Well, I did promise book pictures, didn’t I? And so here they come… I happen to be blessed (or cursed) with having a birthday quite close to Christmas so the gifts double up at this time of year, and despite everyone’s best intentions, there are always books!
First off, some modest arrivals for my birthday:
These lovelies came from OH and my BFF J. (amazingly, the Offspring managed to avoid books altogether for the birthday!)
The Peirene title is from J. and she very cleverly managed to pick the one I probably most want to read from their list! OH was also very clever in that he managed to find a BLCC I haven’t got or read, and also a book (the Godwin) which ties in with my current interest in things with a sort of link to the French Revolution (plus it has a *wonderful* David self-portrait on the cover). The crossword book? I love a crossword – I kid myself it keeps my brain alert…
As for Christmas… well, here are the bookish arrivals…!
First up, I always take part in the LibraryThing Virago Group Secret Santa and this year my books came courtesy of the lovely Simon at Stuck in a Book and these are they:
Simon knows that we share a love of a certain kind of writing and so picked some wonderful books I don’t have by A.A. Milne, Stephen Leacock and Saki – I’ve already been dipping and giggling… And it wouldn’t be a gift from Simon if there wasn’t a title in there by his beloved Ivy Compton-Burnett! I confess to owning several titles but not having plucked up the courage to read one yet – and fortunately I didn’t have this one, which is a beautiful edition, so maybe this should be where I start with Ivy… ๐
Next up a few treats from J. She reminded me when we met up recently that it was actually 35 years since we first met (gulp!) and she knows me and my obsessions and my reading habits well. These were wonderful bookish choices – an Edmund Crispin classic crime novel (can’t go wrong with Gervase Fen), a Sacheverell Sitwell set in Russia, and a marvellous sounding book of pastiches which has already had me giggling – these humorous books are obviously putting the merry in Christmas this year!
The Offspring decided Christmas was the time for books for me (as well as some other lovely gifts) and the above was the result – “The Futurist Cookbook” was from Youngest, the Plath letters (squeeeee!) from Middle and “The Story of Art” plus the Mieville from Eldest. Very excited about these and wanting to read them all at once…. ๐
Finally, not to be left out, OH produced these treats! Yes, *another* BLCC I don’t have, a fascinating sounding book on Chekhov and a really lovely book on Surrealist art. The latter is particularly striking and has a plate of the most marvellous Magritte painting which I hadn’t seen before and I can’t stop looking at:
It’s called “The Empire of Lights” and it’s stunning and this doesn’t do it justice…
So, I have been very blessed this Christmas – thank you all my lovely gift-giving friends and family! And once I shake off this head cold I’ve also been blessed with, I really need to get reading… ๐
Dec 30, 2017 @ 10:03:52
Lots to enjoy there ๐
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:50:46
Very much so! ๐
Dec 30, 2017 @ 10:20:47
This looks amazing! I love looking at your posts and thinking ‘that’s so many books!’, then thinking, ‘actually that will probably last Kaggy until the end of January.’
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:50:33
LOL! Well, I given more free time I certainly would be able to read a good portion of that pile quite quickly!
Dec 30, 2017 @ 13:41:32
Happy Birthday! What a lot of wonderful books you received from people who clearly know what you like!
Happy New Year, too!
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:49:24
Thank you! Yes, my friends and family do know me well (and also respond well to suggestions….)
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:07:10
How lovely! The ones I’ve read (Caleb Williams, the Fen & The Murder of Halland) I thought were great. And Charlotte’s Web of course! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and wish you a speedy recovery ๐
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:48:57
I must admit I’m looking forward to Caleb Williams!
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:11:14
Oh wow what a fabulous haul. Belated happy birthday too.
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:48:24
Thank you! And yes – I was very blessed!
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:13:14
You are so lucky, my dear. No one ever gives me books or even book tokens. The obvious excuse being: you have so many books anyway.
