Last year I got quite a few books for Christmas so I don’t feel ‘strange’ as a reader not asking or receiving so many this year. Whilst it’s not a goal per se, I’m considering accepting more review copies this year; so far it’s a fair beginning.

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park – The other edition I have of this book was acquired purely because I had already spent a while looking for this, Vintage, edition to no avail and wanted to read the story. This copy now completes my collection.

Elizabeth Chadwick: The Winter Crown – Author; check; first book was excellent; check.

Helen Lederer: Losing It – I attended the pre-publication party, which I’ll be posting about on Wednesday, and will be reviewing this later this month/early February.

Xiaolu Guo: I Am China – I’ve scanned the blurb only briefly; it was the author and the overall look of the book that caught my eye. Yep – not much of an idea what it’s about but very much looking forward to reading it.

Did you get any books over the holidays?

Not many today, but I’m rather excited.

Anna Godbersen: Bright Young Things – When it was released, this book was featured on too many blogs to count and I read few negative reviews. I marked it as one I wanted to read but never got round to it. Now my friend has given me a copy; the plan is to read it soon.

Christina James: Sausage Hall – From the publisher; I don’t know much more about it other than that it’s a crime thriller (and I’m forgoing reading the blurb so that it’s a surprise).

Diane Setterfield: Bellman & Black – I haven’t yet read The Thirteenth Tale but saw no reason not to give this a go – knowing in advance it has garnered mixed reviews and is not as good.

Emily St. John Mandel: Station Eleven – Whilst I know she works for the publisher, Sam tweeted up a storm and I had to find out what this book was about. It sounds in the vein of The Night Circus and this makes me very happy. I must remember to list the book under ‘M’.

Peter Ackroyd: Tudors – I was always going to end up wanting to read this book. I’m of the mind that you can never read too many books on your favourite subjects, and whilst skimming the index inferred I may not agree with Ackroyd (he’s referenced G W Bernard), I’m looking forward to the book nonetheless.

What books have you bought/loaned/been sent recently?

A handful of books today. Some you’ll see on the blog soon, others in a few months.

Davina Blake: Past Encounters – This was one of the books I read for the Readathon, something just drew me to it and it’s fantastic. Although I’ve already read it, I’ve included it here because I’m not due to review it until December and that’s too long when you’ve loved a book.

Elise Alden: Pitch Imperfect – Whereas my first thought was that ‘pitch’ would refer to sports, it turned out this book includes music and that’s something I love to read about.

Kate Riordan: The Girl In The Photograph – I received a heads up from the publisher about this being available on Netgalley. No estimate yet for when I’ll be reading it but the release date is in January so hopefully I’ll get to it in time for that.

Marc Pastor: Barcelona Shadows – I haven’t much of an idea what this is about but it’s published by Pushkin Press (who published The Rabbit Back Literature Society I reviewed on Monday) and it’s translated fiction.

Robin Ince and Johnny Mains (ed.): Dead Funny – I’m not sure I’ll get to this in time for Halloween and I think a few people may be interested. Short horror/comedy stories by a variety of British comedians including Al Murray and Phil Jupitus.

What/which books have you bought/loaned/been sent recently?

I’m still accepting very few books but this does mean that those I do accept are ones I really want to read. I’ve a small back log and am allowing myself to read the ones I’m most interested in first. This in itself is very freeing as I used to read on a first in first read basis.

Kristy Cambron: The Butterfly And The Violin – Isi read this and detailed well what she wasn’t keen on, however I’ve been wanting to give Christian fiction (or just religious fiction in general, really) a go, and overall I reckon this fits the bill. I am already reading one, Jody Hedlund’s The Preacher’s Bride, but I’m finding the language overly historical and it’s taking a while for me to get through it. I needed a different one for the time being.

Meike Ziervogel: Clara’s Daughter – Ziervogel’s début, Magda was exceptional; there was no question whether or not I would read her next. This is my current read, I’m on chapter two, and it’s already excellent.

Merryn Allingham: The Crystal Cage – A historical Harlequin that I accepted for a tour. You’ll see the review for this in October (I’m being careful to pick the later dates on tours at the moment).

Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen: The Rabbit Back Literature Society – I hope I got all those umlauts correct! (Incidentally it seems that you can anglicise the plural to no ill effect.) This book came unsolicited and as soon as I saw that it was translated fiction I knew it was likely to be right up my street. Given the snow on the cover I may review this later on in the year depending on what the story is about (I want to go in with no knowledge).

Taylor Stevens: The Catch – The previous book in this series, The Doll made my top six last year, the pace never let up and it was just a fantastically written book and I’d hoped Stevens would release another soon. I’ve flicked through this and the editing isn’t as good this time around – the writing isn’t as tight and so it’s not as well-paced – but the story itself I’m expecting will be fine.

Have you read/do you hope to read any of the above?

Given my post about scaling back, it may be obvious to say that these acquisition posts are likely to be less frequent in future, but I will continue to write them when appropriate. As always I’ve left out books that I’ve already reviewed.

Ai Mi: Under The Hawthorn Tree – Monday’s post covered this quite extensively.

Andra Watkins: To Live Forever – When I saw the cover of this book, I couldn’t help thinking I’ve seen it on many blogs before. I don’t know if this is correct, and I’m not sure whether or not I’ll like the book, but agreeing to review it seemed the right thing to do.

Joanna Hickson: The Agincourt Bride – I plan to purchase a print copy so I’m seeing this free download as purely for earlier-than-would-be-otherwise review purposes. Thanks to Jessica for the head’s up.

Mingmei Yip: Peach Blossom Pavilion – This appears to be similar to Memoirs Of A Geisha, which I liked. Downloaded with my Asian lit plan in mind.

Raffaella Barker: From A Distance – My latest check of Netgalley yielded this. Another of my plans is to read more literary fiction as it’s fallen by the wayside.

Have you read/do you hope to read any of the above?