poppyshake

Sorry to hear about your books Tim .. why can't people understand that we treasure our books?

Well this is brilliant news just brilliant I'm sure you're going to enjoy all your new books Steve but really will be keeping my fingers crossed that you love this one. Remember to bear with it .. it does start slowly and there's a lot to take in and you will be thinking every five mins 'yes .. but when does Jonathan make an entrance' but all will be well .. in fact all will be excellent .. I hope

Hope you're having a lovely Christmas Hayley xx

It was on today here (very early) but I missed it .. bother! I should have done my TV homework more thoroughly I'm not sure if it's Christmas .. it's definitely wintery .. yes it must be Christmas because there's a brilliant bit where the bear (polar) comes in the front room while Tilly and her mum and dad are watching The Snowman on TV There's all sorts of visual jokes concerning Tilly's mum and dad's inability to notice they have a massive bear in their house. Very much like The Snowman in style and the song is magical too (sung by a young Charlotte Church I believe.) It's rare to see it now though Just catching up with last night's episode of Death Comes to Pemberley .. enjoying it more than the book as no repetitive dialogue etc. Think Matthew Rhys is miscast though as Darcy .. would have preferred Tom Ward (he's playing Colonel Brandon.) It's gorgeous to look at

Such a co-incidence over the Thirkell's .. though we were clever enough not to get the same book .. well done us!! I know you like foodie books and also that you like Victoria Coren (hope I'm correct) so here's hoping you like Giles I know it will be funny .. least I hope it will be I haven't read Saplings but I did like Ballet Shoes and I'm pretty sure someone on here said it was there fave Persephone .. anyway I know you have a quest to read them all so it was a case of plucking one from the list and crossing fingers and all that I love the sound of your other books .. Alex, the Dog and the Unopenable Door .. what a great title. Also Frost Hollow Hall conjures up all sorts of images (Lord! I've just seen the cover .. how beautiful ) Happy Reading Claire

I think I will keep him Claire and I'll definitely keep you Thanks for all our lovely gifts

Thanks Gaia It's lovely exchanging presents but I would really like to be a child again and just have all the pleasure and none of the pain of Christmas Tbh I make it hard work for myself .. but now I can hopefully get some time to look at all my things and enjoy them. You have a lovely family celebration on the day and I'd love to do that .. make it all about spending time together etc. That's not to say that I don't love my books/spotty things etc though Thanks KM My nephew is rather lovely and I had no idea that he knew his way around an Amazon wishlist I remember seeing The Wimbledon Poisoner advertised on TV but I didn't catch it (and there wasn't catch-up then ) I read Of Mice and Men this year (borrowed it from the library) and enjoyed it so this set was too good to ignore. Alan said 'order what you like and I'll get it for you' and I don't need telling twice It is isn't it Marie ... lots to play with

Now this is all going to look very greedy but .. in my defence .. I don't ask for anything but books for Christmas (apart from spotty things .. heart things .. stuff with birds on and chocolate ) I'd much rather have a large pile of books than an iPhone 5 or whatever number they've increased it to since I was last paying attention Plus .. three sets were from The Book People so all bought for the price of three normal books .. that is not to say that I'm not an incredibly fortunate girl/woman/old crone with lovely friends and family My Christmas Book Haul 2013 Six volumes of The Letters of Virginia Woolf Dear Lumpy - Roger Mortimer (from Mum & Dad) Dickens at Christmas (Vintage collection) (from Alan) Love Nina - Nina Stibbe (from Alan) The Woman Who Died a Lot - Jasper Fforde (from Claire ) High Rising - Angela Thirkell (from Claire ) The Library of Unrequited Love - Sophie Divry East of Wimbledon - Nigel Williams (from Alan) They Came from SW19 - Nigel Williams (from Alan) The Wimbledon Poisoner - Nigel Williams (from Alan) Mr Pye - Mervyn Peake (from nephew) Sisters By a River - Barbara Comyns (put Janet's voucher towards this and The Library of Unrequited Love ) Christmas at High Rising - Angela Thirkell (from Alan) The Birds and other stories - Daphne du Maurier (from Alan) My Cousin Rachel - Daphne du Maurier (from Alan) Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier (from Alan) Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (from Alan) The House on the Strand - Daphne du Maurier (from Alan) Going to Sea in a Sieve - Danny Baker (from niece) Cannery Row - John Steinbeck (from Alan) The Pearl - John Steinbeck (from Alan) Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (from Alan) The Red Pony - John Steinbeck (from Alan) East of Eden - John Steinbeck (from Alan) The Red Tree - Shaun Tan (an amazingly beautiful illustrated book that Claire sent to us ) There is still money to be spent and a certain proportion of it will go on books of course.

