five favorites: Christmas book wish list.

All day I've racked my brain to come up with five children's Advent/Christmas books to list as a What We're Reading Wednesday (WWRW) post, and I kept coming up short.

And by short, I meant I counted The Night Before Christmas, and ran out.

I chalk it up to being a mom for less than four years, and that families acquire their Christmas books as the years progress--at least that's what I'm telling myself. That, and, my Mom houses a massive collection of Christmas books at her house that we read and read and read when we're there each December (see? Mom for 35 years = lots of Christmas books).

So maybe next year, I can write that post and properly join Housewifespice.

But today, going along with Hallie's Amazon wish-list prompt, I offer the five books I'm hoping to unwrap.

1. Moby Dick (Ignatius Critical Editions) 

Yeah, start things off with a bang, eh. Is Moby Dick still taught in high school English classes? Does anyone read it anymore? Is it huge and I'll never get through it? Whatever. I love that Ignatius Press provides these classic novels (and Shakespeare) which are put in context with both classic and modern essays. And, frequent footnotes clarify the phrases and words that go way over my head or past my knowledge base. For example, I read the ICE of Wuthering Heights last year, and would not have made it past the first page without kindly editor Joseph Pearce telling me what "Go to the Deuce!" meant. (It's not a compliment.)

2. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child

I don't *think* I'm destroying Joseph's imagination. But I want to make sure. Dr. Ensolen will probably tell me to turn off Dinosaur Train, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

3. Mansfield Park (Ignatius Critical Edition)

Confession: I've never made it through an Austen novel. Horror! I know! But I made the cardinal mistakes of seeing the movie before reading the book for both P&P and S&S. Even though I've also seen Mansfield Park, I'm less familiar with the storyline.

Also, the MP movie lacks Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman or Colin Firth. Might be why I'm less familiar with it.

 Plus, the ICE editors tell me that:

In all things, Jane Austen was a woman of faith. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in Mansfield Park, her most neglected, abused, and misunderstood novel. Like Austen's other novels, it can be fully appreciated only when illuminated by the virtuous life and Christian beliefs of the author herself.

 So. Illuminate me.

4. Pope Awesome

I jumped on the Sinner's Guide to NFP train early and the Pope Awesome train late. Even though every Catholic woman who writes a blog has already read it, reviewed and done a giveaway of it, I still haven't read/reviewed/won it. This is the one book on this list that if I don't get it for Christmas, I'm dishing out Sean's hard-earned money and just buying it.

5. Dad is Fat

Because I need to balance out Moby Dick.