Christmas Book Swap, fun as usual!

Thanks to everyone who came and brought wonderful books to put under the tree. We had a great time as usual, and the food was amazing. There were some wonderful books to be had including a pop-up version of The Little Prince that was so lovely that we were all very jealous of Wendy who ended up with it.

The big winner for the night in terms of swap might have been the annotated Lolita. Not much of an edition (I brought it) but the amount of insight the annotations offer is amazing, all the more so when considering Nabokov wrote it in English, his third language. Lolita is considered one of the best novels ever written, and among most controversial.

The other contender for most swapped was The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Val was determined to have this book and lucky for her, she drew number 1 so it went home with her. We added this one to the reading list for March, so we can catch up with her.

For January, we decided on The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is supposedly very different from her blockbuster Eat, Pray. Love and I personally love her writing, so I am looking forward to this. Our next meeting is Jan. 18, at 6:30. For a change, we are going to meet at a restaurant and decided to try Maple and Pine at the Quirk Hotel, if it can accommodate our group.

For fun, here is the full list of books and who brought them.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - Jean
Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall - Wendy
Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler - Dawn
The Little Prince (pop-up edition) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - Maggie
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert - Lynn
Val brought a three-fer:
     Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
     Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
     The Red Tent  by Anita Diamont
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - Liz
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - Ashley (I think)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Celia
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee - Kathy (who could not come but sent a book anyway, thank you!)
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini - Carol
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny - Julie (Mary got this one, I already bought it, I was so jealous.)

The group wanted to read a biography of a strong woman or a classic for February (not Lolita,  sadly) so we compromised and came up with Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. I can't wait!

See you all Jan. 18 at Maple and Pine, Quirk Hotel, 6:30 pm. Happy Holidays!