27 December 2016

Books We Got For Christmas 2016








Because we're so sure you guys are dying to know... and also we are spoiled brats...
1. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (1997) by David Foster Wallace 

I have only ever read Wallace's fiction and short stories, so I've always been meaning to pick up a book of essays. I read Infinite Jest in August 2015 and was obsessed with all of the Enfield Tennis Academy stuff and the pressures of being a professional athlete. An old coworker recommended me this book because I guess it has the most essays about tennis. I was also told there is a great essay where he is depressed and on a cruise ship. Say no more...

2. The Liar's Club (1995) by Mary Karr

 So I asked for this book after reading something somewhere (I think in Klosterman's new book) that Wallace was obsessed with / stalked Mary Karr after reading her memoir The Liar's Club. I guess this relationship (?) is discussed in more detail in the Wallace biography Every Love Story is a Ghost Story, but I felt like I needed to read this memoir to see what the big deal was. When I picked up half my Christmas order from Indigo this memoir and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again were packaged together. I made a joke that this is what Wallace would have wanted. Together forever <3

3. Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story (2015) by Mac McClelland

 I buy a book based on Katie's recommendation at least once a month ... so here is one I asked for for Christmas. Kind of self explanatory .. a memoir. Katie said she had a hard time reading parts of this because it "disturbed" her. Anything that disturbs Katie usually means I will love it. I love Katie sooooo much.

4. White Noise by (1985) Don DeLillo

Sort of a double recommendation. One of my coworkers recommended this to me and then when I went to pick it up someone I know who works at Indigo told me it was his favourite book. I wish I could remember what sold me the first time though. Probably the fact that the main character is married four different times to five different women? I love a horrible marriage after all. Anyways, it may be the first book I read from this Christmas haul since I have people to talk about it with. Wahoo!

5. Private Citizens by (2012) Tony Tulathimutte

 I was reading an interview with Jonathan Franzen at work one day and when they asked him what he was reading these days / modern writers he was interested in he mentioned this book. 

6. Where Men Win Glory (2009) by Jon Krakauer
      
 I asked for this book thinking it would help me get into football after I joined my work's fantasy league. I ended up deleting the app and having my friend run my team for me ... I also bought this because I was interested in trying another book my Krakauer after Into Thin Air. The sports reporter at my work also mentioned that this is one of his favourite books and he has read it more than once.

7. A House in the Sky by (2013) Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

Hmmm pretty sure I became interested in this because Katie recommended it again .. or suggested she was interested in reading it herself. Then I'm pretty sure I saw that they are making a movie out of this starring Rooney Mara who I looooove. Another memoir .. don't usually love a book written by two people but we will see. It's about this girl from Alberta who was a travel writer (?) and then gets abducted in Somalia. 

8. Wild by Nature (2016) by Sarah Marquis

This fits in with my "accounts of solo-treks" phase. The subtitle is "From Siberia to Australia, Three Years Alone in the Wilderness on Foot." I have been wanting to read this book for what feels like forever .. because time moves so slowly when you are waiting on a soft cover edition .. Anyways, I decided to make this my expensive hardcover Christmas request. 

9. Silver Screen Fiend (2015) by Patton Oswalt

 So these books by celebrities are usually not my thing at all. I think the only one I have ever read was I Drink for a Reason by Davis Cross. But I saw this at Indigo for $2!! I asked for this book after the super unexpected death of Oswalt's wife. The book's subtitle (or whatever you are supposed to call that) is "Learning About Life Through an Addiction to Film." I don't know in the moment I was feeling all gushy about how much I love going to the movie theatres and thought I would try it .. $2 after all. I mean any decision I have ever made was probably directly influenced by a movie I once watched. I started fencing in Grade 5 because I was obsessed with the parent trap ... 
1. Smart Women (1983) by Judy Blume

 I asked for this book because I really love Judy Blume and still haven't read all of her adult fiction. I read Summer Sisters (1998)  over and over again when I was a teenager until the book literally fell apart and then last year I read In the Unlikely Event (2015) and realized I really like her fiction. Pumped to read this one!

2. The First Bad Man (2015) by Miranda July

I asked for this book because a lady I really like named Molly Fox (she runs the Instagram account @stonefoxbride) talked a lot about it in an interview once. I remember her mentioning this quote:“We had fallen in love; that was still true. But given the right psychological conditions, a person could fall in love with anyone or anything." ...and I thought yup, I will read that. I know July talks a lot about the love you have for your children in this book which is a topic I have a lot of weird anxieties about so that will be interesting. I'm super excited to read it but based on nothing really and I've never read anything of hers before.

3. Talking as Fast as I Can (2016) by Lauren Graham

This was such a natural wish list item for me. These celebrity memoirs are among my favourite books to read and I'm obsessed with Lauren Graham... and Gilmore Girls... and Parenthood. When she mentioned that she'd be writing this I think six different people tagged me on social media to make sure I was aware of it. 

4. Live Fast Die Hot (2016) by Jenny Mollen

Last year I read Mollen's first novel, I Like You Just the Way I Am (2014), and it was hysterical so I definitely wanted to read this one. Mollen is Jason Biggs' wife, Chelsea Handler's best friend, and a certified sociopath. I don't think anyone would deny that she's funny. Again, this is my favourite type of book to read and was a very natural ask for me. For anyone who doesn't know her... there's an amazing scene from the drug episode of Chelsea Does where Mollen takes ayahuasca and starts bawling about how much she loves her son.


5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003) by Michael Lewis

This is sort of a random book for me to want for a gift but I got suuuuuuuper obsessed with the movie this year for some reason and decided I needed to read it. For those that don't know / haven't seen the movie (which is awesome) it's the story of the Oakland A's GM that started stacking his team based on runs rather than player stats and led his team to a record-breaking winning streak. I was super relieved to open a copy without a movie cover, but my family knows better. Both Meg and I are very against books with their movie covers for some ridiculous reason. I'm super pumped to read this and then annoy everyone by talking about player trading for weeks on end.


6. Two by Two (2016) by Nicholas Sparks

As I mentioned in our post about books that would make amazing Christmas gifts, I always ask for the new Nicholas Sparks book for Christmas. He writes a new one every year around this time and it's such a great lazy holiday read. I'm sure this was a popular gift this year.

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