All of the holiday wrapping and shipping is largely done around here - only a few things left to wrap and plenty of time to get it done in. I have turned my attention to catching up on reviewing so that I can begin the new year ahead of the game and with the cleanest slate possible; my January column ("living in the real world") will be done shortly.

I am reading two books for Booklist right - both environmental titles and proving to be quite worthwhile and interesting. Also Ghosts by Daylight (the US cover is really awful btw) which I first heard about in Vanity Fair (I think) and Daphne, a novel about Daphne Du Maurier and her obsession with the Brontes which is too early to tell but good thus far. My February column is going to be biographies or novels about famous people (I think). Still tinkering with how to put that one together. (I might have to push it back if I don't have enough books for it - this is a problem for a later this week to sort out though.)

Big thanks to both Pam and Sara for running interviews with me yesterday and their kind (and insightful) words about MAP. See them here and here.

In the past couple of days I have received two very interesting emails about MAP - one from an Alaskan pilot who thought the book was an honest depiction of the aviation industry up there which I appreciated a lot as it was from someone I do not know at all. The other was from someone who lost her father many years ago in bush flying accident and had always had questions about why the pilot error accident happened; she said my book provided her with some answers and thanked me for writing it. Both of these letters were gifts in different ways and both will be treasured for a long long time.

Now, not a Christmas song but it always reminds me of the melancholy parts of the season. I love this version with Sugarland, Little Big Town and Jake Owens.