Book wishes Dec 2016
The Top Ten Tuesday topic for this week asks what books we have on our wishlist for a certain event that happens every year on Dec 25. It’s no surprise that I did include some book titles in my little note to Santa. But I was quite reserved in my requests largely because I had a bit of a buying splurge at a Welsh publishers’ pop up shop at the weekend and now have no room left in the house for more books. My TBR has just passed the 200 mark so I am planning to spend the first six months of next year just reading what I already own.. (yes I know you’ve heard this before but I mean it this time….)
1.The Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: A novel that has attracted praise from multiple bloggers and mainstream critics. The publishers blurb describes this as a story of two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader’s wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations.
2. Le Ventre de Paris/The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola: this is the third title to be published in his Rougon-Marquet series (Zola recommended it be read much later in the series however) and is going to form part of my Zola project. It’s set in Paris near the huge market hall called Les Halles.
3. His Excellency Eugene Rougon/Son Excellence Eugène Rougon by Emile Zola. This is the sixth novel to be published in the Rougon-Marquet series though Zola recommended put it in third place in his recommended reading order list. The novel is set in the highest echelons of Second Empire government. It follows the career of Eugène Rougon and a dozen or so of his cronies as they jockey for political favor and personal gain
4. Six Tudor Queens – Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen by Alison Weir. This is the first novel in a series about the women who had the misfortune to become the wives of King Henry VIII. I’m a sucker for books (fiction and non fiction) about the Tudor dynasty.
5. The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle: an exploration of well-known books that have helped shape the world in which we live, while also giving focus to more neglected works. He also highlights some of the links between various works and historical figures – including those between Homer’s Iliad and Aesop’s Fables and the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
6. 100 Great Breads by Paul Hollywood: I did a one day bread making course back in early summer but its only in the last few months that I’ve been putting those tips into practice. I still consider myself a novice – each loaf is getting better than the last one – and it helps to have my dad at the end of the phone for advice (he ran his own bakery for more than 20 years). But I could do with a good bread baking book to refresh my memory. I don’t particularly like Paul Hollywood but his instructions are easy to follow.
I don’t know any of the books on your list! But my top wish was for Haruki Murakami’s latest book, Absolutely on Music, and I was gifted with two of them. So that’s a lovely serendipity. I hope several wishes of yours come your way.
I do love how we all come up with such good resolutions at this time of year! My TBR also needs taming and after over a month of being reasonably contained I have received five books in the post so far this week! It’s going to be a very busy 2017 on the reading front.
I like your range of books for 2017, my daughter wants the Alison Weir, and you have quite a spread from there to Paul Hollywood and his bread!
one day, well, one year, I will (re)read all of Zola
Homegoing is on my wish list as well (and really only came to my attention when I collated the Best of 2016 According to All the Best of Lists).
I just had my general Wishlist as my Christmas Wishlist, plus pointing out some books I really fancied reading when I was in the Persephone Bookshop with Ali last month; I know I’ve got a few off there as my husband has been contacted to take books off the list (it’s on my blog so he logs in to make sure I still get the surprise and there’s no duplication). Of course, there are some I’m particularly hoping for, but we’ll see … Hope you have a lovely pile of book-shaped parcels in your future, once the TBR is down a bit!
Great list. I hope you enjoy Homegoing when you read it. It was so close to home for me as a Ghanaian-American and I wrote a review of it over on African Book Addict! as well (https://africanbookaddict.com/2016/09/06/homegoing-by-yaa-gyasi/) . Amazing!
Just have to hope that someone was listening when I made my list…..
*fingers crossed*
I hope some or all of them make it into your stocking or under the tree!
Do the Dashwoods get to make their own list?
Haha! No, but they get some tasty treats 🙂
The Secret Library sounds fascinating! I may have to add that to my TBR…
I’d not heard of it but it did sound intriguing.