Christmas Book Haul 2014

So I've been wanting to start a blog for a while but I've always come unstuck when trying to think of how to begin. Well Christmas has now awarded me the perfect opportunity! What better way to kick things off than with a book haul?! There were a fair few books on my list for Father Christmas and I was lucky enough to find myself unwrapping most of them on Christmas morning.

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
I'd imagine that A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin has featured on many Christmas/Birthday/TBR lists over the last few years for obvious reasons! Like hundreds of thousands of other people around the world I love the Game of Thrones TV series so how could I not want to read the original?

On the Black Hill - Bruce Chatwin
My undisputed favourite novel of 2014 was Richard Llewelyn's How Green Was My Valley, set in a small mining community in the South Welsh countryside (you will be hearing A LOT more about this in future blog posts, I'm certain) so when I spotted 'The Top 10 Books of Rural Wales' whilst scrolling through the book section of The Guardian website I knew there'd be something on the list that would take my fancy! I'd never heard of On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin (or indeed Chatwin himself) before stumbling across this list but the stark thematic similarities to How Green Was My Valley (families, communities, character-driven as opposed to a major plot) made it an immediate must-read!

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Every now and then I get a little obsessive over Cornwall, or at least the idea of Cornwall. No doubt it's a highly romanticised picture of the county influenced by childhood holidays, the mystique of Tintagel, and endless episodes of Escape to the Country, but it's a place my mind keeps wandering back to nonetheless. So I therefore decided to embark on a mission to track down novels with a Cornish setting (ok I literally typed 'Cornwall' into Goodreads) and once I'd scrolled through all the Daphne Du Maurier's I arrived at To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I know I should have read at least one of Woolf's works by now, I know I know I know, bu I've watched the film adaptation of Mrs Dalloway, does that count? Answer: no, absolutely not. But I am VERY excited to start To the Lighthouse very soon!

Stardust - Neil Gaiman
I ADORE the film adaptation of Stardust by Neil Gaiman! It's such a comfort watch for me; it's wonderful, magical, warm and exciting. I have no idea if I'll be entranced in the same way by the novel (I've heard there's some notable differences in the plot between the two?) but if I love it even half as much as the film then it's going to be an instant favourite!

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente
2014 was the year I discovered the booktube community on our favourite video-hosting site and I have so much to thank them for. A number of my favourite reads over the last 12 months stemmed from booktubers' recommendations, and one that I've been hearing a lot about recently (and I mean rave reviews, declarations of adoration, etc) is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherine M. Valente. I'm pretty new to the fantasy genre and I still find it a little intimidating and scary, but as a children's book I'm hoping this is going to be fairly accessible. Really looking forward to this one!

So Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems to Fanny Brawne - John Keats
I admitted to being relatively new to fantasy, but the acquisition of So Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems to Fanny Brawne by John Keats is a wander into completely unknown territory. My last foray with poetry was probably during my GCSEs at school and I can't say that it was an entirely enjoyable experience. Most of it left me rolling my eyes or scratching my head, wondering what that simile meant or why the poet had used alliteration in the fourth line or whether I could find evidence of personification for an extra mark. But during a boring afternoon at work a couple of months ago I decided to reacquaint myself with verse. And what do you know, it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable when you're not having to analyse it to death! Ok I still didn't understand half of it but I'm prepared to give it another chance and I thought this volume, including Keats' letters to Fanny Brawne, might be a nice place to start.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
In truth, I have no idea when I first came across Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke or what made me decide to read it. I think I was possibly on a fantasy-hype and it just happened to cross my path at the right time. I've heard it described as the 'adult Harry Potter' which, if accurate, poses a very exciting prospect! It's a weighty one though, over 1000 pages long - am I brave enough to tackle it?!

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Another feature on the list by Neil Gaiman - slightly odd considering I found the only book I've read of his (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) slightly underwhelming. But I've heard so many good things about Neverwhere that I just had to add it to the ever-growing TBR list. Simple as that really!

I can't wait to start on these! I'm currently halfway through The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy which I'm really enjoying (to my surprise!), but which one of these books shall I read next?!

Lou x