Tag: tbr list

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Did Not Finish

Posted March 24, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 6 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books I Did Not Finish

There are many books I dnf’d because I didn’t like them but there were also some books that I think I might like but just wasn’t ready for. Today’s list is a mix of those I didn’t like and will never pick up again, and some that I know I want to try again one day.

Top Ten Books I Did Not Finish

  1. Dracula by Bram Stoker – This one is a funny story because it’s not that I didn’t like the book, it’s that I listened to it on audio and somehow thought it would be a good idea to listen while sleeping. I was frightened awake by a nasty, scary, loud voice – Dracula’s voice, I presume, I didn’t wait long enough to find out. I quickly turned it off and hid under the covers and I just haven’t picked up the book again. I will eventually! Maybe on print and not before bed!
  2. You, Me, and the Colors of Life by Noa C. Walker – I read up to 52% of the book. I don’t know what happens so this isn’t a spoiler, but I got the impression that things wasn’t going to end well for the MC. She has non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which is the same cancer I had when I was 19, and I couldn’t keep reading thinking that she was going to die from it.
  3. Caraval by Stephanie Garber – I had really high hopes for this book and I think I got all the way to 90% of the book and then rage-quit because it kept getting worse for me. Here’s what I said in a review: “It was all so juvenile and nonsensical, and there were so many holes in the plot. I didn’t like any of the characters at all, and even Julian, who was supposed to be the most appealing and was portrayed as such, didn’t appeal to me at all. A lot of the book was repetitive and annoying, and I really didn’t like Scarlett and her sister Donatella.”
  4. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton – This one came highly recommended and I really wanted to like it but I just didn’t. I love the idea, but the execution was disappointing. There was too much narration, too many big words, too much telling, too much effort going into trying to convince us how smart the crow was. I just didn’t care about the characters or the story. I dnf’d about 35% in.
  5. I Fell In Love With Hope by Lancali – The language was beautiful but it was too much purple prose. It became not about the story but about the word-crafting, which is fine, but that’s not what I thought I was getting into. I dnf’d maybe 10% in, probably less, because I just couldn’t get through the story, I got so stuck on the words.
  6. We’ll Prescribe You A Cat by Syou Ishida – I only read two “chapters” but it looks like each chapter is an individual story about different people who were prescribed cats. They all seem unrelated to each other except for the cat thing, I can’t say for sure since I dnf’d, but I realized that maybe slice of life stories just aren’t for me. I was mostly bored.
  7. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson – Here’s my review from when I tried reading it in 2016: “I couldn’t get past the first 15%. It started so confusing with the characters names and change in POVs, but then I started to get it and it seemed promising. Then came pages and pages of descriptions about how Kelsier was using Allomancy… all the talk of Pushing and Pulling, and IronPush, PewterPull, etc. It’s much worse than what I’ve described here, it was just too tedious and boring.” Don’t come at me, Brando Sando fans! I’ve enjoyed his other books, and I’ve since read the first three books of the Stormlight Archives and loved them. Maybe 2016 me was just not ready for Mistborn but I’m open to trying again!
  8. Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang – I borrowed this book because I wanted to read just that one story that the movie Arrival was based on – Story of Your Life. I loved it and intended to read the rest of the book, but didn’t get to them before I had to return the book. I’ve since read Exhalation by the author and loved it so I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this one!
  9. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion – I initially thought this book was about magical living, you know, the whimsical happy life kind of thing. I picked it up in 2016 when my father was sick and I needed something whimsical. It turned out to be a book about grief and I just couldn’t do it then because it was too close to home. One day, eventually.
  10. Only A Monster by Vanessa Len – I try my best to support Malaysians where I can, so I got excited when I found out this story has a Malaysian MC and the author has Malaysian roots. It sounded like a great story and I was looking forward to reading it but unfortunately, I couldn’t get into the book. I couldn’t relate to the characters or the story, but I love that others seem to like it and I hope that adding it to my list might help it find other readers.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books on My Spring 2025 TBR

Posted March 17, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 40 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List

I haven’t done a very good job of reading from my TBR so far this year, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have books on my TBR. It’s a symbol of hope. That I’ll actually read these books. We shall see. 😂

Top Ten Books on My Spring 2025 TBR

  1. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst – I’ve posted this book on a few TBR lists already and I still haven’t read it! I don’t know what’s the holdup but I hope I’ll get to it this spring!
  2. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman – The third book in the series; I read the first two months ago and I desperately want to continue the adventure. It’s so much fun!
  3. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros – I didn’t like the second book as much as the first, and I’ve heard mixed reviews about this one, which scares me, but either way, I feel like I have to see it through.
  4. The Lost Tarot by Sarah Henstra – The gorgeous cover reeled me in, and I love stories about divination, so it found its way into my TBR!
  5. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston – Another one that’s been in my TBR for ages. It’s got good reviews so I really want to read it.
  6. The Terror by Dan Simmons – I’m quite excited about this one. I’ve had it on the waitlist since December last year and it’s supposed to get to me soon! Fingers crossed!
  7. Rose Madder by Stephen King – I’m on a personal Stephen King reading challenge and I heard great things about this book. It will be my first time reading it. I’m excited!
  8. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore – I love mystery thrillers and this one intrigued me. I also heard a lot of good things about the book and author so I thought I’d try it.
  9. Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett – I loved the first book, was a little disappointed with the second, but I love the characters and want to visit with them again!
  10. The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard – This one is so interesting; it’s a scifi with a time element, which I always love. Can’t wait to get to this!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books that Feature… Divination

Posted March 10, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 12 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books that Include/Feature

Not exactly a plot device but definitely a sort of theme; I decided to go with books that feature divination. It made me realize that for someone who loves learning about divination tools, I don’t read a lot of fiction that features divination. Maybe some minor mention here and there, but not many that have divination as a main plot point.

I’m not sure that all the ones listed below do either because I haven’t read many of them, but searching for books that fit the theme certainly made me interested in reading them!

Top Ten Books that Feature… Divination

  1. The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick – One of my favorite series, it features a form of card divination, but the beauty of the books are the characters and the relationships between them.
  2. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware – This one features tarot cards. I remember not really liking the story very much but being impressed with the accurate portrayal of tarot cards.
  3. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick – Featuring the I Ching. I haven’t read the book but I watched the tv series and loved it. I don’t remember the I Ching in the show though.
  4. The Darksword Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – I have these books on my physical bookshelf but haven’t read them. They feature a form of tarot cards, but not exactly the same as real tarot I think. I love the Dragonlance series by these same authors!
  5. All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue – The main character is a tarot reader who goes to a Catholic school in a conservative Irish town. I am hooked! It’s YA and looks like it’d be an easy read so maybe I’ll get to it soon.
  6. Fated by Benedict Jacka – I haven’t read this one but I’ve heard some good things about it and I’m intrigued. The main character is Alex Verus who is a mage diviner and uses many different forms of divination. This is the first book of twelve.
  7. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig – I’m not sure if I’d consider this one a form of card divination, but it does have cards with magical powers.
  8. The Lost Tarot by Sarah Henstra – I borrowed this from the library because of the title and the gorgeous cover. I don’t know what this is about except that it features tarot.
  9. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater – I have been wanting to read this series forever but never got around to it. I also love that there’s an actual tarot deck you can buy, my only issue with it is that I didn’t like the orange color, but I’m starting to change my mind about the color so we’ll see.
  10. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman – The alethiometer is the divination tool here, which is great because it’s different. I’d love to get my hands on one and figure out how it works if it was real. It sounds so fascinating when you read about it in the book and watch the film adaptations.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books Set in Another Time – The Future

Posted March 3, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 22 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Things Characters Have Said

I’m not good with today’s topic because I usually don’t remember or keep track of what characters have said, but I really enjoyed last week’s topic and decided I’d do the same topic but focused on the future this time. Unlike the ones set in the past, we don’t have a set basis for these timelines in comparison to our current time. I’m assuming they are set in the future based on context and technology, but who really knows? In any case, they’re all really good books and I enjoyed reading them all!

