I’d say I was pretty restrained over the holidays and didn’t go crazy buying things for myself; there were even a number of thrift store trips where I managed to reign myself in and not buy any books impulsively. So, all the books I received this month were gifts in one way or another. I’m still wracking my brain wondering if I did buy something, of course, but I’m 95% sure I didn’t.

Enough carrying on, on to the books!

New Books

Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe is the first two books of The Book of the New Sun collected into one book. I can’t actually remember much of how this was recommended to me, but the dude in the cool mask on the cover has kept it in my memory. I also love that this newer edition kept the vintage-looking art for the cover. This was a gift from my partner.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss was a gift of sorts, though not a Christmas gift. My friends were clearing out some of their stuff and asked if I wanted any of the books they were getting rid of. I had The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear already, though I haven’t read them yet, and now I’ve got this to sit nicely on the shelf and languish alongside them.

One of the gifts from my parents was a gift card to a bookstore, so I picked up Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson. I really enjoyed the first book, Son of a Trickster, which I read back in 2022, and I wanted to make it easier for me to get around to the next one this year.

Alongside it, I bought The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which only put the cost a little over the limit of the gift card. Earlier in the year I bought the short story on its own as a really shoddy paperback and I pledged to read it anyway. However, I really resented feeling duped into buying something of such poor binding, so I took this opportunity to buy a nicer book. I’ll probably condemn that pamphlet to a little neighbourhood library box, which is much better than it deserves.

Novel Discoveries

How to be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery is a book I came across while looking up the author in my library’s catalogue. I’m meaning to read more library books going forward, and I decided to look up if they had The Soul of an Octopus, a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while now. This turned up in the results as well and looked like it would make for some good reading too, so I made sure to add it to my to-read shelf.

Closing Thoughts

Not much else to say except that I hope everybody had a great holiday season and a happy new year! More posts summarizing my reading journey in 2023 are forthcoming, as well as some looking forward into 2024.

Until next time, thank you for reading.