Top Ten Books on My Winter TBR

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

It's time for planning another season of reading! I read most of the books on my Fall TBR list; I'm still finishing Only Love Today, and there are two still on hold that I'm carrying over to my winter list. Here are ten of the books I plan to read this winter!

1. As You Wish by Cary Elwes
I'm not personally a diehard fan of The Princess Bride, but I've heard this recommended a number of times (especially the audiobook), and it sounds like a fun read. Those are always a good thing to reach for in the depths of winter!

2. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
I still haven't read this! I've heard nothing but rave reviews about this narrative nonfiction since it came out in 2018. After going on a Holly Jackson thriller kick recently, I want to mix it up with some compelling true crime.

3. Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
This is what my online book club is reading to discuss in February. I hadn't heard of it before, so I'm interested to see what it's about!

4. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
This one has popped up on so many "best of" lists, and I've lost count of the number of times I've heard it recommended at this point. It's not the kind of book I'd typically pick up on my own, but it sounds like that's also the case for a lot of people who have ended up loving it, so I'm excited to check it out.

5. I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
I saw this on a bookstore shelf recently and was reminded how interested I was in reading it. I deeply appreciated Yong's reporting on COVID in 2020 and 2021, and I'm interested to learn from him about the world of microbes.

6. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
There was such hype around this one after it came out in 2022, and after a few years it still seems to be quite popular and well recommended, so I'm going to give it a shot this winter.

7. Nothing to Fear by Julie McFadden
This is a carryover from my fall list that I'm still looking forward to reading.

8. The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
Anytime I get in conversation with someone about how much I love the musical Come From Away, it reminds me that there are several 9/11 books that I still want to read. This one seems to be most frequently recommended, so I'm going to start here.

9. Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie
Y'all, I've been working my way through Agatha Christie's books for years now, and while I still have her nonfiction and the ones she wrote under a pseudonym, this will be the last of her mystery novels to read. It's been quite an adventure!

10. Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD
This was on my fall list, and when I got the audiobook it said it was abridged, so I now have a hold on the hard copy, which is going to take a while!

What do you plan to read this winter?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Hazeldine: Volume One, The Bad Guys in The One?!, Demon Copperhead, and Something Wild & Wonderful
Five years ago I was reading: The Next Evangelicalism, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Ten years ago I was reading: Lamb and One Hundred Names

What I've Been Reading Lately (Quick Lit)

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit to bring you some short and sweet reviews of what I've read in the past month. For longer reviews, you can always find me on Goodreads.

It was another good reading month! Here's what I've been reading this past month, not including another one of the Usborne Puzzle Adventures books from my childhood that I've been working my way through.

It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian: This was a delightful Regency-era M/M open door romance. All the characters felt authentic, as did the relationships between them. The audiobook narrator was excellent. I genuinely enjoyed this read.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram: I really love this book, and I enjoyed the read more on rereading it. Khorram captures so many things in this book, from the day-to-day reality of living with (medicated) depression to the complicated experience of seeing your grandparents in person for the first time as a teenager and trying to figure out where you fit into their culture.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger: I wanted to like this more, and I liked it enough to finish it, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. Everyone has a heart of gold and talent oozing out their ears, and pursuing whatever you want — including women who have told you no — is both encouraged and rewarded. I can see why folks have enjoyed this one, but it wasn't for me.

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun: This is everything you could want in a queer romance plus everything you want in a holiday special. It's a second-chance romance wrapped in a side-plot fake-dating trope, with a realistic handling of mental health challenges and family trauma. The Portland setting, clearly written by a local, was the final touch that made this a delight to read.

The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie: This book was a wild ride! I didn't know what to expect, and I think it's fair to say that this one is unlike Christie's other mysteries in many ways, so I really didn't know where it was going. I found the ending quite satisfying, even if not all of my lingering questions were completely addressed.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts: I definitely would have loved this book as a kid: the supernatural elements, the air of mystery, the precocious girl considered strange by others who's trying to piece things together to get answers and find connection, the adult character who takes the kid as seriously as another adult. It was an engaging read that didn't quite stick the landing.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger: This is not a graphic novel, but my 9-year-old was willing to read it with me, making this our first possible gateway book into reading standard chapter books together. It deals with the concerns of 6th graders — being seen as uncool, figuring out who like-likes whom, navigating the pressures of school culture — with an engaging through-line of trying to figure out if Origami Yoda is truly dispensing priceless wisdom or if he's just a hoax propagated by the deeply socially awkward kid who carries him around on his finger.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson: Jackson had me guessing and trying to fit all the pieces together up until the reveal. I am more than willing to overlook the elements that didn't work for me in this one, as the main mystery/thriller plot kept me hooked the entire time.

Kill Joy by Holly Jackson: This prequel to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is essentially Pip's origin story: why she thought she might be capable of reaching a different conclusion about a murder than the police did, and why she decided to make that her senior capstone project. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I'd listened to it right after the original trilogy, but it was a fun, quick listen, and I'm glad I picked it up.

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Hazeldine: Volume One, The Bad Guys in The One?!, Demon Copperhead, and Something Wild & Wonderful
Five years ago I was reading: The Next Evangelicalism, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Ten years ago I was reading: Lamb and One Hundred Names