Christmas pile - Part 1

Here are some of the books that David and I gave each other for Christmas.

From top to bottom:

1. A Passion For Books - A compilation of lists, essays, and other interesting tidbits about our favorite subject, books.

2. An beautiful volume of Raymond Chandler novels from Everyman's Library - A gift for David, since I am not a big fan of the hardboiled detective novel.

3. The Intellectual Devotional - A book of 365 lessons in 7 subjects: literature, history, science, music, religion, philosophy, and visual arts. It is meant to be read daily for an year as a way to round out your education and stimulate your mind. Reading it is kind of like browsing Wikipedia. And I find I have a hard time sticking to just one lesson per day.

4. J.M. Coetzee's Elizabeth Costello which I think is brilliant.

5. Dana Copithorne's The Steam Magnate, a book I'm saving to be devoured on a rainy day.

6. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. It is so entertaining, that I took a break from The Wings of the Dove, and finished this in two sittings. Bill Bryson's travel writing is as intelligent as it is uproariously funny. Highly recommended, although it has given me an irrational phobia of bears. . . especially considering I live in the city.

7. The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Surprisingly light for it's size and absolutely a must have for us)

8. Nova Swing, M. John Harrison's new novel. David ordered this from the UK for me much to my delight and surprise. It's not out in the U.S. yet, so I wasn't expecting to get a copy until later this year.

9. Rain Forest - An absolutely gorgeous coffee table book on the flora and fauna of rain forests around the world.

That's all for now, I'll have the rest posted hopefully by next week.