Ellie narrowly squeezes into ninth

We're definitely onto the home stretch now! I don't reckon I'll hit my 75 this year (*sob*) but with some Christmas and challenge reading still to go before the New Year this thread should be in for a good innings anyway... Welcome back everyone!

My previous threads:
1) http://www.librarything.com/topic/104722
2) http://www.librarything.com/topic/107030
3) http://www.librarything.com/topic/108542
4) http://www.librarything.com/topic/111309
5) http://www.librarything.com/topic/114689
6) http://www.librarything.com/topic/116942
7) http://www.librarything.com/topic/121310
8) http://www.librarything.com/topic/125918

As always, you can also catch up on a load of general chatter and bookshop news over at my blog, Musings of a Bookshop Girl... I'm doing a couple of challenges over there this year too (my 'Books Read 2011' page has the links), and I've already beaten my target over at the LT Books off the Shelf Challenge for 2011. Hooray!

And finally, here's this year's ticker:

I've added the message number of each review on this thread for quick reference.

BOOKS READ 2011

Thread 1:
1) Blacklands - Belinda Bauer
2) The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld 1) - Gena Showalter
3) The Chrysalids - John Wyndham

Thread 2:
4) The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove - Lauren Kate
5) Holes - Louis Sachar
6) Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast - Bill Richardson
7) Seasons of Life: The Biological Rhythms Living Things Need to Thrive and Survive - Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman
8) Awkward Situations for Men - Danny Wallace
9) Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
10) Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen
11) The Thirty-Nine Steps - John Buchan

Thread 3:
12) To Touch a Wild Dolphin - Rachel Smolker
Bonus Read: 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know - Joanne Baker
13) Killing Britney - Sean Olin
14) The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember - Nicholas Carr
15) Boys Don't Cry - Malorie Blackman
Bonus Read: A Kitten Called Moonlight - Martin Waddell
16) The Reformed Vampire Support Group - Catherine Jinks
17) Icefire - Chris d'Lacey
18) Stone Cold - Robert Swindells
19) Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall - Kazuo Ishiguro
20) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Thread 4:
21) A World Without Bees - Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum
22) Bloodstream - Tess Gerritsen
23) Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters
24) Don't Mention the War!: A Shameful European Rail Adventure - Stewart Ferris and Paul Bassett
25) Beach Babylon - Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous
26) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Süskind
27) Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - Laurie Viera Rigler

Thread 5:
28) The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld 2) - Gena Showalter
29) Owl Cry - Deborah van der Beek
30) How Reading Changed My Life - Anna Quindlen
Bonus Read: Kate and Wills Up the Aisle: A Right Royal Fairy Tale - Alison Jackson
31) Long Lankin - Lindsey Barraclough
32) The Espressologist - Kristina Springer
33) Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher

Thread 6:
34) Does Anything Eat Wasps? And 101 Other Questions - ed. Mick O'Hare
35) My Cousin Rachel - Daphne du Maurier
36) Passion - Lauren Kate
Bonus Read: Your Mother Doesn't Work Here: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Notes - Kerry Miller
37) Blood Magic - Tessa Gratton

Thread 7:
38) Bumped - Megan McCafferty
39) So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading - Sara Nelson
40) Matthew's Travels: 10 Years of Trips for the Travel Show - Matthew Collins
41) The Princess Bride - William Goldman
42) Haunted - James Herbert
43) The Last Werewolf - Glen Duncan

Thread 8:
44) Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
45) Look Back in Hunger - Jo Brand
46) Faceless Killers (Kurt Wallander 1) - Henning Mankell
47) Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
48) Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman
49) The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less - Barry Schwartz
50) Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way - Jon Krakauer
51) Atonement - Ian McEwan
52) Ape House - Sara Gruen

This thread:
Bonus read: More Book-worm Droppings - Shaun Tyas (message 24)
53) Nickolai of the North - Lucy Daniel Raby (message 49)
54) Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery - Keren David (message 83)
55) Direct Red: A Surgeon's Story - Gabriel Weston (message 84)

More books! And that's before the post's arrived!

I bought The Bad Beekeeper's Club by Bill Turnbull, from the local remainder bookshop in town, Thanks for Nothing by Jack Dee from a charity stall, and A Concise Guide to Weather from the Co-Op (some nice photos, and it matches another one I already bought a while back).

I also returned Ape House to the library this morning. For some reason the check-out process on that first trip has missed off one of my titles (Parasite Rex isn't showing on my records) which means that for devious purposes, I had two slots now available to fill, hooray! After the organised chaos of Chesterfield library, I was delighted to find a whole tidy Man Booker display at our little Bakewell branch, with multiple copies of most of the shortlist. I chose Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman and The Sisters' Brothers by Patrick deWitt this time...

I'm well chuffed by my little haul this morning, especially since I'm also expecting a flurry of parcels from the postie. Karma did thwack me a good left hook though, thanks to a winning combination of my dodgy hip going into a madcap ongoing spasm that I can't seem to shake off, and there being swathes of black ice everywhere which have rendered me a quivering wreck every time I step out the door. Honestly, there were THREE COUNCIL MEN guiding cars in over at the parking ground this morning (one at a time), yet over by the gate you have to go through to reach the path into town, there was nowhere you could step without slithering on a thick layer of sheet ice. And it's market day, which means there are old ladies arriving by the dozen over there. Why the hell weren't they putting some grit down or something, instead of arsing about like schoolboys across the field?! Morons.

Oh, and a (rather weird) guy has just been and bought some stuff from the shop. He looked like the Grim Reaper - floor length black coat, weirdly-styled black hair, jangling earring, huge black boots - but actually turned out to be a slightly camp fella who spotted my copy of A Fish Caught in Time and went into raptures about how good it is. He works in South Africa right near the museum where the first 'modern' coelacanth (discovered in 1938) is still housed, and said there were some wonderful, more recent videos of live coelacanths on YouTube. Brilliant!

Hiiii Ellie!!

It's a good thing you are an honest book lover, I could see someone else noticing a book isn't listed on their record and keeping the book.

The (rather weird) guy reminds me of myself. I think the first impression most people get from me is "holy crap that guy is creepy." I suppose if I ever opened my mouth and spoke with people they'd realize I'm harmless...unfortunately I never do that. *Grins maliciously* >:D

Argh, on the ice thing. It's something that drove me potty when I lived in England. What is so difficult about dumping a bit of grit and salt onto the bad patches? If I'm able to do it on my driveway at home, it shouldn't be a problem for the council workers.

Ice terrifies me. Usually my office building guys are good about gritting the car park and paths, but there have been odd days when they appear to have lost their minds and not bothered. One day there's going to be a bad accident...

And, er, found your last thread!

Hi Ellie! I don't like ice at all. I have fallen many times. Hope the council workers put some grit on it soon. Happy Reading!!

Ellie!! *tackle hugs* Thought I ought to warn you that your Crimbly present is en route and if Royal Mail decides to actually function correctly then a package will turn up tomorrow for YOU!! :D
Ugh ice is the worst thing about my commute, the business estate where work is located was a bloody ice rink this morning and when you're surrounded by huge lorries it's rather scary :S
Also stop buying books so close to christmas! :P
And... I'm off for noms! *dashes off*

*Gasps*
Rachel! You're alive!

Hi Ellie!

My house is halfway up a hill with the cars at the bottom. . . sometimes ice causes problems

Hehe yea I've been doing an excellent impression of a lurking zombie for weeks now but Ellie has instructed me to make myself known every now and then so folk don't think I've literally vanished :P
I may trudge on over to my hideously neglected thread and revive it from it's state of hibernation.
*gets uber cobweb whacking brush*
Wish me luck!

Checking in, Ellie. Sounds like quite the haul of books. Hope the weather warms up enough to melt some of that ice. :)

I agree, Christmas-time book buying is always dangerous. (Pay no attention to the three books I bought myself today. That's different...um, somehow.)

Yikes to the ice! Salt and sand/grit shouldn't be too difficult to fling over roadways - how does anyone get anywhere without crashing into things?!?

The postman brought me another two books yesterday, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, which has repeatedly been out of the library, and The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins which I found on the library catalogue in place of the book I was actually looking for... What can I say?

Fortunately the ice had melted by the time Mum, me and my grandma went back to the car last night, but instead we were faced with yet another slippery walk across the muddy field in the pitch black where the council has pulled down the last floodlight. The woman in front of us stumbled into a huge muddy puddle trying to find her car by the light of her mobile, it was ridiculous.

So last night I sat down and wrote a long and very cross email to the car parking and environment (read: pavement) departments of the local council. A "WTF ARE YOU DOING YOU BLOODY MORONS! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" kind of email. Then I felt much better. :)

Now I'm just doing some pre-Christmas, er, 'admin' (cataloguing books and arsing about online) and 'tidying' (shoving everything under the bed) and waiting for my sis to get home from university with my stepdad. And reading Nickolai of the North, which is kinda fun for a kiddie Christmas tale. Wheeeeee!

Ellie darling! *glomps* you do spoil me!! (The package kind of fell open in my hands :P)
Thank you very muchly m'dear and I do hope your present arrived alright today?
Am I allowed to read these yet as it's not yet Christmas or do I have to be a good girl?

>12 elliepotten: I like to think that "admin" is one of the necessary things in keeping a well-ordered mind, if not actual room. At least, this is what I tell myself when I go to clean my room and end up spending an hour or so on the computer, er, cataloging? :)

Mary - Absolutely. I mean, who doesn't want to go through their entire blog/LibraryThing history piece by piece just so they can fill as many of the 'From where?' and 'Acquired on' fields on their LibraryThing catalogue as possible? And if I don't make sure everything's catalogued by the New Year, it'll mess up next year's Books Off the Shelf attempt something chronic, right? Right? *rocks quietly in the corner, whistling 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' and giggling hysterically*

Rachel, sweets, what on earth does *glomps* mean? It sounds disgusting, whatever it is, if you must do it on my thread please take it outside onto the patio... ;)

I'm very glad you like your pressies - and no, you don't have to wait until Christmas! Because, er, your parcel accidentally fell apart in MY hands too. I blame the Royal Mail. *coughs* Thank you very much! I'm thinking Miss Peregrine might be one of my Christmas reads, while I don't have to get up for work the next day so it doesn't matter if I couldn't sleep after all those freaky photos! *shudders* And I'm going to have a lot of fun playing with my zombie book! I know someone else who'd have a lot of fun with it once I've died horribly a few thousand times read it all... *waves to Stephen*

On top of that, I had another parcel waiting for me at the delivery office, containing The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell (after Stephen recommended it... *waves again*), Sweet Venom by Terra Lynn Childs (which I couldn't resist because the cover's so damn gorgeous) and The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber (if Emily Gilmore called it salacious and devoured it while drinking heavily and wearing a kimono, it must be good!).

And that's before today's post has arrived! :)

In the meantime, I've been watching Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man, the wonderful documentary about the late George Whitman and his bookshop, Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. I discovered the film after my second reading of Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs (or Time Was Soft There) and this must be the fourth time I've watched it now. 98 year-old George died last week so it seemed a good time. I'm about due a reread of the book too, and I wrote a very short piece on my blog about George's influence on me, called Why I wish I'd reached Paris sooner, if anyone's interested!

Update: Another two books arrived with the postman, who informed me in no uncertain terms that he thinks I have a sickness, and that I'll probably end up being the subject of a bad Channel 5 documentary... Anyway, I got two funny books to peruse over the holidays: More Bookworm Droppings (funny things customers say in bookshops) and A Steroid Hit the Earth (funny typos and editorial mistakes). I've already caught Mum browsing the bookshop one and smirking to herself.

Plus, I don't know if I mentioned this already, but I'm going to be in another, newer version! Jen Campbell, of Ripping Yarns bookshop in London, has a collection coming out in 2012, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops. And at the end of the book, she's got a little section of weird things customers have said in other people's bookshops - including mine! Apparently I get a free copy of the book out of it too, which is awesome since I'd have bought it anyway.

Ellie, a glomp is an attack hug.
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=521451

A glomp is a good thing :-D

Drat, that More Bookworm Droppings book just went on my wishlist. Argh!

Oh, okay. How on earth do you know these things?! I've never heard it before! *retrieves Rachel from the patio, checks her over for hypothermia and settles her in a corner with a cup of tea*

Me and Mum have been having a good chortle over More Bookworm Droppings! "Do you have a copy of James Joyce is Useless?" Priceless! :D

*sits shivering and sipping on the cuppa*
Why thank you Ellie, I wasn't liking the looks of those gnomes out on the patio - I fear they had suspicious intentions :S

I'm glad you like the books - when I saw the Zombie book I thought Ellie is gonna love that! Maybe Stephen will have to have a copy for his birthday? :P

Oh and I may, have accidentally readbothShatterMeandTouchofPowerlastnightoops!
But boy was it worth it! :P

But now I have to wait forever for the next books in the series! *stomps foot* :(

I am loving the sound of that Weird Things Customers say in bookshops, I'm gonna have to get me a copy!

Which zombie book? Where!? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Are there monkeys? Does it taste good with gravy? I hope Santa brings it!

Wait, what were we talking about?

Rachel - There there, s'okay now... All that glomping, you see, it attracts the worst kind of gnomes. Weird Things... is already up on Amazon as a pre-order so get it on your wishlist or something. And how the hell do you do that, read two books in one night?! *looks around at the pile she wanted to read to pave the way for the Christmas hols* I've been too distracted here on LT, it's disgraceful! :)

Stephen - 10,000 Zombies (no TS); a book with split pages so you build your own monster on one side and a story on the other; ummmmmm... (non-fiction?! *facepalm*); not yet; no; doubtful. *pat pat* Go and rest your brain for half an hour, I think you've overdone all that thinking malarkey again.

I find thinking isn't necessary most of the time anyway. *Throws can of Pepsi at a wall trying to get it to open*

*wearily fetches a mop and finds a safe place to wait for the inevitable Pepsi explosion*

Just finished More Book-worm Droppings by Shaun Tyas, as a kind of bonus read. I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as the first book (Book-worm Droppings), perhaps partially because it widens its focus from second-hand bookshops into new bookshops, print shops and even galleries.

That said, there were some absolutely hilarious customer gaffes, perhaps even enough to rival my particular favourite from the last book:

Do you have Anne of Clark Gables?

This time around, some of the pearlers include:

> Do you have a copy of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the Dormobiles?

> Have you got a copy of James Joyce is Useless?
(think about it...)

> Have you got that book, you know, the one by Salmonella Rushdie?

Hehe...

OMG NOES, I HAZ A OMINOUS HEDACHE AND A SORE THROTES! *coughs pathetically*

Dear Sandy Claws,

Please can I have a nice normal throat again soon, and also can I not have a cold for Christmas Day. I think it would be a terrible waste of my mummy's cooking if I couldn't taste any of her yummy Christmas dinner. Or if I MUST be poorly sick, could you make it the good kind of poorly sick where I get to lie in bed all day reading and eating tea and toast, not the kind where I have to have a bucket next to my bed or want someone to come and Kill Me Now Quick.

Fank you Sandy Claws. Love from Ellie (hopefully on the Nice List) xx

OH NOES! My inner face tubings got all congestified today too :/
Hopefully today will be the worst for us both, and then we can be all healthy like for Xmas and read-a-thon-ing

I hate inner face tubing congestifying! I hope I don't get that. It's making me feel funny just typing it. Not liking my 'swallowed a marble' throat thingy though, it's making it very difficult to eat mince pies in a timely manner. Definitely looking forward to another read-a-thong, as we christened them Way Back When, it's been aaaaaaages! And it will herald my Longest Time Off Unless We Get Lazy Or It Snows, which is cool beans. :)

You're having mince-pie eating issues? That must be stopped! Someone invent the cure to the common cold pronto!

#27: I'm just really glad that someone else of the silly order is participating :)

>28 archerygirl: - I know, right? Stupid bugs, flying around at this time of year trying to give everyone the Christmas plague!

I don't feel quite as crappy as I did this afternoon, I've watched the Grumpy Guide to Christmas on iPlayer (Brit viewers - one of the fabulous grumpies on it, Mark Steel, visited our shop!), I've had toasted teacakes and coffee, and now I'm going to settle in with my book and a cup of tea, I think. I've still got the sore throat though!

>29 katelisim: - Gee, thanks... *adjusts jester's hat indignantly and flounces away*

Oooh, and I forgot to tells ya, I finally got an adult reviewing gig on the blog! No, not that kind of adult... But still, after all this time getting only YA books (from Random House Children's Books) and one or two indie requests, Jess gave me a nudge in the right direction and now I've sneaked into the gang reviewing for Headline! They sent me their Spring/Summer catalogue of key releases, plus a copy of the upcoming novel The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey that I'd asked for (amazing name, btw), PLUS a surprise extra: a copy of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, which sounds right up my street. Well chuffed, peeps, well chuffed!

Congrats!

#30> I feel like there's a design flaw in the timing of Christmas, being at the absolute worst time for horrible gerry invaders. Your afternoon sounds like my kind of cure!

>15 elliepotten: Yes, yes, the "From where?" fields all have to be filled in! It's key to knowing how much I actually spent on books, whether they were bought new or not... No, I do understand, though. I get incredible satisfaction out of some of the smallest organizing things, especially when it comes to my books (have I mentioned that I have a special library book shelf, organized by date due?). Between that and how much I read in a given year, I appreciate being able to come onto LT and feel normal.

>31 katelisim: - Thanks! *squees just a little bit*

>32 archerygirl: - I know, right?! At least it's our last day at work today (until 27th, at least - thanks Mum, for whacking some extra working days right in the middle of our ONE BREAK, how festive), even if it does feel more like a weekend at the moment with the kids off school already. I'm sure while I'm sitting eating a danish pastry and reading, trying to embrace the Seasonal Joy, someone will say, "Ohhh, aren't you open tomorrow?" and I shall say "NO! WHY ARE YOU SHOPPING ON CHRISTMAS EVE WHEN YOU COULD BE EATING MINCE PIES, WATCHING MOVIES AND READING BY THE FIRE? IDIOTS!!!!!!" And then I shall feel much better. :)

>33 bell7: - Oh good, it's not just me... I'm actually reading over ALL OF MY THREADS so far - and having quite a laugh, I must say - and picking out anywhere I've said "Ooooh, I bought these books today!" Very handy for adding the date of acquisition, see? Following that I'll do the same with my blog (probably). And after THAT I'll go through the whole library in order of adding the books, seeing if I can fill in the blanks. It'll give me something mindless to do while we're having enforced 'family time' with various guests over Christmas - I can still participate, but in spirit I'll be on LT where it's safe!

On reflection, the postman may have been right about that Channel 5 documentary... :(

Another book arrived! The last before Christmas Day... Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees by Roger Fouts, bought after it was recommended by Sara Gruen at the back of her wonderful novel Ape House. Fouts befriended a baby chimpanzee and at the time of writing his book, she was still his friend and now matriarch of a clan, all of whom can communicate via sign language. Doesn't that sound amazing?

Oh, and yesterday Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua arrived too. Heard a lot about this one - about how it will make me Very Angry yet also Reluctantly Awed - and I looked for it in the library twice but it wasn't there. So I bought it. :)

I've thanked the postman for his Services to Giving Me Books, and informed him to use his Christmas break wisely - to rest up for next year... I might give him a break during January, get through some of my December haul, depends if he behaves himself! ;)

>34 elliepotten: One time I made it my goal to update all the books in my library that didn't have their original languages in the description... On a related note, it's also important to be caught up on threads before I leave on vacation tomorrow, right? (I say this knowing that the Big Change to 75 Book Challenge in 2012 will come when I'm away, putting me hopelessly behind before the year's even started...)

#34> People who shop on Christmas Eve for anything beyond groceries (I have to get my veggies in tomorrow) are insane and don't deserve to have a lovely bookshop to annoy people in. You are smart to take tomorrow off. Today is my last day at work until January 3rd (so excited!) and thanks to a snow storm, I'm working from home until the boss says I can call it a day. Hopefully he'll let me go around lunch time :-) That means I'll hopefully spend the afternoon curled up with kitties, a book, and some hot chocolate watching the snow fall and enjoying the knowledge that a Man with a Plough Blade on His SUV will be out later to dig me out.

I got a coupon in e-mail from Barnes & Noble urging me to go visit their store on Christmas Eve. I just laughed that they think that 25 percent off would even tempt me to fight with the crowds. Now, if it had been 75% off, it might have been another story.

Merry Christmas, Ellie!

Mary - Aaaah, a kindred spirit. Yes, when is the 2012 changeover happening? Last year it was about Dec 15, we're running late!

>37 archerygirl: - I know, right? My stepdad ran out this morning for a paper and some milk, but why on earth would anyone want to spent their last day before Christmas running round town like a headless chicken? And if they've left their shopping that late and are all stressed, would we really want to be dealing with them today? Nope. *stretches luxuriously and reaches for her mug of Ovaltine and a mince pie* :)

Lori - Nope, even I don't want to be buying books on Christmas Eve. I'll be sitting here reading them instead, much nicer way to spend the day!

Roni - Now, THAT is my kinda Christmas tree! Merry Christmas!

Hey there, Ellie. I hope you are feeling better, and that you have a wonderful Christmas. My day will be free of any commitments, I get to sit at home, read, play video games, and I have a whole pile of Mythbuster Christmas specials recorded and ready to watch. THAT is what I call a good Christmas.

I do, however, have a family gathering to attend today. Eeek. Fortunately my mom has one of those new Kindle Fire things (She doesn't read, but it's "cool and new" and so she spent $200 on one...) and she wants me to 'figure it out' for her, so hopefully that'll give me an excuse to not talk the whole time. :)

Ellie. Hope you have a happy and healthy 2012 with some wonderful customers.

#40> I hit the really nice grocery store for my veggies, some extra treats and tonight's supper early this morning. It was gorgeously quiet and civilized so I think that I hit it at the right time :-) Now I have some baking and cooking to do, followed by cleaning, and hopefully by early afternoon I'll be settling down with my massive DVD mountain and the book pile. Hope you're feeling better today and have a lovely Christmas with many beautiful books!

Merry Christmas Ellie!!

Merry, Merry Ellie!! Hope to pop around a bit more in 2012. : )

mistletoe smooches!

No worries - by popular request, we're starting 2012 later this year. Boxing Day is a very nice day, isnt't it! ;)

Merry Christmas Ellie! I hope Santa brings you lots and lots of lovely books to read!

53) Nickolai of the North by Lucy Daniel Raby



I picked this up in an attempt to boost my festive spirit during the run-up to our Christmas break, and finished it on Christmas Eve night. Perfect timing! And a perfect choice. Raby has taken a typically probing question by her young daughter, about what Santa was like as a child and where he came from, and spun it into this original fairytale for the older child/younger teen market.

This is a story about a little boy, Nickolai, and his search for his family. After a horrific attack on the Elfin kingdom by the witch Magda and her evil band of demons and goblins, baby Nickolai is snatched from the snow by a flying reindeer just as Magda's vicious wolves are closing in. Deposited down a chimney in the nearest 'Two-Legs' village, Nickolai grows into a young man in the care of old Joe and Hannah, and makes new friends in his town. Hearing rumours of a new Golden City further north, Nickolai and his friends travel to investigate. For Nick, this is a quest to finally find out who he is; for his friends and their families, it is a chance at a new life. But all that glitters is not gold, and when a terrible plot is uncovered, threatening childhood forever, it's up to Nick and his old reindeer friends to save the day.

This is a wonderful book to give to children at Christmas, weaving together all kinds of Christmassy magic and mythology into one action-packed story. There are fairies and wolves, demons and witches, elves and reindeer, Northern Lights and streets paved with gold, sleigh rides and a magical forest. There are hideously evil and twisted characters who seem to be unstoppable in their dastardly plots to destroy the world, and there are good, brave and courageous people who must fight to win the day. And ultimately, as you may have guessed from the title, this is the story of the boy who grew up to be Santa. Recommended for children, and anyone who still looks out of their window on Christmas Eve and secretly hopes to see that reindeer-drawn sleigh twinkling across the sky...

Stephen - Merry Christmas munchkin! 'Figuring out a new gadget' seems like the perfect way to excuse yourself from doing anything else. Just look contemplative and play with the buttons a bit every time someone walks past, occasionally mumbling a perplexed 'Hmmmm....' Problem solved!

Dad's not coming up this morning - he's off to his girlfriend for Christmas Day - so it's just us and the cats until the afternoon when my grandparents arrive. And I doubt my sister will be up for a while because she's been working so late every night on her law coursework and revision. I've already posted a review and visited a few blogs this morning for a bit of a read over breakfast, and I think I might find a new book to start with another cup of tea before I do anything taxing like getting dressed...

Calm - I'll drink to that! *clinks coffee mugs cheerfully*

AG - That sounds lovely! Apparently Bakewell was HEAVING yesterday when Mum drove through it, but I don't care because I had a nice day to myself, watching bits and pieces on iPlayer and finishing my book. I have a family and Christmassy things to do as well, why should we have to miss out just because we have a shop? *sits down defiantly in her pyjamas* ;)

Chelle - Merry Christmas!

Berly - Always nice to see you around here, even if RL gets in the way for a while! I'll try and keep up better with everyone else next year too, I always start out well then fall down by about March! Merry Christmas...

Richard - *swoons and nearly knocks the Christmas tree over* Merry Christmas darlin'!

Jim - Makes sense... I seem to remember a few people had already filled a thread by mid-December! Boxing Day will hopefully be a delightful day filled with movies, chocolate and a fair amount of lying on a sofa with a book in my hand - provided we can just do that last-minute wiggle to get out of any more family commitments. *Wiggles experimentally and vows to practise at least three times today, just to make sure*

Laura - Ohhhh, me too! I'm fairly sure my dad's bought me at least a couple, AND the Harry Potter 1-8 box set, so I'll be happy! And I'm going to read a bit later on while everyone's scattered doing cooking or watching Downton Abbey, which will be nice. Hooray for books at Christmas! And have a good one yourself... :D

Merry Christmas Elliekins!!!
Hope you've had some awesome pressies! I've now got a day full of familial members to interact with when I really want to be drooling over my pretty new set of Harry Potter hardbacks *myprecious*

Oh and I manage to read two books in one night because I have no care for how tired I may be at work the next day :P And I reads really fast! :D

Annnndd now I must dash people will be here soon!

Haha, I wish I could've done that, but my family wouldn't have bought it. I told my mom how to get free books and fixed all her movie downloading problems in about 2 minutes, so the other 5 hours and 58 minutes+ were spent reading, pretending to read, and watching Youtube videos of video games I can't play on my crappy computer. *Drolls over Diablo 3*

Merry Christmas Ellie! Your day sounds nice and relaxing :)

Merry Christmas, Ellie and a good Boxing Day tomorrow too!

Merry Christmas, Ellie!

Hey all! *looks around at the slumped forms and kicks a couple awake* All survive Christmas just about intact, did we?

We had a nice quiet day in the end. A late start, a few pressies, some lunch nibbles, then my grandparents arrived and we had a hilarious time watching the Elf Yourself video my sister had made of us (you add your photos and it turns you all into dancing elves with a repertoire of about eight different dances, including a disco groove and a very fetching charleston). I had no idea I could move like that! A little Kung Fu Panda, a little Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (poor Scrat!), quite a lot of turkey and chocolate pudding, a nap, and a Downton Abbey Christmas special, and the day was done!

I got some nice pressies, including the most gorgeous new soft dressing gown (I may never take it off again) and some super-soft bootee slippers (ditto), the Harry Potter 1-8 box set, an ungodly amount of chocolate, and some Christmas book money cash. And four books! Rebecca Makkai's The Borrower from my sister, about a boy who persuades his librarian to kidnap him and go on a road trip after his horrible mother goes a step too far. And from my dad, 0.4 by Mike Lancaster (which for some reason will only find a touchstone if I type it as Human.4), The Radleys by Matt Haig, and The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. Hooray!

I slept atrociously that night, downstairs on the sofa with the leftover heat from the fire, a cricked neck and an interesting cat/wrapping paper combo, so I was actually up pretty early on Boxing Day. We watched The Borrowers later on (the new one with Christopher Eccleston and Robert Sheehan, yay!), Dad and his girlfriend came up for an hour, and I read a good chunk of Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery. And today we're back at work, just for the Bank Holiday, though so far not one person has walked through the door. The sign says we're closed until the 5th January so our regulars aren't around - and now I think about it, our CLOSED sign is still flipped. Oooops. I won't tell Mum, maybe we'll get off early if nobody comes in! :)

Now, I wonder which books I could buy this week that I DIDN'T get for Christmas...?? *wanders away to search through Amazon wishlist again*

P.S. I have a 2012 thread now. It's empty because I haven't put any proper messages in yet, but it's there nonetheless, should you wish to pop over there before Jan 1!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/129250

Oh my god, this guy's playing a video or something with this ear-splitting freaky music turned up to full volume, right by the desk. His wife wandered round the shelves in surprise because she thought it was 'part of the shop'. No love, but your husband will be part of the wall and the iPhone will be embedded in the floor if he does that again. Merry Christmas. *smiles sweetly and fetches some headache tablets*

ETA: And his friend just asked if we did cashback here. No! *sigh* Is it hometime yet? It's been manic all day and I can't shake the feeling that I should be at home on the sofa! :(

It's end of year read-a-thon time, thanks to Katie! I've been reading for much of the day already, and have finished Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery by Keren David, a YA novel about a sixteen year-old girl who wins £8 million on the lottery and has to work out where her priorities lie, how to spend her cash, who her friends are, and how her life is going to pan out now she's rich. Interesting premise indeed...

Now I'm reading Direct Red by Gabriel Watson, an autobiographical account of life as a surgeon in an English hospital. It's fascinating so far and I've already welled up once. It's quite short too, so it's ideal for a 9pm read-a-thon start! I'm also watching You've Got Mail intermittently, partially because it's a great book movie, partially because it's been a while since I last watched it, and partially because I've got a rather nasty headache brewing...

I can't stay up too late tonight because I'm in the family house and we have guests arriving tomorrow too, but I'll try and manage a little while. My sister will up fairly late doing her law coursework anyway, and this headache will be a good excuse for a mug of coffee, a chocolate muffin and some painkillers in a few minutes.

Good luck anyone who's participating, we've got 72 hours of reading ahead, woohoo!

72 hours of reading? Very impressive, Ellie. And I think You've Got Mail is an excellent film choice. One of my favourite films. :)

Mine too! I'm just at the point where The Shop Around the Corner is bordering on closure and Joe has just realised who Shopgirl is... *sighs happily* Not read anything though. My head feels awful, all sinus/head-cold-type pain that I've finally managed to relieve a little with menthol headache stick - only now I can't see because the fumes are making my eyes water so bad. Maybe I'll watch a bit more of You've Got Mail, and see whether a second batch of painkillers will finally knock this thing on the head for the night. Hey, at least I got an impromptu Tom Hanks bookish movie night, right?!

P.S. And never fear, I'm actually sleeping for this one. After 72 hours I'd probably be hallucinating, with a pounding headache and an upset stomach to boot! I'll take it at my leisure, see what I can get read in three whole days of bookish dedication, yay!

Yeah, I fell asleep. By midnight I'd had two lots of tablets and had nothing left to throw at my headache but a night's sleep... Anyway, it's not about 8:15am, I'm breakfasted, headache-free and I've watched the end of You've Got Mail, so I'm good to read again!

Okay, I'm not going to be tracking my reading hours because they're bound to be a bit sporadic over the three days, but me and Domino have curled up together for a bit and read 29 pages... Not a whirlwind of a start, but Direct Red is so beautifully written, with such precision, that I don't want to read too fast really. I'll be having a cuppa and reading a bit more, then I'm off for a nice long hot shower...

It's not far off 1pm now, so I'm sitting here with a mozzarella and tomato pizza and a mug of coffee, plus sweets from the retro sweet shop at the local retail outlet, reading away.

I've read another 33 pages of Direct Red, boosting me up to 62 pages, which isn't too bad considering I've showered and chatted to my sister, tidied up a bit and all sorts of other bits and pieces since I got up. Hopefully I'll get in about another hour or so, then I might watch Never Been Kissed on telly. I used to love that movie when I was at school... Then after that, more reading until our guests (my auntie and her husband) arrive, whenever that may be. After THAT the read-a-thon will be a great excuse to get away from the chatter for a bit, perfect!

Unfortunately it seems my not-quite-cold is rapidly becoming a sort-of head cold. No sore throat or blocked nose or anything, but I've got that horrible 'water's gone up my nose!' pressure between my eyes, making me sneeze, occasionally making my eyes water, and giving me a near-constant sinus headache. I'll try and keep on top of it today so I get some good reading done, even if I have to give up again tonight and go to bed on time!

