2011 Virtual Advent Tour

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 24

2011-12-24T02:47:00.000Z

And so, we come to the end of another virtual advent tour. It's Christmas Eve and I am at home hoping like crazy that I don't suddenly remember that one more thing that will mean that I need to go to the shops.

Here are the final stops on the tour:

Gretchen @ A Ten O'Clock Scholar

Kelly @ The Written World

Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings

Kendra @ My Greenwood Life

Nicole @ All I Ever Read
Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Before we close off for 2011, we want to say a super special thank you to Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings who has supported the Virtual Advent Tour right from it's inception six years ago! Thank you Carl. Kelly and I both appreciate your continued participation and hope you will be on board again for next year!

We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the tour this year, whether it be by posting, or commenting, or tweeting or anything.

We hope you enjoyed the tour. We are already thinking about ideas for next year, and if you have any feedback or ideas to make the tour better we would love to hear them!

My final quote for this year's tour comes from a novella in the Holiday Kisses anthology - This Time Next Year by Alison Kent. It seems a fitting way to end seeing as so many of our advent tour are about sharing traditions.

"You're pretty good at that. the cookies. The tree." He dipped up more glaze.

She shifted the pan again, nudging her hip against his and staying there. "Mostly I'm good at Christmas. I love it. The corny songs, stringing popcorn for the tree. Eating as much as ends up on the needle and thread."

"You do it by hand?'

"Gran and I do. Some folks buy finished strands, or fake plastic ones. But stuck fingers and Bing Crosby is our thing."

"What's Christmas without traditions, right?"

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 23

2011-12-23T08:28:00.001Z

Welcome to the penultimate day of the 2011 Virtual Advent tour.

Here are today's hosts:

*

Tania @ Lots of Book Reviews

*Brooke @ The Bluestocking Guide

*Georgie @ Georgie Lee

*Margot @ Joyfully Retired
Sylvia @ paindecampagne

Now I need to go and finish my post for tomorrow!

Today, instead of a quote, I thought I would share a couple of contemporary Christmas songs. One is new to me this year, and the second is one that I first heard a couple of years ago now but really, really love. Enjoy!

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 22

2011-12-22T00:01:00.013Z

We are now very nearly at the end of the tour and I have to say ... it's been another fabulous year!

I am sure that our hosts today will only add to the fabulousness

*Susan @ Bloggin' About Books

*Karen @ Sassymonkey Reads

Brenna @ Esther's Ever After

*Sasha Soren @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven

*Kathy @ A Glass of Wine

Today's quote comes from a book that I only just finished a few days ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I found it hard to actually put it down which is always a good sign!

I did however forget to note down which pages the quote came from!

Christmas wouldn't be the same without Mikhail.

The room swirled with laughter and music, Peter and his brother Matt, the stockmen, were singing a drunken goodbye song, Lucy was jumping up and down near the Christmas tree demanding to know what the 'big green present' was. And Mikhail stood by the empty fireplace with his arm around his fiancee, grinning as widely as he had for the entire six months since he'd met her. Mikhail was marrying Catherine - a widow with two grown children - and they were moving to Launceston to be near her elderly parents. And Beattie would just have to learn to manage without him.

"Come on," Beattie said, flipping up the lid of the piano. "Rosella, will you play us a song to stop those men singing so terribly out of time?"

Rosella was her new neighbour. She and her husband had leased Jimmy Farquhar's farm at the start of the year, and become good friends to Beattie. Their daughter Lizzie was the same age as Lucy, and they spent every moment of the holidays together, racing around in the paddocks, building cubbies and making mud pies.

As Rosella sat and started playing 'Jingle Bells' and everyone joined in, Beattie curled her arm around Lucy and her eyes moved from face to face, counting her Christmas blessings. Two fabulous wool clips and growing side business in designing women's work wear had brought her the financial security she had long dreamed of. The piano, the little utility truck, the glass Christmas decorations.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 21

2011-12-21T00:01:00.001Z

Day 21 and it really is so close. I hope you are all ready. I am pretty much done I think, but grateful, as always, that I am not the one doing all the cooking!

Here are our hosts for today:

Memory @ Stella Matutina

*Julie @ Anglers Rest

Christa @ Hooked on Books

*Tasha @ Truth, Beauty, Freedom, & Books

Lindsay @ Turning the Pages

One of my favourite series to read is the Virgin River series from Robyn Carr, and I am not alone in loving it. I am sure I heard something somewhere which said that there was a community in America who have taken the idea of honouring the armed forces with the Christmas decorations on their town square and made it their own.

This quote comes from pages 88-90 of Bringing Me Home for Christmas by Robyn Carr pages 88-90

The cutting of the Virgin River Christmas tree was an all-day affair that involved way more spectators than actual woodsmen. First, there was hunting for the tree - a thirty-foot fir high in the mountains. Becca watched from the truck the entire time. Then there was the cutting down. She would've expected that to take seconds, but it took a very long time and involved pulleys and ropes and chain saws. Next came the netting and dragging of the tree along barely visible old logging roads. Only big pickups with four-wheel-drive ventured back into the thickest part of the forest.

Once the tree was dragged as far as a main road, a local builder, Paul Haggerty, and his crew met it with a big flatbed truck and their hydraulic gear to lift it and haul it the rest of the way. By the time the tree made it to Virgin River, it was dark, but half the town seemed to be present to look at the catch, so to speak. There was lots of "oohing" and "aahing" going on.

On Saturday the tree was erected - a process that took many hands and more of Paul Haggerty's equipment and men.

"The first time we brought a tree this size into town, it was just Jack, Preacher and Mike Valenzuela standing it up," Mel told Becca."During the night, it fell down. Thankfully not on the bar."

Becca sat on Jack's porch between Mel and Paige. They all held hot drinks. Her eyes grew large at the prospect of that huge tree falling on the bar. "Should we move?" she asked.

Mel just laughed. "I think that now Paul's on board with this project, we're in pretty good hands. And I think your brother and his friends are kind of enjoying this. Too bad they won't see it completely decorated."

"That must take a long time," Becca said.

"A day or day and a half, and at least one cherry picker," Mel told her.

It was past noon before that tree was upright and stable. Mel and Paige were back and forth to the porch, taking children in and outside. By afternoon, a couple of cherry pickers had arrived and the stringing of the lights commenced.

Becca was surprised she wasn't frozen to the bone, but she couldn't stand to miss a second of this process. And neither could anyone else! Townsfolk came and went throughout the day, everyone with a new opinion about the tree. By then, night was falling, although it was only about five, and Jack and Denny were fastening up the last of the lights.

Cars and trucks were pulling into town. Becca gave a wave to Noah Kincaid and his family. Connie and Ron walked across the street from The Corner Store. Lorraine Thickson arrived in a beat-up old pickup with a passel of kids stuffed into it. No husband and father, she noticed. Becca sat up a little straighter as she saw Denny in the cherry-picker basket, going up up up to the top of the huge tree. Mel and Paige came back outside; their kids ran into the street. Everyone seemed to sense that culmination was near.

Denny fussed with the top of the tree, then the cherry picker lowered him to the ground again. Jack must have connected the electricity, because the tree came alive! Light twinkled all over the giant fir and on the very top was a star that positively brightened the sky! There was a collective "aww" in the crowd and as the night grew dark and the lights bright, there was silence. People seemed motionless.

Then magic happened - a gentle snow began to fall.

"Unbelievable," Becca whispered to no one. "Amazing." She felt her eyes water from the sheer beauty of the moment. Then the tree went dark and, after her eyes adjusted a bit, she noticed people beginning to disperse.

Suddenly Denny was beside her, scooting his chair close. "You okay?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, wiping at her eyes. "It was just so emotional - seeing all the work done and so many people turn out.

"Its far from done. There are ornaments and trim still to do. The official lighting is tomorrow night, after the rest of it is decorated. It takes half the town to get it done." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "You're going to love it. Too bad the boys can't stay for that."

And then from page 104

And that tree - a town project - was awesome. Finally done, it was trimmed with red, white and blue balls, laminated military unit badges and strung with gold tinsel. It was gorgeous in daylight; it would be magnificent lit against the night sky.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 20

2011-12-20T00:01:00.001Z

Welcome to Day 20 of the Virtual Advent tour. Here are your hosts for today!

Eva @ A Striped Armchair

Heather @ Capricious Reader

Kay @ Dead Beat Darling

Shannon @ The Savvy Reader

Here is my quote for today from Camp Nine by Vivienne Schiffer

I was as guilty as everyone else in my desire to pretend nothing was happening at Camp Nine, and with my first sight of an autumn leaf in October, I welcomed the thoughts of Christmas vacation that began creeping into my head. The reedy, echoing sound of a woodpecker indicated the thinning of the air that foretold coming holidays even before the landscape changed. These sight and sounds primed me to drift away from my lessons, down deep into a fantasy of the boxes Mother kept up the dark stairs in our gloomy attic, which was illuminated by a solitary four-paned window through which light barely filtered. While my teacher deadened my reality by scratching fractions on the chalkboard, my mind climbed the stairs with anticipation, searching among the dusty cardboard boxes stuffed with satin Hallowween costumes, baby toys, and clothes since discarded, until I found the holy grail of the season - the glittery glass ornaments and velvet skirt for our tree.

It seemed to snow more then than now, and, too young to appreciate the difficulty that accompanied the occasional dumping of heavy snow, I was always enchanted by it. Along with a welcome snowfall, Christmas was a time for special treats, like the multi-colored iced molasses cookies baked each morning by Mrs. Capps down the road and the oranges Mother ordered for me from New Orleans.

I can't help wonder what the equivalent to oranges is now? It is often said that the children of the past looked forward to an exotic treat each Christmas when they all got an orange.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 19

2011-12-19T00:01:00.003Z

I am wondering if it is time to start counting down, rather than counting up from the start of the tour. Either way, it isn't long to go!

Here are the stops on the tour today:

*Amy @ My Friend Amy

*Rebecca @ Rebecca Reads

*Nat @ In Spring it is the Dawn

*Krissi @ Lighting my Light

Today's quote comes from page 303 of Kommandant's Girl. These memories come from the Kommandant himself.

"Christmas is coming," he says at last. he sounds as if the realization has only just occurred to him, though I had mentioned the holidays in his office earlier in the day.

