My  2019The Broke and The Bookish Secret Santa Gifts

This past Christmas I took part in The Broke and the Bookish's Secret Santa, hosted in 2019 by Jana of That Artsy Reader Girl on her own. It's a Secret Santa where you sign up for a certain tier (1 book and a small gift, 1-2 books and a couple of small gifts/goodies, 2+ books and small gifts/goodies), you're paired up with someone in the same tier, and you send your Santee presents! I signed up for the last year, and received a box full of lovely things from Hannah of Hannah's Bookshelf! I thought I'd share with you all the wonderful gifts she sent me. (All photos can be clicked on to enlarge.)

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Photo by Karly Santiago on Unsplash.

Cross Stitched Christmas Cards

As I've mentioned on the blog before, I am kind of creative. I get really into the idea of creating things and being arty, I've tried so many things - drawing, jewellery making, card making (paper craft), painting, happy mail... But I've found that while I get excited at the idea of creating something and being arty, if it takes too long, I lose interest and motivation. If I can't see myself making progress fairly quickly, if I can see it's going to take me several days, if not weeks, to complete - or it I'm not very good, and so it's going to take a while to make what I'm doing look the way I want to - I give up.

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Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash.

Things I Love About Christmas

One day to go! Christmas Eve! Tomorrow is Christmas Day! I am so excited! As you've probably worked out, Christmas is my favourite time of the year, so for my seventh Christmas post of the month, I wanted to talk about the different aspects of Christmas that I love - things that are outside of the day itself.

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The 2019 Christmas Songs Book Tag

Titles marked with a (^) are ad: affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through them, I'll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

It's coming towards the end of the year, and it's that time when we start talking about our favourite books of 2019. My proper list of favourites will come at the end of the month, but today, I'm taking part in 2019 Christmas Songs Book Tag, created by Jana of That Artsy Reader Girl. You can answer these questions about any books you've read, but I've decided I'm going to focus on books I've read this year.

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My Family's Christmas Traditions

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away now, and if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I'm starting to get pretty excited! Christmas has always been something special to me, and that's probably down to my family's Christmas traditions.

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Photo by Stte Funn on Unsplash.

Christmas Jumper Day is Almost Here!

This Friday 13th is one of the most joyful and festive of the year - maybe second to Christmas Day itself! Why? It's Christmas Jumper Day!

For those who don't know, Christmas Jumper Day is a fundraising scheme from Save the Children, started in 2012, where schools and workplaces - or even individuals - donate £1-£2 (depending on age) to the charity and wear a Christmas Jumper.

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The Meaning Of Christmas To An Atheist

This was originally posted on The Olive Fox before the online magazine closed. It has been edited slightly for Once Upon a Bookcase.

Christmas is a big deal for me. It’s important, it’s special, and it’s meaningful. As an atheist, the religious significance of Christmas doesn’t hold any great weight, but it’s still a sacred time of year. It has nothing to do with the presents, the big dinner, or the great TV. For me, the meaning of Christmas is love and family.

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Are You On Father Christmas' Naughty or Nice List?

Merry Christmas! It's Chrsitmas Day, and so what better day to think about whether my behaviour over the past year has me on Father Christmas' Nice List. I don't know about you, but for me. Christmas just isn't Christmas without a visit from Father Christmas. To find out if I am on his Nice List, I have stolen the The Naughty or Nice Book Tag from Cait of Paper Fury. So let's see, shall we?

Received an ARC and not reviewed it - Naughty

Ahem. There are quite a few. But that doesn't mean I won't review them. Except for those I never requested/accepted in the first place and aren't my cup of tea. The others will get reviewed at some point. But being a mood reader, I can't just pick up a book because I have to review it. I can only read what I fancy reading. But I'll read and review once I'm in the right mood. Some of the ARCs from this year I've yet to read, but am looking forward to. Click the images to go to Goodreads.

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Christmas Songs!

Christmas is coming! I've been thinking about doing something on the blog to celebrate that fact, but the only things I could think of would take more time than I had to organise it all. Then I heard a Christmas song on the radio (thank you, Slade!), and had a brain wave! Why not ask people on Twitter what their favourite Christmas songs are, and share them?! So I did!

Laura of Sister Spooky said:

@sisterspooky: I wish it could be Christmas everyday! I can't help dancing and singing along badly to it.

And it's one of my faves too!

I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard

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Guest Post Over on I Heart Monster

Today, you can find a guest post from me over on Shesten's blog, I Heart Monster. Shesten is has asked several of her blogging buddies from across the globe about how Christmas is celebrated in their country. I talk about Christmas in the UK, and the different events/activities that go on around the UK - outside of the home - to get us all in the Christmassy mood! I hope you enjoy it!

While you're there, make sure you read yesterday's post, where Ellie of The Clockwork Monkey talks about Christmas in Argentina, and enter her Holiday Contest, where you have to match up the books given as Christmas pressies to the blogger/author who's giving them!

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