Top Ten Books Set In Another Time – The Future

  1. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers – Space travel, diverse species, and lots of intergalactic hijinks. This is one of my favorite books for found family, world building, and adventure. The best thing about it is the internal philosophy for learning to understand, live with, and love other diverse people.
  2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – A dystopian future, but definitely set in the future based on context of what Panem used to be. I’ve read the trilogy so many times, but the last time was a while ago so I think I’m due for a reread!
  3. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – Also dystopian and quite scary if you’re in it, but so fun to read about! I’ve read the first two books but stalled because I had other books and deadlines to get to. I think about this series every day and can’t wait to get back to it.
  4. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – This one spans years and decades and centuries of the future! A whole species evolves over a long, long time, and I never expected it to be so amazing to read about!
  5. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman – This book never specifies the timeline, but I’m assuming it’s in the future because certain relics from this story’s past are the things we are familiar with. The writing style is meandering and stream-of-consciousness style, but somehow it was easy for me to get into because it felt so interesting to me.
  6. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood – Another dystopian future. It seems quite self-contained though, and it’s only the first book in a series but it sets the stage and I’m interested in seeing what the next books bring.
  7. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell – Space travel and alien encounters. This one is haunting and painful but so good and so worth it. I don’t think I’d want to reread it anytime soon because it’s quite heavy, but it’s a book that stays with you.
  8. Grass by Sheri S. Tepper – Alien planet migration. It’s been a long time since I read this but I remember loving it very much and feeling fascinated by the characteristics of this new planet with its indigenous plants and animals. Probably time to revisit soon.
  9. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – I think of this one often. It’s about a missionary who travels to a new planet to spread the word of god and has to leave his wife behind. The interaction he has with the inhabitants of the planet is really interesting, but the thing that I remember most about the book is the correspondence between him and his wife. I remember thinking it’s such a strong story about marriage and relationships. I really need to reread this one.
  10. Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee – This book was originally published in two separate parts, now combined to one. It’s set in a hedonistic world where people can do what they want, live dangerously, die and come back with a new body. They can custom design their bodies each time they come back, which I thought was interesting because it eliminates the external skin as part of their identity. Another one I’m wanting to reread.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | February 2025

Posted March 1, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 1 Comment

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

February 2025 Wrap Up

February was a little better. I’m still disorganized but doing better with getting things done and cleaning up the disorganization bit by bit. The first part of February was bad, but things improved later and I’m trying to keep things going on an upward trajectory.

The weather has started to get nicer, and I started running outdoors again! That makes me so happy and gives me a little bit of grounding that I needed. My body is sore because it’s gotten used to being lazy this past winter, but I’ll just do what I can when I can. At the very least, it’s nice to just be outside in the comfortably cool weather.

My February 2025 TBR Intentions

I ended up reading different books because of mood and library loan deadlines! I’ll come back to the ones I haven’t read soon though!

  1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
  2. The Terror by Dan Simmons
  3. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  4. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
  5. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Books Read in January 2025

  1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
  2. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  3. Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
  4. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
  5. How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis
  6. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
  7. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  8. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

Notable Books This Month

Children of Time and All Systems Red are rereads, but they were necessary because Children of Time is quite complex and I needed to refresh my memory before moving on to the next books. All Systems Red was the chosen BOTM for my in-person bookclub and I had to reread to refresh my memory for discussion as well. I enjoyed them both very much the second time around!

Vicious was a stand out; I had no expectations going in but was very pleasantly surprised. It had me at the edge of my seat and I had to keep reading because I needed to know what happened next.

The Frozen River was another surprise! I had not expected to be excited while reading about events that happened such a long time ago or that it would keep me so worked up that I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep. It’s based on true events and real people, and unfortunately it’s not completely accurate to what really happened, but this version of events was very well-written and satisfying and I loved reading it.

March 2025 TBR Intentions

Most of these are BOTMs and/or buddy reads that have a March deadline. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish all of them, but I’d like to try!

  1. Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
  2. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
  3. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
  4. Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
  5. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
  6. The Terror by Dan Simmons
  7. All The Living and The Dead by Hayley Campbell

How was your month in February What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful March with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Romance Novels on My TBR

Posted February 10, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 32 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Love Freebie

I decided to go with romances on my TBR because I haven’t been reading very many romances recently and I have a backlog! I’m also desperately needing some romance and I’m thinking of boycotting every other genre while I binge on some of these. If you’ve got more great romance books you loved, please recommend me some more!

Top Ten Romance Novels on My TBR

  1. Better than Revenge by Kasie West – I loved Kasie West’s other books, and I haven’t kept up with some of her recent books. I’d like to catch up!
  2. Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – This has been on my TBR for so long. I need to read it this year!
  3. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston – I wasn’t initially interested in this one but I’ve heard such good things about it that I’m curious.
  4. How to End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang – I’ve been seeing this book around and maybe it’s just because I’m desperately craving some romance, it went immediately onto my TBR.
  5. Promchanted by Morgan Matson – I loved Morgan Matson’s other books as well and want to catch up with some of her newer ones that I hadn’t kept up with.
  6. Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison – It’s been on my TBR for a while too but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
  7. The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa – I found this book in a Little Free Library near my house, so in the TBR it goes!
  8. The Do-Over by Lynn Painter – I’ve heard so much about this author but haven’t read her. I hope she’s as good as I’m anticipating.
  9. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang – This one sounds really cute and I want to read it!
  10. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren – I’ve enjoyed Christina Lauren’s books and I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one too.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Top Ten Tuesday | 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

Posted February 3, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

There are so many good ones!! There’s really not enough time in the world to read all the books, but I’m going to try. This is why I need immortality, Book Gods and Goddesses!! But I’ll settle for a superpower that stops time if you can swing that.