"Just a few days away," I reply. I might have forgotten the holiday myself, but for the sprigs of fir and red bows that Krysia has placed around the house in lieu of a tree. The city, usually festive with displays in the window shops and the aroma of holiday treats, was virtually unadorned this year.

"Christmas was such a grand affair in our house," he says. For a moment, I wonder if he is speaking of his life with Margot, but he continues, "Our father would take us on a midnight sleigh ride through the woods to search for the Weinachtsmann, whom we believed would bring the Christmas gifts." He walks over to the sofa and sits down beside me. "We never found him, of course, but would come back to the house to find that he had sneaked in while we were gone to the house to find that he had sneaked in while we were gone to leave us wonderful presents. And the next morning, the breakfast table was always piled high with cakes." He smiles, his expression almost childlike.

"That sounds lovely," I say. My mind races to come up with a story about my childhood Christmases, in case he asks.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 18

2011-12-18T00:01:00.004Z

A week to go until the end of the tour, and the big day of course! Helping us get into Christmas mood today are:

*Suey @ It's All About Books

*Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves

*Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree

*Julie @ Anglers Rest

Kim @ Life in the Little Nest

Today's special shout out of thanks goes to Suey from It's All About Books as this is her fifth year of participating in the tour. Thank you for your contributions over the last 5 tours and your support Suey! Kelly and I really appreciate it!

Today's quote comes from a story by Jill Shalvis called Kissing Santa Claus which is in the Small Town Christmas anthology.

What hadn't helped her was the costume she now had on over her sexy little red dress., complete with a stuffed belly and butt, white beard and wig, red fur-lined hat, and the final touch, thick wire-rimmed glasses.

Santa Claus.

From outside her office and down the hall, there was only silence. The party had emptied out, leaving her alone in the building. Tomorrow night, Christmas Eve, everyone in town would be here for the annual Christmas parade, Santa would head up in the same 1972 Buick convertible, aka rust bucket, that they'd been using for years. The evening would culminate at the end of the pier, with all the kids lining up to sit on Santa's lap so they could whisper their holiday wish.

Sandy's wish, if anyone had asked, would be that Anderson hadn't caught the flu so he could play Santa as planned. She'd tried to get a last minute replacement, oh how she'd tried. But Jax Cullen, Lucky Harbor's mayor, was master of ceremonies of the parade. Ford Walker and resident hottie had taken his new fiancee to Palm Springs for a holiday getaway. Sandy's third and final choice, Sherriff Sawyer Thompson, was going to be on duty at the parade, handling crowd control.

There was no one else to ask, which panicked Sandy. No one but her... She took her roll of town clerk very seriously...but this was going over and above the call of duty. Yet all she could think of was the kids of Lucky Harbor, and how disappointed they'd be without Santa. Dammit. She sighed and took one last look at herself. She did actually look a little bit like Santa, albeit a very short one.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 17

2011-12-17T01:36:00.003Z

So today is the morning after the night before, and I feel surprisingly good! Certainly good enough to catch up on my visits to the tour hosts yesterday as well as those who are hosting today:

*Sprite @ Sprite Writes

*Nicole @ Ramblings of a Writer

*Grace Elliot @ Grace Elliot - Gripping Historical Romance

*Benji @ The Non Reluctant Reader

Today's quote come from page 204 of You are my Only by Beth Kephart. By way of explanation, this character is in a mental institution when this scene takes place.

"The barn was very large," I read, from the Charlotte's Web book. "It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the persperation of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell - as if nothing bad could ever happen again in the world."

Past the rectangle of the window, snow fall, fat and wet and white. All morning, all afternoon, it has laid its whiteness down, and beyond the window, in the courtyard, the bare trees wear the red bulbs of Christmas. The sound of the weather has worked its way inside - the hush-pause and the down tick, the ache in the clock on the walls.

"Autumn." I stop. "Sweetheart, look."

But she has closed her eyes and she won't look up. "Keep reading," she says with a sigh.

"It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope," I read on. "And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish. But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay up in the great loft overhead. And there was always hay being ditched down to the cows and the horses and the sheep."

I smell Christmas Eve on Autumn's breath, the chicken pot pie that we ate with a slender wedge of cheese and a little puddle each of cranberry juice poured out in Dixie cups. Someone had bought in an old stereo and plugged it in with old-fashioned Christmas blues and we sat there, together, while Jimmy Butler sang "Trim Your Tree", and Felix Gross sang "Love for Christmas," and when Sugar Chile Robinson sang "Christmas Boogie," Wolfie took up Virgin Mary's hand in hers and a space was cleared on the tabletop and the two of them danced, Virgin Mary's eyes a million miles away, but something close and near on her lips, something like a blessing.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 16

2011-12-16T00:01:00.005Z

For me, today is a festive kind of day! Yesterday we had drinks in the boardroom for the whole building and today it is lunch with the department (and more drinks) and then out for dinner to catch up with some friends (with more drinks). It's a beautiful summer's day so it will be a great day for sitting around socialising. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

What do you have on the agenda for this Friday? Perhaps you will find time to visit the following hosts on the tour today

*Court @ Once Upon a Bookshelf

*Teri @ Henningsen Happenings

*Cam @ epiBlouger

*Pepca @ Beyond Strange New Words

Kiwi @ Assortments

*Sasha Soren @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven

Today is the last of the passages from Empire Day by Diane Chamberlain. It again features Hania, who we met in a passage that I posted last week. This quote is a kind of long one today and comes from pages 292-294.

For weeks Hania had heard the other children talking about Christmas. Beverley and her family were going to Thirroul to visit her Aunty Tessie, but when Aunty Muriel invited Hania to go with them, her mother tried to talk her out of it.

"Christmas is a family day for Christians," she said. "You'll be out of place."

But Hania was adamant. It was bad enough missing out on the Christmas tree, the presents and festivities she loved; she wasn't going to miss out on the outing as well. Away from her mother, with Beverley and her family, she'd be able to forget she was an outsider, and feel she was part of something for once.

On the train she sat next to Beverley, her nose pressed against the grimy window as she stared out at the back of red-tiled cottages with their outdoor wooden dunnies and the skinny dogs running around and barking in backyards. Every few minutes the train ground to a halt at another station, until finally they reached Thirroul.

Aunty Tessie, Uncle Dick and their three children lived in a fibro cottage facing the beach. They kept chooks out the back, and as soon as they arrived, all the children rushed out to see if there were any eggs. Inside, the men were arguing about football, and Uncle Bill told Hania that his brother used to play for the Butchers, the local rugby league team. There was a strong piney smell in the loungeroom where the Christmas tree stood, hung with brightly coloured paper chains, tinsel, shiny baubles, and and an angel with a silver star on top. As they stood admiring the tree, Uncle Dick said that now the cedar forests around Thirroul had been logged, read Christmas trees were hard to come by, but he'd managed to get on for the kids.

Exciting boxes and parcel wrapped in bright Christmas paper were piled under the tree. Except for the fact the tree stood in a bucket and was propped up with bricks, it reminded Hania of Christmas at her foster parent's home in Poland. Despite her mother's warning that she'd be intruding, they all made her feel as if she were part of the family, and Beverley's aunty told her to call her Aunty Tessie like the other kids did.

After the roast turkey, ham and baked potatoes, Aunty Tessie bought out a steaming Christmas pudding and warned them to eat slowly to make sure they didn't swallow the threepences she'd put inside. Beverley's little sister Daisy was the first to squeal that she'd bitten into one. Auntie Tessie had been very generous with the coins, because by the time the pudding was finished, all the children had found at least one.

When they'd finished lunch, Hania hung back while Beverley and her little sister and cousins were given their presents but, to her surprise, she hadn't been forgotten. Aunty Tessie handed her a small parcel wrapped in Christmas paper, and said "Merry Christmas, love." It was a book called Seven Little Australians. Hania was thrilled to be given the book, but the best thing about the whole day was being included.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 15

2011-12-15T00:01:00.002Z

Day 15, and the start of the third week of the tour. Here are our stops for today:

*Julia @ A Piece of My Mind

Chelsea @ Book Maven's Blog

*Michelle Miller @ The Christmas Spirit

*Nancy @ Bookfoolery & Babble

Last week I introduced you to a few of the characters from Empire Day by Diane Chamberlain.

For the next two days we are going to revisit some of those same characters and see what has happened to them starting with struggling single mum Kath.

Today's excerpt comes from page 291:

After giving Meggsie a bed bath and massaging his back and legs, Kath went into the kitchen to make the Christmas pudding. Whenever she thought about Christmas she let out a long sigh. She'd managed to scrape together a few shillings to buy the boys some comic books, socks and a cricket ball, but she'd only be able to put rabbit on the table this year - a turkey was out of the question. Lost in her thoughts, she was stirring her worries into the dough along with the sultanas, and throwing in a few silver threepences, when the doorbell rang.

She wiped her floury hands on her apron and hurried to the door, but before she got there she could hear hoarse voices singing 'Jingle Bells'. Collecting money for some charity she supposed. She opened the door and was about to say she was sorry she couldn't spare anything, when she stepped back in surprise. On her doorstep stood Mick Kelly and Bob Longley from the pub, and they were struggling with a large cardboard box.

"This fell off a truck the other day and we thought maybe you could use it," Mick said. Thrusting the box into her hands, he mumbled, "Merry Christmas, love," and before she could thank them they'd gone.

Inside the box was the biggest turkey she'd ever seen, a leg of ham, a bag of potatoes and a box of biscuits.

Kath rushed to Meggsie's room. "It's a miracle, that's what it is," she kept saying as she sat down on the edge of his bed. "We'll have a proper Christmas now. All we need is another miracle to make you well."

2011 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 14

2011-12-14T01:02:00.003Z

Can you believe that today is the end of the second week of the tour - once it gets started it goes so quickly!

Here are the hosts for today's stops on the tour!

*Rob Crompton @ Tales From the Snig's Foot

*Nicole @ Linus's Blanket

*Lisa@ Books. Lists. Life

*Sheree @ The Eclectic Reader

L.R. Knost @ Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting Resources

Today's quote comes from one of the stories in the Jane Austen Made Me Do It anthology that was released earlier this year. This quote is from the story Jane Austen and the Mistltoe Kiss by Jo Beverley and is from page 122:

Elinor laughed at that, turning to share amusement with the Austen ladies. "I'm far past the age for mistletoe kisses, I fear."

