This is what happens when your family (and a friend or two) very generously gives you gift cards to bookstores for the holidays. Is it really so obvious what I like? (No, no need to answer that). The scary nice thing is I still have a few left to spend (and then my birthday is just around the corner and I can expect one or two more...). Needless to say I went book shopping this week. A few had already been ordered online and happened to come in the mail, so I am swimming in lovely new books at the moment. It's been ages since I browsed in a bookstore (I seem to get most of my books from the library or online these days), so it was fun to pick up books at random--many passed through my hands, but these are what I finally decided to buy:
The Dancing Years by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles -- I'm still at the beginning of the Morland Dynasty books, but as CHE lost her publishing contract, I expect the books will eventually go out of print. At the rate I'm reading them they may very well be hard to come by so I will have the complete set on hand.
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas -- I didn't realize that this is actually the third book in the Musketeer cycle, so I'll have to look for the second book at some point. I'm planning on reading The Three Musketeers soon.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson -- After reading Stefanie's take on At Home I checked it out from the library, but as it is a chunky book (and they have a cloth edition at that) and not one I want to carry around, I decided the paperback would be well worth owning.
The Informer by Craig Nova -- This is a thriller set in 1930s Berlin--right up my alley.
The Devil of Nanking by Mo Hayder -- I've heard that Hayder's books can be a little on the gruesome side so have not yet picked up any of her work, but I liked the sound of this. It's set in contemporary Tokyo but moves back in time to Nanking during WWII.
City of Veils by Zoë Ferraris -- I've heard very good things about Ferraris's books. Since I've been trying to read books with more varied settings (preferably books that have been translated--Ferraris is American though she lived for a number of years in Saudi Arabia), I thought this would be interesting. I'd like to read more books about or set in the Middle East in general--and would be very appreciative of suggestions of good books (fiction or nonfiction).
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas -- So I own the hardcover edition of this, the Pevear translation, but again it is a big heavy book and I hate dragging hardcovers around with me on the bus. I saw the paperback discounted by more than half so added it to my pile. It was a steal and I will appreciate having spent the money later when I'm lugging it about. I had no idea, by the way, that a new film version has been made (see the trailer here--not sure about the 3D, but it could be fun). I can't wait to read the book and it might have to be next after Emma!
The Faces of Angels by Lucretia Grindle -- A mystery set in Italy. Need I say more?
Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace -- Like L.M. Montgomery I have also never read any of the Betsy Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. I think I'd like to, though I couldn't find the first book so decided to try this standalone. I have a feeling the Betsy Tacy books were quite popular but I missed them (too) as a child.
Bomber by Len Deighton -- This is one of the books on Caroline's War and Literature Readalong list. His books caught my eye so I thought I might as well grab my copy while I had it in hand, though I won't be reading it until next summer.
So, there you have it. I have plenty of reading material to get me started in the new year (and for all the rest of it, too, actually).
Happy New Year everyone. And Happy Reading in 2012!