I Only Want Books for Christmas

(with apologies to Alan Jackson)

The rain is falling on Christmas Eve.
Wrapped presents are under the tree.
Are there tons for me?

I only want books for Christmas, Santa.
Hey, I need nothing else.
I only want books for Christmas, Santa.
Tie a ribbon 'round a shelf.
Oh, tie a ribbon 'round a shelf.

I’m not writing a letter to add to your long list.
’Cause what I'm wanting this year I know you just can’t miss.

I only want books for Christmas, Santa.

Hey, I need nothing else.
I only want books for Christmas, Santa.
Tie a ribbon 'round a shelf.
Oh, tie a ribbon 'round a shelf.

I’ll put on my reading glasses. Forget that mistletoe.
Books fill me with the holiday spirit.
Santa, I know you know. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

I only want books for Christmas, Santa.

Hey, I need nothing else.
I only want books for Christmas, Santa.
Tie a ribbon 'round a shelf.
Oh, tie a ribbon 'round a shelf.

Ebooks will be fine. Gift cards? Perfect! Santa, I’ll use the gift card for the first fifteen titles on my wish list, all but two January releases. I’ve alphabetized them by author just to make it really easy.

 

1. Christina Brooke, Mad About the Earl (Ministry of Marriage #2): I loved the first book in the series and am fascinated by the Ministry of Marriage concept.
2. Manda Collins, How to Dance with a Duke (Ugly Ducklings #1): I know what a great read this one is because I read a draft. I can’t wait to reread it and to squee heartily over my friend Manda’s debut. 
3. Lisa Dale, A Promise of Safekeeping: This is classified as a thriller, not a genre I usually read. But I like Dale’s voice, and I am intrigued by the subject, the effects of an innocent man’s incarceration on the man himself, his best friend, and the prosecuting attorney. 
4. Carola Dunn, Gone West (Daisy Dalrymple Mystery #20): I’m daffy about Daisy and never miss a book in this series. Since the murder victim in this one is a novelist, it promises to be especially interest. 
5. Anne Gracie, Bride by Mistake (Devil Riders #5): I’ve been an Anne Gracie fan since I read Gallant Waif more than a decade ago. I’ve loved all the Devil Riders books (The Accidental Wedding was my top read of 2010), and I am beyond eager to read the story of daredevil Luke Ripton.
6. Kristin Hannah, Home Front: Hannah is another of my auto-buy authors, and she calls this book about the effect of a wife and mother’s deployment on a family the “best, most emotional book [she’s] ever written.” I’ve already bought an extra box of Kleenex.
7. Miranda James, File M for Murder (Cat in the Stacks #3): I’m not even a feline fancier and I love these Athena Mississippi, librarian Charlie Harris, and Diesel, Charlie's Maine coon cat. In this one, Charlie’s daughter is the prime suspect. Now that’s a surefire teaser.
8. Sabrina Jeffries, A Lady Never Surrenders (Hellions of Halstead Hall #5): I’ve read an excerpt and I can’t wait to read the rest. Lady Celia Sharpe and Bow Street Runner Jackson Pinter promise to be a wonderful pair, and I so want to know the truth about the deaths of the Sharpe parents. 
9. Darynda Jones, Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charlotte Davidson #3): I’m not much of a paranormal reader. Frankly, I started this series because my friend PJ sent me a Darynda Jones notebook in a RWA swag package, and I loved the notebook so much (the size and paper texture) that I felt obligated to try the books. I loved the humor and the terrific dialogue even though Charley’s love interest makes me uneasy. I’m definitely interested in what the Grim Reaper is up to next.
10. Tony Judt, The Memory Chalet: This one is 2010 book I kept meaning to read and didn’t. This renowned historian composed these autobiographical recollections as nocturnal reflections during the final months of his life when his body was imprisoned by Lou Gehrig’s disease but his mind was free to wonder and ruminate.
11. Mary Oliver, House of Light: This is actually a 1990 publication, but it’s being released as a Kindle edition in January, and I am thrilled by the thought of pulling up a poem from this collection when I need to be lifted out of myself or a moment that threatens to imprison me in the mundane. “Still, what I want in my life / is to be willing / to be dazzled—”   
12.  Patricia Rice, The Lure of Song and Magic. I read this and loved this combination of fantasy, mystery, and romance in e-ARC form from NetGalley. Now I must have a copy I can reread and reread. In fact, I want to reread Rice’s Magic series and finish with this book.
13. Mark Richard, House of Prayer No. 2: A Writer's Journey Home: This is not a January release. It’s one I missed in 2010. But I want to read this memoir of a writer, a Christ-haunted figure who would have been at home in a Flannery O’Connor novel.  
14. JoAnn Ross, On Lavender Lane (Shelter Bay #3): I love that Ross has returned to the kind of books that first made me a fan. I look forward to a return visit to Shelter Bay and this reunion story that features a former SEAL and a celebrity chef.
15. Kaki Warner, Colorado Dawn (Runaway Brides #2): Photographer Maddie Wallace captured my interest in Heartbreak Creek, the first book in the series. In the second book, Scotsman Angus Wallace, new heir to an earldom and determined to sire an heir of his own, pursues his errant wife to Heartbreak Creek, Colorado. 

Note: I've already used an early gift card to preorder copies of Hidden Summit by Robyn Carr, Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke, The Duke Is Mine by Eloisa James, How the Marquess Was Won by Julie Anne Long, and The Pleasure of Your Kiss by Teresa Medeiros. I've already read all but the Medeiros, but I want keeper copies.

Are you getting books for Christmas? What January books are you most anticipating?