Miss Jane cocked her head. "That seems a shame, for we must be older still."

Elinor hastily apologized, but Miss Jane shook her head. "I was only teasing Mrs. Carsholt. I believe Sir Nicholas said you were thirty-six. I don't think you should refuse the mistletoe its chance.'

"Chance, ma'am?"

"Do you not know that tradition?"

"Oh, sister," said Miss Austen, as if uncomfortable with the subject.

"Cassandra doesn't approve," Miss Jane said, smiling. "She thinks it has a touch of pagan magic about it. Local tradition says that if true lovers kiss beneath a mistletoe bough, they will instantly know their devotion."

"It sounds a little pagan to me, too, Miss Jane," Elinor said, but lightly. "And perhaps overly romantical."

"If by romantical you speak of men and women forming true matches based on love, does that not happen all the time?"

Maria spoke, with the disastrous honesty of a young child. "Did you never find your true love through the mistletoe bough, ma'am?"

"Maria!" Elinor chided, but Miss Austen replied.

"I did, my dear, but it was not to be. However, to experience true love is better than not, and one can always imagine a story with a different ending."

2011: Virtual Advent Day 13

2011-12-13T00:01:00.001Z

Here are the tour stops for today!

*Cat @ Beyond Books

*Tami @ Just One More Thing...

*Joanna @ Lost in a Good Story

Bridget @ Meals on Winthrop

Sharon @ Faith, Hope, & Cherrytea

No quote for today because I was looking for an Australian Christmas poem that I saw just a couple of lines of in a book but even with other people looking for it too I couldn't find it at all.

Instead, poetry set to music from a couple of Australian singers. The first is pretty well known the world over, but I am not sure how well known the second is! The Delta Goodrem video comes from Carols by Candlelight which is an Aussie tradition where you take advantage of the summer nights and take your family and a picnic to a big park and share in carols with lots of others. Shelleyrae from Book'd Out posted about attending her community event a couple of days ago.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 12

2011-12-12T00:01:00.006Z

We are now half way through the tour, and I have to say the posts this year have been amazing! Just yesterday we had posts on an Australian Christmas tradition, and then a Finnish tradition, and then some US posts! This is an example of why I love doing the Advent Tour - seeing posts from all over the world!

Shanyn @ Chicks Love Lit

*Katie @ Book Addict Katie

*Carol @ Carol's Notebook

*Deborah @ Homemaker Honey

*JNCL @ The Beauty of Eclecticism

Today's quote comes from The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison, which tells the story of a young girl who is evacuated to the English countryside during World War II.

Some of the evacuees never got letters, but they still could not resist hovering on the outside edge of the letter crowd with forlorn eyes. Yet even for those who were remembered, there was still a dull ache of homesickness which never really eased, running like a buried river through their daily lives.

December, in particular, was a time when many of the children grew sad, and in the years to come, Anna would never forget her wartime Christmases so far from home. But she would remember, too, how generous the Ashtons were, always making sure that every evacuee had a gift under the tree. And how on Christmas Day itself they all shared a hearty lunch, with the rare treat of roast chicken and crispy potatoes, with plenty more vegetables from the grounds.

Yet none of those consolotions could ever quite staunch the Christmas night tears in the dormitories. The remembrance of home, of mothers, of fathers. The emotional wasteland of their lives without them. It would take years for many of them to dare to love again.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 11

2011-12-11T00:01:00.004Z

Day 11 of the tour means that it is only 2 weeks to go until the big day! Not quite time to start panicking as you realise that you still have lots to do, but not far off that time!

Here are today's hosts of the Virtual Advent tour:

*Jane of Australia @ A String of Pearls

*Shellyrae @ Book'd Out

*Beth F @ BethFishReads

*Tiina @ A Book Blog of One's Own

*Fran @ Books and Beyond

*Michelle @ Liturgical Time

Today's special shout out of thanks goes to Jane of Australia from A String of Pearls as this is her fifth year of participating in the tour (albeit on a couple of different blogs)! Thank you for your contributions over the last 5 tours and your support Jane! Kelly and I really appreciate it!

Sharing your first Christmas with your new inlaws could be a bit nerve wracking, especially when they speak a whole other language. In Immovable Feast: A Paris Christmas, John Baxter shares his journey as an Australian who has ended up living in France, via America, and how he became responsible for cooking the perfect Christmas dinner for his extended French family. This is his account of his first French Christmas. This quote comes from page 19.

With Jean-Paul present, the meal could begin. A few minutes later, he took his place at the head of the table, and the other dozen guests arranged themselves, with me at the foot.

The marathon of Christmas dinner commenced.

I'd been warned what to expect. After the foie gras, we'd be enjoying white boudin veal sausage with fried apple, then roast pintade - or guinea fowl - a grating dauphinois of sliced potatoes baked with cheese and cream, accompanied by green beans and carrots, followed by cheese, and Francoise's twenty-five-egg mousse - each course with its wine, including champagne with the dessert.

The goose liver was delicious enough for one to spare little thought for the poor bird that produced it.We smeared it into fresh white pain,, larger brother of the more familiar baguette, washing it down with '84 Bordeaux from Madame's own cave - which was literally cave, hollowed out of the rock on which this house was built.

The women never stopped handing around plates, offering more foie gras, and returning to the kitchen for bread or cornichons. Jean-Paul exchanged a few phlegmatic words with Jean-Marie, then fell silent. From time to time he would tilt a wine bottle away from him and stare at the label, as if it might have changed miraculously into a better year.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 10

2011-12-10T00:03:00.003Z

Welcome to Day 10 of the tour! Here are our stops for today:

Cass @ Bonjour, Cass!

*Andi @ Estella's Revenge

*Jen @ DevourerofBooks

*L @ omphaloskepsis

*Sasha @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven

The third and final character that I am going to introduce you to for these posts is Marija who is struggling with the idea of a hot Christmas, something that seems quite normal to us Southern Hemisphere peeps! There are lots of other characters to meet in the pages of Empire Day by Diane Chamberlain, not just the three I have introduced you to over the last few days!

Page 226-227

Marija Olmanis was thinking about Christmas too. Christmas in Latvia. Walking to church on Christmas Eve on snow that creaked under her fur-lined boots, placing Advent wreaths in the front of her home, watching the mummers who visited homes to bless the occupants and drive out evil spirits. And preparing the traditional food: brown peas with bacon, beef pies filled with cabbage, yeast cake with chopped almonds and cardamon, and ginger biscuits that made the whole house smell wonderful and which they ate with a drink made from honey, cranberries, rye bread and whipped cream. In Latvia, St Nicholas didn't arrive with gifts on just one night, he stopped by every evening for twelve wonderful nights.

Page 227 - 228

Marija wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck. Christmas in sweltering heat, without snow or ice, skating or toboganning, wasn't Christmas. Even the sky here was different. Whenever she looked up at night, she couldn't find any familiar stars.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 9

2011-12-09T00:01:00.003Z

Here are the links to check out for Day 9 of the Virtual Advent Tour for 2011.

Hope that you enjoy the posts!

*Danielle @ There's A Book

*Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza

Jenny Q @ Let Them Read Books

*Lindsey @ Reeder Reads

*Kara @ Rogue Anthropologist

In today's excerpts from Empire Day by Diane Chamberlain we hear part of Kath's story: Kath is a single mum, battling to make ends meet, and also having to deal with the serious illness of one of her children.

This one is for the battlers.

The first quote is from page 216:

Christmas was approaching and she regretted her reckless outburst at the pub. Now that she'd lost her job, she wondered how she's make ends meet, let alone provide Christmas dinner and buy gifts for the boys. She felt she'd fallen into a deep well without a rope or a ladder to climb out. She'd never felt so alone or so desperate. Jobs were scarce, and with Christmas only weeks away, her chance of finding one was slim. And to make things even worse, Meggsie wouldn't be home for Christmas

And then from page 226:

Across the road Kath sat at the kitchen table trying to figure out how she could stretch her meagre savings to put Christmas dinner on the table and buy something for the boys as well.

A few times lately , whenever she'd passed the red telephone box on the corner, she'd been on the verge of swallowing her pride and ringing Gran, but at the last moment the thought of going begging, and then having to listen to her grandmother's acid comments, had changed her mind.

Kath didn't care about Christmas for herself but she did want to try and make it special for the boys, especially little Pete. But what kind of Christmas would it be, with Meggsie still in hospital, unable to work, and no one knowing when he'd recover?

"I'd better start praying for a miracle because that's the only thing that'll help me," she mutter to herself.

Next week we will get an update on Kath's Christmas!

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 8

2011-12-08T00:01:00.018Z

Welcome to day 8 of the 2011 Virtual Advent Tour.

*Patti Smith @ Peppermint Ph. D.

*Chris @ Stuff as Dreams are Made on

*Kat Pruce @ No Page Left Behind

*Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair

*Will @ Exciting Writing

Today's special shout out of thanks goes to Chris from Stuff as Dreams are Made On as this is his fifth year of participating in the tour! Thank you for your contributions over the last 5 tours and your support Chris! Kelly and I really appreciate it!

If you are inspired by the posts that you have seen today, it is not too late to join in. You can still sign up at the sign up post.

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to bring you a number of quotes from a book called Empire Day by Australian author Diane Chamberlain. In the first three quotes which I will post next week, the characters look back to the Christmas festivities in their native countries, and in the excerpts next week, the characters talk about their first summer Christmas here in Australia. The book is set just after the end of World War II predominantly in Sydney.

Page 224-225 Empire Day by Diane Chamberlain

Hania hated the idea of Christmas in Australia. In Poland, with her foster parents, it had been different. Shivers still ran down her spine whenever she thought of the hushed atmosphere in the church on Christmas Eve, with the flickering candles, the smoky smell of incense and the soulful voices chanting and praying. After Mass, she'd look forward to the traditional spicy beetroot borsch with potato pirogi. Her foster father would lug home a huge fir tree and the house would be filled with a sharp piney smell. Then they'd hang shiny baubles and coloured stars on the ends of the branches and arrange gifts around the tree.

