Dec 21, 2010
It's the last holiday-themed episode of the year! Before we head off to celebrate Christmas with our families, we share with you the books we're hoping to receive as gifts, two books that surprised us, and two books that we're wrapping up for family and friends.
We've given you holiday gift ideas, and told you about some
books that we are giving as gifts, but we haven't yet 'fessed up on
what books we're hoping to find wrapped up for us. Michael is
hoping for DC
Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book by Matthew
Reinhart. I'm hoping that Santa brings me Skippy
Dies: A Novel
by Paul Murray
or Faithful
Place: A Novel
by Tana French.
I never thought it would be a book that I would want to read,
but Decodedby Jay-Z is so powerful and
cool, I haven't been able to stop talking about it. I'm not a fan
of rap or hip-hop, and barely knew who Jay-Z was, but the reviews
were so strong that I had to check it out. It's part memoir, part
coffee table book, and a must for any music lover or person
interested in cultural history.
Michael's not a big sports fan, but found himself captivated
by Ice
Time: A Tale of Fathers, Sons, and Hometown Heroes by Jay Atkinson. He so
loved this book that he also talked about it in BOTNS
episode 23. The story of a high school hockey team goes well
beyond the sports category.
Michael loves to give his sons books for Christmas, and this
year he is gifting Snowmen
All Year by Carolyn Buehner.
Buehner's other books are already a hit with the family, and this
should be no different.
I'm giving my friend Christine a copy of War
and Peace (Vintage Classics)by Leo Tolstoy, translated
by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I'm hoping that this
will inspire her to join my War
and Peace Read-Along. You are welcome to join in, too -- see
the Facebook
page for more details. We kick it off in February.
We'll be back next week with the books that you voted as the Best of 2010. In the meantime, Merry Christmas!