The Sunday Post 23rd edition

The Sunday Post is a weekly Meme hosted by

Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. 

It's a chance to share news, 

a post to recap the past week on your blog,

 showcase books

and things we have received and

 share news about what is coming up 

on our blog for the week ahead

Last Week on Melissa's Midnight Musings:

(Click Links to be taken directly to the posts)

• I reviewed Catalyst: The Passage of Hellsfire by Marc Johnson
• I reviewed 34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues
• I interviewed  Carol Cassada, author of the Westmore series
• My one year blogoversary is next month, so I asked for some input about what you would like as the giveaway attached to that post.
• I announced the winners of the giveaways for Love and the Living Dead and The Ghosts of Nagasaki 
• For Behind the Blog I talked about what I do to Get in the Holiday Spirit
• I reviewed Scrambled by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones.
• I hosted a stop on the Death by Bourbon book tour

It's been another jam packed week on the blog and the upcoming week is just as busy! Before we go on to what's coming up for next week here are a few other posts to keep in mind!

Don't Forget!

Don't forget to Enter The Giveaway for 2 sets of 2 Jane Austen inspired books by Sally Smith O'Rourke. The giveaway is open internationally.

Also, if you would like a holiday card from me, go to This Post to fill out the request form.

Coming Up This Week:

• Review of Moonlight Dancer by Deb Atwood
• Book Blast: Imperfectly Beautiful by Diony George
• Review+Giveaway of What I Did on My Midlife Crisis Vacation by Debbianne DeRose
• Review of Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
• Behind the Blog The specific prompt questions are still being worked out, but it's likely that the theme is going to be Road Trips 

So, as you can see, it's going to be another jam packed week here at Melissa's Midnight Musings. I hope you'll all stop by and check out these great posts I have lined up. 

This Week's Book Haul:

Clicking the links will take you to Goodreads' descriptions
*all book cover photos and links credited to Goodreads unless otherwise noted

Won:

Under Her Spell by Eliza Daly 

I won this in a book tour giveaway for this book.

Amazon Free Downloads:

Death By A Honeybee by Abigail Keam

The Housewife Assassin's Handbook by Josie Brown

Recieved from the Author:

Zane (The McKades of Texas #1) by Kimberly Lewis

Kim sent this to me as a thank you for helping promote the book when it first came out. 

For Review:

Cycle by Jay Amberg

The Living Room by Bill Rolfe

Chief Complaint: Brain Tumor (link to Amazon) by John Kerastas

Marking Time by April White

What Once Was One by Marc Johnson

Image Credit to Amazon

A Walk on the Darkside by Corinna Underwood

So many awesome books to look forward to! I want to say a big thank you to all the authors/publishers who have sent me books this week!

What did you get? Be sure to leave links so I can check out your hauls!

Behind the Blog 28: Getting in the Holiday Spirit

Behind The Blog is a meme to help bloggers connect their life and interests to the content showcased on their blog. The co-hosts Faye Kathe and Melissa will provide a different topic, idea, or question every week that bloggers can relate to themselves and the books, films, or media they find interesting!

It's Free Choice Week this week. I've decided to write about Holiday Music/Festivities

With Halloween done and over with, (although we still have a small bowl of leftover candy sitting on our counter) it's now time to start thinking about Thanksgiving (here in the US anyway) and then Christmas and New Years. 

So, I thought I'd write about things that I like to do to put myself in the holiday spirit.

My sister and I have been talking for the past week or so about the types of things that we're going to include in our Thanksgiving dinner. The grocery list of things we need at this point is massive. What can I say, we take Thanksgiving pretty seriously around here. I love to bake, but I'm not much of a cook as I've mentioned before, so you can bet that I'll be helping more with the desserts than the main course.

One thing I like to do to get into the holiday spirit is listen to holiday music. I try to do this sparingly in November because I know that the songs will be all over the radio in December and I'll be sick of them before too long if I start too early. So I'm laying off listening to the actual songs for now, but I did change my ringtone on my phone to Carol of the Bells. It's one of my absolute favorite Christmas songs.

When I was in 8th grade, I was in the school choir and that song was one of the pieces for our Christmas concert. I was a soprano and had to work at high ranges for this piece, and I loved the contrasts in the different musical sections for this song and how it all came together at the end. You'd think after singing it over and over again for months on end I'd be sick of it, but I love it, even now.

Another song I really like is Happy Christmas (War is over) by John Lennon. It's John Lennon, for one, so who could say that they don't like his music? But I like this song in particular because of the message it portrays, that we should all learn to put aside our differences and share in the experiences, which is really the embodiment of the holiday spirit. It's not about the presents, but about being together. 

This song actually makes me tear up a little, particularly on Christmas day. I can't explain exactly why, but it just feels like a good song for the ending of Christmas. All the rush and hustle and bustle of the season and this song just feels like the perfect way to wrap it all up. Like I said, I can't really explain it.

Another thing I like to do to spread some holiday cheer and get in the spirit is write holiday cards. I love to write cards and letters in general. There's just something about going to the mailbox and seeing a card/letter waiting  that I really love. Especially in the day and age of technology and instant gratification, it's nice when someone takes the time to write you. 

If any of you would like a holiday card to look forward to, be sure to go to This Post and fill out the request form and I'd be happy to send one out to you.

Books and Media:

For this week's books and media tie in I figured that I might list some of the holiday themed reads that are waiting on my shelves for me.

Photo Credit to Goodreads

Photo credit to Goodreads

Those are just a couple of the holiday themed books I have waiting to be read. What's on your holiday TBR list, or what do you do to put yourself in the festive spirit?

We'd love to have you join us for Behind the Blog!

If you're choosing to join us for Behind the Blog don't forget to link up your post by using the Linky list below!
Are you joining us? Here are our rules:

• The hosts' Behind the Blog posts go live at midnight on Friday, GMT+0:00. Feel free to post before that, just link up on Friday! 
• Feel free to make use of the button shown above, or if it clashes with your blog colours e-mail us or make your own.
• Read, write, and connect! The Linky is there for you. Make use of it!
• Last but not least, have fun! 

Want Some Holiday Cheer?

Hello everyone!

The holiday season is coming up quickly and I thought I'd do something fun to celebrate and put myself in a festive mood.What better way to spread holiday cheer than through good old fashioned snail mail? As I've mentioned before, I love to write letters and cards, and will use any excuse to do so. What better reason than the holidays??

If you'd like a Holiday card from me, please fill out the form below and I will be happy to send you a card!  Open to anyone, worldwide. I know I'm just a random stranger on the internet to most of you, but I promise that I will personalize the cards and they won't be just a stock message inside. This form will be open until December 5th*

Image courtesy of [Simon Howden]/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fill out the Holiday Card Request Form:

CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT AND SUBMIT THE FORM

*As soon as the cards have been addressed to you and sent out, all address information will be deleted.