By way of explanation, Hania was actually a young Jewish girl who was fostered by a Catholic family to keep her safe during World War II. Now, she is in Australia with her mother so not only is she looking back on Christmas in another country, but also in effect a whole other life.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 7

2011-12-07T00:01:00.008Z

Today is the end of the first week of the tour. I hope that you have enjoyed the posts so far, but there is still plenty more to come starting with today's stops:

*Pamela @ I Read. Do You?

*Susanna Kearsley @ A Woman in Jeopardy

*Kaye @ The Road Goes Ever Ever On

*Boof @ The Book Whisperer

*Fiona @ Catching the Light and the Moment

*ibeeeg @ Polishing Mud Balls

A belated shout out to raidergirl3 from An Adventure in Reading. This is her fifth year participating in the tour. Thanks for your contributions over the last 5 years!

My teaser again comes from Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This time we see Christmas from inside the walls of a prisoner of war camp:

From pages 268-269 of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

On Christmas Eve, some Red Cross packages were finally handed out. Louie wrote triumphantly of it in his diary. His box, weighing some eleven pounds, contained corned beef, cheese, pate, salmon, butter, jam, chocolate, prunes, and four packs of Chesterfields. All evening long, the men of Omori traded goods, smoked and gorged themselves.

That night, there was another treat, and it came about as the result of a series of curious events. Among the POWs was a chronically unwahsed, ingeneous, and possibly insane kleptomaniac named Mansfield. Shortly before Christmas, Mansfield broke into the storehouse - slipping past seven guards - and made off with several Red Cross packages, which he buried under his barracks. Discovering his cache, guards locked him in a cell. Mansfield broke out, stole sixteen more parcels, and snuck them back into his cell. He hid the contents of the packages in a secret compartment he'd fashioned himself, marking the door with a message for other POWs: Food, help yourself, lift here. Caught again, he was tied to a tree in the snow without food or water, wearing only pajamas and beaten. By one account, he was left there for ten days. Late one night, when Louie was walking back from the benjo, he saw the camp interpreter, Yukichi Kano, kneeling beside Mansfiedl, draping a blanket over him. The next morning, the blanket was gone, retrieved before the Bird could see it. Eventually, Mansfield was untied and taken to a civilian prison, where he flourished.

The one good consequence of this event was that in the storehouse, Mansfield had discovered a Red Cross theatrical trunk. He told other POWs about it, and this gave the men the idea of boosting morale by staging a Christmas play. They secured the Bird's approval by stroking his ego, naming him "master of ceremonies" and giving him a throne at the front of the "theater" - the bathhouse - outfitted with planks perched on washtubs to serve as a stage. The men decided to put on a musical production of Cinderella, written, with creative liberties, by a British POW. Frank Tinker put his operatic gifts to work as Prince Leander of Pantoland. The Fairy Godmother was played by a mountainout cockney Brit dressed in a tutu and tights. Characters included Lady Dia Riere and Lady Gonna Riere. Louie thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. Private Kano translated for the guards, who sat in the back, laughing and clapping. The Bird gloried in the limelight, and for that night, he let Louie and the others be.

At Zentsuji, Christmas came to Phil and Fred Garrett. Some POWs scrounged up musical instruments and assembled in the camp. Before seven hundred starving men, they played rousing music as the men sang along. They ended with the national anthems of England, Holland, and the United States. The Zentsuji POWs stood together at attention in silence, thinking of home.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 6

2011-12-06T00:01:00.004Z

Here are the stops for Day 6 of the 2011 Virtual Advent Tour.

*raidergirl3 @ an adventure in reading

*Cindy @ Cindy's Love of Books

*Vanessa @ A Journey Through My Music Collection

Sara @ Make Music from Your Heart...

*Carol @ Better is Possible

Today's quote comes from Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Her book tells of a young Olympian who is taken as a prisoner of war during World War II. Not only did I choose this passage because of the sentiment within the context of the the book, but also to take a moment to honour those who will be away from their families this Christmas because they are serving their countries.

From page 215 of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

In December 1943, the family prepared to celebrate their first Christmas without Louie. The mailman knocked at the door each day to deliver a harvest of cards and letters, most of them offering sympathy. The holiday tree was strung with popcorn and cranberries, and beneath it sat a collection of gifts for Louie. The gifts would be tucked away in the belief that one day, Louie would come home to open them himself.

Louise bought a little Christmas card depicting a cherub in a red dress blowing a horn as she stood surrounded by lambs. Inside she wrote a message:

Dear Louis. Where ever you are, I know you want us to think of you as well and safe. May God be with you + guide you.Love from all. Mother Dad Pete Sylvia and Virginia. Christmas 25-43

Check back tomorrow to hear about a POW Christmas from this same book.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 5

2011-12-05T00:01:00.002Z

It is amazing to me how quickly the tour goes once it gets started! Already it is day 5 and here are our participants for today:

*Lisa @ Baffled Books

*Suzanne @ bibliosue

*Mandy @ Adventures in Borkdom

*Naida @ Bookworm

*Jaclyn @ Literary Treats

If you are inspired by the posts that you have seen today, it is not too late to join in. You can still sign up at the sign up post.

My quotes for today come from the historical fiction novel The Countess Angelique, part of the Angelique series written by Sergeanne Golon. It was originally published in the 1960s and some of the covers are very....coquettish. In this volume of Angelique's adventures she find herself living on the wild frontiers of the Americas.

Please note I have omitted a couple of character names because their inclusion in this passage might spoil some events from previous books in the series.

The first part of the quote from page 370:

So there really was a Christmas spirit in the camp. No task seemed too heavy, everything was done cheerfully. They laughed on the slightest pretext and caught themselves humming or whistling snatches of old refrains.

The everlasting boiled maize and smoked meat were eaten cheerfully with many a joke during happy mealtimes kept warm with good humoured conversation. They were all good friends, good companions, they understood one another, and supported one another. Let anyone who sout to harm them come and try!

Preparations for the feast were a great secret.

Wonderful smells began to tickle their nostrils.

And then from page 373

When, later that evening, the hunting horm was sounded, and F and C rang a peal on the cowbells, the children of the Silver Lake rushed over to the house, running, slipping and stumbling over on the frozen snow, and stopped on the threshold, as dazzled and delighted as any other children the world over.

"Oh!"

The room was a-glitter with a thousand lights and the table that occupied the centre of the room groaned beneath a pile of treasures and knick-knacks. It was hard to say which was the best, the wonderful sight before them or the delicious smells of the fried black pudding and all the sweetmeats.

The three tiny tots of the Silver Lake stood on the threshold, their eyes shining like stars in their faces red with cold.

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 4

2011-12-04T00:01:00.005Z

Day 4 of the Virtual Advent Tour, and here are our stops for today!

*Melissa @ Book Nut

*Kerry @ A Ten O'Clock Scholar

*Martina Kunz @ Book Drunkard

*Colleen @ Books in the City

*Gwenyth @ Rants~And~Scribbles

Today's special shout out of thanks goes to Melissa from Book Nut as this is her fifth year of participating in the tour! Thank you for your contributions over the last 5 tours and your support Melissa! Kelly and I really appreciate it!

If you are inspired by the posts that you have seen today, it is not too late to join in. You can still sign up at the sign up post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the fascinating things about reading historical fiction is seeing how differently things that we take for granted now were treated in the past. I found this passage interesting as it is set at the time of the Restoration to the English throne of Charles II, not long after the Commonwealth ended. During this time, the celebrating of holy and feast days associated with the Catholic church was frowned upon, including Christmas.
This passage comes from page 243 of Anthony Capella's The Empress of Ice Cream

I told Elias we would be spending the winter out at Hampton and his face fell.

"What is it, boy?"

He said hesitantly, "It is just that we will miss Christmas."

"Elias!" his mother said, overhearing. "Christmas! What is this I hear?"

He hung his head in shame. "Some of the other children are saying that it will be a holiday."

Without asking my permission, she whisked him off into a corner. I thought she must be scolding him over his lack of enthusiasm for his work, until I realised that her objection was a different one. She was trying to speak quietly, but anger made her voice carry.

"... bad enought that you work for a papist. But I will not be celebrating papist festivals as well. Now be off with you, and no more talk of Christmas."

and then later....

"You don't celebrate Christmas, I take it?" I said neutrally.

"We do not."

"May I ask the reason?'

"Under the Protector, it was seen that there was no need for it."

"Whereas the Protector's own birthday, no doubt, was a public holiday?"

She glared at me. "Show me where in the Gospels it says that December the twenty-fifth is Christ's birthday, and we will celebrate it. Until then the Sabbath is enough Lord's Day for us."

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 3

2011-12-03T00:01:00.006Z

Here are today's stops on the tour

*Chris @ Chrisbookarama

*Alex @ The Sleepless Reader

*Amy @ Amy Reads

*Charlotte @ Charlotte's Library

*Angel Cruz @ Mermaid Vision Books

Today's special shout out of thanks goes to Chris from Chrisbookarama as this is her fifth year of participating in the tour! Thank you for your contributions over the last 5 tours and your support Chris! Kelly and I really appreciate it!

If you are inspired by the posts that you have seen today, it is not too late to join in. You can still sign up at the sign up post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No quotes today! Instead I thought I would share a couple of my favourite Christmas related cartoons. The first series has been a favourite for quite a few years now.

This is one that I just saw on Facebook the other day and it amused me!

2011 Virtual Advent: Day 2

2011-12-02T00:01:00.009Z

What a fantastic start to the tour we had yesterday. If you haven't had a chance to check out the links from yesterday, don't forget to do so!

This year, we wanted to acknowledge the people who have supported us from the very early days of the tour! I hope I don't miss anyone out though. If I do, I apologise profusely. It is likely because I can't count!

Here are today's stops on the tour:

*Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf

*Ana @ things mean a lot

*Patricia @ Lady With Books

*Abigail @ The Story Factory Reading Zone

*Megan @ Po(sey) Sessions

Today's special shout out of thanks goes to Ana from Things Mean a Lot as this is her fifth year of participating in the tour! Thank you for your contributions over the last 5 tours and your support Ana! Kelly and I really appreciate it!

If you are inspired by the posts that you have seen today, it is not too late to join in. You can still sign up at the sign up post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My quote for today again comes from Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles and gives us a glimpse of Emily's first Russian Christmas. The quote comes from pages 158-159.

Christmas dinner began at six that evening with the zakuski. The butler and the footman brought into the drawing-room a wheeled table on which were laid out salted cucumbers, stuffed mushrooms, green and black olives, marinaded tomatoes, stuffed eggs in their shells, two kinds of caviare – red and black – and open tartlets filled with creamy concoctions of smoked fish and spiced chicken. Flasks, of vodka sat in ice buckets, and as soon as the plates were filled, the glasses were charged and Natasha toasted the first toast – to Yenya and Yenchik, whose name-day it was.

Everyone drained their glasses in unison, and then tasted the zasuski while the servants went round refilling for the next toast. Emily has been in Russia almost six weeks now, and knew the procedure. She had found the vodka rather startling at first, but there was no doubt that it warmed up the atmosphere of any gathering very quickly, as toast after toast was drunk, and the delicious hors d’oeuvres were consumed.

It was seven o’clock before they moved into the dining-room, where the servants brought in the soup and the hot pirozhkis – small pastries filled variously with minced meat, onions and cabbage, and mushrooms – which went with it. The vodka was exchanged for wine now, but the toasts went on, and the laughter and conversation rose a notch. Emily’s whole body seemed to be filled with a warm astonishment: it was different as it could be from those stiff Christmas dinners at Bratton. She was seated between Adishka and Tolya, and the former kept her entertained with stories about Petersburg society, while she had never seen the latter so animated and unselfconscious.

After the soup there was kulebiaka, a noble pie made in millefeuille layers of crisp pastry filled with salmon, sturgeon, mushrooms, chopped eggs, and rice flavoured with onions and dill. Then, for the main course, there was the Christmas goose stuffed with cinnamon apples, and partridges cooked in sour cream. When it came to the dessert, the cook, Borya – a large Georgian with huge moustaches of which he was intensely proud – brought it up before him on an enormous silver platter: a traditional English plum pudding, flickering bravely with blue flames of ignited brandy and crowned with a sprig of holly.

2011 Virtual Advent Day 1

2011-12-01T00:02:00.007Z

And we're off! In some ways it seems like the first day of the Advent Tour has taken ages to arrive and in other ways it seems like we are running out of time to be ready!

This year I will be sharing holiday related quotes here on the blog from books I have read through this year. It is surprising how few quotes there were in general reading, but I think I have come up with something for nearly every day. The most important thing for each day though is finding out who our tour hosts for the day are! Here are our brave people who agreed to be first up!

*Melissa @ Jayne's Books

*Trish @ Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity

*Betty @ A Corgi in Southern California

*Rikki @ Rikki's Teleidoscope

*Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books

If you are inspired by the posts that you have seen today, it is not too late to join in. You can still sign up at the sign up post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My quote for today comes from Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, which is about a young woman who finds herself living in Russia during the Romanov era.

From pages 156-157:

One evening, after Yenchik and Zansha were in bed, Mamka brought a basket of walnuts and a bowl of milk into the drawing room and put them down on the table.

‘These are the best, barina,” she said to Natasha. “I’ve sorted them out myself. All the shells are nice and clean and smooth.”

“Ah, good. Stay and help us, Mamka – you have the best touch. Yenya, Emilia, come and sit at the table.”

Yenya brought a lighted candle, a stick of sealing wax, and some green wool cut into lengths, and Natasha fetched from her bureau some little paper booklets about two inches square.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked, taking her place beside Tolya.

“We’re going to gild the nuts,” he answered, surprised. “Haven’t you ever done it before? I’ll show you, then.”

Each booklet contained twenty thin leaves of pure gold with cigarette paper between them, each leaf so delicate it made the cigarette paper look thick and coarse by comparison.

“To get it out you have to blow on it, like this. Look,” Tolya said. He blew gently, and the almost weightless leaf lifted free of the paper with a faint rustling sound. “Your hands have to be clean, and dry, or the gold comes off on your fingers.”

“Like the bloom on a butterfly’s wings,” Emily said, trying it for herself.

Each nut had to be dipped in the milk, then carefully wrapped in the gold leaf. When they were dry, the two ends of a strand of wool were placed on top of the nut and sealed down with a drop of molten wax to make a loop.

“They’re so beautiful,” Emily said. Gold paint would have been nothing to it, a dull meagre imitation. These nuts shone with all the lustre of pure gold, like little suns, like tiny church cupolas. “What are they for?”

“For hanging on the Christmas tree,” Tolya said, all amazement at her ignorance. You must have seen a Christmas tree before.”

And then from page 160

Before her was the first Christmas tree she had ever seen, stretching right up to the ceiling, ablaze with light, a beautiful, glorious thing against the darkness of the room. It was decorated with the gilded nuts she had helped to make, which shone with the soft brilliance of true gold; with small, polished bell-shaped Christmas apples; with little nets of sweets wrapped in shining foil; with crystal icicles and snowflakes, and silver bells. On the top was a fairy dressed in silver tinsel with a diamond crown: and everything seemed to shimmer in the light from the candles which trembled on the ends of the branches, making a cascade of light, layer upon layer of quivering flames, each surround with its own golden halo.

Announcing the 2011 Virtual Advent Tour

2011-12-01T00:01:00.000Z

Kailana from The Written World and Marg from Adventures of an Intrepid Reader are very pleased and excited to announce that we will once again be running the Virtual Advent tour this year. This is the sixth year that we have hosted and we hope that the event has become an integral part of the book blogging community's holiday traditions.

The Virtual Advent tour first started when we pondered why should the kids get all the fun of opening a box on the advent calendar and finding a treat in there, and how could we have some blogging fun with a similar concept? So the Virtual Advent tour was born.

Each day anyone who wants to participate takes turns sharing a treat with our friends here in blogland. For example it could be something about your family traditions, recipes, your country's holiday traditions, or a favourite Christmas memory, movie, book, song...anything you like. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas we would like to hear about what your family does during the holiday season, whether it be celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is that you do during this time.

If you are interested in signing up, then please sign up using the Google form (link below). If you want a specific date, then please include that along with your name and other details. If you don't need a specific date, then we will allocate a date to you. We will create a list of links so that as people express interest we will add them to the list, and then each day during the tour we will post a link directing visitors to the appropriate blog.

The tour will start on Thursday 1 December and run through until Saturday December 24. If there are more people than there are days that's fine too.....the more the merrier! It just means that there will be more than one blog to visit on those days.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alex for our gorgeous new blog design and the fabulous buttons!

We look forward to visiting everyone on the tour.

2011 Tour Dates

2011-11-30T00:01:00.033Z

December 1:

Melissa @ Jayne's Books

Trish @ Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity

Betty @ A Corgi in Southern California

Rikki @ Rikki's Teleidoscope

Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books

December 2:

Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf

Ana @ things mean a lot

Patricia @ Lady With Books

Abigail @ The Story Factory Reading Zone

Megan @ Po(sey) Sessions

December 3:

Chris @ Chrisbookarama

Alex @ The Sleepless Reader

Amy @ Amy Reads

Charlotte @ Charlotte's Library

Angel Cruz @ Mermaid Vision Books

December 4:

Melissa @ Book Nut

Kerry @ A Ten O'Clock Scholar

Martina Kunz @ Book Drunkard

Colleen @ Books in the City

Gwenyth @ Rants~And~Scribbles

December 5:

Lisa @ Baffled Books

Suzanne @ bibliosue

Mandy @ Adventures in Borkdom

Naida @ Bookworm

Jaclyn @ Literary Treats

December 6:

raidergirl3 @ an adventure in reading

Cindy @ Cindy's Love of Books

Vanessa @ A Journey Through My Music Collection

Sara @ Make Music from Your Heart...

Carol @ Better is Possible

December 7:

Pamela @ I Read. Do You?

Susanna Kearsley @ A Woman in Jeopardy

Kaye @ The Road Goes Ever Ever On

Boof @ The Book Whisperer

Fiona @ Catching the Light and the Moment

December 8:

Patti Smith @ Peppermint Ph. D.

Chris @ Stuff as Dreams are Made on

Kat Pruce @ No Page Left Behind

Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair

Will @ Exciting Writing

December 9:

Danielle @ There's A Book

Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza

Jenny Q @ Let Them Read Books

Lindsey @ Reeder Reads

Kara @ Rogue Anthropologist

December 10:

Cass @ Bonjour, Cass!

Andi @ Estella's Revenge

Jen @ DevourerofBooks

L @ omphaloskepsis

Sasha Soren @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven

December 11:

Jane of Australia @ A String of Pearls

Shellyrae @ Book'd Out

Beth F @ BethFishReads

Tiina @ A Book Blog of One's Own

Fran @ Books and Beyond

Michelle @ Liturgical Time

December 12:

Shanyn @ Chicks Love Lit

Katie @ Book Addict Katie

Carol @ Carol's Notebook

Deborah @ Homemaker Honey

JNCL @ The Beauty of Eclecticism

December 13:

Cat @ Beyond Books

Tami @ Just One More Thing...

Joanna @ Lost in a Good Story

Bridget @ Meals on Winthrop

Sharon @ Faith, Hope, & Cherrytea

December 14:

Rob Crompton @ Tales From the Snig's Foot

Nicole @ Linus's Blanket

Lisa@ Books. Lists. Life

Sheree @ The Eclectic Reader

L.R. Knost @ Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting Resources

December 15:

Julia @ A Piece of My Mind

Chelsea @ Book Maven's Blog

Michelle Miller @ The Christmas Spirit

Nancy @ Bookfoolery & Babble

December 16:

Court @ Once Upon a Bookshelf

Teri @ Henningsen Happenings

Cam @ epiBlouger

Pepca @ Beyond Strange New Words

Kiwi @ Assortments

Sasha Soren @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven

December 17:

Sprite @ Sprite Writes

Nicole @ Ramblings of a Writer

Grace Elliot @ Grace Elliot - Gripping Historical Romance

Benji @ The Non Reluctant Reader

December 18:

Suey @ It's All About Books

Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves

Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree

Julie @ Anglers Rest

Kim @ Life in the Little Nest

December 19:

Amy @ My Friend Amy

Rebecca @ Rebecca Reads

Nat @ In Spring it is the Dawn

Krissi @ Lighting my Light

December 20:

Eva @ A Striped Armchair

Heather @ Capricious Reader

Kay @ Dead Beat Darling

Shannon @ The Savvy Reader

December 21:

Memory @ Stella Matutina

Julie @ Anglers Rest

Christa @ Hooked on Books

Tasha @ Truth, Beauty, Freedom, & Books

Lindsay @ Turning the Pages

December 22:

Susan @ Bloggin' About Books

Karen @ Sassymonkey Reads

Brenna @ Esther's Ever After

Sasha Soren @ Random Magic Tour - The Coven

Kathy @ A Glass of Wine

December 23:

Tania @ Lots of Book Reviews

Brooke @ The Bluestocking Guide

Georgie @ Georgie Lee

Margot @ Joyfully Retired
Sylvia @ paindecampagne

December 24:

Gretchen @ A Ten O'Clock Scholar

Kelly @ The Written World

Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings

Kendra @ My Greenwood Life

Nicole @ All I Ever Read
Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Are you ready?

