Books you got for Xmas

Blood Meridian, McCarthy
Black Swan Green, Mitchell
V, Pynchon
Drawing of the Three and The Wastelands, King (thanks Derek)

and comics

Phineas Poe: Kiss Me Judas, Penny Dreadful, Hell's Half Acre- Will Christopher Baer
Dermaphoria- Craig Clevenger

Oh,I didn`t get books for Chistmas...never ever!
Usually I get crap or money...
I will grant myself

I ask for books every year and never get them. This year I asked for a gift certificate to Chapters.

I love to go to bookshops and buy everything what I want...
Sometimes I can find really amazing books...so i`ve found C.Palahniuk and many others

Super Cannes by J G Ballard
The Demon by Hurbert Selby Jr
The Informers by BEE
Frisk by Dennis Cooper

It's not even Christmas yet! But I know I got numbers 21-31 of the Sweet Valley University series because I saw Kevin wrapping them earlier. People don't tend to buy me books, I'm very difficult to buy books for.

Also I bought myself Gossip Girl book 6.

So far I've read 'Water for Elephants' and 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.'

Both were surprisingly good. 'Water for Elephants' has a very conventional narrative form, but the story is solid and entertaining. In fact, I read it all the way through with no breaks. As I said, it's not exactly groundbreaking literary stuff, but it's a riveting story nonetheless.

'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' was also good. Lisa See does a very amazing job at capturing an entire culture, and the story really comes to life. The ending was one of those endings that manages to be both happy and a down note at the same time, which I liked.

I'd recommend both of them to anyone with a few bucks they don't know what to spend on.

Justine- Marquis De Sade
Penny Dreadful- Baer
No Gods No Masters- Daniel Guerin
The History of Love- Nicole Krauss
Apathy and other small victories- Paul Neilan

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
Lunar Park by BEE and The Most Beautiful Woman in Town by Bukowski (thanks IreLocus!)

[QUOTE=Vendetta;1129462]But I know I got numbers 21-31 of the Sweet Valley University series... [/QUOTE]

Are you serious?

ok this is hit and miss....:

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"Concrete Island"[/B]
J. G. Ballard

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"Catch-22"[/B]
Joseph Heller

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]I Am Legend (Gollancz S.F.)"[/B]
Richard Matheson

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"Contract"[/B]
Simon Spurrier

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"E-luv: An Internet Romance"[/B]
Dave Roberts;

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"Millennium People"[/B]
J G Ballard;

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"The Late Firm"[/B]
Jake Arnott;

And this one must have been a joke...

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"Tricks of the Mind"[/B]
Derren Brown;[/SIZE][/FONT]

I only got [I]Choke[/I] and [I]We the Living[/I] by Ayn Rand, but I fully intend to go book shopping with some of the money I got.

turchi [i]maps of the imagination: writing as cartography[/i]
(a second copy of [oops]) gardner [i]art of fiction[/i]

I got Say Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry
Watchman
Vernon God Little
and the Xenophobes giude to the Americans.

I dont usually get books as presents so I got tonnes of vouchers!

Mine:

more [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_Days_of_Night]30 Days of Night [/URL] comics (Return to Barrow & Bloodsucker Tales, yesssss!)

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Stir_of_Echoes]A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson[/URL] (meh, hope it's good. I've been underwhelmed with I Am Legend and most of his other short stories)

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Seas_Under_Red_Skies]Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch[/URL] ( <3 )

And I've got about $60 worth of Barnes & Noble gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. :slaphappy

My girlfriend got me Clapton by Eric Clapton. I was really stoked to get that one - which happens to be the only book that I got.

But I did get a ton of Borders and Barnes & Noble and Amazon gift cards!

[QUOTE=bskyb;1132684]

And this one must have been a joke...

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1][B]"Tricks of the Mind"[/B]
Derren Brown;[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

haha I LOVE Derren Brown!! (I want to marry him...) I got that book last year too!

back on topic: glad you got some more Ballard, hope you enjoy them

I got:
Nigella Express - Nigella Lawson
The End of Alice - A.M Homes
The Third Brother - Nick McDonell (which unfortunately I bought myself like a week earlier so I'll try to take one back)

I got a Book called [URL=http://devir.com.br/hqs/repentinas.php]Historias repentinas[/URL] from a brazilian cartoonist named Laerte.

Swann's Way - Marcel Proust
The Ode Less Travelled - Stephen Fry
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Collected Poems - Jorge Luis Borges
Collected Poems - Robert Browning
Lost in the Funhouse - John Barth
Making Money - Terry Pratchett

it was a good haul this year.

