Last (New) Books of the Year

Well, yesterday was one of the stranger Christmases I've celebrated, but bad weather will do that to you sometimes.  I made loads of Christmas cookies earlier in the week to share with family and ate way too many of them!  And I spent lots of time reading, which always is a welcome way to pass the hours.  Hopefully today I'll finally get to see my family, so while I'm off traversing the piles of snow, I leave you with my last stack of new books for 2009! 

A few more books I might read over the rest of my break (or later as the case may be):

Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens -- Complete impulse buy when I saw this on the bookstore shelves.  The book has been a topic of discussion in one of my online book groups, and it sounds very good.

Mary Anne, Daphne du Maurier -- It's so nice to see DdM's books in US bookstores.  This is a Regency nove, and it will be very interesting to see how Daphne handles it after reading so much Georgette Heyer.

The Lie, Petra Hammersfahr -- This is a German crime novel about a doppelgangers.  It sounds quite good.

Beauvallet, Georgette Heyer -- Another yummy Heyer novel--another story set in the Georgian period.

The Patience Stone, Atiq Rahimi -- This is the winner of the Prix Goncourt--a story set in modern Afghanistan, which I fear will be in some ways painful to read but rewarding as well.

I received my first gift card (hopefully not my only one) of the season on my last day of work and I didn't waste any time using it.  I spent it the same day it was given to me.  How's that for an act of desperation--I've not book shopped for a while now so it was fun to browse the shelves of the bookstore! Did anyone else get a gift card or a book (or two?) for Christmas?

Comments

[cathy]

Have a lovely time with your family, Danielle. Thanks for all your great reading suggestions. Happy new Year!

[Molly]

Have safe holidays travels - and enjoy the family time.

I received 3 bookstore gift cards (can you hear me squealing with delight) but have yet to spend them. I want to make them last - and find the perfect book. I hope to do some serious shopping next week, once we thaw out from under all the snow.

Happy Holidays!

[Andi]

These look delicious!!! Good for you for hopping out there with your gift card and spending that puppy. I have a tendency to hoarde mine. lol

[Matthew]

Have a jolly time reading as you count down to the new year. I just realize I have yet to read any Austen so I'm squeezing Emma in before the end of 2009. I also have My Cousin Rachelin the pile to satisfy my cravings for Daphane.

[Debby]

Hope you made it to your family's home safely and are happily celebrating now!

I received about five new books for Christmas, and one duplicate I'll look forward to trading for one of the Georgette Heyer mysteries. Just finished the new Anne Perry today (A Christmas Promise) so I'm off to choose a new book now! Happy Reading!

[Danielle]

Cathy--Thanks. I hope you had a lovely holiday, too. And a Happy New Year as well!
Molly--I had a really nice day with my family, though the roads are really very messy. I've not seen this much snow in a long time and am happy to be in my own warm house again. Yay for gift cards--so glad you received some. I was surprised with several myself today and am quite pleased about it! I will try and ration them out, but I might do a little online shopping while I'm staying warm at home! :)
Andi--It was a smallish one, so I couldn't help myself! I received a few more that were very generous, so I will be hoarding them as well. Just buying a few books here and there. I have a birthday in February, so I just might get a few more then...
Matthew--I've been doing lots of reading and it has been bliss! I don't often get so much uninterrupted reading time so I am enjoying every minute of it. I had started Pride and Prejudice on a whim and hope to finish it before the end of my vacation anyway. We'll see. And I think I need to reread My Cousin Rachel--it's another good one!!
Debby--Yes, I did get to my parent's house. We had a lovely afternoon and swapped gifts--all very nice indeed. The snow is an awful mess, but oh well. Hopefully the streets will be cleaned soon--they're not very good right now. I only received one book, but it looks very good. I've yet to read one of Georgette Heyer's mysteries, though I love her other books--definitely will try a few next year. And after looking at that Anne Perry book at the bookstore I'm in the mood for one of her mysteries and might have to dig something out! Happy reading and have fun switching out your book for one you don't already have.

[Tiina]

I, too, spent lots of time reading this Christmas which was very nice. I guess, I've been a good girl, as Santa heard my wish and brought me Wolf Hall as a present! :)

Greetings,
Tiina

[catharina]

Glad to read you could spend the second day of Christmas with your family! I was quite impressed by the amount of snow in your pictures.
Two much wanted books found their way to my Christmas stocking: Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Gift from the Sea and Collected Letters of Ida Gerhardt, a Dutch poet whose complete oeuvre I would like to read in 2010.

