Christmas presents

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, filled with lots of books. There were several books under the Christmas tree at our house.

Cover

I got an illustrated version of one of my favorite

A chapter illustration

books, A Game of Thrones: The Illustrated Edition: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One, by George R. R. Martin.

A full color illustration

I didn’t actually own a copy of this book, but this is definitely the best one for me. It has a combination of full color and line art sprinkled throughout the book. I reread the whole series in 2015, so I’m due for a reread

Dresden Files books

Mr. Curiosity got two book presents. The first was the next three books in the Dresden Files series, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, and White Night. He’s slowly collecting the entire series, so he can read it whenever he wants.

Cover of How to

Page from How To…

He also got the latest Randall Monroe book, How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems. It’s full of instructions on how to do everyday activities in the most complicated, scientific method possible. It’s also full of Monroe’s stick figure drawings seen in xkcd.

Cover of Harry Potter

And finally, Miss Adventure’s books.

Illustrations from Harry Potter

She got the next book in the series she’s been collecting as Christmas presents, the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Luckily, they’ve been coming out once a year for the past five years right around Christmas. She’s got a couple more years of presents lined up.

Here last book came from her brother. While they have a tradition of making presents for each other, he didn’t manage it this year. Instead, he gave her a book so she could make more projects.

Cover of Folded Book Art

The trick was finding something she hadn’t done yet. He found the perfect book in Folded Book Art: 35 beautiful projects to transform your books by Clare Youngs. He also gave her a stack of old books, which she opened first and made her very confused. She couldn’t figure out why she was getting giant Tom Clancy books for Christmas. It made a lot more sense once she opened the folded book art book at the bottom.

So many good books this Christmas! Only Mr. Curiosity has read his already – the How To book at least.

If you’re interested in purchasing the book, you can click on the title to follow an Amazon affiliate link to the book and thanks for supporting my blog!

Zoo Day by Jim Butcher

I’m slowly making my way through Jim Butcher’s collection of short stories, Brief Cases. This is the last story in that collection, and the only new story in the collection.

Published: 2018 in Brief Cases

Genre: urban fantasy short story

Length: 58 pages

Setting: Chicago, after the events of Changes

Summary: Short version: A trip to the zoo from the viewpoint of Dresden, Maggie, and Mouse

Day One by Jim Butcher

I’m slowly making my way through Jim Butcher’s collection of short stories, Brief Cases. This is the eleventh story in that collection.

Published: originally in 2018 in Unfettered II

Genre: urban fantasy short story

Length: 28 pages

Setting: Chicago, after the events of Skin Game

Summary: Short version: Butters gets his first Call as a Knight to help someone

Jury Duty by Jim Butcher

I’m slowly making my way through Jim Butcher’s collection of short stories, Brief Cases. This is the tenth story in that collection.

Published: originally in 2015 in Unbound

Genre: urban fantasy short story

Length: 28 pages

Setting: Chicago, after the events of Skin Game

Summary: Short version: Dresden turns jury duty into a chance to screw over the bad guys

Cold Case by Jim Butcher

I’m slowly making my way through Jim Butcher’s collection of short stories, Brief Cases. This is the ninth story in that collection.

Published: originally in 2016 in the anthology Shadowed Souls

Genre: urban fantasy short story

Length: 48 pages

Setting: in the town of Unalaska, Alaska, after the events of Ghost Story

Summary: Short version: Mab sends Molly, as the Winter Lady, to collect tribute from the Miksani

Bombshells by Jim Butcher

I’m slowly making my way through Jim Butcher’s collection of short stories, Brief Cases. This is the eighth story in that collection.

Published: originally in 2013 in the anthology Dangerous Women

Genre: urban fantasy short story

Length: 56 pages

Setting: Chicago, between the events of Changes and Ghost Story (it spoils the end of Changes)

Summary: Short version: Molly goes into a svartalf stronghold and fights Fomor

Bigfoot on Campus by Jim Butcher

I’m slowly making my way through Jim Butcher’s collection of short stories, Brief Cases. This is the seventh story in that collection, and the third about Irwin, the bigfoot scion.

Published: originally in 2012 in Hex Appeal

Genre: urban fantasy short story

Length: 52 pages

Setting: University of Oklahoma, between the events of Turn Coat and Changes

Summary: Short version: Dresden tries to save Irwin from his vampire girlfriend