As the year has gone on I have realized how bad I am at following through with a “to be read” list. So bad, in fact, that I have tried to just quit these lists altogether… but old habits die hard and I made one more for the year.

With two months left, I decided to pick a handful of books that I really wanted to make time for before the end of the year. This is a stack of books that I have either been excited for recently or have been trying to read for a long while now. And, to make it interesting, I had my boyfriend choose two of the five. He chose two that had been on my shelf and in my TBR stacks many times before…

Hopefully, I will find time to read more than these 5, but these will undoubtedly be my priority.

Maude by Donna Foley Mabry

This book was given to me a couple years ago by my future sister-in-law. This is one of her favorite books so I am excited to see why. I don’t know much about this title but it seems very interesting. Especially after reading the sentence below!

“In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day.“

Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi

This book stood out to me when I was looking at the bookshelf in my classroom. I couldn’t quite pin down why but it was a book that I kept coming back to again and again. So, why not read it right?

“This is the story of thirteen days that begin with one murder and end with another.“

Circe by Madeline Miller

I love books that are steeped in mythology. When I won a giveaway on Instagram I was so excited to see this arrive at my doorstep. Since then, I have hardly been able to take my eyes off of it. I had to finish a little bit of other reading I was doing but this will be the first of the five books.

“In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born.“

The Polar Bear Expedition by James Carl Nelson

I am really in love with nonfiction that deals with the arctic. I bought this book when I bought Labyrinth of Ice and was immediately interested by the title and cover alone. As I read more and more nonfiction, I have been finding a lot of joy in the genre. (Plus, the snow gives me major winter vibes!)

“In the winter of 1919, 5,000 U.S. soldiers, nicknamed ‘The Polar Bears,’ found themselves hundreds of miles north of Moscow in desperate, bloody combat against the newly formed Soviet Union’s Red Army.“

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko is a title that I have had on my list for a long time. I actually remember the first time I saw this book in the store, before it became wildly popular. I was drawn into the elegant cover and title. I usually enjoy stories that are set in Asia so I am excited to dive into this one. This is a much longer title so hopefully I have enough time. I know already that it isn’t one I want to rush.

“There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.“

---

I am really excited about the above five titles and really hope that I can make it through all of them. My reading has gone way down recently so I am also hoping that this stack will help me get out of my slump.

This stack of titles covers many genres and styles of writing. It will be fun to jump between so many different story lines and really absorb the books.

(All the snippets from the books and synopses were pulled from Amazon.)

---

What books are you excited about reading before the end of the year?

Happy reading!