Did you get any good books for Christmas?

I bought myself **Towing Jehovah ** and the two follow-up books and The Accidental Time Machine for Christmas.

The second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I got Vol. 1 of the Bloom County Library, Valley of the Dolls, and a British history book.

I got Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye and Gate at the End of the Stairs by Lorrie Moore.

Asked for and did not get The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes.

Yep, cribbed my Christmas wishlist off the New York Times Best of the Year list…

I got the newest Malcolm Gladwell book “What the dog saw”… also used my gift card to get Tasim Ansary’s “Destiny Disrupted” History thru islamic eyes…

I got a book called Cincinnatus, which I’d never heard of (and hey! I live very close to Cincinnati!) and King’s Under The Dome, which I started yesterday and am about halfway through. I like it, its classic King.

My friend is a big 20th century literature guy (Vonnegut, Roth, Bukowski, Murakami, etc) who loaded up on Thomas Pynchon for me. I am a big reader, mostly the news and non-fiction. Very little fiction. I’ve heard of Thomas Pynchon, something about a gravity rainbow, and that’s about it. The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity’s Rainbow, V, Mason & Dixon. So I’ve got some homework for me this new year.

The SO got me this, totally unexpectedly (due to the steep price). I’ve been traveling since Dec. 24 and haven’t even had a chance to do more than open it, but I know what I’m doing with all of my free time in Jan.

I also bought myself some great yoga and Buddhism books at Boddhi Tree in West Hollywood.

Using my Borders gift card, I acquired Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker (which is quite engaging) and Dan Simmons’ Drood (which I haven’t started yet.)

I put **Warbreaker **down for a while, but still think I will pick it up and finish it.

A few -

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay, his most recent fantasy novel.

Gabriel Fauré by Jessica Duchen. A biography of the turn of the twentieth century French composer

A Well-Mannered Storm by Kate Braid. A set of poems that centre around the poet’s simultaneous discovery of the recordings of Glenn Gould while struggling with her own hearing loss.

Opened Ground: Poems 1966 - 1996 by Seamus Heaney.

Lawren Harris - In the Ward - His Urban Poetry and Paintings edited by Gregory Betts. This one is particularly fascinating, as I had no idea that Lawren Harris had ever written poetry. It covers a geographical area of Toronto that has been completely destroyed which we now know only through his paintings, and reflects on a period of Toronto history (the 1920s) when the Arts scene was just starting to blossom. Looking forward to spending a lot of time with this one.