[Darlene]

The Heiress is home for the holidays and can't say enough about how much she enjoyed reading Little Dorrit during her English Lit course first term. She has me sold but I want to read through my Wilkie Collins purchases first.

No matter how many times I tell myself that I will NOT over indulge on treats at Christmas...I always do! You're in good company Danielle.

[litlove]

Intriguing pile - and being snowed in for Christmas must have been a very strange experience. Is it the Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap where the characters are in that situation? I'm sure it rings a literary bell somewhere in my brain!

[Stefanie]

That is a pretty edition of Little Dorrit. I haven't received any book gift cards yet, but I'm hoping my sister might still pull through for me on that one!

[iliana]

Oh you got some great books. I'll be looking forward to your review of the German crime novel. Whenever I'm in Germany I see so many crime novels but haven't found many of them translated.

I haven't received any books - yet. I'm still holding hope :)

[Dorothy W.]

I'm glad to hear you made it to see your family, and that everyone is safe! I got a gift card for Christmas, and am thinking about how to spend it now -- plus I went book shopping the day after Christmas, just for the fun of it -- my book stacks are growing like crazy, I'm afraid :)

[Danielle]

Tiina--I really enjoyed being able to spend the afternoon reading on Christmas, since I didn't get to see family it was the next best thing. It's nice when you get a book you want for Christmas! I'd like to read Wolf Hall at some point, too.
Catharina--It's been quite a while since we've had this much snow and I bet it lingers for quite a while. It's fun when it's snowing, but afterwords it gets old quickly!! I only got one book for Christmas--it was a total surprise--a biography of a Korean immigrant. I've never heard of Ida Gerhardt before, I will have to look her up. I wonder if she's been translated into English.
Darlene--I actually think I am sugared out. I'm dreaming of leafy green salads and iced tea! And sunshine, but I think I'm more likely to get the salad! :) It's nice your daughter is home and you can spend time together. Little Dorrit caught my eye at the bookstore and it sounded so good! I'm glad to hear she liked it. I'm with you on wanting to read more Wilkie Collins. I think No Name is on my mental list for next year.
Litlove--I will have to see if I can find a copy of The Mousetrap! I think I might be able to identify really well right now. I saw a movie adaptation a long time ago, but I've forgotten the story. And this is the only time I can think of when I have not been with my family on Christmas (barring when I was living in Austria). Very strange indeed.
Stefanie--I will keep my fingers crossed you get a gift card. Every reader should get at least one during the holidays! :) And isn't the cover on Little Dorrit great? I will have to watch the film at some point too.
Iliana--I was excited to get that Petra Hammesfahr book. I find that I really enjoy international crime novels so am looking forward to giving it a try. I hope you get some books...I only got one this year, but the gift cards make up for it!
Dorothy--What a messy holiday. I'll be happy to see this snow start to melt, though it's going to be pretty cold all week! Not really how I wanted to spend my vacation, but that's how it goes sometimes--at least I won't have to freeze waiting for the bus in the mornings this week. I'm thinking too about how I want to start spending my gift cards, though I want to ration them out as much as possible. My stacks have been staying somewhat uniform, but that will change soon! :) I hope you'll share your new goodies.

[Kathleen]

I'm excited to hear more about the DuMaurier...this is one I haven't heard of before!

[Cath]

The BBC did Little Dorrit recently and it was superb. One to hire when you've read the book perhaps.

I had absolutely no idea that DdM had written a regency novel. Well, well!

[Danielle]

Kathleen--I'm really curious about it myself. After reading so many Regencies by Georgette Heyer, I expect a novel by Daphne du Maurier to be very different.
Cath--I think I saw a tiny bit of Little Dorrit, but I didn't want to watch too much as I knew I'd want to read the book first. I think Mary Anne is an early novel by DdM and can't wait to read it!

[catharina]

Danielle, Ida Gerhardt lived from 1905 - 1997. Apart from her twenty odd books of poetry she wrote many letters. As far as I know her work is not translated into English. I have both the Collected Verses and her Collected Letters (letters being from the period 1927 - 1993).
Reading her oeuvre, beginning with the letters leading up to the first published poetry in 1940 and then in order of publishing the books of poetry followed by the letters of that period is part of my reading plan for 2010. And I have already started...

[Danielle]

Catharina--That sounds like a wonderful project! I guess I'm sort of doing the same with Molly Keane's work. Only it's a pity she has no book of letters and there seems to be no biography. Still, there is plenty of other things to read. You'll have to tell me how your project is going during the year! She lived during a fascinating period!