What's with today, today?

As always, books I finished reading for the first time this year. This year with links to where I've talked about them before, for added convenience. [edited to add link to Home  review] Wolf Hall- Hilary Mantel Don't know how Hilary Mantel managed to make the intricacies of Tudor politics so clear and readable, but she did. Reviewed here Bella Tuscany- Frances Mayes Self-indulgent travelogue Angel Puss- Colleen McCullough AA Gill is Away- AA Gill  The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman Perhaps my favourite Neil Gaiman to date. A Madness of Angels- Kate Griffin Fast paced and lots of fun, urban fantasy. More here Under a Glass Bell- Anais Nin Gorgeous little short stories that made me want to read more. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins One of the most talked about books of the year, reviewed here The Slap- Christos Tsiolkas One of the most talked about books of last year. I was in two minds about it though, see here and here . On the whole, not a fan. Unseen Academic...

Happy Christmas all! Hope you had a great day. I was away from my computer at the time (actually spent about half the day on the road), so sorry that the Christmas greetings are belated. I am currently in the process of writing up my list of New Books Read This Year, but for now- what I got for Christmas (aka Christmas books):                - Truth, Peter Temple (Australian Crime)               - The Little Prince and Other Stories (Collected Children's stories, including The Little Prince and                The Railway Children)               - The City and the City, China Mieville (Fantasy/Crime)               - Freedom, Jonathan Franzen (American Literature)               - The Grimm Reader, trans. Maria Tatar, foreword by AS Byatt. (Fai...

In my wanderings around the blogosphere I have come across two(!) memes that involve filling in the blanks with books you've read this year. I couldn't decide which one to do, so naturally I have done both. The downside is that you start to run out of good titles, but it was fun nonetheless. First, from Regular Ruminations ( here ): In high school I was:   Under a Glass Bell  (Anais Nin) People might be surprised I’m:   The Fire in the Blood   (Irene Nemirovsky) I will never be:   Jude the Obscure   (Thomas Hardy) My fantasy job is:   Unseen Academicals  (Terry Pratchett) At the end of a long day I need:   Love in a Cold Climate  (Nancy Mitford) I hate it when:   Housekeeping  (Marilynne Robinson)  Wish I had:   A Study in Scarlet  (Arthur Conan Doyle) My family reunions are:   Exploits of Moominpappa  (Tove Jansson) At a party you’d find me:   Looking for Alibrandi  (Melina Marchetta) ...