[QUOTE=glamhoth;1132954]Swann's Way - Marcel Proust
The Ode Less Travelled - Stephen Fry
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Collected Poems - Jorge Luis Borges
Collected Poems - Robert Browning
Lost in the Funhouse - John Barth
Making Money - Terry Pratchett

it was a good haul this year.[/QUOTE]

Someone must really love you. All of those are excellent books, except the last one. I don't know about it, but that's because I don't read genre fiction.

[U]The Brothers Karamazov[/U] is on my Top 20 novel list; if you haven't read it before, you're in for a treat. [U]Lost in the Funhouse[/U] is a classic collection, another one of my favorites. And you can't go wrong with Borges and Browning.

I'm very pleased with my takings this year:

- [I]Choke[/I] (I have no idea why it took me this long to get it)
- [I]Everything is Illuminated[/I], Jonothan Safran Foer
- [I]The Shining[/I], Stephen King
- [I]Carrie[/I], see above
- [I]Skeleton Crew[/I], see above
- [I]A Confederacy of Dunces[/I], John Kennedy Toole
- [I]The Inimitable Jeeves[/I], P.G. Wodehouse
- [I]The Songlines[/I], Bruce Chatwin

I also half have these two:
- [I]Six Sacred Stones[/I], Matthew Reilly
- [I]The Other Secret: The Chaser Annual 2007[/I], The Chaser Team
(they're my brothers, but I'll be reading them)

Now, to find the time...

[QUOTE=glamhoth;1133052]That was the sum total of books from everyone this Christmas; I was definitely happy about 'em. I think I actually asked for Barth from my family because you kept mentioning him, as I've never read anything by him. And Karamazov has been on my to-read list for entirely too long; I can finally remedy that.[/QUOTE]

It's going to be a little strange, nothing like you're used to. Make sure you cut out the mobius strip thing

[QUOTE=glamhoth;1133052]
Let me know what you think of Confederacy of Dunces.
(also Wodehouse is usually reliably funny).[/QUOTE]

Shall do. I'll make it the first one I tackle, after I finish the library book I'm reading at the moment.

I also have $100 worth of book vouchers, courtesy of father and school, to spend, and I definitely want to get [I]Darkly Dreaming Dexter[/I] by Jeff Lindsay, but I haven't decided what else.

I got:
Talk Talk by TC Boyle
Apathy and Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan
In the Garden of the North American Martyrs by Tobias Wolff
The Ice at the Bottom of the World by Mark Richard

I am incredibly excited to read all of these. Yes!

[QUOTE=BandrMechanics101;1132660]
No Gods No Masters- Daniel Guerin
[/QUOTE]

The whole thing? Isn't it several volumes? I tried to get all of it out of my college library for a paper I wound up not writing because I had to drop the class (long story), and they only had two books of it. I really dug what I did read, though. If you're into anarchist politics and theory at all you're in for some fun.

I'm glad to see everyone had a great Christmas. Here's my haul:

Gonzo: The life of Hunter S Thompson
No Country for Old Men
The Secret Life of Houdini
Against the Day - Pynchon

Plus I still need to go by Borders and use my giftcards.

[QUOTE=PocketFives;1133081]The whole thing? Isn't it several volumes? I tried to get all of it out of my college library for a paper I wound up not writing because I had to drop the class (long story), and they only had two books of it. I really dug what I did read, though. If you're into anarchist politics and theory at all you're in for some fun.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I'm pretty sure it is the whole thing. It seems to cover all of the essentials, with the exception of Tolstoy. I'm definitely excited to read it, overviews are much nicer than trying to tackle the complete work and ideas of Bakunin, Proudhon, or Kropotkin.

[QUOTE=drewd0624;1133196]Gonzo: The life of Hunter S Thompson[/QUOTE]

I just recently bought that book. It looked so good - and then I read a few of the quotes and I had to buy it.

[QUOTE=Alecia;1132668]Are you serious?[/QUOTE]
Of course I'm serious.

I also got this huge coffee table book about Edward Hopper.

Oh, I saw someone reading a Dexter book on the train. I was considering striking up conversation, but then I though, do I want some fucker talking to me on the train, and I did not speak.

damn alex the pranksters got you too....

With the vouchers I got I bought myself

R.J. Ellory- A Quiet Belief In Angels
Haruki Murikhami- After Dark
Denis Johhnson- Tree of Smoke
Joe Hill- 20th Century Ghosts

[QUOTE=Nightrious;1129220]I ask for books every year and never get them. This year I asked for a gift certificate to Chapters.[/QUOTE]

I didn't get this.

