Mark's Christmas Swap 2011

I'm posting this early, so we can all drop a star and have a place to gush about our "New Books". Crying is permitted, as long as it's the good kind.

Sorry, to the folks, who don't get to play. Maybe next year?? Make a note, let me know! Happy Holidays!

Mark...is it permitted to post that some of us with e=readers would be equally happy with a gift cert to our ereader choice - B/N, Amazon, etc....I have two wishlists in my library - one is the standard, and the other is labeled Wishlist NOOK. Several books I really want are simply too BIG and heavy for me to handle physically anymore, so the NOOK is a great option. However, I will not cry if any book on my wishlist is selected.....after all I put them there and said I wish I had them! Gotta keep you mailpersons employed!!!

Good idea, Tina, about a gift certificate for those with e-readers. I didn't even think to see if my giftee has an e-book wish list ...... hmm, then again, I like wrapping presents ... but I see your point about some books being heavy. Personally I like unwrapping a book gift .. so maybe I'll just pick skinny books for my giftee. ;-)

I was doing some shopping online today and couldn't find an option for Gift Wrapping, so hopefully if people get gifts from bookdepository they don't open the package until Christmas.

My plan is to order online and have it sent to my swapee directly. I'll put the name, then C/O Mark's Christmas Swap (or something to that effect) and then the address.

I have a Kindle so, if whoever has me wants to, I'd be happy to get a Kindle version. I think there's a way to gift a book easily.

I'm also doing the LT's Santa Thing.

I am doing the swap for the first time this year... Quick question: is the person who has me the same person I have (i.e. it's a direct swap and not like a Secret Santa)? I thought so, but Linda's comment above about "whoever has me" got me a little confused (which is not difficult to do, especially after all the food and drink today!).

#6 I am pretty sure that it's a different person. Last year, I bought books for Stasia and I think Richard bought books for me.

Katie- Linda is correct. It's all random. I prefer it that way!

Thanks for the clarification!

Okay, Rules for Christmas Swap: Try to keep it at a $25 total, including shipping. Buy 1, 2, 3 books, as long as you can keep within the price range.
Use the giftee's Wishlist, unless you can select something, with confidence, that the giftee will enjoy and does not already OWN.
Please clean up your Wishlist, if you would think it would be easier to shop. This could really help the process.
Try to mail them out by or before Dec 15th.
I would like everyone to wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to open them but I know some of you can get over-excited, but give it a try anyway.
Also, mark the outside of your packages, Christmas Swap and if you want to hide your name, on the outside of the package, go for it, just make sure you say who it is from on the inside.
Like last year, I will start a Swap Thread, so we can gab about our gifts.
Lastly, have a great time!

Sorry, I should have posted this earlier! Once again any questions let me know!

I plan on calling Amazon but would anyone know if Amazon could split up the shipping: send something to one address and something else to another, while of course taking advantage of their free shipping?

Whoever has me - feel free to send me an kindle version of the book! I will attempt to clean my wishlist, but we'll see. . .

I'll be using BookDepository and have them ship the books directly to my giftee. I'd rather spend all the money on actual books and not on shipping, even if it does mean I don't get to wrap them (and I DO love wrapping gifts). I'll take Linda's idea and mark "C/O Mark's Christmas Swap" in the address; very good idea! I'll send the person a card as well, so it's not completely impersonal.

I'm dying to order the books already. One can't order them TOO early, right?

I suppose the earlier the recipient gets his books then the sooner his wishlist is accessible to him again. I've been staying away from mine ever since the names were given out. I know the odds of duplication with a GFW the size of mine are very long, but still - it could happen.

I'm going to use that "c/o Mark's Christmas Swap" line too. I don't think amazon will be wrapping them up and I don't want any bad/premature surprises for the giftee. A card sounds like a good idea, Ilana.

Mark, nope, the free shipping has to go to the same address...

I think I'm the exception to the rules, along with my recipient -- Mark arranged that we are giving to each other. I keep my wish lists on Amazon ONLY, not here.

If you know your recipient's e-mail address (the one associated with their Amazon account), you can now gift them a Kindle book directly, rather than giving them a gift certificate. Not sure about Nook. I keep separate Amazon wish lists for Kindle and for DTBs (dead tree books)....

