I could be just making a wild guess but I suspect the average OLO forum contributor might have had a few books arrive in their stockings this Christmas. Mind was certainly laden with a measure.

The list of the new titles include;

The Road by Cormac McCarthy,

Dissent over Descent by Steve Fuller,

Perilous Power by Noam Chomsky and Gilbert Achcar,

Flat Earth by Christine Garwood,

and

Khubilai Khan's Lost fleet by James Delgardo.

The only one I have had the time to open was The Road. Consumed in a sitting and as one would expect from McCarthy a vivid read was had. As with our own Tim Winton I would be pressed to call him a pleasurable read but certainly powerful and some of his constructions were breathtaking.

The books others pick for you can be pretty revealing about how they view your tastes, not always in concert with what you would have chosen for yourself, but unexpected delights can result.

I was wondering if others would like to share their lists?

Dear csteele,

I only received a couple of titles this year.
I was given theatre tickets to The
Australian Ballet, and the Melbourne Theatre
Company, instead.

Anyway, the titles that I received were:

1) "The Costello Memoirs,"
Peter Costello with Peter Coleman.

2) "From Russia With Lunch,"
David Smiedt. (I had lent a copy
previously to a friend and never got it back).

3) "Mao's Last Dancer,"
Li Cunxin.
(Again same story - lent a copy and never
got mine back).

4) "Find Me An Island,"
Chris Sutcliffe.

I'm looking forward to some quiet moments during
these holidays to curl up and do some re-reading,
as well as some new reading. I've almost finished
Thomas L. Friedman's, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded,"
(on Climate Change issues).

You lucky people!

Because I used to race, & only like old cars, [my regular car is over 30 years old], my family tend to take the easy route.

I recieved,

1/ The Fastest Cars, a coffee table picture book.

2/ David Mackays autobiography, because I used to drive for him, & have a few mentions.

3/ Another motor racing book, [the name escapes me] in which my son tells me, I have 72 references.

Actually, I am finding David's book very interesting. From 40 years on, I can see that, although I spent a year working very closely with him, trying to win a championship, I did not know him at all.

Only now can I see why he did things, & why he did them, the way he did.

I wonder how many people I have actually known.

Dear Foxy,

All good Australian fare by the look of it except of course for Friedman.

My only flag flying present was one of the second-hand books, Bob Ellis' Night Thoughts in a Time of War. The one I have my face stuck in at the moment is Profits of War by Ari Ben-Menashe and if even half of it is true then it is explosive stuff.

There is just something about books that the internet just can't compete with.

Dear Hasbeen,

Looks like the family may have read your interests well by the sounds of it. Mine can be a little perverse at times and also afflicted with the sin of buying for themselves knowing the books will get passed around. But since everyone does it no one minds.

My purchase for my brother was Thomas Keneally's The People's Train. Quite looking forward to getting my hands on it.

Well at least there’s few intull…intellechew…intellekchuwal…ahm…sort-of-smartsh people on OLO who read books n stuff!

What did I get for chrissmus? Nothin! I ignored the silly business. And I let all my huuuuge number of friends and family know about it.

Well…actually they all knew (all two or three of them, that is), coz I have been ignoring it for years.

But I did recently get a great book, for a birthday prezzie.

It’s called; ‘The 2nd dinkum dunny companion’ by Nicholas Reed.

(:>|

Dear Ludwig,

I know Christmas can be tough for some so I have an inkling what might have happened to the First Dinkum Dunny Companion, which can be quite disheartening for the author. Bit rough it might be said.

But I happen to know Nicholas Reed quite well and he tells me some bloke named Kenny is after the movie rights.

Alls good that ends well so to speak, even a dodgy pudding.

I was fortunate enough to receive:
"Muslim Mafia"
by Gaubatz and Sperry.
It is a real life (non-fiction) spy thriller.
Gaubutz's son infiltrated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a Muslim "convert" and was ultimately given the job of shredding sensitive documents!
He kept the 12,000 pages of documents, which form the basis of this book.
The documents tell of a long term plan to infiltrate the US military and security apparatus, with the ultimate goal of "destroying the miserable house" of America from within.
This drama is unfolding as we speak, with CAIR currently suing the authors to regain the sensitive and revealing documents.
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/12/24/much-ado-about-cair-by-deborah-weiss/

Dear Herman,

The following book may also be of interest
to you:

"Russia's Islamic Threat,"
by Gordon M. Hahn
Published by Yale University Press, 2007.
ISBN 978-0-300-12077-6 (alk. paper)

"This is a truly remarkable book about one
of the world's most dramatic,
bloodiest, and least known conflicts.
The book explains how Russia became bogged
down in a war over controlling its Muslim
Turkic region of Chechnya. It tells the
astonishing story of a battle truly symbolic
of current world crises: a struggle pitting
Islamism, nationalism, the remnants of
Communism, and the modern nation-state
against each other. Gordon Hahn's total
mastery of this complex issue cuts through
the maze to tell a fascinating story."
- Barry Rubin, Director,
Global Research in International Affairs Center.

"Hahn provides a groundbreaking source book for
everyone concerned with Islamic terrorism in
Russia."
- Martin McCauley, Professor Emeritus,
University of London.

Decided to be environmental and borrowed books from the Leichardt Library:

* "Without Warning" John Birmingham (2008). After his "Weapons of Choice" trilogy, this is a bit of a disappointment. Mr. Birmingham seems to be channelling Tom Clancey's right-wing USA all the way airport novels.

* "Modern Warfare" Richard Conaughton (2008) claims to tell "The true story of conflict from the Falklands to Afghanistan". But the writing is a little uneven, switching from third person to first person.

* "Christopher Isherwood - A Word in the Evening" by Kay Ferres (1994). Everything you wanted to know about Mr. "I am a Camera" but with very small poor quality print (like a pirated book). I kept coming across Mr. Isherwood in episodes of Dr. Who and the streets of Newtown Sydney and so wanted to know what all the fuss was about: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/12/gritty-production-of-cabaret-in-sydney.html

Another book which arrived is:

* "Green Technology Strategies: Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions" by Tom Worthington, 2009.

I can't comment on that one, as I wrote it. The full text is free online as web pages. You can purchase a PDF download or print on demand hardcopy: http://www.tomw.net.au/green/

Roger Penrose (2004) The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe

I was asked to choose a book during our last-minute shopping and I chose the above. What caught my eye was the presence of mathematics in a (non-textbook) physics book.

Penrose's ambition is to build a sufficient mathematical foundation for the lay reader in order to understand the latest thinking in physics. Looking forward to seeing if he achieves it.

I did not get Tom's book, but I have bookmarked it!

Normally, I get three or four books of varying interest and quality given to me at Christmas. Some have been great, others I've had to wade through out of a sense of duty - now that I think of it, I still haven't finished an awful John Irving tome that my kids gave me a year ago.

This year however, I only received one book. It was from some in-laws and is a Reader's Digest volume of "Quotable Quotes". It has taken residence by the toilet.

Mind you, I also was given a Che Guevara t-shirt by my 19-year old son and a 'Spearhead' CD from my 50-ish sister.

No wonder I love Christmas - not. (Actually, I quite like the CD).

The Penrose book sounds interesting thanks Anthony and I will swing by yours Tom.

Just polished off The Gunroom. I still really enjoy writing from that period.

"Charles Morgan's first and most controversial novel appeared in 1919, only to disappear immediately - not because all the copies were sold but because the book was suppressed. Booksellers claimed never to have heard of it, and Morgan and his publishers believe the British admiralty to be responsible, though their charge was never proved."

Dear csteele,

I've just spent some "gift" money at Dymocks
and ended up with an autographed edition of
"RAY: Stories of My Life,"
Ray Martin.

It looks interesting - but I bought it on an
impulse as a New Year's present for my mum.
(We're taking the two mum's out for dinner
on New Year's Eve). Anyway, I'm sure she'll let
me have a read, once she's finished with it.

Dear Foxy,

Sounds like a gift that keeps on giving.

I'm afraid Ray Martin vs John Safran did not leave him in a good light. Did you catch the "Lost Pilot"?

I received Safran's "Race Relations" DVD for Chistmas even though I had seen all the episodes. What a trip.

I Choose to Live: Sabine Dardenne

Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue Townsend.

Dear Fatty: Dawn French.

and a couple of books for work that I bought with vouchers:

- Sex Offenders: Identification, Risk Assessment, Treatment and Legal Issues: Saleh, Grudzinskas, Bradford and Brodsky.

- Challenging Silence: Breckenridge and Laing.