[QUOTE=elegantly_bitter;1133047]I'm very pleased with my takings this year:

- [I]Choke[/I] (I have no idea why it took me this long to get it)
- [I]Everything is Illuminated[/I], Jonothan Safran Foer
- [I]The Shining[/I], Stephen King
- [I]Carrie[/I], see above
- [I]Skeleton Crew[/I], see above
- [I]A Confederacy of Dunces[/I], John Kennedy Toole
- [I]The Inimitable Jeeves[/I], P.G. Wodehouse
- [I]The Songlines[/I], Bruce Chatwin

I also half have these two:
- [I]Six Sacred Stones[/I], Matthew Reilly
- [I]The Other Secret: The Chaser Annual 2007[/I], The Chaser Team
(they're my brothers, but I'll be reading them)

Now, to find the time...[/QUOTE]

[I]Everything is Illuminated[/I] is fantastic. A bit weird, but really good. The movie was also done pretty well. It didn't totally follow the book, but the book would be really hard to make a movie of if the story was exactly followed.

Jonathan Safran Foer's newer book [I]Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close[/I] is also really, really good.

[QUOTE=existential;1133596][I]Everything is Illuminated[/I] is fantastic. A bit weird, but really good. The movie was also done pretty well. It didn't totally follow the book, but the book would be really hard to make a movie of if the story was exactly followed.

Jonathan Safran Foer's newer book [I]Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close[/I] is also really, really good.[/QUOTE]

And we've done discussions on both of those books I'm pretty sure.

[QUOTE=existential;1133596][I]Everything is Illuminated[/I] is fantastic. A bit weird, but really good. The movie was also done pretty well. It didn't totally follow the book, but the book would be really hard to make a movie of if the story was exactly followed.

Jonathan Safran Foer's newer book [I]Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close[/I] is also really, really good.[/QUOTE]

I've read both of them multiple times and I adore them.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Up Close- Jonathan Safran Foer

I am Legend - Richard Matheson

I got a gift card to books-a-million so more will come.

[QUOTE=PGoutis01;1133342]I just recently bought that book. It looked so good - and then I read a few of the quotes and I had to buy it.[/QUOTE]

I love the Good Doctor. Since he's no longer with us, the next best thing is reading anecdotes about him. I'll be sure to check back in with you for your impressions as I'm reading it.

I just bought [I]The End of Alice[/I] with credit I got for returning something I had originally gotten with a giftcard I got for christmas. still count?

[QUOTE=drewd0624;1134188]I love the Good Doctor. Since he's no longer with us, the next best thing is reading anecdotes about him. I'll be sure to check back in with you for your impressions as I'm reading it.[/QUOTE]

I haven't read it yet. I'm sort of saving it I guess. You'll have to keep us informed.

He does have a new one coming out soon though. His last book.
[B]The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings, and Missives from the Mountaintop 1977-2005[/B]
Although Amazon doesn't have an available date posted yet.

[QUOTE=Vendetta;1133451]Of course I'm serious.
[/QUOTE]

That's awesome...I've got pretty much all of [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Valley_High]these[/URL], some left over from when I was a kid, some of them I found on eBay a few years ago (I had to get them for the sake of nostalgia).

No Country for Old Men- Cormac McCarthy
The Road- Cormac McCarthy

I heard they are both very good so I'm looking foward to it.

[QUOTE=PGoutis01;1134252]I haven't read it yet. I'm sort of saving it I guess. You'll have to keep us informed.

He does have a new one coming out soon though. His last book.
[B]The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings, and Missives from the Mountaintop 1977-2005[/B]
Although Amazon doesn't have an available date posted yet.[/QUOTE]

I know what you mean, I plan on taking my time with it and savoring it. I will definitly post my thoughts when I get into it.

Did you read The Jokes Over by Steadman?

I am eagerly awaiting The Mutineer. It has been postponed a few times already, and is currently on hold indefinetly for "editing purposes." This caused for numerous conspiracy theories on the Gonzo message boards questioning whats being censored.

manohmanohmanohman!

I got a Franklin Mint, leather bound, signed copy of Slaughterhouse-Five!!! Best present ever.

I also got Franklin Mint copies of Faulkner's A Light in August and the Uncollected Short Stories.

Derek gave me John Connolly's Nocturnes and a Dali book. I bought myself a special edition, leather, signed copy of Christopher Moore's Lamb.