Top 5 Sundays #32 - Top 5 Books You Want For Christmas

Dear Santa,

This year for Christmas there are five books that I would really, really love to find under the tree on Christmas morning. Of course, any book would be appreciated but, if you were looking for ideas, here are my Top 5 Books I Want For Christmas.

#5 - Your Favorite Seuss: A Baker's Dozen by the One and Only Dr. Seuss

DESCRIPTION: From the Grinch to the kid who hates green eggs and ham, this collection gathers 13 classic Dr. Seuss stories into one volume. Includes photographs, memorabilia, and original sketches. Each story is prefaced by a short essay by someone whose life was changed by Dr. Seuss or who is simply an unabashed admirer.

LINK: Your Favorite Seuss: A Baker's Dozen by the One and Only Dr. Seuss at Book Depository

REASON: I not only love Dr. Seuss and all his works, but I use them all the time in my work. Having an anthology that not only includes several of his more popular tales but comes with commentary to boot would be one of those rare times where amusement and functionality come together.

#4 - The Complete Sherlock by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

DESCRIPTION: Here, in one exquisitely designed volume, are all 4 full-length novels and 56 short stories about the colourful adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This book features distinctive gilt edging and attractive silk-ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable and collectable, this volume will make an indispensable cornerstone for any home library. It contains every word Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote about Baker Street's most famous resident. Also included is an introduction by lifetime Sherlockians, Christopher and Barbara Roden. "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" is an exquisitely designed book with bonded-leather bindings, distinctive gilt edging and an attractive silk-ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable and collectable, it will offer hours of pleasure to readers young and old and is an indispensable cornerstone for any home library.

LINK: The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the Book Depository

REASON: I love the BBC's Sherlock. Cumberbatch is adorable as Sherlock and Freeman does a good job of balancing out Sherlock's eccentricities as Watson. I love CBS's Elementary. Miller has brought a definitive modern flare to Sherlock and Liu has redefined the role of Watson in a whole slew of ways beyond the obvious. I love the recent Sherlock feature films. Robert Downey Jr. does a fantastic job playing out the quirkier side of Sherlock with Jude Law doing an excellent straight man. Who wouldn't want to dive back into the source material, if only to see how it all began? Ideally, I'd prefer a collection of books to a single volume - a thousand-plus page volume is so not fun to lug around - but who could say no to this beauty?

#3 - Fever Moon by Karen Marie Moning

DESCRIPTION: An all-new Mac & Barrons story by #1 `New York Times` bestselling author Karen Marie Moning, marvelously adapted into a full-color graphic novel by writer David Lawrence and illustrator Al Rio In `Fever Moon, ` we meet the most ancient and deadly Unseelie ever created, the Fear Dorcha. For eons, he's traveled worlds with the Unseelie king, leaving behind him a path of mutilation and destruction. Now he's hunting Dublin, and no one Mac loves is safe. Dublin is a war zone. The walls between humans and Fae are down. A third of the world's population is dead and chaos reigns. Imprisoned over half a million years ago, the Unseelie are free and each one Mac meets is worse than the last. Human weapons don't stand a chance against them. With a blood moon hanging low over the city, something dark and sinister begins to hunt the streets of Temple Bar, choosing its victims by targeting those closest to Mac. Armed only with the Spear of Destiny and Jericho Barrons, she must face her most terrifying enemy yet.

LINK: Fever Moon by Karen Marie Moning at the Book Depository

REASON: I'm not sure I need very much explanation here beyond pointing out that this is a graphic novel - meaning there are illustrations, as in author-approved representations of the characters, in print and thus totally visible - featuring Mac and Barrons. Just think about that for a minute. Go on; I'll wait.

See? Told you. No further explanation required.

#2 - The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain

DESCRIPTION: he great American storyteller combines wit and tenderness in this "he said/she said" narrative of life among the first humans. Additional stories include "The $30,000 Bequest," "Was It Heaven? Or Hell?" "Edward Mills and George Benton: A Tale," "The Californian's Tale," and "A Monument to Adam."

LINK: The Diaries of Adam and Eve at the Book Depository

REASON: I love reading the different writers through history borrow characters from mythology and religion and make them their own. I love comparing all the different Adams and Eves, Cains and Abels, Michaels and Lucifers, and seeing what holds firm and what changes over time as the pens change hands. This collection of short stories would fall nicely into that category.

#1 - Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia by Carol Rose

DESCRIPTION: In more than 2,000 alphabetically arranged entries, readers will meet angels, demons, elves, encantados, fairies, familiars, keremets, nats, nymphs, and many other strange beings from around the world. Carol Rose introduces the reader to the little--and not so little--folk, delightfully various and, at the same time, strikingly similar from country to country. Wherever humans have lived, the supernatural beings have dwelt alongside us. People serve to explain the unexplainable--the strange disappearance of a traveler in a dark wood, that odd thumping in the attic, the fresh cream turned sour overnight. Often they reveal the stoic humor with which human societies have faced their difficulties. But whatever their source, our guilts, fears, dreams, or imaginations, the spirits have fascinated and enchanted us through the millennia.

LINK: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia by Carol Rose at the Book Depository

REASON: I can never find a reliable resource detailing the different sorts of Faeries. I have bunches of encyclopedias and dictionaries running through various mythologies, deities and monsters but fairies? Nope. Not a one. Which is ironic given that I write about the Fae. Would be nice to have at least one resource on my own subject matter, even if I am going to morph it all to suit my own needs, LOL.

And there you have it, Santa, my Top 5 Books I'd really love for Christmas. I'll keep my fingers crossed - I really think I've been a good girl this year so hopefully Christmas morning will find at least one of these nestled beneath my tree. Until next year, Santa - Have a Merry Christmas!