The books under the tree

In October 2011, several months after Mike died, my friend Morag came for a Thanksgiving weekend visit. She and her husband Darryl are both old mates from our days as toxics campaigners at Greenpeace. As we were sitting down for our chicken dinner she asked me what I was planning to do for Christmas. “Sitting here feeling sorry for myself, I expect,” I told her. To which she replied: “Come to us.” She and Darryl lived on a different, more remote, less populated (400 vs 4000) island a lot further north. A lovely place that sounded perfect for a Christmas visit. And so I went.

Both Morag and Darryl, along with her daughter Louise, who was also going to be there for Christmas, are avid readers, so no surprise that when the presents were unwrapped on Christmas Day they were mostly books. Halfblood Blues was particularly popular that year with copies each for Morag, Louise and me. There were also multiple copies floating around of The Sense of an Ending, the Julian Barnes novella, which Morag hoovered up on Christmas Day. In addition to the books I’d received from the host family, I’d also had Amazon parcels to open from my one family member who can always be relied on to send me a book for Christmas and some from other friends. It was quite the haul.

Yesterday, with Twelfth Night fast approaching, this Facebook memory popped up: “Before it comes down, just wanted to say this is what it should look like under a post-Christmas tree. Look at all those books!. (Claps hands gleefully.)”

Look, indeed! A Harry Bosch, a Reacher, an Easy Rawlins and a slew of others, brought back from Morag and Darryl’s.

Sadly (for me), work took Morag to the interior a few years ago, so there hasn’t been a Christmas shared with them for a while.

This year I didn’t put a tree up, but there were still book bags to open on Christmas Day from my cousin and friends.

No Bosch (it’s a Lincoln lawyer year for Connelly, so I’m not interested), no Reacher (nor has there been – or will there ever be again – since Lee Child abandoned him and handed the writing of his novels over to his brother), but a nice little haul nonetheless with the latest Dreadwater mystery from Thomas King, another doorstopper Strike mystery , Caitlin Moran’s take on men, which should be fun, and a non-Harry Hole offering from Jo Nesbo, which I hope won’t be disappointing.

I do love me some Christmas books.