2011-11-27T19:36:00.000Z

It's nearly time to start our Virtual Advent Tour for this year and I for one am very excited at the prospect of getting underway.

We are very pleased with the turnout so far, but it isn't too late to sign up. Just go to the sign up post and complete the form. If you want a specific date let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you! Don't forget to grab your favourite button to use as well!

Today I thought I would address some of the more frequently asked questions over the years.

We have tried to make the tour as inclusive as we can, so you don't need to be celebrating Christmas in order to participate. We would love to hear from people who aren't celebrating Christmas but have some other celebration and about what you do for those celebrate!

One of the hardest things about doing this is to try and coordinate these things relates to timezones. With Kelly being in Canada and Marg in Australia, we are at opposite ends of the same date all the time.To try and make it easier for everyone concerned we have set the blog time to GMT so you can use that as your guide if you are a bit concerned about when to post.

Each day we will post that day's schedule of stops, and where possible we will link to the actual post so make sure you add us to your feed reader, or to your Twitter feed or stop by each day to see where we are visiting. You can see the schedule as it currently stands here, but please be aware that as more people join in the schedule will also change a little.

For something a little different, this year I will be sharing holiday related quotes here on the blog from books I have read through this year. It is surprising how few quotes there were in general reading, but I think I have come up with something for nearly every day.

We encourage people to comment on the blogs that are participating, and hopefully you will discover some new blogs to read along the way. I certainly seem to find new blogs all the time during the tour.

Most of all we hope that everyone has a fun time participating as both hosts and visitors, and Kelly and I thank you all for your continued support of the tour.

2011 Advent Calendar Buttons

2011-11-12T08:24:00.002Z

Choose your favourite (one or more!) and add it to your blog or your tour post.

(No, I don't know how you are going to choose just one!)

Special thanks to Alex for these gorgeous buttons!

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 20

2010-12-21T02:21:00.000Z

Phew! Day 20! The countdown is well and truly on in our house!

Take a few moments to see what treats have been shared with us today:

Lisa @ Books Lists Life

Sassymonkey @ Sassymonkey Reads

Molly @ My Cozy Book Nook

Rebecca @ Rebecca Reads

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 19

2010-12-19T10:49:00.001Z

I spent some time at the shops this weekend, and I think I am almost done! Only one more difficult person to buy for, and one other present. How about you? Take some time out from your busy preparations and visit the following participants today:

Krissi @ LightingMyLight

Kaye @ The River Goes Ever Ever On

Lindy @ Virtual Advent

Debbie @ Readerbuzz

Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 18

2010-12-18T10:45:00.000Z

The tour is moving quickly on towards the end. Only one week to go, and I know that I have loads of fantastic posts to catch up, including those we are visiting today!

Christina @ Chrisbookarama

Susan @ Medieval Women

Beth @ Beth Fish Reads

Kat @ Book Thingo

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 17

2010-12-17T10:42:00.000Z

It will be another quick post today, mainly because I am one of the blogger's who is posting today! My fellow contributors will be:

Ana @ things mean a lot

Chris @ Stuff as Dreams are Made on

Boof @ The Book Whisperer

Marg @ Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Now, I need to go and start my post!

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 16

2010-12-16T10:40:00.000Z

Today we have posts from all over, including from a blogger based in Japan! Enjoy.

Kate @ I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read!

Nat @ In Spring it is the Dawn

Melissa @ My Experiments in the Kitchen

Aaron @ Guy Gone Geek

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 15

2010-12-15T11:52:00.000Z

Once the tour starts, it just seems to go so quickly! We are already up to day 15, and there are only 10 days to go! Today we are visiting with:

December 15:

Pam @ Bookalicious

Sherry @ Semicolon

Sumana @ Books With a Cup of Coffee

Connelly-Ahern @ Col Reads

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 14

2010-12-14T19:27:00.001Z

Here are the links for Tuesday December 14. Not long to go until the big day is here. Are you ready?

December 14:

Trish @Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity

Julia @ A Piece of My Mind

Naida @ The Bookworm

Diana @ This Writing Life

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 13

2010-12-13T19:22:00.000Z

We dropped the ball a little bit for a couple of days! Sorry, it's that time of year. If you haven't seen them already here are the links for Monday!

Tiina @ A Book Blog of One's Own

Lisabea @ Nose in a Book

Sprite @ Sprite Writes

Debbie @ The Friday Friends

wb @ wb32 reads

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 12

2010-12-12T11:12:00.002Z

It is hard to believe that we are all ready 12 days into December! Christmas is right around the corner. To get you in a celebratory mood, here are 5 blogs to visit!

Jane @ Life @ Number 8

Becky @ One Literature Nut

Michelle @ Galleysmith

Lorren @ The Story Girl

Miss Moppet @ The Misadventures of Moppet

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 11

2010-12-11T11:27:00.006Z

Today we have six stops on the advent tour! Enjoy!

Maree @ just add books

Jana @ The Secret Insight of my Bookshelf

Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf

Gwenelle @ Fuzzy Black Slippers and a Pink Hoodie

Renee Ann @ Doorkeeper

Heather @ Capricious Reader

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 10

2010-12-10T11:23:00.002Z

Today we not only have 5 fabulous bloggers for you to visit, but we are also featuring the Random Magic Tour: Winterlong. It is a bookish event running from the 10th to the 23rd and has lots of fun things going on.

Memory @ Stella Matutina

Margot @ Joyfully Retired

Rachel @ A Fair Substitute for Heaven

Sarah @ Writer, Reader, Dreamer

Nan @ That's All She Read

Random Magic Tour: Winterlong

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 9

2010-12-09T19:27:00.000Z

The tour continues today with some great posts from the following participants:

Gretchen @ Scarlets Letters

Heather @ Capricious Reader

Darcy @ Foxed

GeraniumCat @ Geranium Cat's Bookshelf

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 8

2010-12-08T15:53:00.002Z

Today we are visiting one of my blogging friends, Amy; a person that has participated before, Kerrie; and two people that are new to the tour. A nice assortment! I am looking forward to their posts!

Amy @ My Friend Amy

Kerrie @ Mysteries in Paradise

Tina @ Tina Says

Patti @ Peppermint Ph. D

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 7

2010-12-07T16:08:00.002Z

The first week of the Virtual Advent is over with all ready! Time flies when you are having fun, I guess!

Today we have the pleasure of visiting these fine blogs. Enjoy!

raidergirl @ an adventure in reading

Colleen @ Lavender Lines

Tami @ Just One More Thing...

Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 6

2010-12-06T10:42:00.001Z

Can you believe the first week on the tour is almost over already?

Today our Advent Tour treats come to us courtesy of:

Lexie @ Poisoned Rationality

Natasha @ Maw Books

Martha @ Hey, I want to read that

Carol @ Better is Possible

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 5

2010-12-05T18:43:00.000Z

Today we are visiting with the following bloggers! I look forward to seeing what they are sharing. I sepecially love that Iris's post links in with Leeswamme's post from yesterday!

Iris @ Iris on Books

Melissa @ Book Nut

Lesley @ Mysterious Adventures

Veronica @ The First Draft

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 4

2010-12-04T09:23:00.000Z

Day 4 of the Virtual Advent Tour - half way through the first week, and we have already had a host of treats served up to us as we visit all the participants blogs! Today, we are visiting with:

Judith @ Leeswammes

Amy @ A Faithful Journey

Kristen @ BookNAround

Melissa @ Jayne's Books

Can't wait!

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 3

2010-12-03T12:08:00.009Z

Today is day 3 of this year's Virtual Advent Tour, and we have four fabulous bloggers who are going to share their holiday cheer for us today.

Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict

Court @ Once Upon a Bookshelf

Cindy @ Nocturnal Wonderings

Kris @ Not Enough Books

It would be remiss of me if we didn't give an extra special cheer to Court who made our fabulous buttons for us again this year

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 2

2010-12-02T11:08:00.001Z

What a fantastic start to the tour we had yesterday!

I am sure we are in for more of the same when we visit the following bloggers today:

Amy @ Amy Reads

Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves

Rob @ Books are like Candy Corn

Jan @ Staying Awake

2010 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 1

2010-12-01T02:51:00.005Z

It's time! Today is the first day of the 2010 Virtual Advent Tour! We are very excited to see what everyone shares this year!

Here is where we are stopping off today:

Cass @ Bonjour, Cass

Sally from Oz @ Books and Musing from Downunder

Billy Coffey @ What I Learned Today

Tracee @ Reviews from Here

Announcing the 2010 Virtual Advent Tour

2010-12-01T00:01:00.000Z

Kailana from The Written World and Marg from Adventures of an Intrepid Reader are very pleased and excited to announce that we will once again be running the Virtual Advent tour this year. This is the fifth year that we have hosted and we hope that the event has become an integral part of the book blogging community's holiday traditions.

The Virtual Advent tour first started when we pondered why should the kids get all the fun of opening a box on the advent calendar and finding a treat in there, and how could we have some blogging fun with a similar concept? So the Virtual Advent tour was born.

Each day anyone who wants to participate takes turns sharing a treat with our friends here in blogland. For example it could be something about your family traditions, recipes, your country's holiday traditions, or a favourite Christmas memory, movie, book, song...anything you like. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas we would like to hear about what your family does during the holiday season, whether it be celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is that you do during this time.

If you are interested in signing up, then please sign up using the Google form below. If you want a specific date, then please include that along with your name. If you don't need a specific date, then we will allocate a date to you. We will create a list of links so that as people express interest we will add them to the list, and then each day during the tour we will post a link directing visitors to the appropriate blog.