Top Ten 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

  1. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan – This has been on my TBR since it came out last January because she’s a Malaysian author and I gotta support my fellow countrymen! I meant to read it sooner but I haven’t gotten around to it.
  2. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst – I picked it up purely because of the cover, but it sounds really good too and I hope I’ll get to it soon.
  3. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher – I’ve loved so many of this author’s books and I’m pretty sure I’ll love this one too. It’s got an interesting premise.
  4. The Girl in Question by Tess Sharpe – This is actually the sequel to The Girls I’ve Been, which I loved. I also loved a couple of other books by the same author so of course I need to read this one too!
  5. The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard – Saw it at my library’s featured shelf last year and have been borrowing and renewing it ever since, but still haven’t gotten around to it. 😅
  6. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle – This one comes highly recommended by a friend whose book tastes I trust. I don’t know much about it, but I’m excited to read it.
  7. The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich – Another one I saw at the library. I have read The Sentence by the same author and really enjoyed it, and this one sounds even better!
  8. Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson – This is the fifth book in The Stormlight Archives and I’ve only just finished the first two books, so it’ll be a while until I get to this one.
  9. The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin – I’m so excited she’s got a new book out, but The Keeper of Hidden Books is next!
  10. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley – Picked it up at the library’s featured shelf and really loving the sound of it. I can’t wait to read this.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | January 2025

Posted February 2, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 2 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

January 2025 Wrap Up

Hello, my friends! What even is this new year! A month has gone by and I feel like I haven’t found my feet yet. I’m still so frazzled and disorganized it’s not even funny! 😭

I’m doing the bare minimum, but of course, “bad habits” like reading are hard to get rid of, so I’m always reading even as I’m drowning in my disorganization. You could say that it’s partly because of my reading that everything is disorganized, I’m sticking my head in books to avoid handling stuff I need to do. 😅 Ah well, they’ll get done eventually.

My January 2025 TBR Intentions

I didn’t do very well with my TBR intentions even though the list isn’t very long, but 50% isn’t too bad.

  1. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
  2. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
  3. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
  4. ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
  5. The Terror by Dan Simmons
  6. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Books Read in January 2025

  1. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
  2. The Measure by Nikki Erlick
  3. ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
  4. NPCs by Drew Hayes
  5. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  6. Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
  7. Joyland by Stephen King
  8. Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson
  9. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
  10. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Notable Books This Month

Two Stephen King books this month! One was a reread (‘Salem’s Lot) and the other (Joyland) is a new read. I loved them both, as if there could be any doubt!

Killers of the Flower Moon was really good; infuriating and emotional, but also educational, and we ended up watching the movie too.

I also finally read Shark Heart. It’s been on my TBR since last year but not prioritized because I thought it was a light-hearted magical realism story. It ended up being so much more emotional and heartfelt than I expected and I had a lot of great discussions come out of it.

Guillotine and Maus were also really good, but I haven’t written my reviews yet. They’ll be coming soon!

Reading Challenges

I’ve read a few books that fit into The 52 Book Club 2025 Reading Challenge and The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge already, but I haven’t done a proper tally and I still haven’t decided on the other challenges I actually want to take on. My focus has been all over the place!

I will try to figure things out before this month is over!

February 2025 TBR Intentions

So many books to read, the TBR never ends! There are some I’m looking forward to this month though.

  1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
  2. The Terror by Dan Simmons
  3. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  4. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
  5. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

How was your month in January? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful February with lots of great books!

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Monthly Wrap Up | December 2024

Posted January 2, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 2 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

December 2024 Wrap Up

Happy New Year 2025, everyone!!

I’ve been so frazzled and disorganized these last couple of months that I haven’t been very present on the blog at all, or in other areas of my life. Things haven’t settled down yet and I’m still catching up but I’m trying to be a little more organized. I’m also cutting down on reading challenges this year because I got so overwhelmed last year with more than ten of them!

