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any good books for xmas presis?

edited December 2005 in - Reading

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  • What books did you get for xmas? Any good ones people want to praise?

    I got quite a few, some to recommend are:

    for help with writing:
    * "The writers guide to getting published" By Chriss McCallum - it covers  fiction and non fiction, magazines, newspapers, internet, poetry, song lyrics and even greeting cards....its really interesting!

    and for fun, light-hearted reading:
    *"Life swap" by Jane Green - funny chick lit book which will leave you feeling very warma and fuzzy!

    Gosh I sound like a book reviewer....anyway hope santa was generous to all!
  • I used a book token today to buy 'A biography of London' by Peter Ackyrod (I may have spelt that wrong). I enjoy reading history.
  • I got book tokens, which I added cash to so I could get some books I wanted, and ordered one Waterstone's didn't have in:
    bought - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (meaning to read it for ages, recommended by a friend), and The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory - ordered Mother London by Michael Moorcroft, just because it looked interesting on Waterstone's website.

    What would life be without books?  (Well, maybe my shelves wouldn't complain so much, but that's neither here nor there...)
  • Oops - it was Michael Moorcock - if he's reading this, my sincere apologies, and I very much look forward to reading your book :)
  • Stephen King's Dark Tower ongoing saga, Wolves of the Calla, infuriating, annoying, enchanting, spellbinding, infuriating because it is so damn good, annoying because he wrote almost 800 pages and STILL ended on a cliff hanger, enchanting, the dialect and words used by the people of the CAlla get into your head 'say thankya,' 'hear me, I beg' and so on, spellbinding, you have to know what is going down here!
  • i got 'tuesdays with morrie' by mitch albom, saw the film and loved it. but my whole family will not get me anything they dont approve of, and most of them dont like david eddings so didnt get very many books minus the one mentioned and the one in my stocking =D (archaeology one). friend gave me £10 amazon vouchers though so got a biography of c. s. lewis with those.
  • sounds like everyone got what they wanted. Any good writing books people culd recommend?
  • For Pink Princess

    I would recommend the following books on writing:
    1. Heather Sellers, 'Page after Page'
    2. Julia Cameron,  'The Right to Write'
    3. Natalie Goldberg 'Writing down the bones'
    4. Elizabeth Berg  'Escaping into the open; the art of writing true'
    5. Levasseur & Rabalais 'Novel Voices'

    My favourite is the Elizabeth Berg book, it's highly inspirational and also has recipies! All of the others, except 5, are inspirational, practical books with tasks and exercizes. The last one, Novel Voices, is a series of in depth interviews with well known authors, and boy, does it give an insight in to how established writers live and work - its absolutely fascinating.
    Hope you enjoy.
    Best Wishes
    Lizzie.
  • Thanks Lizzie. I`m looking on amazon now! xx
  • In the words of a famous T.V chef:
    'What are we like?'
    Why are we all surfing, reading books on how to write, and generally enjoying ourselves, when we should be slogging away at our desks??
    Help................
  • Its more fun, anyway the new start starts tomorrow(1st jan). No point in starting afresh yet...one more day of surfing...yeah right!
  • I got "How to be a Comedy Writer" and "How to be a Sit-Com Writer", both by Marc Blake, published by Summersdale.  They are pocket sized, concise books, but good value at £4.99.  There is also "How to be a Writer" and "How to Get Published" in the series, which may interest beginners.

    The books are great as they are bang up to date, referring to current/recent shows such as Catherine Tate, Little Britain, The Office etc.

    I also got "Everyone Loves Raymond" DVDs - does anyone else watch this programme? If you have in-laws, you should watch at least one episode!
  • Thanks for the tips on writing books, I adore Everybody Loves Raymond, what a wonderful pressie!
    I adore all the characters, and especially love the relationship between Raymond and Robert - its a joy to watch.
    Happy viewing.
    Lizzie
  • Hi all

    Had Frank McCourt's wonderful book 'Teacher Man' in my stocking, and its such a joy to read. I am having to ration myself to a few pages each day as I don't want it to end. I would heartily recommend it, it is written  in such thoughtful, musical prose and with great humility.
    Lizzie.
  • I will have to look out for that one Lizzie.  I'm rationing the "Raymond" episodes too - there are thirty hours in total in two DVD box sets - I could spend a whole working week watching them instead of writing otherwise!
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