*Gives Ellie a magical cold-banishing hug of nice warm happiness, with book-reading-encouragement additives*

Okay, fine, I admit I'm not sure if those work as well over the internet, but it couldn't hurt to try. :)

Nice start Ellie! Keep it up :)

I, unfortunately, must go to work this morning/afternoon. Then, not so unfortunately, am having a late lunch/early dinner with a friend while she's in town. Should be back here around 6ish to read for a couple of hours. Then have a drink or two with other friends that are in town. It's gonna be a busy day.

Thanks Stephen, every little helps right?

Katie - I'm sure you're looking forward to getting back to your book and some peace and quiet at the end of the day! I'm looking forward to it at the end of this evening, I like having my auntie and her hubbie here (they're young and a lot of fun) but after a while I just want to get away back to my own space, y'know?

Anyway, now they've arrived I'm not sure how much reading I'm going to get done between now and the post-dinner lull. We usually end up sitting round the table for quite a while chatting after we're done eating, though I can sometimes escape for a few minutes once the plates are cleared...

In the meantime, I've read a tiny bit more of Direct Red, including one of the most heartbreaking pages I've come across in a book ever. I've read another 21 pages, taking my total up to 83 pages. Which is pathetic, really, but I might get in a couple of hours this evening and tomorrow I'll aim for a full day of reading before we go out for dinner! *sigh

Well, we started dinner at about 6:30, it's now nearly 10pm and I'm finally back upstairs with a mince pie and Madagascan Vanilla Custard. I did sneak upstairs for a bit after dinner when my stomach was feeling a bit uncomfortable, and had 15 minutes curled up on my bed with a very affectionate Domino and my book.

Hopefully I'll finish Direct Red pretty soon - it's marvellous, life-affirming and heartbreaking - and then I'll probably be picking up one of my YA review books. At least after all this dinner and conversation, time has slipped away so quickly that I'll probably have no trouble staying awake for a couple of extra hours to read some more! Plus the rain and wind are battering the house, which always helps. Hope it stays this way for a few more days, I might get out of working that second Bank Holiday after all! *fingers crossed*

I am intrigued by the Madagascan Vanilla Custard. What is it? Does it actually come from Madagascar?

It's a very thin custard, more like Creme Anglais, made with Madagascan vanilla. It's delicious on a mince pie, that's all I know! ;)

You English and your exotic foods (said the colonist ;)).

Afternoon all! Yes, the read-a-thon is still going, and I'm still goin crap... At least I got a bit read yesterday! I woke up again this morning with yet ANOTHER sinus headache (*sobs*) but settled down with my book again for a while with a mug of tea and some ibuprofen. It was only AFTER my cup of coffee an hour later that I, er, fell back to sleep again (yay caffeine!)...

Anyway, I'm now up, dressed, I've sorted some books for the shop with Mum, and I've watched the whole of Sky High, the wonderfully amusing teen superhero movie. Like The Incredibles but live-action! Love it. I've also finished Direct Red (wonderful) and started Virals by Kathy Reichs, since I've been sent the second book, Seizure, for review and haven't even read the first one they sent me yet! Oooops. So far it's not grabbing me, but I'm only a couple of chapters in so I'm sure it'll speed up soon. I've read another 65 pages since my last update anyway, bringing me to a fairly useless total of 148 pages.

Ah well. Dinner tonight is booked for seven, and my auntie and her hubbie have gone out shopping for a bit and for some lunch, so at least I can crack on with my book hostess-free for a while! I've retrieved my last couple of slices of yesterday's pizza from the fridge, made a huge mug of fortifying coffee, and stolen a chocolate from the jar on the dinner table, so I'm good to go! :)

I've read another 50 pages of Virals since my last post, which isn't too shabby. That's taken me neatly up to the end of Part 1, and upped my reading total to 198 pages. I've just made a yummy white hot chocolate and I reckon it's time to start downing the arsenal of tablets that will take me out for dinner tonight. I hate going out for dinner, and the more people are going, the worse it gets. :(

So I guess I'll get cracking on all my 'Anxiety, Stay Thee Down' and 'Stomach Be Well' pills now, and hope for the best. And read a bit more, though I'm getting a bit sleepy and there's a big black and white cat curled up on my bed just asking for me to join her for a nap... I'll try and resist a bit longer! *yawn*

*Gives Ellie a magical anxiety-banishing hug of nice warm happiness*

Sorry, I've never been good with words... :)

Got my whole family watching Cloverfield... just at the underground bit... hehe, only two of us have seen it before! *shudders*

Muahaha.

Hope you are enjoying Virals! I read that earier in the year and thought it was decent. I just bought the second in the series Seizure

Hi Chelle! I'm enjoying it so far, now I'm getting a feel for the characters and what's going to happen. I got sent Virals for review last year, never got round to it (oops) and just realised that Seizure is coming out here in early January and is ALSO sitting on my review shelf. Time to placate the nice ladies at Random House with a flurry of long-overdue reviewer reading, I think! :)

Woken up with more of a cold this morning, a permanent 'water's gone up my nose!' feeling, and yet another fuzzy head. I've had Domino with me all night which was kinda cute, and my auntie and her hubbie are leaving today so we don't need to keep smiling through her iPhone addiction and constant talking about running and cycling and Iron Man events and triathlons... *yawn*... she's obsessed and it's SO BORING! They're great company other than that, but man, that iPhone's come close to being shoved where the sun don't shine once or twice over the last day or two...

