Do you need a great gift idea for a reader in your life?  You might consider a Book Buddy or other product from Reading Comfort.  (I love my Book Buddy!)  Through the end of 2009, you can get a 15% discount simply by using the code “blogger” when you check out.

If you weren’t able to listen to Nicole interview me on Blog Talk Radio Tuesday night, you can listen to the archived version here.

Julie, Nicole and Amy are hosting a Progressive Dinner from December 7th to the 11th.  You don’t even have to cook for this one!  Go to any of their sites for details and to sign up.

I’m including this video because I think it’s funny and it’s book related: