I must have been good last year because Santa brought me lots of books for Christmas. I thought I would share some of the wonderful books I received as gifts this holiday season:

Pride & Prejudice (Graphic Novel) by Nancy Butler, Jane Austen, and Hugo Petrus
I love Pride & Prejudice so I was very happy to find this book under the tree this year! I think it’s a great idea to turn classic books into graphic novels so that you can see visual renditions of your favorite characters. The cover alone cracks me up – “How to Cure Your Boy-Crazy Sisters!” and “Bingleys Bring Bling to Britain.”

Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook
I’m a big fan of Top Chef so I was excited to receive The Quickfire Cookbook. It’s a collection of recipes from Quickfire challenges from all six seasons of the show. It’s packed with beautiful photos of food and pictures of the contestants themselves. A few recipes I’m looking forward to making: Eli’s Rueben Benedict With Thousand-Island Hollandaise, Antonia’s Deep-Dish Pizza With Prosciutto, Burrata, and Arugula, and Nikki’s Yogurt Cakes With Two Sauces.

Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes For True Mexican Flavor by Marcella Valladolid
My brother-in-law was kind enough to give me this cookbook filled with fresh Mexican recipes. The author says in the foreword that her goal to teach Americans that there is no yellow cheese in authentic Mexican food. That’s a message I can get behind!

Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) by Charlotte Bronte
My wonderful husband gave me this collector’s edition of my favorite book, Jane Eyre. The embossed canvas cover is beautiful and looks great on my bookshelf. It also has a ribbon bookmark, which is a nice touch. It’s the perfect replacement for my unattractive paperback copy. Penguin has several classic titles with similar cover designs available on Amazon

Anne of Green Gables: The Collection
This isn’t a book, but I want to include it anyway because it’s book related. My sister, Amie, gave me the Anne of Green Gables 5 disc DVD set for Christmas. The movies are based on the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery. I remember watching the miniseries on PBS as a kid and loving it so much that I went on to read the books. It was filmed on Prince Edward Island and the scenery is just beautiful. The set includes all three movies plus two documentaries with cast interviews and bonus materials. I think this is one of the all time best book to movie adaptations and I’m thrilled that I now own the DVDs.

Mr. Rochester, from Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, has been voted the most romantic hero in literature in a new poll by Mills and Boon. I guess some women like their romantic heroes dark and brooding with an insane wife locked up in the attic. Crazy wife aside, Mr. Rochester is just too moody and arrogant for my taste. My top pick would be Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. I’m really surprised that he was third in the poll, behind Richard Sharpe of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series. Here’s a list of the top ten:

1. Mr. Rochester, Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte

2.Richard Sharpe, Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell

3. Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

4. Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

5. Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

6. Mark Darcy, Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding

7. Captain Corelli, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Berniere

8. Henry DeTamble, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

9. Gabriel Oak, Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

10. Rupert Campbell Black, The Rutshire Chronicles by Jilly Cooper

I like that Henry from The Time Traveler’s Wife made the list because the time traveling librarian is one of my favorite characters. I’ve written about my disdain for Heathcliff before, so I’m just going to leave that one alone. So what do you think of the list? Who’s your favorite literary romantic hero?