fiction christmas

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Technically, this book should probably be in the children’s/YA book post I’ve got coming up later in the week, but I’ve put it here for a couple of reasons. First, categories can be so arbitrary sometimes; useful, yes, but not everything. Second, I like mixing things up! Third, let’s call it a very big wink-wink present hint for .. me! As I’ve written before, I thought A Monster Calls was amazing and I’ve heard good reports about More Than This. And a story that starts with the protagonist dying (or not…)? Intriguing!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

I just looked this book up in my local library catalogue. If I were to put a hold on I’d have to wait for seventy-nine other people to get through it first, before I’d even get my hands on a copy. Hard to wonder why when you consider the solid reviews and sales on the back of word-of-mouth interest, Kent’s youth and activity in the literary scene, not to mention the Hollywood factor now that Jennifer Lawrence has been mentioned for the movie adaption. Set in 19th century Iceland, it is about a woman who is sent to a farm to await execution for a murder she has committed. I look forward to reading it.

Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide

It’s hard not to be intrigued by a title like Letter to George Clooney, is it? I’ve been thinking back on 2013 and discovered I’ve not read a lot of short stories, and even fewer – if any – by Australians and this isn’t great news to report. But this book would help even out the scales. This is the blurb: “Debra Adelaide’s new collection of short stories intricately maps both the sublime and the mundane landscape of ordinary lives, with her trademark dark wit and luminous intelligence.”  It sounds terrific.

fiction

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

I like Flanagan’s non-fiction a lot, I’ve even made his bread, but I’ve never finished one of his novels. There, I said it. I’m not proud of the fact, because he’s terrifically talented. I think this could be the one that I finally conquer because of its scope and compelling story. From the Random House website:

A novel of the cruelty of war, and tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love.

August, 1943. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway, Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle’s young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his command from starvation, from cholera, from beatings, he receives a letter that will change his life forever.

This savagely beautiful novel is a story about the many forms of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost.

 

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Luminaries recently won the Man Booker Prize and if you’re in the market for a thick, historical, plot-heavy ‘whodunnit’ holiday read then this is the one for you. I can’t wait!

 

What novels are you buying/requesting for Christmas?

karen andrews

Karen Andrews is the creator of this website, one of the most established and well-respected parenting blogs in the country. She is also an author, award-winning writer, poet, editor and publisher at Miscellaneous Press. Her latest book is Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity