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):
- Random House Treasury of Favorite Love Poems, Second Edition
- Poetry to Share Your Love (Portable Poetry) Edited by Michael Schmidt
- Love Edited by Yves Saint Laurent
- In Our Strange Gardens (English and French Edition)
by Michel Quint
Note: I’ve actually read this one. It was a good read. - Choke
by Chuck Palahniuk
- The Wayward Bus (Penguin Classics) by John Steinbeck
- Cup of Gold (Penguin Classics)
by John Steinbeck
- The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway
- The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, Red Harvest (Everyman’s Library)
by Dashiell Hammett
- The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
- The Silmarillion, Second Edition
by J.R.R. Tolkien
- 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 - The Enemy Within
by Robert F. Kennedy
- Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel
by Jonathan Safran Foer
- Bright Lights, Big City
by Jay McInerney
- Magic for Beginners
by Kelly Link
Note: I’ve read this one. It’s fabulous. Recommended when I took a class by the lovely Rachel Resnick. - Heart: Stories of Learning to Love Again (Illumina Book)
Edited by Kristen Couse
Note: I’ve read this one. Very inspiring. - Best New American Voices 2005
Edited by Francine Prose
- Portrait of Myself
by Margaret Bourke-White
- A Writer’s Life
by Gay Talese
- American Judaism: A History
by Jonathan Sarna
Note: Bought after a great talk I saw when I worked for a Jewish organization. - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale
Edited by James B. South & William Irwin
- Druids: Their Origins and History
by Lewis Spence
- 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! - Crying: A Natural and Cultural History of Tears
by Tom Lutz
- 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 - 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. - The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence, and Quiet Passion
by Paul Schatzkin
- Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (Great Discoveries)
by Barbara Goldsmith
- Salt: A World History
by Mark Kurlansky
- What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love
by Carole Radziwill
Note: Purchased at my favorite New York Bookstore – Strand Books - 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 - Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters, 1957-1958
by Jack Kerouac & Joyce Johnson
- Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions
by Lisa Randall
- A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years
by Shuichi Kato
- The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology (P.S.)
by Simon Winchester
- Love: A Novel
by Toni Morrison
- Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
by Nassem Nicholas Taleb
- Dancing on the Edge
by Han Nolan
- 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
How clever! I have a huge To Be Read pile myself, so I def love this idea