My friends and family are officially the most amazing people ever. After my birthday and Christmas this year, I have gathered a total of ten books with a few more family members to see, and that makes me the most lucky person ever. Thank you everyone for your brilliant presents, and be safe in the knowledge that you can always keep me more than happy with books.
So, who wants to see what I got?
Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne
★★★★★ (Already Finished)
The sheer speed at which I managed to finish this should tell you how much I loved it, and to be honest you just have to read it. Now and without pausing for breath.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
★★★★☆ (In Progress)
I've only withheld a star here because I'm halfway through and have a feeling that this ending is going to get pretty complicated. Good complicated, I'm sure, but my poor, tiny brain tends to scream in pain at this sort of thing - I'll have to survive if I want to know what happens to Cinder, and ERK I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!
I love this kind of retelling, because it's just different enough from the original fairytale that I can't quite predict how things are going to go down. And, frankly, stuff will go down. I can tell.
Modern Family: Wit and Wisdom from America's Favourite Family
(Non-Fiction)
I am very, very obsessed with
Modern Family - mostly because
Alex Dunphy is effectively me - and it's one of the few things I'm a fan of that hasn't been brought up on this blog yet. The brilliance of this little tome lies in the fact that it is filled with quotes, and that means I'll have even more material to parrot at my parents even though they've already seen it.
Huzzah!
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
★★★☆☆ (Two pages in . . .)
. . . and it's already really, really interesting.
I'm a sucker for anything told in a non-conventional manner, and the emails between Beth and Jennifer are pure genius. They sound like I hope my friends and I will when we finally grow up.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Illustrated by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay
★★★★★
It's Harry Potter and it's beautiful and it's huge and MINE. ALL MINE! I haven't read this edition all the way through yet, because I'm terrified of doing something horrible that will make it not beautiful (you should see how many food stains most of my books have) and it is therefore under armed guard.
I have, however, opened it for long enough to gawk at the flawless illustrations - there are small images on almost every page and the whole thing is peppered with the most amazing double-page spreads. There are even a couple of original pieces of information from J.K. Rowling herself, and . . . wow.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
(Not Started Yet)
I have heard literally two things about this book, and know very little about it other than these two things. To be fair, I don't need to know anything more to think it'll be fantastic.
1) It is about being ordinary. Anti-chosen-one. And the idea sounds brilliantly unique.
2) There is diversity. Diversity on its own doesn't make a book, but when it's teamed with a capable plotline, I will probably love the resulting wormhole of awesomeness
I also got
The Knife of Never Letting Go by this author, and I'm going in with even less information. It's almost thrilling (almost)!
Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea by Robin Stevens
(Not Started Yet)
The friend who recommended this book is an expert in the boarding-school-mystery sort of thing, and before all else I trust her judgement. It's the sort of thing that I tend to attack between weepy books, to spare my tear ducts if anything else, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it. Or weep - you never know. . .
My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece and Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher
(Not Started Yet)
Ketchup Clouds was so, so gorgeous, and it looks like the elements I loved in that were key elements of the author's style. That means GET ME ALL THE BOOKS THIS GENIUS HAS EVER WRITTEN EVER.
Sorry. Insert anything the tiniest bit traumatic in a book and I get weirdly excited: take the opportunity to back away slowly.
***
I'm sure there are a few more books on the way - there might even be the odd one I've forgotten in the Christmas rush, and this is terrible - but if I ramble any more you'll all get sick of me. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and what does your haul look like?
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