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A Booklover's Christmas

   There were 2,635 pages under the tree just for me this Christmas. Pages full of analysis, reviews, history, pictures, fiction, and true crime. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; I also, as any normal person did, gave books this Christmas. Not quite 2,635 pages worth, but enough to hold my status as the reader of the family. Here lie the highlights of what this booklover was gifted this Christmas. 


#1: The New York Times Book Review


   125 years of literary history all bound into one beautiful book that combines my two passions, literature and journalism, is a collection of 368 pages I found myself gawking at on multiple occasions. All alone, on its pedestal in a warmly lit bookstore, stood my one true love: the one and only New York Times Book Review. Over the past couple of months and over the course of 6+ visits, at least three Parnassus employees said some version of, "That book is amazing. Inspired, really," as I stood drooling over this mammoth piece of journalistic righteousness. The thing is that I knew it was "inspired" and "amazing." With Christmas coming (to me, Christmas's "coming" starts in October, but I digress), I could not sink so low as to buy myself a present before I purchased another single gift for an important figure in my life. This was my version of Ralphie's Red Ryder BB gun, Kevin McCallister's family back, and Bing Crosby's white Christmas. My sainted siblings purchased The New York Times Book Review for me. I want for nothing. 

#2: Classic Copies: The Classic Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, To Kill a Mockingbird, & 1984



   Whether I've read it or not, the gift of a substantial, beautifully bound (literally sometimes sparkling) hardback from Barnes and Noble is a great gift. (By the way, there was just a sale at B&N for 50% all hardbacks! While I did not partake (shockingly enough), I have a lot of friends that found some great books. Congratulations. Nothing like a cheap book.) I have read some of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work (who I love! The Great Gatsby is tied for my favorite book, as some of you know.) and To Kill a Mockingbird. I am excited to dive into my bright yellow copy of 1984 by George Orwell soon! 

#3: America's Greatest Library: An Illustrated History of the Library of Congress


   Mozart composed his first symphony at eight years old. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at 18. Augustus Caesar became a Roman Senator at 20. I visited the Library of Congress in Washington D.C for the first time when I was seven. Seven years old was the age when I found the place where I most wanted to work. To this day, my dream internship would be in the LoC. While I do not claim to have influenced the world as much as Shelley or Caesar or Mozart, the Library of Congress has made an extreme impact on my life. My family knows this. My brother, who was nine at the time of my family's initial pilgrimage to our nation's capital, gifted this book to me. The images are as rich as the historical detail this book goes into. I love it, and it was the perfect gift. This book is one of the books that will not live on my new (!) bookshelves but rather in the stack of books I feel "describes" me on my dresser. I got a matching mug to go along with it!

#4: Law + Lit: Unsolved Crimes & A Critical Introduction to Law and Literature


   Another two passions are colliding here with this duo: A Critical Introduction to Law and Literature by Kieran Dolin and Unsolved Crimes by Sarah Herman. Ironically, these books were gifted separately. No, not just two separate boxes. Two separate family members on two separate days. Do these people know me or do these people know me? Sugar and spice; sweet and sour, these two books are serious and relaxed but have the glorious combination of law + lit in common. Merry Christmas to me. 

#5: The Yearly Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice


   I love receiving Shakespeare for Christmas. Daunting? Yes. Stressful? Yes. Should everyone love receiving Shakespeare for Christmas? No. Receiving long, hard-to-read (for most people at least, right?) plays as a holiday gift is not for everyone. HOWEVER, it is for me. I love this gift. I have not yet read this pretty lil paperback; however, I plan to begin soon. (PS: If you enjoy getting Shakespeare, we're friends.) 

#6: The Essentials

   Barnes and Noble $50 gift card. Simple book tote with a functional side pocket. Book darts. That's it. That's that section. A mode of purchase, a mode of carrying the purchase, and a mode of enjoying the purchase. Enough said.

Links! 

(the ones I could find...)

I hope you all had a great holiday season with your families and friends!! Happy (almost) New Year!

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