Hiiiiiii peeps! I came up with a super fun tag the other night while cooking dinner, and I'm excited to share it with you! Honestly "The 12 Days of Christmas" get super annoying really easily, lol, but it makes for good tag material. (Apologies in advance if it gets stuck in your head.) Ready to have some fun? 👏👏

(Also, if you get the Playmobil reference, you are amazing. ✨)

The Rules

• Link back to the original post and use the tag graphic
• List the rules
• Answer the prompts
• Tag at least one person
• Have fun!

The Prompts

🎵 "On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . ." 🎵

You don't have to use different books for all the answers, but I'm going to try to - unless I get stuck, lol. 😆 Also if you want to, feel free to use movies/tv for the character prompts! I'm not picky.

12 Drummers Drumming: A book you're always talking about.

Lord of the Rings (because that totally counts as one book, right?) 😜 In all seriousness, though, this trilogy deserves its epic reputation. It's just so awesome AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

(No, I am not continually fangirling over LOTR, but I easily could. It's a perpetual favorite. 💕)

11 Pipers Piping: Choose a book and a song that go together.

Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court and "I'd Rather Have Jesus". In the book, Sir Bentley leaves his wealth and station to follow the call of the Prince. Nobody is ever the loser for making a deal like that 🫶

(And isn't Jim Reeves' voice beautiful? 🥰)

10 Lords A-Leaping: A book that makes you laugh.

The Quest for Bunny Island by the Jordan family is an absolutely hilarious book! Inspired by adventures that they played out with their stuffed animals (the kids and parents both), it tells the story of a group of talking animals trying to find a new home that's safe from people. It had so many laugh-out-loud moments that reminded me of things we've done with our toys in the past. The "anything goes" type of humor is so naturally ridiculous, and it fits my personality perfectly ✨

9 Ladies Dancing: An experience or activity you've done or want to do, inspired by a book.

Uhhh . . . I actually stumped myself with this. 😆 I'm gonna have to fudge a little and choose one of my own books. In We Gave Our Tomorrows, the squad meets some Red Cross Donut Dollies (that was a cool tidbit I picked up during research that I decided to include). I found a recipe for Red Cross donuts that I've been meaning to make for a long time!

8 Maids A-Milking: A cozy or homey book.

Once again, I'll cheat my own rules and use a series 😆 The Sugar Creek gang by Paul Hutchens always feels really cozy/homey to me. It's a picture of small-town America back in the day (I think about the mid-40s?) when things were a lot simpler. I don't care if I'm well past the target audience; it's a great series and I love the Christian messages 🫶 (It was also this series that made me realize I love a good fistfight, lol. 😆)

7 Swans A-Swimming: A character you admire.

Darry Curtis from The Outsiders. He's only twenty years old, but he's working way too hard so he can support his younger brothers and keep the family together after their parents died. He's given up a LOT for them, and the reason he mother-hens Ponyboy is because he cares about him and wants Pony to succeed where he wasn't able to. Even though he's not a greaser like the rest of the gang, he'll step up to be their leader when he's needed. Ack, I love him 💕

(Also he has a line in the book that hit me upside the head right when I needed it 💕)

(In the movie he's played by Patrick Swayze, and I think he looks too old for 20, but I still ain't done fanart yet so 🫠)

6 Geese A-Laying: A book that gave you ideas.

I had to go to my "inspiration" shelf on Goodreads to answer this one, lol. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by General Lew Wallace definitely gave me ideas for Thunder of Time. There are a LOT of parallels: the false accusation, galleys, a chariot race . . . oh and duh, *somebody* figures prominently in Thunder of Time. *wink wink* 😉

5 Golden Rings: A book that will always be "gold" to you.

Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott (yes, I'm talking about it again). It's really a comfort read for me - so simple, charming, and delightful, without being saccharine or fluffy.

4 Calling Birds: A character you'd like to be friends with.

Tagg/Deyna from Taggerung. I LOVE this otter who was raised by vermin but never fell under their corrupting influences. He's so sweet, and such a strong, heroic character 💕

(old fanart by yours truly 😇)

3 French Hens: A book with a foreign setting.

The Arctic Patrol Mystery (Hardy Boys #38) was set in Iceland, which is different for Hardy Boys! Usually they stay in the US unless they go up to Canada or down to Mexico. I actually really enjoyed this one - it wasn't weird like some of them, the boys weren't too stupid, and the Cold War/spy-ish angle was fun.

2 Turtledoves: Best fictional couple.

Oh boy, I really set myself up with this one, didn't I? 😆 I think I'll go with Robert and Magdalen Boothe from Jayna Baas's For Liberty & Conscience series. They're a really sweet, Godly couple, and very strong as well, with everything they have to face. Also their background story is cute, and they have kids!

(Best I can do for a picture of them, sowwy!)

1 Partridge in a Pear Tree: Best book OR character (or both!) of the year.

Trains and Tulips by Savannah Jane McCrary, which I've already fangirled over at length 😆 And character of the year is Pieter from T&T, whom I've also fangirled over. 😇 He would've been a great choice for #4 and #7 as well, but I didn't want to use him three times, haha!

That wraps up the prompts, so now it's time for tags! I tag:

• Journey @Journey Bloomfield
• Katja @Little Blossoms for Jesus
• Miss Special @SheKindaWrites

And as always, the tag is open for thieves. 😜 If you can't get to it before Christmas, no worries - remember, Christmas is just Day 1 of the song! The "12 Days" are Christmas through Epiphany, which is January 6th.

Here's the list of prompts for the tagged:

12 Drummers Drumming: A book you're always talking about.
11 Pipers Piping: Choose a book and a song that go together.
10 Lords A-Leaping: A book that makes you laugh.
9 Ladies Dancing: An experience or activity you've done or want to do, inspired by a book.
8 Maids A-Milking: A cozy or homey book.
7 Swans A-Swimming: A character you admire.
6 Geese A-Laying: A book that gave you ideas.
5 Golden Rings: A book that will always be "gold" to you.
4 Calling Birds: A character you'd like to be friends with.
3 French Hens: A book with a foreign setting.
2 Turtledoves: Best fictional couple.
1 Partridge in a Pear Tree: Best book OR character (or both!) of the year.

Merry Christmas, peeps, and I hope yours is absoballylutely splendiferous! May you get all the books on your wishlist and a couple exciting surprises to boot. 🎄