I haven't updated my wish list here on LT .. i tend to keep mine on bookmooch but having said that, I did clean up what I have on my wishlist here on LT and there are still enough books to choose from. Haha. I just find it difficult to maintain multiple wish lists.

I suppose the earlier the recipient gets his books then the sooner his wishlist is accessible to him again

Good point Charlotte. Then again, I made a special "Santa" wishlist, separate from the giant one, where there are some books I'd rather get for myself (specific editions and whatnot).

I just completed my purchases on BookDepository, and I don't mean to keep tooting their horn, but when I checked the price differences between them and Amazon, I was shocked by how much cheaper they were. Just sayin', it's worth comparison shopping at least...

Suz- Thanks for the info! That's what I figured.

Ilana- That's where I was going to try next, is the Book Depository.

We might just want to keep a separate Christmas WL, for next year. I don't keep many books in my LT WL. I keep a much larger WL over on Bookmooch. I find that much easier to handle.

I must need more sleep. Earlier receipt of books only frees up the wishlist if the giftee rips open the lovely gift book package the minute it arrives - and that's not what we are supposed to be doing.

Earlier purchase also means that the person, in theory, could go over to Santa Thing and announce to the Santee not to buy a particular book or two off of the person's wishlist as it's already "been taken."

15>>>

Suzi FYI - DTBs are now known as ARDs (Antique Reading devices) :-)

LOL ... ARDs

I bought books on my Secret Santa's wish list that I had already read ... that way I'm not tempted to keep it for myself!

#23 I wish I would have thought of that! I've wishlisted many, many books from my Christmas Swapee and bought two that I thought were interesting.........now, I want them!!

I noticed at least one book on my swapees wishlist that's also on my wishlist. I'm really tempted to get that one.

I've ordered my books for the Swap and am hoping that the one I ordered from "across the pond" gets to me in time to wrap and send by the 15th! *crossing fingers*

I am glad to see the group doing the swap again this year! Thanks, Mark!

I received two packages from Amazon today. Haven't ordered anything from them myself recently so it's a safe bet that they came from my Santa. Have to exercise LOTS of restraint not to tear through those boxes.

I went ahead and signed up for SecretSanta and now find myself with a Santee who wants me to "surprise him". And noooo wishlist. HELP! :-O

Ilana - one suggestion is to try the "what you should borrow" feature and pick something from there.

#29 - Excellent idea!

It was fun picking out books for my swapee.

I hope he or she likes them. He or she should get them on Tuesday and, hopefully, he or she won't open them up til Christmas.

I plan on ordering my books, early next week. I'm glad everyone is enjoying picking out and buying the books. It is a fun task.

Linda- I sure hope he or she waits until Christmas, before opening. Remember, someone is always watching...

Waawhoo! Just finished ordering my books! I hope that since I ordered them early they get to my Swapee in time! :)

ETA: To my swaper: My wishlist is, by all means, not complete - feel free to take a chance!

I'm not giving away any information, uh uh, not me! But I will say...........Oooooo, this is so exciting and fun.

I received two packages from the Book Depository today. I never order from them and I don't think Santa Thing has sent theirs out yet so, to my swaper, thanks!! The label says something about LT Christmas.

I do not plan to open til Christmas Eve, when we open our other gifts.

I've already picked out which books I'm giving to my giftee. Had a nice sized wishlist to pick from so it was pretty easy. Now to buckle down and do the actual ordering....

Whoppee.... I just got my books for my swapee. Now to pick out some wrapping paper and a nice card and I'll mail it at the end of the week. I don't want to mail it out too soon because I am the worst when it comes to looking at a gift sitting all pretty and wrapped and just screaming for me to come tear into it, and knowing that I'm not supposed to touch it for another week or 2. So I don't want to put my swapee through the same angst.

Ah, the angst is the best part of it. Mine went out today!

I received my package today! Yah! I immediately put it out of sight. Let the torment begin...

I got a third package from Book Depository today so thanks, once again, to my swapper. Two other packages from BD arrived on Saturday.

oh, drat, my book swap mate recently purchased a copy of a book from her wish list. I already purchased that book for her.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Uh oh, that's not good! My fiance puts me on a book buying ban in December now as I've done that to him before!

>41 Whisper1: - That is totally something I would do since I'm new to the Swap and have problems keeping all my lists straight. I had to have separate WLs for this, for my husband, and for my husband to give to friends & family... So if it was me, I apologize :)

#41 : uh oh... I didn't think of that ... i should go and recheck my swapee's list to make sure she hasn't bought the ones I am just wrapping up.

Ooops, I hope it wasn't me. I just purchased a book from the library book sale and didn't realize it was on my WL till I added it to my library and realized it was a duplicate. I'm so sorry if I'm the swappee. Does being a newbee count for ineptitude?

Linda- Sorry to hear that! I'm not sure how else we can do it, unless we tag the WL books "Christmas Swap".

I ordered my book(s) today! Yah! That should be plenty of time. How is everyone else doing on ordering and shipping their books?

Mine have been ordered, and I come to understand they are currently under someone's tree waiting to be opened ;)

I haven't received mine in the mail, which is good because I have not figured out where to hide them until Christmas (So I'm not tempted to open it early!)

I think I've received all of mine (3 packages' worth) and I think my swapee has received his or hers already, too. So I'm good.

Mine are onboard Santa's sleigh and enroute to my swapee.

I shipped the books the day I received my recipient's name. I hate last minute shopping. Actually, I hate any kind of shopping except for books :)

I'm not complaining about the fact that the person on my list already bought a book from her wishlist. I had two to send her so I'll send the one she did not purchase and I've already ordered a replacement for the other. And, the book she purchased from her Wish list is by an author I enjoy. So, I get to keep one of the books and can justify adding it to the huge piles I already have.

As soon as Amazon sends the replacement book, I'll get her books in the mail.

Mark, thanks again for all your hard work in arranging the details of the swap!

Books are ordered and in route!

Mine are here, and about to be wrapped when I locate some tape; then they will be off in the mail to... well, I won't say where, even though their recipient & I are twinned!

I just have Amazon wish lists -- I think only three books in a wishlist category on LT, so that's not a good guide. But I don't order from the Amazon lists from Dec. 1 until after my birthday in Feb, or even look at them (unless I feel like adding something....) That way, if someone in my family decides to buy me a book, nobody else will as Amazon will indicate it's already been purchased. (I think/hope...)

I've purchased and wrapped the books for my recipient - just need to get them in the mail! Haven't received mine yet (and should probably mention that I will be out of town Dec 22 - 4 Jan). If this is a problem, let Mark know and he can PM me for my in-laws address :)

I feel so badly now reading about everyone wrapping their books. I chose to have the books sent directly to the recipient to save on shipping and therefore get MORE books for that person. Hope that makes up for lack of pretty gift-wrap. I love wrapping gifts too, so it wasn't to get out of wrapping duty, I promise!

The books I received are safely put away in the closet. Out of sight, (sort of) out of mind...

Ilana....I certainly understand and agree with your spending the money on books, not wrap. That's a great idea, and I'm sure your giftee will really appreciate getting more book for the buck!

Thanks Tina, I appreciate you note, it makes me feel better. Hopefully I can get a handmade card sent out to my giftee before the 25th to make up for lack of nice packaging.

I agree, Ilana, $ is better spent on books than wrapping!

Mine are out and on their way to their new home today! I even splurged and got expedited service b/c I got nervous that this would be the one time that the package got lost. Have I mentioned how much I love my local p.o. lately? They're really friendly, quick, and it's not a giant location so even when there's a long line it doesn't take too much time to get my things done.

So looking forward to this Swap - I hope I can hold out til Christmas to open! :)

Don't worry Ilana, I did the same! I figured for all us book worms an extra book instead of fancy bows would probably go over just fine!

I did the same thing too, Ilana!

Ilana - I totally did the same thing! Don't worry about it! For me it's about the thought than the gift wrap. :)

I did the same thing - was able to get an extra book by not adding gift wrapping and shipping directly.

Don't feel bad, Ilana - my books are winging their way to my giftee and they are naked too.

I had my swapee's books sent to me ($25 purchase = free shipping) and wrapped them. Then I took them to the post office and mailed them to him/her early enough to send by book rate which was only a couple of bucks.

We can send books with the inexpensive regular mail fee here too, but they have to be under 2 centimetres (about 3/4") which is very limiting obviously. Otherwise, postage fees here in Canada are just insane, so yes, the choice of an extra book and no gift-wrap seemed like the more reasonable option.

All the same, I feel better knowing others went with that option too.

I received my delightful parcel today... yippeee.......and I've given it to the hubster to hide, on strict instructions :
a) not to forget where he hides it

b) on no account to give in when I start pleading with him to give it to me before Christmas, even on pain of no more homecooked food until he does so

LOL @ Caro!

My package arrived yesterday! So excited; I'm terrible about opening gifts as soon as they arrive. However, these are wrapped in cute "Do Not Open Until December 25" paper, so I am obeying orders. My husband whisked them off and has promised to remember to pack them for our trip to FL so I can open them on Christmas Day. I tried to bargain with him to at least let me open the card but he wouldn't budge :)

My giftee's package is going to the PO today...

Just mailed my swapee's package today.... :-)

My swapee's package is finally on its way! Despite my swapee having a remarkably short wishlist, I can get lost in investigating all the books that other people want to read.

I agree with you, Pat! After this is all over I'm going back to my swapee's WL and make them part of my WL.

Oh, I rec'd my package last night. It's safe and sound under the Christmas tree and even though the temptation is great I will not open till th 25!

Well....I'm thinking my package has arrived. There is a distinctly book looking package from Amazon that arrived with my name on it, no discernable "from " person and hubster says it ain't from him. I did not order any hard books, so I'm sticking it "under the tree" - in this case into the big present sack that is going in the car with us to Baltimore, and will open on Christmas morning with my holiday yummies.

>51 Whisper1:. Oh, dear. I'm so sorry. But you know I can't resist anything on my wish list that I find in Joplin!
And now there is a package under my tree, waiting for Christmas! I can't wait!

Looks like a package arrived while I was away on business for a few days... It's under the tree until Christmas!

My package got here yesterday, neatly wrapped, and has taken up residency under the tree. It has instructions not to open till Xmas and I will be looking forward to doing just that on Christmas morning.

My package came earlier this week! Won't go under the tree yet. Just in case my dog decides he gets hungry (he has a thing for hardback books).

I didn't think there was fog here in Maine, but I'm certainly lost in a thick one!
Just tonight found this thread. I've been missing all the excitement... but I'm here now :)

I sent my Santee's book present way early - to be sure it arrived. Apparently it took no time at all! What do I know?
Apologies for not wrapping it - I would have loved to! - but my theory was also *better to spend the money on books*

I received my package awhile ago. I was pretty sure of what it was - but asked my husband to check it out for me.
I begged for clues... but he's unbelievably mean! :P
I asked if there was an animal in the title - he wouldn't even tell me that! He taped it all back up and hid it.
I'll see it again Christmas morning - but I will beg for it Christmas Eve!

hahaha.. I can't believe you had your husband check your present out for you and he then taped it all back and hid it, Cee. That's just too funny!

Alas, I'm not above begging either ... I was just mentioning to the hubster that with all the stress of Christmas shopping this weekend I could really do with a mood lifter .... like an early Christmas present, the one I asked him to hide for me .... and what does it do? He goes off while I gleefull wait in the tv room ...and comes back with a plate of cheese and crackers!!

Claudia, Caroline, you two certainly have great husbands. At least they have their priorities straight!

Claudia, no apologies needed, the Amazon cardboard wrapper is absolutely beautiful to me. New books! That's all that matters, and I'm glad you chose to spend on the books themselves, especially since shipping to Canada is no joke. If I had a tree... I was going to say I'd have put them under it, but no, they'd still be hidden away in the closet because I don't trust myself; the temptations would be too great.

Thanks Mark for doing this swap, I'm really glad I decided to join in—made a new friend in the process! :-D

Love the stories, Claudia and Caroline. I would have to have Kerry hide my present too - if it was here yet :)

Well, I will not be hiding my present under the tree after all. Tina sent me a gift card - thank you very much! - in a Christmas card, so it has been opened already.

ETA - OK, I was bad - I did not see the 'Do Not Open Until Christmas' on the outside of the envelope until I had already opened the card. Sorry, Tina!

Stasia must have had her dark glasses on. I thought I wrote that REALLY REALLY BIG on that envelope, but I'm so glad sweetie that it was acceptable. Happy shopping. Holiday smooches to all.

LOL ... That's funny Tina.

Stas - I'm like you ... I generally open first and look at labels later ... I've opened my mom's mail and the hubster's mail because I have the tendency to assume all interesting looking packages and mail pieces must be for me. ;-)

Oddly enough, I've never opened bills belonging to other people accidentally though. I must have a natural aversion to those things.

Mine came today and promptly went under the tree!

#82: Oh, I already spent it. If I ordered the books today, I could have them in time for Christmas - then I can put them under the tree :)

Ok, I confess, I am bad...very bad.

I plead guilty. I opened my packages...Yes, plural. My Santa swap mate was incredibly generous and very sensitive in the selection.

At the risk of sounding defensive, the packages arrived on a day when I was feeling worn down from back and neck pain. It brought tremendous cheer to open them. They are under the tree and I'll wait until after Christmas to begin to read them!

Oh, Happy, Happy Day!

Stasia - what a great idea....So glad they will arrive in time to grace your Christmas reading. That was my only angst about the certificate---it could have delayed your instant gratification. Can't wait to hear what you picked.

Yay for misbehaving and opening packages early!

I'm like a kid - I can't wait to receive mine!

#87: Tina, I bought one book from my 'Need to Buy' list, The Poisoner's Handbook, which I really enjoyed when I read it and a couple of paperbacks by Christine Feehan.

Came home from after work bowling yesterday and my package was on the front steps! At least I think it's my package. Hard to say for sure. When shaken it shifts around in the box like books and it certainly is the right weight. And - I can't remember ordering anything from amazon to be sent to the house. So - I guess it's my present.

It's resting next to the tree - no room under my gigantic 18 inch tree. Will open on Sunday morning after breakfast. Many thanks to my gifter whoever you may be.

It sounds like the excitement is building! So far, only Linda has been very bad...LOL.

Besides Laura (poor kid), has everyone else received their gifts?

I've got mine, but I'm worried about my swapee. . . I haven't heard from this person in a while. . .

Yup, I've got mine.

I have two, and my plan is to sit down with an adult beverage tomorrow evening after my sons leave, and open them, and maybe read them. I can't wait!

We'll be celebrating with family from Sat afternoon through Sun night so I'm thinking that I'll open my Christmas swap and Santa Thing books before we leave for Christmas Eve festivities. I can't believe that I haven't peeked yet.

I received the books that I purchased with the gift card (from Tina) today. They are underneath the tree :)

Belatedly -- my package has arrived and I admit I'm impressed by the heft of its contents as well as my own self-discipline... Sorry I had a relatively short list...

Finally opened my Christmas Swap books and I received a terrific trio of books from Chelle.

She sent the first book in the Rizzoli and Isles series (I've started watching these shows on Monday nights). The first is The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. She also sent the first Kate Atkinson, Case Histories, along with Replay by Ken Grimwood.

Thanks!!

#96--Stasia---can't wait to hear what you chose! Merry Christmas.

I received a package from a Canadian Santa today - the temptation to open it is very strong! Must resist! :D

Linda, all of those books sound fantastic!

Getting excited to open mine tomorrow!! :)

Wishing you all the very best Mark and all you other wonderful swapees!

What Ilana said.

Succumbed finally and opened my package this morning. Got 3 - count them 3 - books. Case Histories, Geek Love and Quicksand - all from my GFW, of course and sent to me by nancywhite. (Thanks again Nancy) Had forgotten all about Quicksand - one of the bad things about my GFW - but checking out the dust jacket description of it, am remembering why I wanted to read it in the first place. And Case Histories - I almost slipped and bought that one a week ago Saturday when I went to the book store to buy some gift certificates. Glad I restrained myself.

Anyway, hope everybody is having a great day and that you are looking forward to the birth of next year's group as much as I am. Time to wander off and try to come with a name for my thread...

Happy Christmas morning, everyone! I anxiously tore into my package and was very pleased with :
The Art of Fielding, which has been getting such fine praise and a promising little gem called My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, a collection of 40 new fairy tales, by an amazing array of terrific authors.
All thanks to Linda, from Chicago! She has perfect taste! Hugs!

Charlotte- Case Histories is fantastic. Should make you an instant fan of Atkinson. I heard Geek Love is very dark & creepy. I'll be watching for your thoughts.

