The List
November 27th, 2006 by Kathleen Bolton
International readers may not know that us (we? this is a grammatical rule I’ve never mastered) fat Americans have just finished a holiday noted for its gluttony. Now we will follow it with a holiday once much-revered for celebrating world peace but which has been mutated into a four-week orgy of spending.
My kid promptly handed me a list on Friday. Not just any list. THE list. Santa’s list. Thankfully I noted some book titles, and an underlined plea for gift cards so she can get the latest Erin Hunter title, helpfully released December 26 to take advantage of the after-season holiday frenzy (marketing genius, Vicky!).
I’ve got a list of my own, and I find that the more time I spend in a bricks-n-mortars store shopping for others, the more I feel justified in buying a little something for myself. No one knows my tastes like I do. I’ve decided that 2007 is going to be the year of the quirky read for me.
At the top of my list is Jasper Fforde’s THE EYRE AFFAIR, followed by THE KEEP by Jennifer Egan. I’ve also thrown in some sundry classics. Maybe this is the year I read Flaubert. Everyone should read Flaubert, I hear. And of course, if the portents hold, we’ll have the final Harry Potter installment ready to be devoured on 7-7-07.
[Ooo, UPDATE: the Guardian newspaper is holding a contest to name the final Harry Potter book. The winner will receive an autographed book plate by the queen herself, JK Rowling. Hmm, Harry Potter and the Tome of Unreal Expectations? Harry Potter and the Well of Everlasting FanFiction?]
The NYT’s has helpfully compiled a list of 100 Notable Books just in time to add for your holiday wish list (free subscription required). The Guardian has one too, for children.
What’s on your book wish list?
All the James Bond books by Ian Fleming (I’ve watched the movies, now it’s time to read the books)
All the Nancy Drew books
Any World War II books - fiction or nonficton
Yup, I’m easy to please.
Filling the gaps in my Judith Ivory and Laura Kinsale collections.
Research items like Life in Wellington’s Army, by Antony Brett-James and The Complete Servant by Samuel and Sarah Adams.
Any of these accompanied by some chocolate and I’m in heaven.
I forgot to mention that I also want the Anya Seton reprint of KATHERINE. It’s supposed to be the best historical novel ever. Be fun to see if that’s so.
Kath, I have read Katherine! I actually let my friend Polly (who lives in Atlanta) borrow it recently. I’ll have to see how she’s doing with it…
What you call an orgy of spending, I call an orgy of giving. I guess it’s all in how you look at it.