Sometimes I feel like I should introduce myself as such: Hi, I’m Rory and I have a book problem. You know what doesn’t help? Holidays and birthdays. Because when people think of what to buy me (and they would be correct to do so), books are an easy win. I should add that the lack of helpfulness in no way diminishes the satisfaction I get from owning the books.
That being said, here is what I got for Christmas:
As pictured above:
Gifts:
A Step Beyond Innocence by Nora Johnson
When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard
20th Century Ghost by Joe Hill
The Cowboy and the Cossack by Clair Huffaker
The Book of Ebenezer LePage by G. B. Edwards
Ablutions by Patrick deWitt
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Heft by Liz Moore
Washington Square by Henry James
From my secret santa (thank you!):
Stories edited by Neil Gaiman
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
From myself via giftcard:
Naked by David Sedaris
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I do believe it is possibly that my family read this post before shopping for me: Holiday Gift Guide: A top ten list for Santa
Some of these I’ve read and loved so much that I wanted to own my own copy, others are books that I hope to read sooner rather than later. I have this awful habit of buying books and not reading them (because the library books are due back and the upcoming review books have a deadline, the owned books just get pushed aside). I guess too many books to read isn’t really problem though…
Saturday snapshot is hosted by At Home With Books.
flannel and folklore 
Hehe. Lucky girl! I received “Inside the centre The life of J. Robert Oppenheimer” for Christmas (and a gift card waiting to be used). I’m looking forward to reading about Oppenheimer but it’s a brick of a book!
LikeLike
That looks interesting (what a fascinating time to have been part of), but you could seriously injure someone with that one!
LikeLike
The Book Thief is just amazing. Heft almost made my favourite books of 2012 list – I read it soon after The Art of Fielding – I suspect that if I had read it after something slightly less brilliant I would have loved it more. Brace yourself for the use of ‘&s’ – you’ll see what I mean when you start reading.
LikeLike
I’m curious to see how Chad Harbach is going to follow up The Art of Fielding. It’s sort of hard to top perfection.
LikeLike
You really should be careful what you ask for! : )
LikeLike
That is so cool! I wish my family would buy me books for holidays, but most times they feel more comfortable getting me other things because they don’t know what I have already read.
LikeLike
I create detailed holiday guides – luckily my family doesn’t seem to mind my list-making ways!
LikeLike
I LOVE DAVID SEDARIS..seriously I do! He went to the same art school I did and taught there for awhile as well..he anecdotes about his art school experience are VERY funny!
LikeLike
Oh btw I featured your blog this week!
LikeLike
Thank you! I don’t know how I avoided David Sedaris for so long, bad luck I guess. He is hilarious and every time he talks about his Greek grandmother, he is essentially telling stories of my childhood. My father and his parents were from Greece, and though Sedaris is known to exaggerate, his Greek immigrant stories are so perfect. There are a few rules Greek immigrants have: shun non-Greeks, go to church, and have male children. Sedaris gets them exactly right. My grandmother was also “thrifty”, which is a polite way of saying she stole anything that wasn’t nailed down (i.e. extra supplies from restaurants).
LikeLike
I wish I got books for Christmas, but I don’t think the people in my life want to encourage my habit 🙂 You have some good reading ahead of you- enjoy!
LikeLike
People really shouldn’t encourage my habit, but I am lucky they indulge me anyway. They probably cringe about two months later when I am telling they need to read it.
LikeLike