Book Haul January 2021 - part 1

I've got a big pile of new books that I received for Christmas and which have been newly published in January. Lots of new fiction and nonfiction to look forward to in 2021! Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.

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Books discussed & purchase links:

The Waves - Virginia Woolf

Enter the Aardvark – Jessica Anthony

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies – Deesha Philyaw

Flavour – Ottolenghi

Dolly Parton: Storyteller

Offshore/Human Voices/The Beginning of Spring – Penelope Fitzgerald

Luckenbooth – Jenni Fagan

White Ivy – Susie Yang

The War of the Poor – Eric Vuillard

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain – George Saunders

Rein Gold – Elfriede Jelinek

Game of the Gods – Paolo Maurensig

The Silent Letter – Jaume Subirana

Luster – Raven Leilani

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Get in touch

[chrisreadingcorner]

Love Vintage classics. I will be keeping an eye out for the waves

[OhioEddieBlack]

The Hobbit is my favorite book, and when I have traveled I have picked up foreign language editions, for example in Czech, Greek, German, etc. I agree completely - while I have no idea how to speak those languages, it's still really fun to read familiar lines (e.g. In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit) and see how they look in print and how many cognates there are. And it's neat to see the different covers.

[lizdorrington]

Hi Eric, you've scored some amazing books to start off another great year of reading. I'm definitely pro recalled edges, it just adds even more character to the book. Luckenbooth soup dancing like a creepy good read and I can't wait to read Luster, White Ivy and The Secret Lives Of Church Ladies. I received These Violent Delights, How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Love Stories and a manga series called Library Wars which has a kind of The Book Thief vibe about it. Happy Reading!📚

[bianquita]

I have The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Luster on my TBR. I love Ottolenghi.

[krustytheaustralian]

WOW i find it so cool that u have so many translations of the same book...

[ScullyPop]

You got a lot of nice books to read this go-around. I love your prolific brain. Just keep doing what you do 💪

[adriennegarcia]

I keep a book wishlist on book depository that way my family can get me books on special holidays

[dawnbarry]

I enjoyed this video and I will try some of these.

[clancyconnolly]

Love the Maine recommendations, it is my home state as well! I hope you enjoy all of these new books, it sounds like a fun way to start 2021 😁!

[RubenDario-hriq]

Luster is one of my favorite books of 2020 and if you like chess The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis is very enjoyable.

[morganblalock]

I also can't wait to read Luster! Heard some stunning things about it.

[mradcaqbdb]

Deckled edges 🥰

That Japanese version of The Waves is quite a treasure! I bet your partner has to check your shelves for people wondering if you already have a certain book. 😉

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is fantastic! It was in my top 10 last year.

Luckenbooth sounds great, but I’m totally creeped out by that cover!

I got The Prophets, The Art of Falling, and a A Ghost in the Throat last week. They all look fantastic.

I’ve wanted to dine at one of Ottolenghi’s restaurants when I was visiting London, but haven’t made it to any yet. Hopefully, in the fall this year. It would be lovely if there was a great play at the Almeida and I could eat at his Islington restaurant first! Dreams!

[faythewu]

Love the idea of reading the translations to learn the language!

[MarcNash]

I'm a deckled edges con. Principally because I find it so hard to turn over the pages with them.

[Emmareads]

I'm pro deckled edges, mostly for the look and fun of them, but I don't love the feel of them as much. We can get some over here in the UK, I just got a lovely few Penguin special editions for Christmas that had them, it was a Penguin orange East of Eden and The Master and Margarita.
Don't you just love Dolly Parton? She's just so lovely and a positive force. I just watched her bookshelf tour. I love her, how could you not?

[iuwsvhs]

I love Ottolenghi, if you can gather the right ingredients, his recipes never disappoint. 👌🏽

[MaryJoHeadrick]

I got an Ottolenghi cookbook for Christmas as well!! I have only made one recipe from it so far, but it was delicious.

[cindyhaiken]

I appreciate the issue of receiving books as gifts—often I have already read them. This year I received several gift cards for books from my favorite nearby independent bookstore, which will make for some fun shopping soon. I’ve pre-ordered the new George Saunders and have Luster on my night table. I am super eager for Luckenbooth but have no idea when it will be out in the US.

[morganeua]

For Christmas my mom got me How To Pronounce Knife which just won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in Canada, so I'm excited to dive in! Game of the Gods seems like a good one to gift people that enjoyed Queen's Gambit... I'll make a note of that!

[writeitdown]

I just ordered George Saunders "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain." I love the title and it sounds like it approximates one of his MFA classes at Syracuse. I'm really excited. Thanks for posting these!