As is usual for me at Christmas, I got a bunch of books. Surprisingly though, I didn't get any from my friend Laura! Usually we buy each other books but this time she bought me other (lovely!) stuff instead. I bought her The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken though, which I've heard is good; I also bought it for my partner so I can steal it if it's any good!
I always like joining in with Secret Santas but this year I just joined two, to try to keep costs and stress down a bit in the run up to Christmas. One of them I joined in with was Book Flood by Shuttersandletters, where you send books that your partner can open on Christmas Eve (as is traditional in Iceland). I saved mine for Christmas Day, though. Here's what I got:
Felix Ever After sounds right up my street. Brother of the More Famous Jack isn't something I've ever heard of, but I picked it up early in the new year and will be writing my review soon. Spoiler: I loved it! I'll explain why when I review it. I also got a Joanne Harris book of short stories, which I don't think I've ever read, or if I have, it's a VERY long time ago (I've liked Joanne's books for over twenty years!) I'm thrilled about these books!
I also joined in with The Broke The Bookish's Secret Santa, I've joined in with this for a few years now and also enjoy it. I signed up for 2+ books plus goodies, and I wasn't disappointed by my goodies (although I didn't take a picture, sorry!). Here's what I got:
I haven't heard of the first two authors, but I'm intrigued by the books so am looking forward to getting to them. Tony Parsons wrote one of my favourite books ever - called Stories We Could Tell, it's sort of about his time as an NME jounralist. It's set on the night that Elvis died in 1977, and it's great... So I have high hopes for this one!
I also got a ton of books from other people:
The cross stitch book was from my friend Sarah, and it is so fun and funny. I Know You Did It has been on my wishlist for ages, my friend Sam bought me it and also the one next to it, which is about the Manic Street Preachers album The Holy Bible. Lee bought me Dark and Shallow Lies, I saw it in Waterstones in Lancaster when we were on holiday there in October, along with Ace of Spades, so I asked for him to buy them for me. The next one is a book about Schitt's Creek called Love That Journey For Me; Lee bought me that on request too. The Book of Queer Prophets was from my friends Leanne and Adi - Leanne always chooses books that are right up my street but which I don't already own. My mum bought me The World of All Creatures Great and Small. I'm not sure if you've seen the remake of it on Ch5, but I LOVE it. We were in Grassington when they were filming there in November 2019 which was really cool, so I've liked the series and am looking forward to reading this companion book.
Vegan North was an unexpected gift from my friend Chloe, along with some lebkuchen. It features several vegan restaurants in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, and some recipes from each of those which is very cool. I thumbed through this and was happy to find recipes from some favourite places around me like Bundobust in Leeds. The House on Needless Street was a gift from Lee's mam and stepdad, they also gave it to one of my sisters in law who likes a lot of the same books I do. It's a bit gothic I think, and it sounds great. Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World is a sequel to
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe which I read a few years ago. I had heard there was a sequel coming out so when I spied it in a shop while on a weekend away in November I asked my mum to buy it for me. She also bought me Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu which I am so looking forward to!
I try to get through my Christmas and birthday books fairly quickly, so let's see how I get on in 2022!
No comments:
Post a Comment