The tour will get away on Wednesday 1 December and run through until Friday December 24. If there are more people than there are days that's fine too.....the more the merrier! It just means that there will be more than one blog to visit on those days.

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2010 Tour Dates

2010-11-30T00:02:00.039Z

December 1:

Cass @ Bonjour, Cass

Sally from Oz @ Books and Musings from Downunder

Billy Coffey @ What I Learned Today

Tracee @ Reviews From Here

December 2:

Amy @ Amy Reads

Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves

Rob @ Books are like Candy Corn

Jan @ Staying Awake

December 3:

Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict

Court @ Once Upon a Bookshelf

Cindy @ Nocturnal Wonderings

Kris @ Not Enough Books

December 4:

Judith @ Leeswammes

Amy @ A Faithful Journey

Kristen @ BookNAround

Melissa @ Jayne's Books

December 5:

Iris @ Iris on Books

Melissa @ Book Nut

Lesley @ Mysterious Adventures

Veronica @ The First Draft

December 6:

Lexie @ Poisoned Rationality

Natasha @ Maw Books

Martha @ Hey, I want to read that

Carol @ Better is Possible

December 7:

raidergirl @ an adventure in reading

Colleen @ Lavender Lines

Tami @ Just One More Thing...

Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza

December 8:

Amy @ My Friend Amy

Kerrie @ Mysteries in Paradise

Tina @ Tina Says

Patti @ Peppermint Ph. D

December 9:

Gretchen @ Scarlets Letters

Heather @ Capricious Reader

Darcy @ Foxed

GeraniumCat @ Geranium Cat's Bookshelf

December 10:

Memory @ Stella Matutina

Margot @ Joyfully Retired

Rachel @ A Fair Substitute for Heaven

Sarah @ Writer, Reader, Dreamer

Nan @ That's All She Read

Random Magic Tour: Winterlong

December 11:

Maree @ just add books

Jana @ The Secret Insight of my Bookshelf

Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf

Gwenelle @ Fuzzy Black Slippers and a Pink Hoodie

Renee Ann @ Doorkeeper

Heather @ Capricious Reader

December 12:

Jane @ Life @ Number 8

Becky @ One Literature Nut

Michelle @ Galleysmith

Lorren @ The Story Girl

Miss Moppet @ The Misadventures of Moppet

December 13:

Tiina @ A Book Blog of One's Own

Lisabea @ Nose in a Book

Sprite @ Sprite Writes

Debbie @ The Friday Friends

wb @ wb32 reads

December 14:

Trish @Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity

Julia @ A Piece of My Mind

Naida @ The Bookworm

Diana @ This Writing Life

December 15:

Pam @ Bookalicious

Sherry @ Semicolon

Sumana @ Books With a Cup of Coffee

Connelly-Ahern @ Col Reads

December 16:

Kate @ I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read!

Nat @ In Spring it is the Dawn

Melissa @ My Experiments in the Kitchen

Aaron @ Guy Gone Geek

December 17:

Ana @ things mean a lot

Chris @ Stuff as Dreams are Made on

Boof @ The Book Whisperer

Marg @ Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

December 18:

Christina @ Chrisbookarama

Susan @ Medieval Women

Beth @ Beth Fish Reads

Kat @ Book Thingo

December 19:

Krissi @ LightingMyLight

Kaye @ The River Goes Ever Ever On

Lindy @ Virtual Advent

Debbie @ Readerbuzz

Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree

December 20:

Lisa @ Books Lists Life

Sassymonkey @ Sassymonkey Reads

Molly @ My Cozy Book Nook

Rebecca @ Rebecca Reads

December 21:

Megan @ Po(sey) Sessions

Sam @ Sam Still Reading

Lynn @ Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile

Michelle @ The Christmas Spirit

December 22:

Eva @ A Striped Armchair

Suey @ It's All About Books

Caroline @ Beauty is a Sleeping Cat

Alexandra @ The Sleepless Reader

December 23:

Alleluialu @ Bookend Crossing

Cat @ Beyond Books

Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews

Tina @ One More Page

December 24:

Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings

Kailana @ The Written World

Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books

Sara @ Wordy Evidence of the Fact

2010 Advent Calendar Buttons

2010-11-14T00:01:00.000Z

Welcome to another year of the Advent Calendar! This year we have three buttons for you to choose from for your posts and your sidebar, should you choose. Last year there were a couple requests for buttons for people that do not have snow, so hopefully everyone's needs are met. Once again the buttons are thanks to Court from Once Upon a Bookshelf. They are fantastic!

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 24

2009-12-24T06:00:00.001Z

It's our last day! Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed. I hope you have all enjoyed yourself, and hope to see you back next year!

Meanwhile, here are our last tour stops.

Kelly @ The Written World
Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings
Lilly @ Reading Extravaganza
Tanabata @ In Spring it is the Dawn

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 23

2009-12-23T06:00:00.002Z

We are very nearly at the end of our tour for this year! Hope you enjoy today's contributions from :

Tania @ Lots of Books Reviews
Kaye @ The Road Goes Ever Ever On
Amanda @ Opinions of a Wolf
Miss Moppet @ The Misadventures of Moppet

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 22

2009-12-22T11:43:00.002Z

Not long to go now! Only a couple more days of hectic activity left until we can have a short break to spend with our loved one, hopefully at least!

Julia Smith @ A Piece of my Mind
Sprite @ Sprite Writes
Heather @ Book Obsessed
Annabel @ Gaskella

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 21

2009-12-22T11:41:00.000Z

Oh my goodness! My apologies to everyone for missing Day 21 of the Advent Tour. I thought I had scheduled the post, but obviously not!

I am sure that the content will be worth the delay though!

Mariel @ where troubles melt like lemon drops
J.T. Oldfield @ Bibliofreak
Ying @ The Official Site of Author Y.S. Lee
Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 20

2009-12-20T06:00:00.000Z

I am sure that our hosts for today have plenty of holiday goodness in store for us! Click on the link to see for yourself.

Leya @ Wandeca Reads
Jane @ Janez World
Nicole Langan @ Tribute Books
Melissa @ My Experiments in the Kitchen

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 19

2009-12-19T06:00:00.002Z

Less than a week to go. Are you ready? Lets hope our hosts for today are:

Kat @ Book Thingo
Krissi @ The Swim Mom
Molly Evert @ Counter Cultural Mom
Susan Higginbotham @ Medieval Woman

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 18

2009-12-18T06:00:00.000Z

I wonder what we have in store for us today. Click on the links below to find out!

Veronica @ The First Draft
Suey @ It's All About Books
Marilyn Meredith @ Marilyn's Musings
Nancy Sween @ Advent Calendar: Celebrate Meeting Jesus
Pam @ Bookalicio.us

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 17

2009-12-17T06:00:00.004Z

Today it is my turn to be one of the hosts, and boy, I struggled to think about what I was going to post about. Can't wait to see what our other stops have in store for us too:

Memory @ Stella Matutina
Wendy @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Renee Hand @ The Crypto-Capers Review
Clare @ Disney Secrets Revealed
Marg @ Reading Adventures
Beth @ Beth Fish Reads

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 16

2009-12-16T06:00:00.002Z

Not long to go now until the holidays are upon us. I am tempted to ask who is ready, but then I don't want to feel the pressure to get organised myself! Perhaps we can all get some good ideas from today's hosts:

C.J. Hill @ My Years of Reading Seriously
Shannon @ Flight Into Fantasy
Alexis @ Shepherding Kind Hearts
Kirsten @ 4IQREAD
Sumana @ I Read...

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 15

2009-12-15T08:46:00.004Z

What a whirlwind! I've been out of town for a while, but now that I am back I will be trying to catch up on all the posts that I have missed! First stops will be today's though:

Court @ Once Upon a Bookshelf
Shauna @ Treasure Seekers
Brenda @ Joyful Holidays
Molly @ My Cozy Book Nook

A special shout out today to Court who made both of our gorgeous buttons this year! Thanks Court!

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 14

2009-12-14T06:00:00.001Z

What will we get today? Some recipes, some book recommendations, some holiday music? Click on the links below to find out.

Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves
Rob @ Books Are Like Candy Corn
Cam @ epiBlouguer
Meryl @ My Bit of Earth

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 13

2009-12-13T06:00:00.001Z

I wonder what our contributors have in store for us today? Click on the link to share the holiday goodness!

Cat @ Beyond Books
Amy @ My Friend Amy
Cheryl @ The Book Connection
Michelle @ Fluttering Butterflies

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 12

2009-12-12T06:00:00.001Z

We've made it to half way through, and the first groups of contributors have certainly set the bar high in terms of content!

Daphne @ Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff
Eva @ A Striped Armchair
Barry Eva @ Across the Pond
Amy @ The House of the Seven Tails

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 11

2009-12-11T06:00:00.004Z

I am looking forward to see what out contributor's post today!

Sue @ Books, Books, the Magical Fruit
Marta @ Marta's Meanderings - Just became a grandma this week! Congrats to her!
Amanda @ Bookwormom
Louise @ Lous_Pages

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 10

2009-12-10T06:00:00.002Z

Kelly and I really hope that you are enjoying the tour so far! Don't forget, there is still time to sign up for one of the days in the next couple of weeks if you are feeling inspired.

Becky @ One Literature Nut
Natasha @ Maw Books
Vanessa @ Reading in Bed
Lexie @ Poisoned Rationality

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 9

2009-12-09T06:00:00.003Z

Today we are visiting with four fabulous bloggers. Enjoy!

Lexi @ The Amazing Adulthood of Alexis
Cindy @ Nocturnal Wonderings
Lesley @ A Life in Books
Kim @ Page After Page

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 8

2009-12-08T06:00:00.002Z

It's hard to believe but we are entering into the second week of the tour already. Hasn't the first week been fantastic? We've had cookies, poems, music, book, memories and so much more!

