What are they about?

Thanks Ozzz, etymology is a passion of mine too. Have you read Bill Bryson's books "Mother Tongue" and "Made in America"? If not, I think you'd really enjoy them.

I just recently finished reading "Made in America" which is mostly about the etymology of the American version of English, however, it is also packed full of interesting trivia and gives a somewhat potted history of the USA to boot. And, as is characteristic of Bill Bryson, it's all done in a very witty and amusing style.

"Mother Tongue" is all about the English language in general. If you are like me, you'll probably find the first two or three chapters a bit of a hard slog as he recounts the history of language in general and then moves into the English language - it's a bit dry and technical - however, it is worth it. The book becomes more and more fascinating as you progress through it.

The bartimaeus trilogy is a part fantasy story. It is set in the present, but there are magicians, however, not as the common visualisation of them are. In the first one, a boy named Nathaniel(birthname)/John Mandrake(name) sekks revenge on a corrupt magician, who harmed nathaniel. The second is two years later, when he is a government officer for Internal affairs. He is dealing with a renegade group named the resistance, and a golem unleashed on london. He does all this with the help of his Djinni, Bartimaeus. Sometimes they can sound quite childish, but take it form me they are very, very good books too read, they last long and are worth the money that you pay for them.

Apart from a splendid book on the art of cooking fish, by Belgian Top Chef Geert Van Hecke,"Carnet de Cuisine. Simple Recipes from the Northsea.", I got some American novels, one of which has the unusual title: "Still Life With Woodpecker" by somebody called Tom Robbins. Cannot be a mere nobody because T.R. is described as a "New York Times best-selling author". Also something which I have already finished by now:" Slaves of New York". By Tama Janowitz. Definitely my cup of tea.

i didnt get any books, but i bought the final dark tower book for someone else.

quogequox, my son's finished Darwinia, and pretty much agrees with you - good idea, but he's not a good enough author to really do much with it...

I only got one book. 'Girl Meets Ape' from my sister. I can't remember who wrote it. My dad bought Terry Pratchett's 'Hogfather' for my boyfriend (on my recommendation).

~*Bee*~

I got 3 books and a book on tape:
Who Calls Me Beautiful? by Regina Franklin,
The Firebird Trilogy (Fire Bird, Fusion Fire, and Crown Of Fire) by Kathy Tyers,
First Light by Bodie and Brock Thoene (book on tape),
and Strong's concordance (Not exactly light reading, I know, but very useful).

I happily received just what I asked for: Collage Discovery Workshop by Claudine Hellmuth, Urgent Second Class by Nick Bantok, and Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors by Betty Edwards.

I got "The Curious Life of Robert Hooke" by Lisa Jardine and "By Permission of Heaven: The Story of the Great Fire of London" by Adrian Tinniswood--which I was really thrilled to get.

Not exactly for Christmas, but the book that I got at around the same time was A Wizard of Earthsea, an all time favourite of mine.