Happy Thanksgiving from this American living in Malaysia! I was just telling some friends tonight that I love celebrating Thanksgiving abroad because it strips the holiday down to what it really means. When you can’t find or afford turkey, the sweet potatoes and stuffing aren’t quite right, the weather is ridiculously hot, and your family is far, far away, you have to decide what you really need after all to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we have learned that all we need are thankful hearts.

We are so blessed, and it was so good to remember that with some wonderful friends yesterday and today! I hope that you, wherever you are and whether you are American or not, will take a moment today and think of all your blessings. No matter how bad things get, there is always something to be grateful for, and when we take the time to do so, it changes everything.

Among many other things, I am grateful to live in a time and speak a language that gives me such amazing access to books! Whether you’re an ebook lover or not, I am so grateful for the ease at which I can get books here in Malaysia without paying for shipping thanks to our electronic age. I’d love to hear what you’re thankful for in the comments, and I’m excited to see what books you have to share today!

<div align="center"><a href="http://mommynificent.com/" title="Booknificent Thursdays"><img src="http://mommynificent.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Booknificent-Thursdays.jpg" alt="Booknificent Thursdays" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

And now, it’s time to party! Please link up any posts you have, past or present, about books, reading, and literacy. This link party is all about sharing how books are impacting you! Joining in is easy; just click “Click here to enter…” next to “You are next” and copy/paste the URL of a blog post (not your homepage). Choose a photo to upload and then click some of the other great posts in the party and meet new bloggers and find out about new books!

Why should you link up to Booknificent Thursdays?

Linking up to parties and leaving comments on other posts is a proven way to increase traffic to your blog and grow your blog’s followers! Here are a few rules and suggestions:

• You can link up as many posts as you want.

• Please grab the Booknificent Thursday button and share it somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, bottom, etc.) and please share about this party with any book-lovers you know.

• I’d also really appreciate it if you’d hop over to my Google+ profile or my facebook page and give me a “like” and/or subscribe to receive my blog (just enter your email address up on the sidebar.)

• We do want to keep it family-friendly, so I reserve the right to remove anything I consider offensive.

• And one final rule, please visit AND comment on at least one other linked post if not more.

Happy linking and have a great week!