At this point, I’m still just trying to catch up, so I don’t have a complete picture of my goals and plans yet, but I’ll get there eventually! Thank you for being patient with me!

My December 2024 TBR Intentions

Well, the good news is that I read 5 out of 7 of the books on my TBR in December! Yayy!

  1. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
  2. In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
  3. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
  4. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
  5. The Outsider by Stephen King
  6. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
  7. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Books Read in December 2024

  1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
  2. Bloody Acquisitions (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 3) by Drew Hayes
  3. The Fangs of Freelance (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 4) by Drew Hayes
  4. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
  5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  6. Deadly Assessments (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 5) by Drew Hayes
  7. The Outsider by Stephen King
  8. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
  9. Undeading Bells (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 6) by Drew Hayes
  10. In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
  11. Out of House and Home (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 7) by Drew Hayes
  12. Posthumous Education (Fred, the Vampire Accountant Book 8) by Drew Hayes
  13. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Notable Books This Month

I ended up spending most of the month reading Drew Hayes’ Fred, the Vampire Accountant series! They were so fun and enjoyable, and I really loved reading about Fred and his friends. I’m a huge fan of found family stories, and Hayes really has a talent for writing interesting characters. I was so sad when I finished the last one, but I found out there’s going to be a Book 9, so I’m eagerly waiting for its release!

I also really loved The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, and I’m completely invested in the story and intend to read the rest of the series.

The Outsider and A Closed and Common Orbit are both rereads, but worth mentioning because they’re both still so good the second time around.

And finally, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was such an eye-opening read. I’m glad I finally got around to reading it, I learned so much and it made me feel so many things. I’m also very curious about the movie and I’ll probably want to watch it sometime soon.

Reading Challenges

I’m going easy on the reading challenges in 2025 because I got a little overzealous last year. These are the ones I’m committing to this year:

  1. The 52 Book Club 2025 Reading Challenge – I’m doing this one again this year because I enjoyed it so much last year!
  2. The Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge – My own personal challenge because I’m a fan of SK but have plenty of his books I haven’t read yet. No time limit, and everyone is welcome to join me if you’d like.
  3. The Classics Club – This is a 5-year challenge and I’m on Year 2.
  4. Reading From My TBR Challenge – Also a personal challenge because I figure I should be at least trying to read from my TBR, but I haven’t figured out the parameters yet so I’ll come back to this later.

January 2025 TBR Intentions

I’m just taking it one month at a time. I hope to read these books in January! What about you?

  1. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
  2. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
  3. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
  4. ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
  5. The Terror by Dan Simmons
  6. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

How was your month in December? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful 2025 with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books on My Winter 2024-2025 TBR

Posted December 16, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 6 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books on My Winter 2024-2025 to-Read List

Alright, now that we’re almost at the end of the year and we’re doing a Winter TBR post, I can say that I’m a little disappointed that some of the books that have been on my TBR since last year haven’t been crossed off the list yet. I’ve read some great books this year, don’t get me wrong, but I really want to get to those pesky books still on my TBR too! Still, for the sake of this post, I’m posting different books so that I won’t feel sad about having the same books from last year on this year’s list!

Top Ten Books on My Winter 2024-2025 TBR

  1. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher – I’ve been wanting to read this but haven’t gotten my hands on the book yet. I’m a huge fan of Kingfisher and this one sounds really good too!
  2. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers – This is the second book in The Wayfarer series and will be a reread for me. I read the first and second book a while ago but not the next in the series, so I’m rereading before moving on to the next ones.
  3. In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren – My irl bookclub’s BOTM. I’ve read other books by the authors and I’m hoping it will be a much needed light-hearted read for the holidays.
  4. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell – My online bookclub’s BOTM and hopefully a fast-paced, thrilling read!
  5. The Terror by Dan Simmons – This one sounds ominous but I’m intrigued and really want to read it. I’m scared but also very curious!
  6. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson – The third book in The Stormlight Archive series. I just finished reading the first two recently and I am hooked! I know the fifth book just came out and I’m really excited to get through the books!
  7. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst – Honestly, this one is purely judged based on the cover. And title. It seems so whimsical and magical and I just want to read it!
  8. Deadly Assessments by Drew Hayes – The fifth book in Fred, the Vampire Accountant series. I breezed through the first four and have enjoyed them all. Very much intending to finish the whole series.
  9. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman – The third book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I loved the first two and I’m excited to read the rest of these books!
  10. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston – I just want a little more light-hearted romance in my life and heard this one was good.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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