December RandomCAT: Secret Santa
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1LibraryCin
December RandomCAT: Secret Santa
Whether or not you have participated in LibraryThing’s Secret Santa program, I thought this might be a good way to get to those books that I’ve received as gifts.
Now, I don’t usually get books as gifts from people I know “in person” (I suspect they mostly wouldn’t know what to pick out for me!), but I do have books from LT’s Secret Santa that I haven’t gotten to. I wanted to use this as an excuse to do that.
So, that’s what I’m using this for: LT’s Secret Santa gift books. If you don’t or haven’t participate(d) in it (or have already read all the ones you’ve received), feel free to use any book that has been gifted to you.
If you don’t receive books as gifts (maybe for the same reason I don’t from people I know!), pick out a book that you “gifted” to yourself. :-)
I won’t make any suggestions, as of course, this is a personal challenge based on everyone’s own books/gifts.
Don't forget to update the wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2018_RandomCAT#December:_-_Theme:
Whether or not you have participated in LibraryThing’s Secret Santa program, I thought this might be a good way to get to those books that I’ve received as gifts.
Now, I don’t usually get books as gifts from people I know “in person” (I suspect they mostly wouldn’t know what to pick out for me!), but I do have books from LT’s Secret Santa that I haven’t gotten to. I wanted to use this as an excuse to do that.
So, that’s what I’m using this for: LT’s Secret Santa gift books. If you don’t or haven’t participate(d) in it (or have already read all the ones you’ve received), feel free to use any book that has been gifted to you.
If you don’t receive books as gifts (maybe for the same reason I don’t from people I know!), pick out a book that you “gifted” to yourself. :-)
I won’t make any suggestions, as of course, this is a personal challenge based on everyone’s own books/gifts.
Don't forget to update the wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2018_RandomCAT#December:_-_Theme:
2LibraryCin
Now for me, I have a couple that I thought I might do this month, but that may not happen. If not, these are a few options, though I know I have more possibilities than this:
- To Sleep With the Angels / David Cowan
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky / Mark Sullivan
- Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen / Susan Gregg Gilmore
- To Sleep With the Angels / David Cowan
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky / Mark Sullivan
- Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen / Susan Gregg Gilmore
3LibraryCin
And didn't someone put a similar idea forward for one of next year's CATs? Maybe the TBR CAT? Yay for that! I've had this idea since at least the summer, so the idea, for me, was also in my head before it was suggested over there.
4sallylou61
I have only three which I haven't read. I'm planning on reading Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant. Although I often read short story collections, this year I've only read two such collections -- and neither were by women. (I try to read women authors for literature.)
I also thought of Secret Santa gifts for the gift book month for TRB CAT.
I also thought of Secret Santa gifts for the gift book month for TRB CAT.
5Robertgreaves
My options for this are:
Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel
Beautiful People by Simon Doonan and
The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel
Beautiful People by Simon Doonan and
The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
6MissWatson
Oh, this should be the final push to finish a book I received for my birthday!
7dudes22
Oh my gosh! I can't believe it's already time for the last Random Cat. I have no idea right now what I'll read. Need to go check my TBR.
9RidgewayGirl
Fantastic theme! I love SantaThing, and it turns out that I do have a few that somehow didn't get read right away.
10clue
I have one square left on my BINGO card and was planning on reading a book that was a given to me in 2015...The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki. Perfect!
11LittleTaiko
I am hoping to get to The Garden of Evening Mists which was a Santa Thing gift from 3 years ago that I can't believe I haven't read by now.
12whitewavedarling
I think I'll use this month to read either The House by Christina Lauren or else 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa edited Stephanie Nolen, or maybe both if I can fit them in. I don't often buy new books--I tend to buy used copies whenever possible, unless it's a book I've Really been waiting for--but these are two books I bought full-price, I so wanted to read them and not forget about them, and of course they've been sitting on my TBR stack for ages, so this will be a great time for them. I'd wanted to get to both this year, too :)
13LisaMorr
I'm planning on reading A Room with a View, which I received last year in the Virago Secret Santa event, over at the Virago Modern Classics group.
14rabbitprincess
My catalogue tells me I have only one book unread from my Christmas 2013 haul: Doctor Who: The Vault, by Marcus Hearn. So I will read that for this challenge. Great idea!