Anyway, I'm just sitting here eating breakfast with a cup of hot chai tea (hoping the ginger and spices will help) and a chocolate chip muffin, then I'll be seeing my auntie off and going back to my book! I might watch a movie later, dunno, there's a couple of things on since it's New Year's Eve so I'll see how things go... Onwards! :D

P.S. Since my last page update I've read another 39 pages, taking me up to 237 pages. Hooray!

Boo for the cold. That's absolutely no fun. Hope you get tie up the year enjoyably, Ellie! :D

See you in 2012

Well, I read another 53 pages of my book before midnight last night, taking my read-a-thon total tally up to 290 pages. Which isn't that bad really, when you think we had guests here, and I wasn't feeling too great, and last night was my sister's last night so I spent several hours with her watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and playing with the cats...

Anyways, Happy New Year everyone! I've got a couple more reviews to finish over here before I can move completely over to the 2012 thread (for Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery and Direct Red) so I'll be hovering around both for a little while longer... :)

Happy New Year Ellie!

Well done on the read-a-thon! And on only having a couple of reviews left to do here - I have far too many, I think I'll be stuck in 2011 for the next month! Anyway, I'll look out for you over in 2012 when I get there!

Hi Genny - I know, it sucks doesn't it? I doesn't feel like a clean slate for the new year until the last reviews are written. I would probably have done them earlier, but between our guests and my cold I just, er, couldn't be bothered. :P

Right! I may still have those two reviews to write here, but I'm also now posting over at the 2012 thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/129250

See you there - and Happy New Year everyone!

Back to 2011 for one of my owed reviews from the end of December... Only one more to write and I'm up to date!

54) Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery by Keren David



"My mother kicked me out one minute after I won eight million pounds."

Well, with an opening line like that, how could I resist? Lia Latimer is sixteen when her first ever lottery ticket - bought for her by her friend Jack as a joke birthday present - wins her the jackpot. The novel follows her through the trials and tribulations of life as a lottery winner, and it's clear that David has done plenty of research to guide Lea's experiences - the psychology, the pitfalls, the management, the advice and the opportunities.

Alongside the lottery story there is a good dash of family angst as the Latimers struggle to adjust to Lia's new wealth - particularly her little sister Natasha, who suddenly finds herself in great demand amongst the popular girls at school... Lia must also learn to negotiate her friendships now her life has changed. Does she owe Jack money because he bought her the ticket? Why does her best friend Shaz seem so uncomfortable about the whole thing? And is Raf, her long-time crush, interested in getting to know her for herself, or for her money?

I have to mention one thing that really bugged me about the book, which was the particularly vapid ongoing theme of digging at paranormal romance novels. Lia and her friends are obsessed with them, and it's unclear whether David is merely acknowledging the genre's popularity or outright mocking it. Would a sixteen year-old girl (and her peers at school) really be entertaining the possibility that her tall, dark and handsome boy toy is a vampire/werewolf/fallen angel? Those parts made me cringe, I have to say.

That aside, however, I liked it. It definitely made me stop to consider the realities of suddenly being wealthier than you've ever imagined. Lia, a rather immature sixteen in many ways, makes many blunders in the early days: telling too many people, throwing too much money around, getting carried away buying gifts and hailing taxis just because she can. Throughout the novel she has to learn to manage her winnings and discovers what she can do with a little help and some good advice. David doesn't go down the 'money is the root of all evil' path, but she does encourage her readers to think about what having money means - how it can corrupt but also aid, how it can be a social catalyst or an embarrassment, how it can be used wisely or frittered away. A fun, interesting and unusual read - and hey, if I ever DO win the lottery, at least I'll know what not to do!

At last, my final review owing from 2011! Now I can move onto 2012 unencumbered... well, apart from that first review of the year I haven't written either... :)

55) Direct Red: A Surgeon's Story by Gabriel Weston



I picked this up on a whim, out of a bag of incoming books at the shop, because I've rather enjoyed other 'medical memoirs' I've read in the past. I find them fascinating, perhaps because the medical profession is such a world apart - men and women caring for every kind of person in every kind of difficult situation, often at absolutely critical moments in their lives. Gabriel Weston's surgical memoir is definitely the best of the bunch so far, and I can see why it was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award in 2009.

Weston is a surgeon in a big-city English hospital. Her book is divided into short, deftly-titled chapters, providing themes for her anecdotes and creating an interesting structure. 'Speed', for example, illustrates the importance of quick thinking and rapid action in saving lives; 'Hierarchy' delves into the power relations of a surgical ward, and 'Children' covers her time in the paediatric emergency room and children's department. Theming each section allows Weston to move around in time and to make important points about the surgical profession without muddling her narrative, and it really worked for me.

This is a beautifully written book that rings with the precise and matter-of-fact detail that a surgeon's eye is trained to notice. Weston's disclaimer points out that no one character or situation here is 'true' - but I don't think it really matters, because at the book's heart is a thoroughly authentic and experienced voice. There were some heartbreaking moments and some charming ones, some lyrical descriptions and some blisteringly earthy ones. Far from being frightened by the graphic surgical scenes, I found myself reassured by how much the human body can withstand, and how much a surgical team can do to mend it when it is broken. Highly recommended - though if you're squeamish you should probably give this one a miss!

Argh, your final review hit me with a book bullet! Onto the wishlist it goes.

Yes, I really like the last one too! Hurray!! Now on the 2012 with a clean conscience. : )

Hooray! I've finished Virals by Kathy Reichs and reviewed it over at the new thread, and I'm now reading the second book in the series, Seizure, and Microcosm: E. coli and the new science of life by Carl Zimmer. See you over there!