As someone who has been on a self-imposed book buying ban for over 3 years now, you can imagine my excitement at the thought of getting books as gifts.

Christmas, birthday, wedding anniversary, Mother’s Day…pretty much any excuse I can get, I ask for books.

I’ve been a very lucky lady this Christmas with this lovely haul.

The Familiar 3 by Mark Z Danielewski

The gifting of the latest instalment of Mark Z Danielewski’s The Familiar is becoming quite the tradition in our house. The House of Leaves author has promised that there will be 20 books in total (2 a year) and if I don’t have time to read them, I certainly intend to own them.

The Bricks That Built the Houses by Kate Tempest

I happened to catch rapper & poet Kate Tempest’s performance of Let Them Eat Chaos on BBC2 earlier in the way and was completely mesmerised. I’m hoping her debut novel – a multi-generational tale of dissafected Londoners – will be just as fresh and exciting

The Maiden Dinosaur by Janet McNeill

I plan to read fill the gaps in my reading of Irish women writers this year and have heard great things about this story of a woman coming to terms with turning 50, written by Northern Irish author McNeill in the 1960s.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

This was a gift from a fellow book-loving friend and it’s already been read! I barrelled through it on Boxing Day and it’s another perfectly formed Christie, with a killer that I could never have guessed. Plus, I think I now have a crush on the brilliant, laconic Poirot!

Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss

I have heard very little about this recent release, but I liked the sound of the premise – three characters whose lives collide, set against the backdrop of New York City’s art scene – and as an 80s baby myself, I can’t resist anything set in that era!

Think Like An Artist by Will Gompertz

I met Will Gompertz when he came to Bellaghy to cover the opening of HomePlace, so I’m looking forward to reading this treatise on art, ideas and creativity.

This Too Shall Pass by Milena Busquets

I’m keen to read more work in translation and this Spanish bestseller about a woman coming to terms with the death of her mother, seems like a good place to start.

This Is The Ritual by Rob Doyle

I loved Here Are the Young Men by  Dubliner Rob Doyle and after hearing him read last year at the Belfast Book Festival, I am very much looking forward to this collection of short stories.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

A very good friend bought this beautiful edition of The Jungle Book for myself and the twins and it is a thing of beauty. Featuring fold-out maps, pop-up images and stunning illustrations, this will be a book for my family to read together and treasure always.

I also got an ebook voucher and treated myself to these babies…

Clearly these acquisitions will do NOTHING for the reduction of the 746 but hey, it’s once a year and if we consider that I used to buy this many books in a calender month, things could be much worse.

So, have you read any of these? Any recommendations for where I should start? And what about your own Christmas – were you on Santa’s nice list when it came to books?

The 746