I forgot Máiréad's rainbow dress - I like that even more than the fire one!

Netflix's absolute depressing and dreadful show A Series of Unfortunate Events will finally come to a most unpleasant end on the first of January. As Mr. Snicket says, you'd better not watch this show - or read the books - as it is dreadful, melancholy, and calamitous, a word which here means dreadful and melancholy. So better Look Away.

*cough* On another note, and volunteers around? Any fellow associates? Hopefully no arsonists or people with much too great interest in fortunes and sugar bowls.

Wow! That's a difficult question. The MerMéav is definitely up there, and Hayley's goden ANJ dvd dress, Lisa's/Alex's green ANJ tour dress, Hayley's/Lynn's golden ANJ tour dress, Órlagh's purple ANJ tour dress, the Emerald tour dresses in general, also Alex's/Mairéad's golden anniversary dress. Oh, and Máiréad's fire fiddler dress! And Susan's red HfC dress - such an incredible colour. Almost reminiscent of Valentino.

Thanks everybody!

I feel that, now that this is the new forum, it ought to have the hustle and bustle the old forum used to have, and sadly, doesn't anymore. I suppose it's appropriate that I start some general discussion threads, rather than just the "necessary" discussion of current Celtic Woman events.

As the thread title asks, is anybody a bookworm here? I certainly am. My favourite genres include fantasy, middle grade and young adult literature, and - to a great degree 19th and early 20th century - classics, and, even more specific. Any combination of these is especially good, and if were to be even more specific, I really like comedies of manners and steampunk and its related genres. I also like plays and poetry, and individual examples of very many genres. And I love Wilde, very, very much. That's not exactly news - I made lots of posts about Oscar Wilde in the old forum. It's actually said how he's reduced to Dorian Gray, which is a good book, but only one book, and to his tragic private life. Wilde is much more than that - his work is hysterically funny at times, awfully sad at others, and incredibly heartwarming. Everyone should read his fairy tale called "The Happy Prince" - a very misleading title, indeed, but what a beautiful story! I just watched a movie adpatation of An Ideal Husband a few days ago. Watched it again, actually. My favourite film adaptation of Wilde's work is, however, The Importance of Being Earnest with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. It's incredibly funny and definitely recommended.

Right now, I am reading The Mysterious Benedict Society, a middle grade novel by Trenton Lee Stewart. I've heard the title years ago, and been curious about it, but never got around it until now, and what can I say? I love it. I definitely think adults should read children's novels, for a great variety of reason, and I think this one's particularly good. It's an endearing adventure, with many aspects that I really like and that I enjoy dreaming into, which appeals to my inner child, but from a more grown up perspective, I really love the writer's insightful portrayal of children, and of various types of intelligence. It's an annoying trope in adult and children's literature alike - and sadly, very much in real life - that everybody's either smart or stupid in the same way, particularly children, and that intelligence is simply a scale. This book is about four "gifted" children, who are all very gifted in their own way, vastly different from the others, and not without some, let's say balancing, drawbacks. I think this is a very good book for children, but also for adults and teachers, and people in general, because it very much highlights how individual and different people are, and how everyone is smart in their own way, and how every smart person can also be stupid at times, and that's okay. Also, it has an island, and mazes, and riddles, and morse code, and rain, and agents, and mysteries, so there.

Also, recently, I read another good - no, two really good, very new middle grade novels: Nevermoor - The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, and its sequel, Wundersmith - The Calling of Morrigan Crow. It's supposed to be a trilogy, at least originally, the author said she'd planned to write a series of nine books. These first two came out last and then this year. They are advertised as the "next Harry Potter" but I personally don't like comparisons of that sort. They are definitely the next big thing - delightfull, funny, just the right amount of dark for a kid's book, an generally amazing to read.

Mine is Walking in the Air, but it's certainly a tough choice!

My favourite is certainly The Blessing! But I love them all!

I just watched the show! I'm not exactly a fan of German Schlager and Volksmusik, but it was generally very nice and Christmassy. Every artist was very, very friendly, and since they performed Christmas music, they mostly sounded really good. There were some really nice songs, and some were, well, okay. Celtic Woman came on in the very end. The staging was really green and Irish for them, and they performed Joy to the World in a really nice, fairly mild and gentle way. Then they talked a little, and since very performing guest had brought a Christmas related decoration or memorabilia, they brought warm socks. Tara explained that they toured the entire month before Christmas and that, when they finally came home, they love to put on warm socks and sit by the fire with their family. Then they sang a shortened version of O Come All Ye Faithful with the host, Stefanie Hertel. In the end, all singers performed two final songs together, but Celtic Woman had no solo lines.