This year I decided to make a Book Christmas Tree – something a little bit more detailed than my beloved Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but still room for creativity.  I actually have a whole “to-read” book table.  Yes – table. So it was the perfect place to just do some…rearranging!  I had to be a little bit more creative with the top of the tree.  Luckily I had small volumes of love poems that were just right!

The books in the tree (from top-to-bottom):

1. Random House Treasury of Favorite Love Poems, Second Edition
2. Poetry to Share Your Love (Portable Poetry) Edited by Michael Schmidt
3. Love Edited by Yves Saint Laurent
4. In Our Strange Gardens (English and French Edition) by Michel Quint
   Note: I’ve actually read this one.  It was a good read.
5. Chokeby Chuck Palahniuk
6. The Wayward Bus (Penguin Classics) by John Steinbeck
7. Cup of Gold (Penguin Classics) by John Steinbeck
8. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
9. The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, Red Harvest (Everyman’s Library)by Dashiell Hammett
10. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
11. The Silmarillion, Second Edition by J.R.R. Tolkien
12. Channeling Mark Twain: A Novel by Carol Muske-Dukes
    Note: Autographed by the lovely Carol Muske-Dukes after a great session on California Literature during the 2012 LA Times Book Festival
13. The Enemy Within by Robert F. Kennedy
14. Everything Is Illuminated: A Novelby Jonathan Safran Foer
15. Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
16. Magic for Beginnersby Kelly Link
    Note: I’ve read this one. It’s fabulous. Recommended when I took a class by the lovely Rachel Resnick.
17. Heart: Stories of Learning to Love Again (Illumina Book) Edited by Kristen Couse
    Note: I’ve read this one. Very inspiring.
18. Best New American Voices 2005 Edited by Francine Prose
19. Portrait of Myself by Margaret Bourke-White
20. A Writer’s Life by Gay Talese
21. American Judaism: A History by Jonathan Sarna
    Note: Bought after a great talk I saw when I worked for a Jewish organization.
22. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale Edited by James B. South & William Irwin
23. Druids: Their Origins and History by Lewis Spence
24. The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) by Chris Hardwick
    Note: Autographed at a signing at one of my favorite comic book stores – Meltdown! 
25. Crying: A Natural and Cultural History of Tears by Tom Lutz
26. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8. Lee
    Note: Autographed and picked up at my favorite Seattle Bookstore – Elliott Bay Book Company
27. Flu : The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic by Gina Kolata
    Note: I’m pretty sure I read this, but the great Flu Epidemic of 1918 has always fascinated me, so I’m not 100% sure.
28. The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence, and Quiet Passionby Paul Schatzkin
29. Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (Great Discoveries) by Barbara Goldsmith
30. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
31. What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill
    Note: Purchased at my favorite New York Bookstore – Strand Books
32. The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus by John Emsley
    Note: #15, #28, #29, and #32 were purchased at one of my favorite Los Angeles bookstores – The Last Bookstore 
33. Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters, 1957-1958 by Jack Kerouac & Joyce Johnson
34. Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall
35. A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years by Shuichi Kato
36. The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology (P.S.) by Simon Winchester
37. Love: A Novel by Toni Morrison
38. Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassem Nicholas Taleb
39. Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan
40. The Turquoise Mask by Phyllis A. Whitney

As I was figuring out the books, I realized that this is very random assortment, but I suppose I wouldn’t have it any other way!  It was also nice to map my book adventures a bit.  Happy Holidays!

-cct