15LibraryCin
Thanks, everyone! And, thank you, >9 RidgewayGirl: the name of the LT Secret Santa was escaping me - SantaThing!
16LadyoftheLodge
I love this theme! And I have one in my TBR pile from last year's SantaThing--Assaulted Caramel which my Santa got for me to help me find a new series to read. Thanks for such a great idea!
17christina_reads
I got four books from a Secret Santa I participated in last year, and how many of them have I read? Zero! Maybe I'll try to knock out one of them in December:
- Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz
- Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
- The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay
- Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon
- Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz
- Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
- The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay
- Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon
18fuzzi
>1 LibraryCin: what about Member Giveaway or Early Reviewer books, would those qualify as "gifted"?
19LibraryCin
>18 fuzzi: Sure, if that's what's easiest for you, I don't see why not!
20DeltaQueen50
My brother sent me home with a 1,001 Book yesterday so I will read the book he gave me, The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson for this Cat.
21Jackie_K
I have never participated in SantaThing, and my ER and Member Giveaway books are already read and reviewed. So I will pick a book I received as a Christmas gift and read that (there are quite a few to choose from - back later with my possible choices!).
23Jackie_K
I think I'm going to have a go at reading Julian Barnes' The Noise of Time, which was a gift from my in-laws for Christmas 2016.
24virginiahomeschooler
So, my problem is that I do get books as gifts, but my memory is crap and I buy lots of books for myself. I can't remember what books I bought and which ones were given to me. I think I got a few Doctor Who ones for Christmas last year that I've still not read, but I can't be sure which ones. Sooo, I think I'm going to have to go with an ER book. Fortunately I do have a couple of those, and one I was planning to get to next month anyway (fits for Alpha and Color) is Christmas Camp.
On a side note, this has me itching to do Santa Thing.
I don't need more books. I don't need more books. I don't need more books....
On a side note, this has me itching to do Santa Thing.
I don't need more books. I don't need more books. I don't need more books....
25EBT1002
I received several books as gifts when I left Seattle and I have received lots of books from friends here on LT, so this should be an easy one! I just need to peruse my shelves and remember which ones have been gifts. :-)
26LibraryCin
>24 virginiahomeschooler: LOL! No worries. If you can't remember, just pick something you think might have been a gift - close enough! (And none of the rest of us would really know, anyway!)
27LibraryCin
I have a few more options after having checked my tbr piles:
The Dalai Lama's Cat and The Power of Meow / David Michie
After Visiting Friends / Michael Hainey
The Book of Joy / Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama's Cat and The Power of Meow / David Michie
After Visiting Friends / Michael Hainey
The Book of Joy / Dalai Lama
28fuzzi
>19 LibraryCin: thanks! I don't have any SantaThing books unread.
>24 virginiahomeschooler: my memory stinks, so I make a notation when I catalog the book, to indicate where it came from.
>24 virginiahomeschooler: my memory stinks, so I make a notation when I catalog the book, to indicate where it came from.
29LibraryCin
>28 fuzzi: I didn't want to leave out options for anyone for this challenge, so I was trying to think of different scenarios so everyone can participate! Just didn't think of those!
30dudes22
Well - I've decided that my whole TBR pile will work because I consider them "to me, from me" gifts to myself. Mostly from library sales and used book stores which means someone wanted me to have them. :)
31LibraryCin
>30 dudes22: Haha! Well, you could use some of the other guidelines if you want to cut down the options a bit, too!
32dudes22
>31 LibraryCin: - Well, I haven't done Santa Thing and no one ever gives me books except for cookbooks, so I thought this way I can read a book for this Cat.
33LibraryCin
>32 dudes22: No worries! Go for it!
34LibraryCin
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen / Susan Gregg Gilmore
3.5 stars
Catherine Grace is the preacher’s daughter in a small town in Georgia in the 1960s and 70s. Her mother died when she was only six, so there’s just her, her sister, Martha Ann, and their father, the town preacher. All her life she’s known she wants out of the town; unlike many others, she does not want to stay and be a farmer’s wife. She plans to leave as soon as she turns 18.
I enjoyed this. There was more God in it than I expected. Growing up in a small town (unless it’s different in the South), I didn’t find that much talk of “the Lord” in casual conversation as there was in this book/town. I have mixed feelings about the ending. Some of it, I liked, but some of it seemed to tie up a bit too nicely in a bow. Overall, though, it was fairly enjoyable.
