BrokenTune

Task 1:  Post a picture of your Christmas decorations.

I've gone minimal with decorations this year - I've been really busy in the run-up to the holidays and there was even a chance of me spending part of last week out of town with work...which, in the end, didn't happen (such a relief!).

However, it wouldn't be Christmas without a "Schwibbogen" and a "Raachermannel" (or "Räuchermännchen" in "proper" German).

(Btw, the pile of books will shortly be boxed and given to a charity shop in town.)

Task 2: Tell us: If you could share Christmas dinner with any author (dead or alive), who would it be?

You know, I am not sure I would want to spend Christmas dinner with an author ... unless the author was already a friend or relative ... or unless we forget that the author is an author. What I mean is, I don't celebrate Christmas in the religious sense and I don't particularly hold with tradition, but I do love the Christmas period for spending time with friends and family (when possible) and catch up, take account of the last year, have a few laughs to get over how grim the dark winter season is and just enjoy the company of like-minded people. Whether any of them is an author doesn't really come into it. 

There are authors I would love to meet, or have met, but when the focus is on them being an "author", there is a different time and place for it. Take the "author" focus away, and there are still lots that I would like to meet as "people", but that is not necessarily the same. 

Task 3: Watch a favorite Christmas movie.

Done! I watched Hercule Poirot's Christmas last weekend, followed by The Muppets Christmas Carol yesterday.

Task 4: Create or recreate a short text relating to Christmas (poem, carol, wish list, season’s greetings, etc.) from the titles of books on your bookshelves.

Nope. I just managed to tidy my bookshelf after  the flag task. I'm not going through this again.

Book:  Um, Christmas books …

I read Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith for this which starts of with a murder on Christmas Eve.