Tuesday, December 4, 2012

What books will you gift to yourself this Christmas?


So, it's finally December and the fast approaching Christmas time of the year. While everyone is busy planning what gifts to buy family members and friends (and in my case, should also be planning birthday presents for mother and sister), I personally say screw them and worry about what to buy for myself. Let's face it, I deserve it and I'm going to self-indulge.

It's with that in mind that I've been working on a small list of books I'd like to gift to myself on this very special holiday. I'm not sure if I'll manage to get them all, but they're some books that are missing from my shelves for one reason or another, and it's something I should remedy. Being a hoarder at heart, I have no alternative course of action to take.

Knife Sworn by Mazarkis Williams



This is the second novel in the Tower & Knife series, and sequel to The Emperor's Knife which I really enjoyed and reviewed some months ago. It was released last month, and still haven't managed to buy myself a copy despite my anticipation for reading it.




I was offered a copy of this one prior to Summer, and for some idiotic reason I declined the opportunity. Something about not wanting to commit to a review at the time when I knew I was pressed for time; something silly like that. Still, very much looking to read this one, it's been highly recommended to me.





I purposely avoided buying this when it came out. First, I was sure that I wasn't in the mood to read a 1,000+ page novel. Secondly, it was quite evident that it would take some time for the sequel to come out, particularly with Sanderson, despite being some sort of writing robot, was busy finishing up The Wheel of Time. But I think it's time now.





I'm a big fan of Tim Pratt's Marla Mason urban fantasy series, so this is a definite buy for me. I reviewed two of them, Poison Sleep and Dead Reign. Been hearing some great things about this one, and quite eager to experience the author in a new setting.


Spellbound by Blake Charlton



I've all ready read Spellbound and loved it. I managed to receive a signed ARC from the author, the very first ARC I received once I started this blog, but I want a real finished copy of the book and I also want my brother to read it. Considering that he practically destroys any book I lend him, there's no way in hell I'm going to give him a signed copy.


The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer



I won a finished copy of this book from The Night Bazaar, which was also signed by the author. So, the rule from above applies here too since I want my brother to read this series. I also reviewed the novel, while Bryce did a guest review here. Also finished the sequel recently, which was also very good and should be reviewing shortly.


The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell



I've always seem to be in the mood for a YA superhero novel, or simply a superhero novel. Been wanting to give this a try for some time now, and since there have been recent rumors of a forthcoming sequel, I thought it was time to give it a shot. Has an interesting premise about an aspiring supervillain.


The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern




From all I've seen, The Night Circus is a book tailored made for me. It gathered a lot of praise and hype when it came out, yet every time I got out to buy a few books, this novel never comes to mind.


Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky



Low Town was one of my favorite fantasy reads of last year, together with Douglas Hulick's Among Thieves, they provided a winning mixture of some of the elements I like in my urban fantasy reading, but taken to a secondary world setting in a first person narrative. Really looking forward to reading more about the Warden, but haven't heard any news about Tomorrow, the Killing being published in the US, and that won't stop me from getting myself a copy.


The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham



Much to my chagrin, I've haven't read as much of Daniel Abraham as I'd want. My only experience with him has been his urban fantasy books, The Black Sun's Daughter. Even though I've enjoyed them, I'm quite aware that his other books should be even better, and I've been missing out. I own all The Long Price Quartet books, and I also own the first of The Dagger & the Coin which I hope to read soon, so I'm hoping that buying the sequel will motivate me to read it sooner rather than later.


At the Gates and Echoes of the Past by Tim Marquitz



Demon Squad is one of my top urban fantasy series, and At the Gates in particular one my favorite reads in the last couple of years in the subgenre. I reviewed Resurrection, the 2nd novel in the series. Tim Marquitz keeps sending me unsolicited eARCs for these books when he knows full well I rather read the physical copies. Yet, I can't help myself and read them regardless, but now I need the actual books.


When We Were Executioners by J. M. McDermott



I really enjoyed the first in the series, Never Knew Another which I did a quick-reaction to not long ago. The book was as unique as it was thoughtful and insightful. Really want to get back to this very interesting world by quite the talented writer.


The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe




A couple of months ago, Tor sent me a copy of the latest in the Eddie LaCrosse series, Wake of the Bloody Angel, as a gift. Probably they were hoping I'd review it, but since I haven't read any of the prior novels, it simply wasn't going to happen. So a gift it is. That said, I've been quite interested in the series for some time now, and now that I have a copy of one of the books in the series, I've been forced to start the series at some point. It looks like Wake of the Bloody Angel might get reviewed after all. Well played Tor, well played... though it'll be quite some time before I get there.




Well crap, a bit longer of a list than I intended (and I'm sure I forgot a few as it is), so I doubt all of these will make the cut in the end for Christmas. Decisions, decisions...

What books will you be buying for yourself this Christmas? Any other recommendations for me?

12 comments:

  1. Great selection here. I don't know what I'll be buying myself. I just bought two ebooks that I've been wanting, and don't tell my family I figured if on ereader they wont know. lol.

    I do hope you enjoy the next Emperor and Knife book. I'll be curious to see your thoughts on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Will do, and what were your two eBooks?

      Delete
    2. Oh they aren't ones you would have told me to get. Queen of Swords by Katee Robert and Red by Kate SeRine. Both are of a romance spin. Katee's is space sci fi and Kate's is a retell of Little Red Riding Hood in current time and romance.

      Delete
  2. I'd really like the entire Dresden Files collection in HC. I have a bunch of them in audio, but they need a permanent place on the bookshelves, I think.

    And I totally agree with you: you do deserve a nice present, hand picked by yourself under the tree. It's a sure fire way to guarantee you'll like it. Hope you get as many of these as possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I'll eventually get myself the HC versions of Dresden, my paperbacks have been destroyed (see above notes about my brother).

      Delete
  3. Shift by Kim Curran, Red Country by Joe Abercrombie, The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams, Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan and The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson, I think will be my choices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great choices. I already have Red Country and Streets. The Alloy of Law almost made it to my list, but given that I've only read the first Mistborn, and already had a Sanderson book on the list, I figured it could wait.

      Delete
  4. I will be buying The Wardstone Trilogy since it is highly rated and a completed trilogy and I won't have to wait to finish the whole thing. I read on a Kindle mostly, but I think I'll buy the paperbacks of these and the kindle versions too. The covers are amazing. They will look awesome on my book shelf.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I loved Way of Kings. Night Circus is also on my list, along with Bitter Seeds, Low Town, Red Country, Corpse Rat King and Altered Carbon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bitter Seeds is great. I have Red Country, I'll be catching up soon since I still need to finish Best Served Cold and read The Heroes.

      Delete
  6. The Way of Kings is excellent. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
    I am looking forward to pre-ordering Book #3 in James Maxey's Dragon Apocalypse series - a most excellent fantasy series unlike anything else I have read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That looks interesting, hadn't heard of it before. Does it have any connection to his Dragon Age series?

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...