Dec 30, 2017 @ 14:47:52
:))) I have so many books too but my family and friends know me well! :)) But yes – I *am* very lucky!
Dec 30, 2017 @ 15:27:22
You have your family and friends so well trained. Mine always refuse to buy me books on the grounds that โyou will have already read themโ.
Dec 30, 2017 @ 15:34:18
I confess, I do try to train them – the Offspring usually respond to a wishlist, but OH wings it and usually comes up with wonderful but unexpected books (as does my friend J!)
Dec 30, 2017 @ 22:22:26
So much fun all in one place!! Enjoy๐ง๐ง๐ง
Dec 31, 2017 @ 15:03:07
Exactly! What choice! ๐
Dec 31, 2017 @ 00:32:42
What a range! And gosh, some of those look fat… did anyone think to toss in a new bookcase as well?
Dec 31, 2017 @ 15:02:53
Alas no…. But to be honest I’m not sure where I’d put another bookshelf. I obviously need to get rid of some non-essential items in the house (like beds and wardrobes and chairs and the like) and leave room for just books…. ๐
Dec 31, 2017 @ 10:14:23
I’m sorry that you have a head cold Karen, but isn’t it the BEST excuse for a few up on the sofa with a good book or 20! And how marvellous to have friends and family who know you with such authenticity that they can buy you perfect aspects of your soul (isn’t that what a marvellous book does!) Happy reading . Your challenge must be ‘which first!?’ with so many treasures
Dec 31, 2017 @ 15:01:55
Definitely – although the head is a bit woolly for heavy reading so I’m having to opt for BLCC soothing reads – such hardship! I *am* very lucky to be spoiled with all these lovely books though – what nice friends and family I have! ๐
Dec 31, 2017 @ 10:23:27
How lucky you are to get all those books! And If you’d listed the volumes from Simon and said ‘guess who’, I think I would have known!
Dec 31, 2017 @ 15:00:59
Yes, those books are very Simon, aren’t they? But all ones that I’m keen to read!
Dec 31, 2017 @ 11:17:50
Happy Birthday! What a haul with your double celebration.
Dec 31, 2017 @ 15:00:07
I did do rather nicely, didn’t I? Very lucky! ๐
Dec 31, 2017 @ 16:42:22
Happy birthday!
I laughed my way through Pistache a few years ago, really fun, and the Sitwell looks brilliant. And I’m so pleased you like the Secret Santa pile ๐
I remember standing in a bookshop basement, trying to get your LT catalogue up on my phone, to see which ICB novels you have… this one is my favourite of hers, so I think it’s an excellent place to start. Amusingly, I got into a conversation with the man at the till who also loves ICB, and said I was trying to persuade a friend to try her – to which he wryly replied “good luck”… so, we’ll see!
Dec 31, 2017 @ 17:23:17
There does seem to be plenty of merriment lurking in the books I’ve received! And I had to smile at you struggling with my LT catalogue, which is woefully out of date (though fortunately I didn’t have the ICB you chose). The VSS pile is lovely and I shall try really hard to read Ivy in 2018!
Jan 01, 2018 @ 23:22:26
I love the title “The Futurist Cookbook.” What a great haul! Ah, the b-days on the holidays. Usually such a cheat!
Jan 02, 2018 @ 10:13:38
They’re very tempting piles of books, aren’t they? And my people are very good about treating my birthday and Christmas as two separate things, which is lovely!
Jan 04, 2018 @ 08:55:02
Ooh, almost as many books as I’ve had … Lovely reads ahead for you!
Jan 04, 2018 @ 11:17:59
Yes, some very appealing titles there!
Jan 09, 2018 @ 10:35:16
What beauties to behold! Your loved ones and friends truly know you well. ๐ And yes, The Empire of Lights is a real stunner! Thanks for sharing your goodies with us. ๐
Jan 09, 2018 @ 10:39:22
Yes, I really *am* blessed with peeps who know what I love. And that painting – it’s starting to haunt me a bit! ๐