Carnival: What's on your nightstand? December 2008

This month I'm reading a variety of books - mostly children's Christmas books with a few grown-up books on the side.

First, the children's books:

One Wintry Night written by Ruth Bell Graham and illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson is excellent for telling the Christmas story from beginning (Genesis) to end (The Resurrection). It's a cross between a picture book and a chapter book. With 11 chapters this would make a good book to use with, or even instead of, a Jesse Tree or Advent calendar.

The Legend of the Candy Cane written by Lori Walburg and illustrated by James Bernardin is another great Christmas picture book. Last year I reviewed a copy from the library and enjoyed it so much I bought the book this year.
The Visit of the Three Wise Men is an excellent picture book. Written by Martha Jander and illustrated by Lin Wang the book as a Middle East meets illustrated manuscripts feel to it.

Last but not least in the picture book category, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. My boys love reading about "Mr. Grinch."

As a family we are reading through A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Admittedly, it's over the heads of my little guys but we think it's a fun tradition for our family. This year we will add to the tradition by watching The Muppets Christmas Carol (reviewed here by my college friend, Alicia from Experiencing Each Moment).

Will and I have been making our way through Boomtown by Nowen N. Particular. I hope to finish before the end of the month and post a review. In the meantime, you can visit Alicia for her take on the book.

Finally, I'm reading Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. This is the January/February pick for SimpleMom's book club. I thought it would be fun to join the book club, as well as focus on finances for the month of January. So far all I've read is theory/philosophy of money. I can't say I've learned anything but I have done some thinking about how I view money.

That's what's on my nightstand. What about yours? What have you read this month? Currently reading? Plan to read next month?