Today we are visiting:

Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf
Bluestocking @ The Bluestocking Guide
Nan @ Letters from a Hill Farm
Raidergirl @ an adventure in reading

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 7

2009-12-07T06:00:00.002Z

Today one of our participants is Jason! We want to again thank Jason for designing our blog for us this year! I am reliably informed that we will be treated to some thing a little different from Jason and Amanda today! Can't wait to see their post, and also the posts from Kiirsten, Tami and Dave and Kristen. Here are today's links:

Jason & Amanda @ The Zen Leaf
Kiirsten @ A Book a Week
Tami & Dave @ Just One More Thing....
Kristen @ BookNAround

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 6

2009-12-06T06:00:00.002Z

How about a New Orleans Christmas with Chris today? Or and Illinois Christmas with Stephanie? Looking forward to today's posts from:

December 6:
Melissa @ Book Nut
Chris @ Stuff As Dreams Are...
Stephanie @ Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Lilly @ Reading Extravaganza

Stephanie is someone that both Kelly and Marg have known online for many years, so we are grateful for her continued support, and this is Chris and Melissa's 3rd year participating so thanks to them too! This is Lilly's first year of participating, so a warm welcome to her also!

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 5

2009-12-05T06:00:00.003Z

Today we venture to New Zealand with Kerry where, just like in Australia, there is never any snow at Christmas. Hope you enjoy visiting with Michelle, Becky and The Women as well.

Michelle @ Galleysmith
Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews
Kerry @ Saving my Sanity
The Women @ Mentoring Moments for Christian Women
Readerbuzz

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 4

2009-12-04T06:00:00.003Z

How are you enjoying the tour so far? It is always interesting to see what things people post about. I am sure that today will be no different when we visit with:

Maree @ Just Add Books
Aarti @ Booklust
Lisa @ Books Lists Life
Robin @ A Fondness for Reading

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 3

2009-12-03T06:00:00.003Z

Today we are visting with some of our favourite bloggers!

Ana @ things mean a lot
Chris @ book-a-rama
Karen @ Sassymonkey Reads
Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict

Don't forget that it isn't too late to join in the fun. If you would like to particpate later in the month then please add your link to the sign up post.

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 2

2009-12-02T06:00:00.003Z

What a great start to our tour! Did you check out yesterday's posts?

Today we are visiting the following blogs:

Heather @ A High and Hidden Place: Tales of a Capricious Reader
Jo @ Once Upon a Bookcase
Alleluialu @ Bookend Crossing
Nicole @ Linus's Blanket

2009 Virtual Advent Tour: Day 1

2009-12-01T06:00:00.002Z

And we're off! Today is the first day of this years Virtual Advent Tour, and Kelly and I are very excited!

We will be off to a fine start as well. Our hosts today include people who have participated previously as well as new participants, so we hope that you enjoy the contributions from:

Kerrie @ Mysteries in Paradise
Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza
Brenda @ Joyful Holidays

Announcing the 2009 Virtual Advent Tour

2009-12-01T00:01:00.000Z

Kailana from The Written World and Marg from Reading Adventures are very pleased and excited to announce that we will once again be running the Virtual Advent tour this year. This is the fourth year that we have hosted and we hope that the event has become an integral part of the book blogging community's holiday traditions.

The Virtual Advent tour first started when we pondered why should the kids get all the fun of opening a box on the advent calendar and finding a treat in there, and how could we have some blogging fun with a similar concept? So the Virtual Advent tour was born.

Each day anyone who wants to participate takes turns sharing a treat with our friends here in blogland. For example it could be something about your family traditions, recipes, your country's holiday traditions, or a favourite Christmas memory, movie, book, song...anything you like. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas we would like to hear about what your family does during the holiday season, whether it be celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is that you do during this time.

If you are interested in signing up, then please sign up using Mr Linky below. If you want a specific date, then please include that along with your name. If you don't need a specific date, then we will allocate a date to you. We will create a list of links so that as people express interest we will add them to the list, and then each day during the tour we will post a link directing visitors to the appropriate blog. The tour will get away on Tuesday 1 December and run through until December 24. If there are more people than there are days that's fine too.....the more the merrier! It just means that there will be more than one blog to visit on those days.

If you would like to get some idea of the kind of things that people have posted about in previous years, click on this link.

We also have buttons! Feel free to snag one of our gorgeous buttons from here, and you can follow us on Twitter as well.

A special thanks to Jason who was nice enough to design our website for us! Also, thank you Court for the gorgeous buttons!

Tour Dates

2009-11-30T08:01:00.012Z

December 1:
Kerrie @ Mysteries in Paradise
Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza
Brenda @ Joyful Holidays

December 2:
Heather @ A High and Hidden Place: Tales of a Capricious Reader
Jo @ Once Upon a Bookcase
Alleluialu @ Bookend Crossing
Nicole @ Linus's Blanket

December 3:
Ana @ things mean a lot
Chris @ book-a-rama
Karen @ Sassymonkey Reads
Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict

December 4:
Maree @ Just Add Books
Aarti @ Booklust
Lisa @ Books Lists Life
Robin @ A Fondness for Reading

December 5:
Michelle @ Galleysmith
Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews
Kerry @ Saving my Sanity
The Women @ Mentoring Moments for Christian Women
Deb Nance @ Readerbuzz

December 6:
Melissa @ Book Nut
Chris @ Stuff As Dreams Are...
Stephanie @ Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Lilly @ Reading Extravaganza

December 7:
Jason & Amanda @ The Zen Leaf
Kiirsten @ A Book a Week
Tami & Dave @ Just One More Thing....
Kristen @ BookNAround

December 8:
Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf
Bluestocking @ The Bluestocking Guide
Nan @ Letters from a Hill Farm
Raidergirl @ an adventure in reading

December 9:
Lexi @ The Amazing Adulthood of Alexis
Cindy @ Nocturnal Wonderings
Lesley @ A Life in Books
Kim @ Page After Page

December 10:
Becky @ One Literature Nut
Natasha @ Maw Books
Vanessa @ Reading in Bed
Lexie @ Poisoned Rationality

December 11:
Louise @ Lous_Pages
Sue @ Books, Books, the Magical Fruit
Marta @ Marta's Meanderings
Amanda @ Bookwormom

December 12:
Daphne @ Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff
Eva @ A Striped Armchair
Barry Eva @ Across the Pond
Amy @ The House of the Seven Tails

December 13:
Cat @ Beyond Books
Amy @ My Friend Amy
Cheryl @ The Book Connection
Michelle @ Fluttering Butterflies
Cari & Holly @ Bookscoops

December 14:
Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves
Rob @ Books Are Like Candy Corn
Cam @ epiBlouguer
Meryl @ My Bit of Earth
Kerry @ So many books, so little time

December 15:
Court @ Once Upon a Bookshelf
Beth @ Beth Fish Reads
Shauna @ Treasure Seekers
Brenda @ Joyful Holidays
Molly @ My Cozy Book Nook

December 16:
C.J. Hill @ My Years of Reading Seriously
Shannon @ Flight Into Fantasy
Alexis @ Shepherding Kind Hearts
Kirsten @ 4IQREAD
Sumana @ I Read...

December 17:
Memory @ Stella Matutina
Wendy @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Renee Hand @ The Crypto-Capers Review
Clare @ Disney Secrets Revealed
Marg @ Reading Adventures

December 18:
Veronica @ The First Draft
Suey @ It's All About Books
Marilyn Meredith @ Marilyn's Musings
Nancy Sween @ Advent Calendar: Celebrate Meeting Jesus
Pam @ Bookalicio.us

December 19:
Kat @ Book Thingo
Krissi @ The Swim Mom
Molly Evert @ Counter Cultural Mom
Susan Higginbotham @ Medieval Woman

December 20:
Leya @ Wandeca Reads
Jane @ Janez World
Nicole Langan @ Tribute Books
Melissa @ My Experiments in the Kitchen

December 21:
Mariel @ where troubles melt like lemon drops
J.T. Oldfield @ Bibliofreak
Ying @ The Official Site of Author Y.S. Lee
Susan @ You Can Never Have Too Many Books

December 22:
Julia Smith @ A Piece of my Mind
Sprite @ Sprite Writes
Heather @ Book Obsessed
Annabel @ Gaskella

December 23:
Tania @ Lots of Books Reviews
Kaye @ The Road Goes Ever Ever On
Amanda @ Opinions of a Wolf
Miss Moppet @ The Misadventures of Moppet

December 24:
Kelly @ The Written World
Carl @ Stainless Steel Droppings
Lilly @ Reading Extravaganza
Tanabata @ In Spring it is the Dawn

Are you ready?

2009-11-29T02:02:00.000Z

It's nearly time to start our Virtual Advent Tour for this year and I for one am very excited at the prospect of getting underway.

We are very pleased with the turnout so far, but it isn't too late to sign up. Just go to the sign up post and add your URL to the Mr Linky. If you want a specific date let us know and we will do our best to accomodate you!

We have had a few questions that we wanted to try and answer if we could.

We have tried to make the tour as inclusive as we can, so you don't need to be celebrating Christmas in order to participate. We would love to hear from people who aren't celebrating Christmas but have some other celebration and about what you do for those celebrate!

One of the hardest things about doing this is to try and coordinate these things relates to timezones. With Kelly being in Canada and Marg in Australia, we are at opposite ends of the same date all the time. In the past, I have found it easiest to post my posts when I get home from work in the evening and Kelly posts in her morning and we aren't too far apart. To try and make it easier for everyone concerned we have set the blog time to GMT so you can use that as your guide if you are a bit concerned about when to post.

Each day we will post that day's schedule of stops, and where possible we will link to the actual post so make sure you add us to your feed reader, or to your Twitter feed or stop by each day to see where we are visiting. You can see the schedule as it currently stands here, but please be aware that as more people join in the schedule will also change a little.

We encourage people to comment on the blogs that are participating, and hopefully you will discover some new blogs to read along the way. I certainly seem to find new blogs all the time during the tour.

Most of all we hope that everyone has a fun time participating as both hosts and visitors, and Kelly and I thank you all for your continued support of the tour.

Advent Calendar Buttons

2009-11-12T19:47:00.000Z

Thanks to the fantastic Court from Once Upon a Bookshelf we have two buttons this year! Feel free to use them to advertise for us or for your posts when the time comes. I got her to make two sizes for both, so hopefully this will accommodate anything you can think of to use them for.

Previous Advent Tours

2009-11-11T03:55:00.001Z

Would you like to see what kind of things people have posted during previous Advent Tours?

Click on the links below:

2009 Virtual Advent Tour

2008 posts

2007 posts

2006 posts