Friday 30 December 2011

The books I received for Christmas......

Here are the books I bought all autumn for my gift box to myself.  I had so much fun!  I would see a book, and instead of feeling guilty for buying myself a book in the midst of shopping for others, it became a present to myself.  In the end, the family 'gave' me the box, and it became my big present because I bought so many books!  They all shook their heads, not quite believing that this was all I really wanted.    It was most delightful to open the lid and see all the books waiting for me. My children for the first time selected gifts at their school fair for us, and next to their carefully chosen gifts, my books are my favourite gifts of this season.



The titles:
The Secrets of Pain - Phil Rickman
All Clear - Connie Willis
Winter of Secrets - Vicki Delany
Right-Hand Magic - Nancy A. Collins
The Curious Gardener - Anna Pavord
Graceling - Kristin Cashore
Ashes to Dust - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
 Real Cooking - Nigel Slater

Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich
The Shadow Woman - Ake Edwardson
Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop - Otto Penzler
Dark Matter - Michelle Paver
The Hanging Wood - Martin Edwards
Die With Me - Elena Forbes
The Magicians and Mrs. Quent - Galen Beckett
The Whale - Philip Hoare
******My son gave me three books for Christmas, and even asked me for a list. I was thrilled!  They are the ones lying in the front:
The Face of a Stranger - Anne Perry
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction - Alan Jacobs
Ship of Magic - Robin Hobb

I am also the very lucky recipient of some book gift cards, to Amazon.ca and to our Chapters store here in Ottawa.  I haven't finished using them yet, so I will let you know what else I buy for Christmas in books! 

 Using surgery is a fine excuse, don't you think?
As I am facing my knee surgery (just a day operation, a scope to remove the piece of floating cartilage) on January 16,  I am facing a week at home, on crutches for the first two days.  I think that's a perfect reason to be buying books, don't you?  For my layover....plenty to read then!  With that in mind, I confess that I went second-hand book shopping today, after my pre-op visit to the hospital this morning. It was to the Book Market, a second hand bookstore which has several outlets in the Ottawa area.  My first job when I moved to Ottawa was at the main store in the downtown area, which sadly recently closed. However, close to the hospital I was at this morning, I saw there was one of the other outlets I had never been to before.  So what's a girl facing surgery going to do?  More book shopping!!  Here is what I found today:

The Museum of Horrors - edited by Dennis Etchison
Brimstone Kiss - Carole Nelson Douglas
A Sudden Fearful Death - Anne Perry
Borderline - Nevada Barr
Condition Purple - Peter Turnbull
The Wisdom of Father Brown - G. K. Chesterton
Playing with Bones - Kate Ellis
Evil Angels Among Them - Kate Charles
Graveminder - Melissa Marr
Thirty-Three Teeth - Colin Cotterill
Bryant and May on the Loose - Christopher Fowler
Ae Fond Kiss - The Love Letters of Robert Burns and Clarinda
Identity Theory - Peter Temple
Just After Sunset - Stephen King

I even got a discount  today, because I bought so many at once!  She said it was the season....

Advent Calendar of Books
By my count, that's 33 new books in my house this month!  Counting the ones my son bought me.  If I don't count them ( I didn't buy them!), then that's one book per day.....with one day off for Christmas. It's like having my own advent calendar of books!  Only I 'bought' one every day, instead of opening a calendar. I like it, what do you think?

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous idea, Susan! Opening a big box of books is my idea of heaven. I hope your surgery goes well and that your batch of books will help you recuperate quickly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Susan said...

Stephanie: Happy New Year to you too! And thanks, I hope my surgery goes well too. I'm looking forward to lots of reading after! lol

Kailana said...

That's a great haul of books! I used to buy myself books for Christmas, but now I get a fair amount of gift cards so I usually wait...

Ana S. said...

Excellent haul! So many books I've been coveting myself. I hope your surgery on the 16th goes well. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Gavin said...

Happy New Year, Susan. I love your book box idea. I gifted myself several used books from the UK and Canada that I couldn't find here. Now I have a great pile to read for the TBR Double Dare. Hope the surgery goes well!

