What books did you get for Christmas?

[Georgiemc]

I received The Safekeep by Yael van de Wouden and Heart the Lover by Lily King

The Foundling by Stacey Halls. DD and I went to the museum in London last year and were both very moved by it. It was a surprise gift and I’m so pleased with it ☺️

In hard copy:

The Stone Mason, and Church Going (both by Andrew Ziminski)
Folklore (Ceri Houlbrook and Owen Davies)
The Lost Chapel of Westminster (John Cooper)
The Cats Tales - feline fairy tales and folklore (Charlie Creed)

Then this morning I took myself for a little trawl through the 99p sale on the Kobo store and picked up:

A Death on Location (Revd Richard Coles)
Between the Stops (Sandi Toksvig)
The Excitements (CJ Wray)
The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe (Claire Parkin)
Dirty Thirty (Janet Evanovich)

@Sandcaaarstle off topic slightly but I'm desperate to go there. I've been doing my family tree and I discovered a foundling living with my great grandparents in the 1911 census. When I showed my Dad he said oh that must be Uncle Bob.

It turns out that they never sent him back to the foundling hospital when he was 5 but kept him and when we went through the old photos we found pictures of him and my Grandad growing up as best friends and brothers, first at school, then as teenagers, then knocking about on motor bikes together.

My Dad said they spent every Christmas round Uncle Bob and Auntie Elsie's house when he was a kid. He was aware that he had a different surname than my Dad did but so did some of his Aunties husbands so he didn't really give much thought to where he fit into the family, he was just his much loved Uncle Bob. I'm definitely going to be having a look at that book.

100 weekends in Europe (a lonely planet book).
School Dinner Heaven - Dorothy Spooner (old school recipes).

this sounds really good, am having counselling for perinatal ocd.

Wow! What an amazing story!

I would highly recommend going to the museum, I’d wanted to go for ages so we went one afternoon last summer. We only had a couple of hours before closing and I wish we could have had longer. It’s so sad seeing all the ‘tokens’.
It would mean even more to you knowing you have a personal connection to it. How kind of your family to take Bob in permanently ☺️

Benevolence series by Lucy Score

Also got the Chestnut Springs series by Elsie Silver but have already read them unfortunately

A Knock on the Door by Rob Parsons.

It is a true story about a homeless man who knocks on a couple’s door on Christmas Eve. They invite him to stay and he remained with them for 45 years.

Davina McCall interviewed Rob Parsons for her podcast ‘Begin Again’

Raising Hare Chloe Dalton and No Friend to This House Natalie Haynes

almost finished Elizabeth Day’s new one.

The Shipping Forecast, celebrating 100 years. I am utterly delighted as it was from an adult DC who clearly knows me very well.

The Proof of my Innocence by Jonathan Coe - I do like his novels but wasn't sure how I'd get on with this after hearing him interviewed about it. Guess I'll find out...

Identity Crisis by Ben Elton - bit of a wildcard as I'm not keen on him at all but I'll give it a go

Still need to read The Glassmaker which i was given last year. A lot of the books on my wishlist lean towards the miserable so aren't really Christmas gifts.

I have got out of the habit of reading. Got a book voucher and bought Ann Cleaves murder in my backyard and the day of the roaring Nina Bhadreshwar. Hoping to ease myself back with things that are simple

I was given a gift card to spend on kindle books!

I received:

The Middle Bridge Mystery by J.B. Harris-Burland
A Daughter of Art by Alice and Claude Askew

Both somewhat obscure mystery novels from the early twentieth century; should be interesting reading.

Life Impossible (or something like that) by Matt Haig and The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths. My dad buys everyone books for Xmas and I have a backlog going back years but am determined this year and have already started the Matt Haig one!
And I got a notebook from DS ❤️

sort of for Christmas but with an amazon birthday voucher Boleyn Traitor. It arrived today.

Moby Dick

Bismarck's War - Rachel Chrastil
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K Dick
Pure Invention - How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World - Matt Alt
House of Lilies - Justine-Firnhaber-Baker
Failed State - Sam Freedman

Bluff - Francine Toon
The black feathers - Rebecca Netley
The wrong sister - Clare Douglas
Paper girls - Alex smith

I’ve just started Bluff, liking it so far.

A Mind of my own by Kathy Burke - loved it, read it over two days.

Complete sets of Enid Blytons Malory Towers, St Clares and Famous Five, as well as a 1959 edition of Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder all the way from America.
Plus 5 J D Kirk books.
Happy me!

I've been badgering a friend to read The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy for some time, so I got her a copy for Christmas. Then I realised I hadn't read it for ages and bought myself a copy too!

Fabulous selection! St Clares were my favourite of Blyton’s school stories 😊

Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin (delayed book club read)
Queens Gambit - Walter Tevis

Also a small Waterstones voucher that I’ll spend in the new year! 🎉

How are you finding Educated @Fifthtimelucky ? I love that book!