Yes .. that was the second relief I am hopeless at taking pics of people but not so bad when it comes to books (they look good from every angle ) Did you get a good haul then Steve? I need to check up on all the blogs .. bloomin' Christmas .. it steals so much of your time

Well I knew you, at least, would share my excitement I loved reading the selected edition but this will be far more insightful. I agree with you about letters ... or at least I did .. until I read Virginia's words .. 'letters are always written with one eye on the recipient, to spray an atmosphere round one' and I knew instantly what she meant. However, I don't think you can help giving large chunks of yourself away in letters .. especially if you write them so often and so detailed as she did. It's all just nonsense. The book belongs to me but Alan read it and raved about it (so he is one of the ravers ) and since then he's been nagging me (there can be no other word for it) to read it and I have started to feel so resistant as to be positively anti. The size puts me off and bless him .. his synopsis of it has put me off further .. it always sounds less and less like a book I want to read. Yet .. it's madness to be put off a book for such ridiculous reasons and because it's on the shelf I will look into it one day (though .. I'm not in a hurry ) Because of the ongoing banter about it .. I had a suspicion (which others helped to embroider ) that he may have bought me six copies of it .. as a practical joke. To be then given these beautiful books instead was just amazing (not to say a huge relief ) though I did feel guilty at the same time .. for five seconds

Thanks Kate bless you xx I only have face cream that deals with laughter lines .. I can't afford the frown lines one as well (very confusing though .. if you put it on at night .. how do you know what your face will be doing in sleep? ) Alan is a love .. I think I should really try and give him at least seven nag free days (not in a row though .. impossible ) Thanks Gaia .. I'm sure I will

They are aren't they Alan says he will make me an exact size book trough to keep them in .. not sure how that will work but I'm looking forward to it already Hope 2014 is a much better year for you Awww thanks Julie It is probably true to say that nobody else would have us I'm very touched that he went to so much effort .. he especially likes to encourage my love of Virginia because she and Leonard were printers and owned a press and that elevates them in his eyes Also .. my reading Virginia gives him lots of quiet time to himself (though not so quiet because he'll probably use it to watch the latest Tarantino )

Thanks Deborah .. a very happy New Year to you Thanks Gaia I think I am beginning to de-stress ... now that all the hullabaloo is over Happy New Year

I really enjoyed it .. and it has lead me into another purchase .. that of Kilvert's Diary (though the fantastic Vintage cover had a lot to do with it too ) The extract from it was brilliant I do have a nice hardback collection and I enjoy looking at them etc but I can never get really comfy when reading one. Though I forget all about that if the content is riveting. I just find that it's like posh clothes as opposed to comfy jeans. I can't loll about dropping toast crumbs on my hardbacks

Thanks Julie .. you too It has been a challenging year but at least it ended well which is the right way around I won't be sorry to say goodbye to 2013

Didn't open my six surprise presents until today Christmas Day was hectic and Boxing Day was spent at my cousin's so today was the first real relaxing day. Was nervous about opening them .. even though I was prepared for it to be a practical joke. I think that's why they remained under the tree for so long but anyway I needn't have worried This probably won't seem very exciting to most of you but I think, after seeing them, you can probably guess how exciting it was for me I hardly remember asking about them. I know I said after reading her selected letters that I would love to read them complete .. but I also knew they were hard to get hold of and not cheap. Anyway .. without me knowing .. Alan has been looking for them for a while and luckily for me .. came across this set and snapped them up I'm going to so enjoy reading through them Three cheers for them not being Carter Beats the Devil I suppose I really should reconsider my vow never to read it .. perhaps I will in 2014 The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 1: 1888-1912 The Flight of the Mind Vol 2: 1912-1922 The Question of Things Happening Vol 3: 1923-1928 A Change of Perspective Vol 4: 1929-1931 A Reflection of the Other Person Vol 5: 1932-1935 The Sickle Side of the Moon Vol 6: 1936-1941 Leave the Letters Till We're Dead Published by The Hogarth Press with jacket illustrations by Virginia's niece Angelica Garnett I do have a book haul to photograph too .. I'm just incredibly behind at the moment. I can't wait until everything quietens down again and I can take a good leisurely look at all my books (though I'm not wishing Christmas away obviously .. just the hustle/bustle of it.)

Brilliant review of Neverwhere Brian ... it's so readable and entertaining as you say. I heard some of it dramatised on Radio 4 (or it may have been 4 extra) over the holidays .. which was also brilliant (amazing cast ... James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Natalie Dormer, Christopher Lee, Bernard Cribbens and Johnny Vegas to name a few.) I really liked American Gods too but, as Chrissy says, it's a different sort of book. Neil is always worth reading though .. I love his imagination

143 books this year is awesome .. well done Gaia .. and great to hear that quite a few of them were brilliant reads Good luck in 2014 .. as Tim says you'll probably be thinking of setting higher goals

Christmas is exhausting isn't it? ... it should be followed by a national holiday where we can all recover and detox Looking forward to seeing those titles Couldn't go to the shops yesterday as was at my cousin's but will be there today looking for bargains. Some of the shops had sales even earlier than Boxing Day .. and though it's tremendously helpful if you still need to buy bits for Christmas there's something a bit dispiriting about it when you see all the big red sale signs everywhere. It's almost like the January blues have come early. Still .. I'm up for some bargains of course

Well done tunn .. you've had a lot going on in those four years so that's a great achievement Be brilliant if you could push it to 100 ... read a short story

Well your review of Three Men in a Boat made me laugh anyway .. so you do 'do' funny I'm quite looking forward to reading it .. though a bit worried that I'll find it contrived. I can't remember now if you're a fan of Wodehouse or not? I am a general embracer of silliness so expect to love it but exasperation can creep in if the humour feels too obvious. If it makes me smile a bit though I'll consider it worth the effort

This is very good news I didn't know Santa could bring back lost mojos .. oh there's no end to his benevolence The Astrid books are part of my present haul so I'm looking forward to dipping into them Have started Danny Baker's Going to Sea in a Sieve: The Autobiography .. very funny so far

The beautiful Disney animation for Stravinsky's The Firebird .. from Fantasia 2000

Thanks for the info Steve .. I'm off to watch it with a big mug of cocoa

Not very Christmassy Claire