Books you got for Christmas

[Turophilic]

I got Ithaca by Claire North and Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield, about which I am very chuffed.

Hoping for The Voyage Home by Pat Barker and East by Meera Sodha from extended family over the next few days.

What did you get to increase your book mountain?

'The History of the World in 100 Objects'

I was given:

• Dramatic Murder by Elizabeth Anthony, in the British Library crime classics series
• We'll Prescribe You a Cat
• The Moomins and the Great Flood
• Country Comfort, recipe book by Hari Beavis
• She Speaks! by Harriet Walter
• Love Untold by Ruth Jones - this was one of those brown paper-wrapped books so the giver didn't know what it was

Also treated myself to the last Chalet School fill-in just before Christmas, The Chalet School at Glendower House.

DS got me two books - Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick and Eighteen - A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives by Alice Loxton which looks really interesting.

I got DH Henry VII and the men who made him by Tracy Boorman - we have been trying to watch Wolf Hall and can’t figure out who is who so I thought this might help! I tried to read Wolf Hall years ago but gave up. But I love that time period so really want to try again.

I only got the 2025 almanac! I got my husband Orbital and Everyday Drinking by Kingsley Amis.

I was given some money so might treat myself to We Solve Murders.

Brilliant thanks, looks like something I'd like

I got DH Henry VII and the men who made him by Tracy Boorman

Hi @Peridot1, I recognise you from the Connections threads. Happy Boxing Day!
Is it Henry VII or Henry VIII? Because the former is the dad of the one in Wolf Hall, although also very interesting. But might not be much help with following Mantel.

@LuluBlakey1 - that’s a fascinating book; will you visit the British Museum to see the objects when you’ve read it? The radio series was on the BBC app for a long time. I remember using some episodes to help our DC with history topics when they were in school.

New book gift this morning - Weyward by Emilia Hart.

All from me to me

Four crime novels - the most recent books from Sara Paretsky, Kathy Reichs, Louise Penny, and Donna Andrews (though that one hasn't arrived yet).

Two history books, the Atlas of the Irish Civil War and The Nine Years War in Ireland by Jim O'Neill.

A lucky charity shop find last week, the collected poems of Derek Mahon, published in 2021.

I've started reading the Kathy Reichs and browsing the Atlas (which has lots of essays and pictures)..

@Peridot1 you want to read the Wolf Hall Companion book which gives you the background information to the real life characters & timeliness of events.

https://www.batsfordbooks.com/book/wolf-hall-companion

From DS I got
A Winter Book by Tove Janssen
The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
Escape to an Autumn Pavement by Andrew Salkey

From DD I got a 6 month book subscription from our local independent bookshop. I've had it twice before and the level of input from the shop was astounding. Dh and I have had 24 books (12 each via 2 previous subscriptions) and only had 1 duff book each.
I love getting a mystery book in the post each month

I got...

Murder under the mistletoe, Richard Coles

Thinking, fast and slow, Daniel Kahneman

I bought myself Indistractable by Nir Eyal just before Christmas - I'm really enjoying this so far, I think / hope it might be a bit brain-changing.

Lovely thread thank you op and pp. You have all given me books to add onto my never ending book list.

I got murder at the vicarage by Agatha christie. Looking forward to reading this as I've never read any Christie before. I also got the new Barbra Erskine book the story Spinner.

@Peridot1 you could try watching the white princess, the white queen, the tudors (hope I've remembered the names and order correctly, Google has the correct order) oh and there is also the Spanish princess. That will give you the background from Henry the 7th up to the end of henry the 8th.

I got
Wounded Tigris by Leon Mccarron
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
A thousand feasts by nigel slater
There are Rivers in the sky by Elif Shafak

Very much looking forward to reading them all.

I got The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers, Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee, The Inklings (bio of CS Lewis, Tolkien ..) by Humphrey Carpenter and 3 Slightly Foxed editions of Diary of a Provincial Lady, and school books Terms & Conditions by Ysenda Maxtone Graham and Mr Tibbits’s Catholic School by Ysenda M G.

DD also made me a bookmark with a list of kindle book recommendations she thinks I will like, she really gets my taste.

I got Someone Else's Shoes, Jojo Moyes, and Away With the Penguins, Hazel Prior.
Right up my street, chuffed. 😁

@Turophilic - sorry! Typo in my post. It’s Henry VIII!

@Enterthedragonqueen - I was just looking at that after the mentions on the thread. Might order it.

@Thewhisperingwindsofwinter - I have read a lot of Philippa Gregory - which is what started my interest in that period. I haven’t watched any of those though. Might put them on our watch list.

I received:

Entitlement- Rumaan Alan
The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
The Outrun - Amy Liptrot
A mouth full of salt - Reem Gaafar
Night Waking - Sarah Miss
Twelve Moons - Caro Giles

Was also hoping for Pat Barker's the journey home and Fire John Boyne and My Good Bright Wolf Sarah Moss so might look out for them myself.

My gifts were a bit lean on the book front this year so I only got one; The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. Planning on getting stuck in this afternoon while the rest are watching football.

I really enjoyed The Outrun recently @mizu.

I'd like to but we live in the north-east and London feels like another country. We rarely go south of York.

I’m in Yorkshire - if you book train tickets a couple of months ahead for a day in London you can get good deals - it might be worth a go. The British Museum is a nice stroll from the train station and I can happily while away most of the day there.

I asked for and got The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. It is set in the long, harsh winter of 1962/3. I was a baby at the time, born in October 1962, and that winter has taken on a mythical quality for me as my parents talked about it often. How they walked me for miles on frozen rivers in my pram, etc.
It is fabulously well written and I am really enjoying it.

Today I also got We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

My daughter got me Rick Astley's autobiography and i also received a Waterstones voucher from my mother in law so i have been on the website today and bought a couple of Holly Jackson books in the sale that i have had my eye on!

I got my 9 year old DS The 1000 year old Boy. Earlier this year I also got him a beautiful hard back set of The Wild Robot trilogy just before it was released in the cinemas. He was hooked and read all 3 in quick succession.

@Peridot1

I'm not a fan of the Tudor (Upstarts) but I have seen all three drama series mentioned.

You need to watch The White Queen first, it's about Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, ending with the Battle of Bosworth.

The White Princess is next, concerning their eldest child, Elizabeth of York and her marriage to Henry VII.

The last in the trilogy is The Spanish Princess, about Katherine of Aragon and her marriage to the utter b***d that was Henry VIII.

They're enjoyable to watch, but my real interest is in the Saxon, Viking and early medieval eras.