MC!

Well, that's quite a combo! Good picks from Linda... I'm not sure I could have chosen the second book for you - but it sounds right up your alley! LOL
Have a good one!

Wielding scissors and wearing a big grin, I attacked my Gift box of books, too. And I did NOT wait for anyone else to get up! Ha!

I got THREE great picks from Kim(Berly) and NO clues up front, I might add :P

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Tiger by John Vaillant
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley

I'm psyched to say the least! Thanks again, Kim! This is FUN! :D

Merry Christmas, everyone! After a couple of weeks of shaking and sniffing and puzzling over what's in the package from my secret Santa, I finally got to open it. The Question of Hu, a reconstruction of the story of John Hu, a devout Chinese Catholic who traveled with a Jesuit missionary to France in 1722 only to end up with confinement in a lunatic asylum. Perfect for the new Narrative Nonfiction reading some of us are doing next year. Also C. J. Sansom's Dissolution - first in the Matthew Shardlake mystery series set in Tudor England under Henry VIII. A perfect follow-on to reading The Autobiography of Henry VIII earlier this month!

Awesome picks, Carmenere! Thanks very much!!

Merry Christmas all!!

Caro (cameling) got me two great books!! Love in the Time of Cholera and The Brutal Telling
Such great choices! Thanks again Caro!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

Merry Merry Christmas, one and all !

I was close to committing murder last night because our tradition has always been to open one present on Christmas Eve at midnight ... and the hubster wouldn't give me my LT present! He thought it would be more fun to watch me gnash my teeth ..and wait another 8 hours.

Terri (tloeffler) got me 3 amazing books! The Night Watch, The First World World : A Very Short Introduction (that the hubster is also eyeing) and Decline and Fall.

Thank you, thank you, Terri! I love my presents!!!!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season with your families and friends ....I know we're all going to enjoy our LT presents!! ;-)

Thanks to the fabulous Laura (LauraBrook), I started off Christmas morning admiring two new additions to my library - Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi (read her White is for Witching earlier this year) and a VMC edition of Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor (no, NOT the actress!) which I think I first read about on Laura's (lindsacl) thread. I'd been looking for this one in my usual haunts for a while now and despaired of ever finding it.... so a big thank you to Ms. Brook!

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I was in the unique position where my swappee knew exactly who I was so I'm glad that Mark liked his books even though he wasn't surprised by his swapper/santa. The fairy tale one was on his wishlist, in fact, I might look for that one myself.

Off to the smaller family Christmas gathering.

I opened my Christmas swap books this morning although it would have been last night if my husband hadn't sternly reminded me the package said not to open until Christmas.

Suzanne got me No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod, From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe, and The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok. Thank you, thank you, Suzanne!

I'm really looking forward to reading all three and wish I could spend the afternoon making that decision. We're having company later so I will need to clean the house up a bit first.

I love your Christmas Swap, Mark. Knowing you're getting books but not which ones is a wonderful thing to anticipate!

Merry Christmas everyone! I patiently waited till everyone in the house was awake this morning to open my Christmas Swap package. What a nice selection of books (Fourpawz2) aka Charlotte purchased for me! I received The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family, The Awakening and Fingersmith! Great choices! Thank you so much.

Mark, thank you too for hosting this swap which brings all of us 75er's together regardless where we live.

I did as I said, and last night, when I was all alone, I broke open a box of fancy cookies, fixed myself a large grasshopper, and curled up in my reading chair to open my books and see what Miss Linda (Whisper) had chosen for me. As expected, she did a fabulous job!

I got Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong, first in a series by this St. Louis writer, which my library doesn't even have! And I also got The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, which I have attempted to put on my wish list for several weeks now, only to find it's already there. Great choices, Linda! I'll probably wait until 1/1/12 to read them, so they'll count for my Off The Shelf Challenge!

Thank you Linda! And thank you Mark for all the work you put into this!

And a big Thanks to the rest of you for making my year so enjoyable!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

You guys are all more than welcome! Everyone seems to be thrilled with their gifts so far! Sure, it was a little work but to see all of your shiny happy shiny faces, makes it all worthwhile!

Make sure you stop back by here and drop a comment or 2, if you start any of the gift books, in the next few weeks.
I'm hoping to get to The Art of Fielding by the end of Jan.

