12 Days of Cozmas Wrap-Up
The 12 Days of Cozmas is a Christmas-themed readathon hosted by Courtny (Courtagonist), Angela (writerahart), and Robyn (ADriftlessReader). It ran from December 1st-12th, 2018. There were 12 challenges with songs to go with the challenges. Readers were allowed to double up on books for the challenges. It was super fun, and I really enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit with some holiday themed books!
1. Read a book that features a romantic relationship.
Song: Baby It's Cold Outside
Challenge Name: Mistletoe & Holly
Savor the magic of the season with number-one New York Times best-selling author Debbie Macomber's newest Christmas novel, filled with warmth, humor, the promise of love, and a dash of unexpected adventure.
Ashley Davison, a graduate student in California, desperately wants to spend the holidays with her family in Seattle. Dashiell Sutherland, a former army intelligence officer, has a job interview in Seattle and must arrive by December 23. Though frantic to book a last-minute flight out of San Francisco, both are out of luck: Every flight is full, and there's only one rental car available. Ashley and Dash reluctantly decide to share the car, but neither anticipates the wild ride ahead.
At first they drive in silence, but, forced into close quarters, Ashley and Dash can't help but open up. Not only do they find they have a lot in common, but there's even a spark of romance in the air. Their feelings catch them off guard - never before has either been so excited about a first meeting. But the two are in for more twists and turns along the way as they rescue a lost puppy, run into petty thieves, and even get caught up in a case of mistaken identity. Though Ashley and Dash may never reach Seattle in time for Christmas, the season is still full of surprises - and their greatest wishes may yet come true.
2. Read a book with baking/recipes in it; recreate a recipe from the book/buy one.
Song: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies
Challenge Name: Sweets for Santa
‘Tis the season for trimming the tree, caroling, baking cookies, and curling up by the Yuletide waiting for Santa to drop down the chimney. But in this festive collection of holiday whodunits, murder is also paying a visit…
“Candy Cane Murder” by Joanne Fluke
Bakery owner Hannah Swensen feels a little stuffed in her elf costume—but it’s too late to count calories. Lake Eden’s annual Christmas gala is upon her and eager children are waiting. Wayne Bergstrom, owner of Bergstrom’s Department Store, happily ho-ho-hos his way through the festivities in his Santa suit. But when a trail of candy canes leads to his corpse in a snow bank, Hannah must find Kris Kringle’s killer.
“The Dangers of Candy Canes” by Laura Levine
When a wealthy suburbanite takes a lethal tumble off his roof while installing a giant candy cane, the roofing contractor being held responsible for murder asks freelance writer Jaine Austen to investigate. But solving this untimely holiday death means delving into the cutthroat Christmas decorating wars among scheming neighbors with dirty secrets in their stocking. It takes a fruitcake hiding a weapon and a stunning confrontation to expose the mastermind of this holiday murder.
“Candy Canes of Christmas Past” by Leslie Meier
Twenty-some years ago, Lucy Stone arrived in Tinker Cove, Maine, and discovered her knack for solving mysteries when she met Miss Tilly, the town librarian, whose mother took a fatal fall down the basement stairs one Christmas Eve. The “accident” left a cloud of suspicion on Miss Tilly’s father and a slew of other suspects. The only clue was a glass candy cane found smashed to bits by the victim’s body. Now Lucy must learn the mystery of the glass candy cane as she unlocks the doors of Christmas past, exposing secrets, scandal, and a killer who got away with murder.
Whether a gift for yourself or that special someone on your list, there’s no better way to spend the holidays than with these tantalizing mysteries of murder…
Includes over 15 scrumptious holiday recipes!
3. Read a book with a character that is considered an outcast.
Song: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Challenge Name: Rudolph
Set in a rich, high-fantasy world inspired by ancient Rome, Sabaa Tahir’s AN EMBER IN THE ASHES told the story of Laia, a slave fighting for her family, and Elias, a young soldier fighting for his freedom.
Now, in A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT, Elias and Laia are running for their lives.
After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.
Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.
But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.
Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.
4. Read a book that takes place during the winter time or with snow.
Song: Winter Wonderland
Challenge Name: Snowed In
Debbie Macomber brings us to the Alaskan wilderness for a magical Christmas tale about finding love where it's least expected.
Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle's hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community - including Jack Corcoran, the crotchety keeper of Ponder's famed sourdough starter, and, in particular, the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a famed master swordsmith.
Josie and Palmer become close during the long Alaskan summer days, but Josie knows that come fall, she'll be returning to reality and the career she's worked so hard for. Palmer, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to make Josie his wife and to keep her in Ponder. But Josie can't imagine abandoning her mother back in the Emerald City and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town - not even for a man she's quickly coming to love.
Fate has other plans. Josie misses the last boat out of town before winter sets in, stranding her in Ponder and putting her dream job at risk. As the holidays approach, Josie and Palmer must grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality and the Christmas magic that can happen when they put their faith in love.
Debbie Macomber is at her best in this beautiful holiday story about the far journeys we travel to find a place to call home.
5. Read a book where there is a lot of traveling.
Song: Jingle Bells
Challenge Name: Jingle Bells
6. Read a book with an amazing sidekick/pet/friend.
Song: Frosty the Snowman
Challenge Name: Frosty the Snowman
7. Read a book you've been waiting to read for a long time.
Song: Here Comes Santa Claus
Challenge Name: Here Comes Santa Claus
In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer in the first Year-Round Christmas mystery.
As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.
Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…
8. Read a book that features some amazing holiday themes or settings.
Song: Deck the Halls
Challenge Name: Deck the Halls
9. Read a Christmas classic.
Song: White Christmas
Challenge Name: White Christmas
First published on December 19, 1843, A Christmas Carol was an instant classic: Londoners thronged to hear Dickens read it in person and bought out the first printing in days. Its reception was so ecstatic that it is credited with helping to revive interest among the Victorians in Christmas traditions, including caroling and holiday cards, as well as inciting an unexpected wave of charitable giving from Britain’s Industrial Age robber barons. Originally conceived as a pamphlet against exploitative capitalism before taking its current form, it has inspired dozens of theatrical and movie adaptions, and its characters, from Scrooge to Tiny Tim, are forever inscribed in our hearts and minds.
10. Read a book with diverse characters.
Song: Feliz Navidad
Challenge Name: Feliz Navidad
Alchemy: the mystical power to alter the natural world; something between magic, art and science. When two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, dabbled in this power to grant their dearest wish, one of them lost an arm and a leg...and the other became nothing but a soul locked into a body of living steel. Now Edward is an agent of the government, a slave of the military-alchemical complex, using his unique powers to obey orders...even to kill. Except his powers aren't unique. The world has been ravaged by the abuse of alchemy. And in pursuit of the ultimate alchemical treasure, the Philosopher's Stone, their enemies are even more ruthless than they are...
11. Read a book that would brighten someone's day.
Song: Joy to the World
Challenge Name: Joy to the World
12. Read the first book in a series.
Song: First Noel
Challenge Name: First Noel
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