Christmas Books

Welcome back to AndOnSheReads on the other side of Christmas, and I hope you all had a lovely day, however you celebrated, in this strange strange year. It’s been an unusual set up for the holiday season, and whether you’re focused on the religious side of things or all about the presents, I hope you had the best day you could.

Over here, obviously the focus is all about the presents books, and I’ve been very lucky this year, with a little haul from friends and family, which is really exciting, and also just generally lovely as it really shows how well the people around me know me. I’m going to do a little run down of my new books, starting with a festive read.

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings – Charles Dickens
A beautiful cloth bound edition to add to my small growing collection, this lovely version of A Christmas Carol was from one of my sisters-in-law. We opened our presents with them via a Zoom call on Christmas Eve Eve (it’s a THING), so I was able to sit down and read the story before Christmas, which was lovely. I try and read A Christmas Carol every year, and to read it in this beautiful cloth bound version was lovely. I was so happy to open in! The same sister-in-law gave me a cloth bound copy of Sanditon the previous year.

Unicorns, Dragons and More Fantasy Amigurumi 2
From another sister-in-law and opened during the same Zoom call, this crochet book is one that I was so excited to open and I really can’t wait to start to making my way through the patterns. There’s some brilliant designs and I’ve been waiting eagerly for this book since it was announced, having loved book one, and I know my home is going to be filled with some brilliant creatures over the following year.

Normal People – Sally Rooney
This book has been on my book wishlist for a while, and someone I follow on Twitter kindly gifted it to me during a wishlist sharing thread for Christmas. I wasn’t expecting anything and had enjoyed being able to afford to send one book this time, so I was really surprised when this popped through my door a few days later. I’m really looking forward to reading it, especially as I’ve heard mixed reviews, and that always makes me interested!

Witch – Finbar Hawkins
This beautiful naked hardback is a historical fiction that caught my eye a while ago and ended up on my wish list for the description just as much as the cover. Described as being “about the power of women, witchcraft, fury, revenge and the ties that bind us“, I’m really looking forward to reading what is bound to be a powerful book.

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Collectors Edition – Sarah J Maas
My husband surprised me with this one, and I must say he’s very much in my good books for doing so (book pun intended). I’d not mentioned that I wanted this book but had been admiring it from a distance, and he picked it for me along with some of the others from my wish list, and I’m very pleased he did. The extra detailed map inside and cover details just make this the perfect book for any ACOTAR fan.

Chaos Walking trilogy – Patrick Ness
I only asked for the first book in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go, but again my husband surprised me with the boxset. These books were recommended to me by several other YA book bloggers over the recent months, and I’m looking forward to finding out what they were all so excited about.

Mini Amigurumi Animals – Sarah Abbondio
I’ve lost my crochet mojo a little bit this year with all the stress of… you know, 2020. It’s a shame because in the past I’ve used it as something to really lean on when I’m struggling. My husband bought me this book because he thought the projects being so small might help ease me back into it, something I’ve been wanting to try and find a way to do. I’m really looking forward to making some of these. Look at that raccoon!

The Illiad – Homer
Another clothbound to add to my collection, I genuinely squeaked when I unwrapped this. I’ve been reading a lot of Ancient Greek retellings since they’ve become more popular, from A Thousand Ships to Circe, but my old copy of The Illiad was very battered and annotated from studying over a decade ago. It’s great to have such a lovely copy of it, and I’m going to treat myself to a reread in the new year.

The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow
To wrap up, this final book of my Christmas haul is wonderful to have in my hands. I read the book as an ARC for NetGalley, and loved it. I knew within 5% that I needed a physical copy as well. I read the first book Alix E. Harrow wrote, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, at the beginning of the year, and it only seems fit to finish the year with a picture of this book.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day and are spending Boxing Day like we are; eating too many mince pies and drinking too much fizz.