Kathleen said...

Wow, what a great bunch of books! I hope you enjoy them all and am sorry to hear about your surgery but happy to hear that you have made it an excuse to read!

Eva said...

Love your box and method Susan! :D

Literary Feline said...

I love the idea of giving yourself a box of books for Christmas! How wonderful! I haven't spent my gift cards yet. I have a couple of ideas already though--we'll see how long I hold out. LOL

Good luck with the knee surgery. I hope everything goes well!

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

What a good idea! People tend not to buy me books for Christmas, but I did have a few this year.

I hope the surgery goes well - and book therapy is definitely needed.

Stefanie said...

Wow, all those new books! I think your impending knee surgery is definitely a good excuse.

Tami said...

I love the idea. I think I might steal it. :) It is always difficult to make non-book fanatic family members understand why all you want for Christmas is books. This is a great alternative.

Enjoy your gifts!

JaneGS said...

Good heavens, how can you pick what to read first! Quite a good set of titles there--good luck w the surgery and deciding what to read :)

Sue F. said...

This is great! I "only" got nine new books!!! Wishing you the very best with your surgery! Happy Reading!

Memory said...

You have some seriously awesome authors on that pile, and some wonderful books! I can't wait to hear what you think of THE MAGICIANS & MRS QUENT. You already know it's one of my faves. :)

Susan said...

kailana: I get a few gift cards, and they're fun to use too, aren't they? I feel slightly guilty about how big my haul is, by the way! I am enjoying the books already though :-)

Nymeth: which ones have you been coveting? I thought of you today, Margo Lanagan's new book (which I know is on your list to buy as soon as it's out!) got a rave review in our SF magazine Locus over here :-)

Gavin: me too! I can't get Peter Lovesy here so I've discovered the used book store Book Depository is a great place to get books gently used! Have fun reading over the challenge :-)

Kathleen: I went out and bought some more books after my post! Just a little anxiety about the operation, I think! lol yes, it is a great excuse to plan ahead for books I might need, though!

Eva: thank you! It felt like a secret treasure trove when I was adding to it :-)

Literary Feline: thank you! and yes, I will let everyone know when I'm home from the hospital (it's an outpatient kind of thing, I go in and come right back out again same day).

Susan said...

Margaret: thank you! People are starting to stop buying for me too now, and getting me gift cards instead. Book therapy is a lovely healing method, I think! for anything! lol

Stefanie: I know. I think I might have a bibliomania disease, not so bad that I can't let some books go, just enough that I go a little crazy with buying books when stressed :-)

Tami: thank you so much! Yes, it's taken me years and years to get my family to stop buying me something other than books! go ahead, steal the idea - I'd love to see what goes into your box next year :-)

Jane: I know, I'm having a problem with that, I want to read them all!! although there is no such thing as too many good books to read! It's picking which one. Luxury, too, I think this is called. I like it! lol

Sue: thank you so much! did you post about your new books for Christmas? I'll come see...

Memory: thank you! they are awesome, I agree. I hope to get to them all very soon, and I'm hoping I like Mrs Quent and the Magicians as much as you did. It does look very good.

Cath said...

Somehow I managed to miss this post. What a wonderul idea with the box of books! And such gorgeous books. I'm planning on reading Ship of Magic myself this year, for two challenges. Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop I have on my list of books to get. Meant to get it before Christmas but forgot. Love Father Brown... such briliant writing in those stories. Enjoy your books.

Susan said...

Cath: When do you plan on reading Ship of Magic? Let me know, maybe we can read it together. I've read her other series, so I fully expect it to be very good. I have a few mysteries to get to first, so I don't expect to read it before February, though it does look so very good....lol we all need more time for reading, don't we?

And yes, that box of books seems to be a hit with so many bloggers!

Cath said...

I'm planning on reading Ship of Magic for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge, Susan. I think starts on the 21st. March or round about then. I've read Hobb's first three Assassin books but no others. I was going to skip the Liveship Trader series and go straight on to the Tawny Man series but a few people said not to. Oh, I'm positive it will be excellent!

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