Book Haul!

Santa was very good to me this year. In particular I received some really fabulous books. As I said in my Christmas Book Gift Guide, they really are brilliant presents to give and receive. There's not much I love more than a beautiful new book..actually maybe a stack of beautiful new books! Behold!:

• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I adore these cloth bound classics, I have a couple of Austens and Brontes already and love the beautiful covers on those- this is no different, that's it above. So lovely. I recently saw a theatre production of Dorian Gray and loved it so was thrilled to get the book. The story is simultaneously creepy and beautifully written, which is why it is still loved to this day. The only Mr Gray for me.
• Women of the Revolution: Forty Years of Feminism, edited by Kira Cochrane. I've always considered myself a feminist but have changed that to "strident feminist" in the past year given the apparent continuous rise of misogyny and victim-blaming rape culture that we've all had to witness and endure. Given this, Hubster picked me up this book which unsurprisingly looks at the past 40 years of feminism with articles by and interviews with the likes of Betty Friedan, Toni Morrison, Naomi Wolf, Oprah, Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, Beth Ditto and Julie Burchill amongst many others. I'm already about half way through the 70's and am just loving it- it's so interesting.
• Ulysses by James Joyce. Full disclosure, I've been reading this on and off on my phone since the Summer but haven't finished it yet, mostly because a) reading any book on your iphone is decidedly unpleasant but b) reading a literary classic that has baffled many thanks to Joyce's 'alternative' use of the English language on an iphone is difficult at best. So I've been saying for ages that I was going to actually buy a proper copy of it once I found a good enough edition. Luckily for me I have rather lovely in laws and my father-in-law picked me up this remastered edition which makes the prose more reader friendly thanks to the use of additional punctuation where necessary and separating the 'internal monologue' from the narrative. None of Joyce's actual text has been altered so I think this is just a really great idea- it'll make it an improved reading experience while still maintaining the novel's authenticity. Hurrah!
• Back Story, A Memoir by David Mitchell. I mentioned this in my Christmas book gift guide too, I really enjoy Mitchell's Observer columns and of course Peep Show so I 'm super excited to read this. I just think he's incredibly witty and intelligent. I'm already chuckling away merrily at the first chapter.
• 5 Peppermint Grove by bestselling Irish author Michelle Jackson. My mammy-in-law got me this, which is bizarre as I was going to get the same book for her! Great minds! The book follows the character of Ruth, emigrating to Australia for a fresh start and new job- all goes well until she finds out her mother has been hiding something about her own life in Perth during the seventies which she must then investigate. I really like the look of this book, entertaining and exciting with added mystery.
• Horror Cinema by Jonathan Penner, Steven Jay Schneider and Paul Duncan. As you'll have guessed from the Halloween themed movie post  I wrote back in October, I do enjoy a good horror. I was so thrilled to get this on Christmas Day that I instantly started reading it and could barely put it down. It's pretty amazing- the book gives a really thorough history on the evolution of horror movies with each chapter describing each sub-genre in detail. Chapter titles include; 'Slashers & Serial Killers', 'Cannibals, Freaks & Hillbillies', 'The Living Dead', 'Vampires and Werewolves', 'Voodoo, Cults and Satanists', 'Science-Fiction Horror', 'Revenge of Nature', 'Ghosts & Haunted Houses' amongst others. LOVE.

Anyone else get any good books for Christmas? Anything I have to read?! Come on, enable me!