All I want for Christmas is ... life and death

So ... I'm being ridiculed by my family just because three items on my holiday wishlist include the words "life" and "death" --

• Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
• Jill Lepore, The Mansion of Happiness:  A History of Life and Death
• Bernd Heinrich, Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death

Gloomy, me? Oh come on. I also asked for the book Capital, by John Lanchester, which looks downright fun, not to mention Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan.

Just to prove I am not overly angst-ridden, I shall not be asking  for the "Sisyphus" watch I found at the Nation's online store.  It certainly is tempting though ....