3.5 stars
Catherine Grace is the preacher’s daughter in a small town in Georgia in the 1960s and 70s. Her mother died when she was only six, so there’s just her, her sister, Martha Ann, and their father, the town preacher. All her life she’s known she wants out of the town; unlike many others, she does not want to stay and be a farmer’s wife. She plans to leave as soon as she turns 18.
I enjoyed this. There was more God in it than I expected. Growing up in a small town (unless it’s different in the South), I didn’t find that much talk of “the Lord” in casual conversation as there was in this book/town. I have mixed feelings about the ending. Some of it, I liked, but some of it seemed to tie up a bit too nicely in a bow. Overall, though, it was fairly enjoyable.
35MissWatson
I have finally reached the end of the journey to the West in my birthday present book, all 1319 pages of it: Die Reise in den Westen. This has been a fun trip.
36EBT1002
I finished Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover for this month. It was given to me by a colleague when I left UW last summer and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it. Very worthwhile.
37whitewavedarling
Finished The Tourist Trail by John Yunker, which was an LT early reviewer book--as close as I get to secret santa gifts probably :)
38LibraryCin
>37 whitewavedarling: No worries! Whatever works!
39christina_reads
As it turns out, I just received A Duke in Shining Armor by Loretta Chase from a Secret Santa! So I'm reading that for this CAT. :)
40staci426
The only books I've ever gotten as gifts have been cookbooks. So I will count a book I bought as a gift to myself, My Sister the Moon by Sue Harrison. This is book 2 in The Ivory Carver series which takes place in prehistoric Alaska. I loved the first book which I read quite a while ago, so finally decided to treat myself to the second. This one wasn't quite as good as the first, but I still rated it 4*.
41LisaMorr
Finished A Room with a View - a short 1001 book that started out a little annoying, but turned out all right. A fairly light romantic comedy where the English prejudices of the time played a major part.
42LisaMorr
Finished A Room with a View - a short 1001 book that started out a little annoying, but turned out all right. A fairly light romantic comedy where the English prejudices of the time played a major part.
43RidgewayGirl
I've started A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. Not only did I get a copy from SantaThing, I was gifted a second copy later on. Fifty pages in and I can see why people wanted me to read it, it's fantastic.
44fuzzi
Started reading a book last night, The Four Graces, and discovered a note from the giver, SylviaC!
45LittleTaiko
After receiving The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng as a SantaThing gift in 2015, I finally got around to reading it for this challenge. Honestly I'm not sure why it took me so long as it's the sort of book that I enjoy. Thankful for this challenge to nudge me to read it.
46DeltaQueen50
I have just finished The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson, a book that was recently gifted to me by my brother. Another great adventure classic from this author, I really liked it, but Treasure Island is still my favorite by this author.
47VivienneR
I'm about to start Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan that was a gift last year and one I never got around to reading until now.
48thornton37814
>45 LittleTaiko: I really enjoyed that one when I read it.
49Kristelh
>45 LittleTaiko:, I also really enjoyed that one and it took me awhile to finally get to it, too.
50rabbitprincess
>14 rabbitprincess: I finished Doctor Who: The Vault before going on Christmas vacation, and it was excellent. Thanks, LibraryCin, for the push to finally read it!
51LibraryCin
>50 rabbitprincess: You're welcome! I'm a bit disappointed myself, in that I was hoping to get more than one book read for this challenge! Looks like it will only be the one.
However, one of the others I was hoping for for this will also fit for January's "Reading Through Time" challenge (along with a few others I have for it), so hopefully I'll get that one read next month!
However, one of the others I was hoping for for this will also fit for January's "Reading Through Time" challenge (along with a few others I have for it), so hopefully I'll get that one read next month!
52VivienneR
Change of plan! My library hold for The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths came in so I will be reading that instead (like a gift from myself). It's a Christmas mystery so I don't want to put it off. I'm also in the middle of a few other books that I want to finish this month so may not get to the originally planned Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan.
53Jackie_K
I finished The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes this morning - an excellent read to finish the year. This was a gift from (I think) Christmas 2016, from my in-laws (I don't take part in the LT Secret Santa, so I chose a book I remembered receiving for Christmas instead). 4.5/5.