Book Hauls: Christmas Edition

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is getting books, and I've gotten several lately.

Someone in my neighborhood hosts a book exchange for the ladies in the neighborhood. It's one of my favorite parts of the year, and I always buy my books well in advance. This year, I took The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I ended up with The Last Bookshop in Prague by Helen Parusel which is a historical fiction.

My coworkers also host a book exchange, and it is legitimately one of the highlights of my year. We do this so we don't have to worry about getting each other gifts, and it is so much fun. We all look forward to it, and again, I buy my books well in advance. This year, I took Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I got back: Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini, and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

I'm super excited to add both of these to my TBR lists.

We also had a really big health scare for me around Thanksgiving that stretched into December. We finally got some answers, and even though I had to have surgery, the answers we got were a huge relief. We spent a week worrying that I had cancer, and seriously, it was rough. When we found out that I didn't, my husband (who spoils me anyway) took me to Barnes and Noble and bought me some new books - feeding my addiction because he was just so relieved that I was going to be just fine. I bought The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Same Backward as Forward by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson.

The Princess Bride is a gorgeous book, and I love the design on the sprayed edges.

The Same Backward as Forward also has sprayed edges, but what makes it really cool, is that it's a flip book. You read half of it, then flip it, and read the other half.

Christmas itself was also exciting, and lovely as always. I buy my kids tons of books, and this year, I got more book paraphernalia than actual books, but I'm still super stoked about these gifts. The book I did get was the fourth book in the interactive Harry Potter series. These books are stunning, even if the original artist left the project.

My sister gave me a set to give books sprayed edges (not pictured), while my brother 3d printed me these epic Lord of the Rings bookends.

My husband also bought me the Harry Potter Lego bookend/book nook set with the Hogwarts Express. I loved building it, and it has so many really fun details.

In all, Christmas was lovely, and I'm so excited to add books and lovely new nerdy decor to my collection. I hope everyone's holidays were as fabulous as mine!

Happy holidays, and a happy new year!

Comments

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

This is a book that I read for the first time around four years ago when I first started teaching. This novel is one that I have loved ever since then. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak takes place in World War II in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is not quite an orphan, but she is placed in foster care because her mother can't provide for her. Liesel goes to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann, and they completely change Liesel's life. On her way to the Hubermann's, Liesel's younger brother dies on the train. In the graveyard where he was buried is where Liesel steals her first book: The Grave Digger's Handbook. Hans teaches her to read it, and inspires her love of the written word. The Hubermann's will then hide a Jew in their basement for a time. What will become of that hidden Jew? What will become of Liesel? What will become of Himmel Street, her friends, and her family in the wake of a violent and terrible war? This book is probably one of my all-time favorite...

Brene Brown: Daring Greatly

Brene Brown is one of my favorite TED speakers of all time. I have listened to her TED talks numerous times and used them in my classroom each year. I love her message: that we can't have success, innovation, change, and creativity without first having vulnerability. I love that she is seeking to demystify vulnerability and teach what shame is and how it destroys our ability to accept ourselves and others. I am not normally into the self-help kind of books, but of the books I've read this year, this is one of my favorites! Daring Greatly by Brene Brown discusses the concepts of shame and vulnerability and how we need vulnerability, but not shame. She gives strategies for combating shame and becoming "shame resilient." She gives strategies to use as parents, teachers, friends, and spouses. For one thing, I love Dr. Brown's Texan accent (she narrates the audiobook herself! 💗). Her voice and personality are all throughout this book. She is not afraid to use persona...

Art Spiegelman: The Complete Maus

This is again another book I intend to use for AP. Something I love about this is the rhetoric is two-fold - you not only have to look at the dialogue but the drawings as well. Art Spiegelman relates the story of his parents' experience as Jews in Poland during World War II and all that they went through in the camps. This book goes through conversations Art had with his father in the present (he lived in New York before his passing) and their World War II story in the 1930s and 1940s. Vladek (Art's father) owned a textile mill in Poland. He was drafted and sent to the border to fight the Germans before the onset of the War. He was captured and sent to a POW camp before being released and sent home. Once the Germans took over Poland, Vladek lost his mill and he moved his family in with his in-laws. Things gradually got worse for them. They lost Anja's (his wife's) grandparents, then Anja's parents, and their young son was sent to live with extended family for his s...

Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

Search This Blog