I'm very happy today for many reasons. As I write this three deer grace my yard. A few minutes ago there were three cardinals and now there are five!

What a lovely Christmas present -- the gift of nature.

And, speaking of Christmas presents, many, many thanks to Ilana for the following:

Good Evening Mrs. Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes


Howards End Is On The Landing by Susan Hill

and, a very, very special wonderfully illustrated book by Jacqueline Woodson, one of my favorite Newbery authors:


Show Way a Newbery honor book!

Thanks ever so much Ilana. What a kind, generous, soul you are!

And, thanks again Mark for your efforts in pulling this all together.

A great big THANK YOU to Valerie/jolerie for my hefty copy of Cutting For Stone (which I almost bought last week), it's one that I've been wanting to read for a while.

And a big THANK YOU to Mark for putting all of us together!

Many thanks to Drneutron for whittling my wishlist this holiday season. My amazon package contained Pocketful of Names a great book I've been wanting to read by Maine author Joe Coomer, and A Season of second chances by Diane Meier. Both are going onto the mountainous TBR pile but nearer the top than the bottom.

It was a wonderful christmas, topping off a wonderful year of good reading, good chats, and interacting with a bunch of wonderful friends here in Group 75.

Wow, everybody's been getting great books! I keep wanting to comment on maybe 90% of the titles I'm seeing here!

I have nothing to envy anyone though because was also beautifully spoiled by my Santa, the lovely Claudia (bahzah) who got me the following:

Lonesome Dove by Lary McMurty. A great selection which I've been wanting to read since I saw it mentioned on Donna828's thread and had just about everyone recommend it. So huge that I'm glad to have it to call my own so I can take my sweet time getting through it. Also, it's about time I discover McMurty for myself...

Coventry by Helen Humphreys. This one made it to my wishlist thanks to Deborah (Cariola) and Linda's (Whisper1) raves. Sounds like a winner for sure, plus, I've had my eye on several of her novels.

Zarafa by Michael Allin. Does it get better than stories about animals? Does it get better than real-life stories about giraffes? This one was on my wishlist since Madeline mentioned it and I can't say how many times I put it in my cart, then put it aside. Guess I was waiting for someone to get it for me! :-)

Thanks you soooo much Claudia.

And once again, thank you sooooo much Mark! I really loved this swap, and I'm really glad that I ended up knowing who my Santa was from the beginning because it allowed me to discover what an all-round lovely woman Claudia is.

Oh, and Claudia, I've read The Tiger and thought it was awesome (thanks Mark for recommending it) and have both other books on my tbr.

And Jim, both The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Dissolution are on my wishlist, so now I know what order to read them in!

Now I want to go buy all the titles I don't have yet that I'm seeing here. LOL. Aren't we just totally sick? Isn't it just great? :-)

Ilana, your posts are dangerous. Just added Coventry and Zarafa to the wish list.

Every time I read this thread, at least one book goes on my TBR list. It's a lovely problem to have. :)

#119 glad to be of help Lori. ;-)

I'm not sure when I'll post my list of purchases from today, but if you want I'll send you a note to warn you not to visit when I do!

Lori
You won't be disappointed with Coventry and Zarafa. I loved them both!

I opened the only reading material of the season on Christmas morning! Thanks Mark for Deadline by Mira Grant. I loved the first in the series and expect to love this one too...

And much thanks to Stasia for three off my WL: Chess Story by Stefan Zweig, Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks, and the first in the Three Pines, Inspector Gamache series, Still Life by Louise Penny. The first is the last story of a great writer who finally committed suicide as a result of the the Nazi regime: " a final effort to take the human measure of the inhuman." The second is by a Pulitzer Prize Winner and explores how people in an isolated village respond to the catastrophe of the plague. And lastly, on a lighter note, the delightful mystery which everyone has been raving about. I just finished it and, yes, I am hooked! Thanks Stasia. You are the best!!

#124 Kim, I hope you love Chess Story as much as I did. You've reminded me that I have a copy of Zweig's Beware of Pity that I want to read this year.

#125 Pat, I loved Chess Story and someone else just recommended Beware of Pity to me on my thread, so thanks for the confirmation. Guess I will have to add it to the TBR list! : )