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Better Than Dreams

Twelve Posts of Christmas (and New Year): Two – Books On My Christmas List! AKA Help!

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I’m actually still in the process of writing my Christmas list! I’m the black sheep of the family, as the sole book nerd. I’ve bought cookbooks for my mum and photography books for my sister, and my dad reads the occasional thriller, but I’m the only one that loves fiction, so I have to tell everybody what books I would like as they would have no idea what to do if they went into a bookshop!

I have so many books and such little space that I have to operate a very strict entry policy for my bookshelves. I only buy and ask for books that are not available at the library. Now that my borough has joined the London Libraries Consortium, and I can order books from any London public library for 75p, loads of books that would have been on my Christmas list before, like Eleanor & Park and the Night School sequels, have moved to my library wishlist instead! Which is great, but my Christmas list is looking a little sparse as a result.

I thought that looking at imports would be a great place to start, but the LLC has loads of them. One that the library doesn’t have is Girl Defective, by Simmone Howell, but that’s not even available on Amazon. It also doesn’t have How To Be Bad, by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle or…oh, wait, that’s it. Literally every other book title I’ve put in the library search has produced a result. So that means that at the moment, the only books on my Christmas list are How To Be Bad and Buffy Season 8 collections (which I have to own – there’s a little space on my Buffy shelf)!

Today I’m asking you – what books are on your Christmas list? And do you have any obscure YA recommendations to help me fill mine? If you write a blog post, link it up below.

Monday Amusements 23

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Everything I plan to read this week. Aiming high, got to read as many books off this list as I can so that next years must-reads can be fresh and new! Okay, maybe not new…

I bought my Nook a few months ago, and ever since I’ve been wrapping it up in a pair of leggings in my bag! It really needs a proper case, so I’m currently deciding which one I should put on my Christmas list. Unfortunately, most purple Nook cases available in the UK are variations on the same fake leather theme, so I’ve turned to Etsy for something a little more fun. I like this case’s polka dots, but I prefer the kind of cases that you can open like a book. This is very pretty and elegant, much more me than PU leather, but do I go sophisticated-goth or do I go for this case, with an amazing print of cats playing musical instruments? I think I’m torn between the hepcats and this swirly design, which can stand up. I’d better decide soon, before it’s too late for shipping from the USA!

I enjoyed seeing Carly’s Top Five Paranormal/Supernatural Reads, I’ve been curious about The Eternal Ones ever since I read Kiki Strike and the Shadow City, I will definitely have to get my hands on a copy.

I also liked Sophie’s 5 Books I Wish My Little Sister Would Read, as all those books are on my to-read list, and I’ll definitely be adding the books mentioned in Michelle’s Things I’m Drawn To In YA post.

Bestselling YA Authors Share ‘The Book I’m Most Thankful For…’ (via @sona_c).If you consider yourself a member of YA fandom, take this survey to be part of an interesting-sounding piece of research (via @ScottWesterfeld).

Finally, Waterstones put together this adorable response to the Amazon drones announcement: