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Ecurb
12-27-2014, 03:00 PM
For Christmas I got:

Cain, by Jose Saramago -- In his last novel, the Nobel laureate re-imagines the Cain and Abel story from the point of view of the villain.

Wildwood by Colin Meloy. Meloy is an Indie Rock star in Portland (100 miles to the north of me), and has written a best-selling fantasy novel. I"ve read a couple of superb short story collections by his sister Maile Meloy.

Resister by Bruce Dancis -- a story about draft resisting during the Viet Nam war. The person who gave it to me knows Dancis.

Astoria by Peter Stark. Thomas Jefferson and John Astor build an empire in the Pacific Northwest (ala the Woody Guthrie lyric). The aftermath of Lewis and Clark is explored.

In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides. The story of the USS Jeanette, a ship that was crushed in the ice during an arctic expedition in 1879.

Roll Me Up and Smoke me When I Die by Willie Nelson. I've already learned that Nelson started smoking cigarettes at age six, and wrote "On the Road Again" on the back of an air sickness bag.

Sacred Mountains of the World by Edwin Bernbaum. A picture book about mountains (my favorite subject), with some text about their cultural significance and religious symbolism.

I didn't get Oliver O'Donovan's new theology book. I'll have to order it -- but maybe not until I read some of these. Any recommendations of where to start? Any other lists of Christmas book hauls?

Lady19thC
12-27-2014, 04:37 PM
Nice list there! Sacred Mountains of the World sounds especially interesting!

I received, from Folio Society:

Little Women
Wuthering Heights
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies

Plus:

Private Houses of France: Living with History
The Drawing Room: English Country House Decorating

Paulclem
12-27-2014, 05:46 PM
I got no books this year...... but I did get fifty quid to spend on my kindle. Woo hoo!

That will probably buy me most of my reading for next year and so far I have downloaded a couple of books on Buddhism by Geshe Tashi Tsering on The Four Noble Truths and Emptiness. I also downloaded The Brothers Karamazov and This is the Life by Joseph O'Neill which was a 2014 Booker long lister.

I may also download Underworld by Don Delillo and Red or Dead by David Peace. I enjoyed Delillo's White Noise and have intended reading Underworld for some time. Red or Dead is a book about football - Bill Shankley the Liverpool FC football manager in the 1970's, but it is written in a very interesting style which mimics Bill Shankley's coaching style. Both these books have a sport element - Underworld beginning with a 50 page baseball episode. I am interested in Peace's style of writing which I saw in his previous footie book about Brian Clough - another 70's manager.

kev67
12-27-2014, 06:03 PM
I received Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens from my mother. I think my brother had got me Money by Martin Amis, but I have not got my hands on it yet. Although not exactly a Christmas pressie, mum had a spare copy of A Month in the Country by J.R. Carr. I also have some book tokens, which I hope to convert in books on Monday.

Lykren
12-27-2014, 11:52 PM
The only book I got was this one:

9482

But I work at a bookstore, and for Christmas the owner gave everyone a $100 gift certificate. With it I intend to buy Nox, by Anne Carson:

9483

Other than that, I might use the certificate to defray the cost of a Kobo mini for my younger brother. I'm trying hard to shanghai him into the literature world, and he's showing signs of coming 'round, so I figure I'll fill the Kobo with a few great modern novels - The Stranger, The Great Gatsby, Lolita - that aren't too difficult to get him started.

Vota
01-06-2015, 08:04 AM
I received Christmas moneys rather than books, but they knew I would probably buy books with it, which I did:

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann- Folio society, I already have a Franklin Library leatherbound version, but I wanted two translations

The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil

The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis- hardcover

Lonesome Dove by Larry Mcmurtry

Modern Library works of Candide- the old small hardcover kind