Today’s show was pre-recorded, due to the WCAI pledge drive, which means that the morning show was abbreviated, but the 7:00 PM show will be the complete show. So if you see books on this list that you didn’t actually hear about when you were listening, that would be the reason! You can also listen online at WCAI. Vicky Titcomb of Titcomb’s Bookshop joined Mindy Todd and Jill Erickson to talk about books to give and books that inspire you to make, bake, and decorate for the holidays.
Here is the Harry Potter quotation, read on the show, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling:
“Sir — Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?”
“Obviously, you’ve just done so,” Dumbledore smiled. “You may ask me one more thing, however,”
“What do you see when you look in the mirror?”
I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.”
Harry stared.
“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
And here is a link to the poem Ode to My Socks by Pablo Neruda.
And here is the recipe for snow filling for cake, as written in the Girls Friendly Cook Book:
“Scrape 1 apple in a large bowl, add 1 cup sugar; pour over the unbeaten whites of 2 eggs; then beat about twenty minutes. At first it looks brown, but when done it will be like snow. This may be used for cake or for coffee jelly.”
Vicky’s Picks
Beautiful Gift Books
Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016
Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza
The Message of the Birds by Kate Westerlund (picture book with the true Christmas story)
Gratitude: A Book of Inspirational Thoughts & Quotes by Susan Branch
For the History Buff
The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism by John U. Bacon. Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided immediately after the Halifax Explosion of 1917
The Mayflower: The Families, The Voyage, and the Founding of America by Rebecca Fraser. Winslow family
Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
For the Nature Lover
The Outer Beach: A Thousand Mile Walk on Cape Cod’s Atlantic Shore by Robert Finch.
365 Cape Cod Ponds Day by Day by Susan Anarino
Where the Animals Go: Tracking Wildlife with Technology in 50 Maps and Graphics by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti
For the Adventurous
Ruthless River: Love & Survival by Raft on the Amazon’s Relentless Madre de Dios by Holly Fitzgerald
For the Cook
The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine by Erin French
America the Cookbook: A Culinary Road Trip Through the 50 States by Gabrielle Langholtz
For the Music Lover
The Greatest Album Covers of All Time by Barry Miles, Grant Scott and Johnny Morgan
For the Sports Lover
Count the Rings: Inside Boston’s Wicked Awesome Reign as the City of Champions from 2001 to 2017, Ten Titles, Four Teams: Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics by Bob Halloran
For the Boater
Unsinkable: The History of Boston Whaler by Matthew Plunkett
Books to Inspire
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
God: 48 Famous and Fascinating Minds Talk about God compiled by Jennifer Berne
The Little Book of Mindfulness: 10 Minutes a Day to Less Stress, More Peace by Patrizia Collard
Just for Fun
Shakespeare Box Set (Running Press Miniature Books)
Novels
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. National Book Award for Fiction 2017
For Children
Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk (Ages 10+)
Max and Charlie Help a Hero: Never Too Young to Give Back by Kim Rodriques and K. M. Ginter (ages 6 and up)
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (Ages 9-12) – A Christmas story
Harry Potter Pensieve Memory Set – a journal for any Harry Potter fan!
Picture Books for Children
The Mermaid by Jan Brett
Jill’s Picks
Bookshops: a reader’s history by Jorge Carrión
A Very Merry Paper Christmas
Unpacking My Library: artists and their books edited by Jo Steffens and Matthias Neumann
The New Christmas Tree by Carrie Brown
Before Morning by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes (The image on this page is from this book.)
Christmas for Greta and Gracie by Yasmeen Ismail
Novel Destinations: a travel guide to literary landmarks from Jane Austen’s Bath to Ernest Hemingway’s Key West by Shannon McKenna Schmidt & Joni Rendon
The Usual Santas: a collection of Soho Crime Christmas capers
The Girls Friendly Cook Book
The Cape Cod Cook Book by Suzanne Cary Gruver
A Family Christmas selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy
Patron Suggestion:
The Work of Christmas: the twelve days of Christmas with Howard Thurman by Bruce Epperly
