Sunday, December 1, 2013

Mailbox Monday


Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday!  I am so pleased to host in December because it just adds to my general giddiness this festive time of year.

MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).  Marcia is looking for someone to take over tour organizing duties.  Many people have volunteered, but I don't know that there is a final plan for 2014.

MY THEME THIS WEEK: HOLIDAY BOOK TRADITIONS

Do you have any book-related holiday traditions? Please share!

MY TRADITION: Everyone in my immediate family loves to read, so I've developed a little Christmas tradition of filling a gift bag with books for each of them.  It is so fun to have a big stack of books to play with on Christmas day and to anticipate a new year of reading enjoyment. 

With that tradition in mind, I went to my two favorite Friends of the Library used book stores in Oregon: Booktique in Lake Oswego and Second Hand Prose in Oregon City.  My family members don't mind that the books are used and getting them from the library stores means they cost so little everyone gets a BIG bag.

MY BOOKS: I can never hit those stores without finding something for myself.  Many somethings.  Including these:



Amarcord: Marcella Remembers by Marcella Hazan. I have several of her cookbooks and her life story of growing up in Italy during WWII sounds fascinating.



The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I know this was hugely popular, but I somehow missed it.



Lulu in Marrakech
by Diane Johnson. I like her books and am in the mood to read fun stuff.



Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh. I am always in the mood for a vintage mystery and adore her Inspector Roderick Allyn series.

YOUR BOOKS

What books came into your house last week?  Leave your link below or in a comment.  If you don't have a blog but want to play along, leave a comment listing your new books.



22 comments:

  1. I read The Shadow of the Wind a few years ago and enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoy Diane Johnson's books, too. Have fun reading! And thanks for hosting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. To answer your question, I give books as Christmas gifts probably more than any other item. I love to receive them :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Gilion,

    Wow! Ngaio Marsh is a real 'blast from the past'. She is in a league with Agatha Christie and, like her, is an author I read avidly in my teenage years.

    Thanks for featuring this great author and I hope that the recipient of this book enjoys the writing as much as I did.

    Have a great week and thanks for the 'early bird' link, I appreciate it.

    Yvonne

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy December and thanks for hosting MM this month! What a pretty mailbox button you made!

    That's so awesome that you have so many readers in your family. I like that family tradition.

    Enjoy your new books!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think that's an awesome tradition, and would love to have a set of books to read to kick off the new year. And I'm the same way about book shopping for others, since if I'm in a book store, I'm probably going to wind up buying something for myself. And thanks for hosting this month!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Interesting cover on The Shadow of the Wind - I quite like it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great tradition! And I've heard great things about The Shadow of the Wind!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I also have Shadow of the Wind but have yet to read it. Thanks for hosting MM!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love your book giving tradition. I do try to give one or two books to the grandkids each year. :-)
    I have not read any of your titles. I hope you enjoy them all.
    Thank you for hosting this month.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks like you have some good reads. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for hosting! Your tradition of a gift bag of books is fantastic - lovely idea.

    ReplyDelete
  13. We don't have any book related traditions but I love yours. Enjoy your new books!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I LOVED Shadow of The Wind. After reading it I "had" to go to Barcelona. :)

    Nice selection of books, and what a wonderful idea for Christmas gifts.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Mailbox Monday

    Another giveaway on my blog if you want stop by that post too.

    Giveaway

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love your tradition! And when I go book buying, I always find some for myself too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. good to come here for Mailbox Monday! Ah Zafon, I so want to read the whole series!
    Holiday tradition: I love decorating our (real) tree with exclusively bird ornaments - what else would you find in a tree but birds, right? For an avid birder, the answer is obvious, lol. We have been doing this for 7 years and no way of changing. Wherever we go during the year, we always look for bird ornaments, so we add a couple of new ones each year. Really fun. But I'm Orthodox, our Christmas is in January, so we have to wait to put it up, otherwise there wouldn't be much left on Jan 6

    ReplyDelete
  17. Enjoy your new books and thank you for being the host of MM this month! Like many other readers, I try to read some Christmas themed books during December to help me get into the Christmas spirit. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Shadow of the Wind is one of my favorite books. I hope you enjoy it!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Enjoy! your new reads.

    http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/12/mailbox-monday.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love the Inspector Allyn series. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nice holiday book tradition and great mailbox. I like to give my kids books for Christmas as well. Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete