Top Ten Tuesday (Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me)

 

 

This week's Topic: Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Bringing Me

Well, I like to give Santa lots of options, to my list of 10 is a list of 20. I’m a list maker, but I’ve never been good at making short lists.

 

These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie, Christopher Andersen

Another. Kennedy. Book. But for some reason, this one calls to me.

 

Cooking Comically: Recipes So Easy You’ll Actually Make Them, Tyler Capps

Do you know about this book? If not, check out his site. You’ll want it too!

 

Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House, Sally Bedell Smith
Her Elizabeth the Queen was so good that I have high hopes for this one.

 

The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, William Shawcross
I’m very interested, after reading Elizabeth the Queen this year, but it is 1096 pages, and I’m not sure if I have the will for that.

 

Outrageous Fortune: Growing up at Leeds Castle, Anthony Russell
Sounds like a sweet coming-of-age story.

 

The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance that Changed the World, Greg King & Sue Woolmans
This is a part of history that I remember studying in school and being very interested in, but I’ve forgotten so much of my school history. I look forward to this one.

 

Fortune’s Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt, Arthur T. Vanderbilt, II
To fill the void after Empty Mansions is over.

 

Jim Henson: The Biography, Brian Jay Jones
Folks are making Henson out to be a saint, but I have a feeling he’s not so much of one. Still, this book is being favorable reviewed, so I’d like to give it a shot.

 

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai
When this one came out, I thought it was for a YA reading crowd. The writing seemed a little simplistic, but as I can’t seem to resist a book about Afghanistan, I’d like to give it a whirl.

 

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, Denise Kiernan
Frankly, I wasn’t interested in this book when it came out, but it’s been so well-received, I think I would like it.

 

Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household, Kate Hubbard
Another about the English court and throne.

 

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race around the World, Matthew Goodman
See note for The Girls of Atomic City above.

 

Johnny Carson, Henry Bushkin
I kind of don’t want to know the extent of Carson’s womanizing, but I’m a sucker for a biography, so I’ll read it.

 

Dinner with the Smileys: One Military Family, One Year of Heroes, and Lessons for a Lifetime, Sarah Smiley
This has been so highly recommended on Amazon, that I have to know what the fuss is about.

 

Five Days in November, Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin
Although I’m a little Kennedy’ed out right now, Hill & McCubbin’s first book was so spectacular, I’m sure I’ll love this one.

 

The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing, Kevin Young (Ed.)
I’m not at all interested in the subject matter, but I (a) love anthologies on a single theme, (b) enjoyed Kevin Young’s The Hungry Ear anthology so, so much, (c) need more poetry for next year, and (d) know that poems about death are always just a little better than poems about happier subjects.

 

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, Sheri Fink
Okay, I give. It’s all over the place, and it’s well-reviewed, so I guess I should read it. Even if it is about a hospital.

 

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain
Innies unite! I’ve been avoiding this book for a while, dancing around it, ignoring it, then wondering about it. I read the first few pages the other day, and I was hooked. I don’t like books that get clinical and diagnose-y, so I really hope this one doesn’t.

 

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle, The Countess of Carnarvon
I haven’t even seen a whole episode of Downton Abbey, but I think I could easily be hooked. And it seems the book is a well-respected companion to the series.

 

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown
Oh my gosh, this book wasn’t even on my radar until a blogger said it was likely her favorite book of the year! It sounds like a wonderful must-read.

Have you read any of these? Which one should I start first?