FIVE BOOKS I WANT TO READ BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR.
These autumn/winter months always seem to fly by so quickly that soon it’s that time of year again, when I check my Goodreads reading challenge and see that there’s still a number of books I’d like to read before the year’s up. I’ve set a reading challenge every year for the last five years & I like to have a challenge, I like the gentle nudge it gives me to pick up a book rather than spending an hour scrolling on Pinterest. This year I wanted to read at least 24 books, at least a couple each month and as I’m writing this I still have five books to read to hit that goal– so I thought it might be a good opportunity to share with you the five books I’m planning on reading and I’m hoping it’s gives me even more motivation to read them too!
So here are the five books I’d love to get to before 2020 rolls around…
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong
This is actually the one I’m currently reading so I thought I’d start by talking about On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Recently I’ve found it hard to keep up with new releases but this is one that came out this year and I haven’t been able to avoid hearing all of the amazing reviews about this. This book is Ocean Vuong’s debut novel and is described as a portrait of family, first love and the redemptive power of storytelling– and if those three things don’t get me excited to read a book I don’t know what will. I picked this one out to read before the end of the year, not only because of how much I’m looking forward to reading it but because it’s reasonably short & because of the lyrical writing style I think it’ll be a great one to sit down and enjoy in one afternoon along with a big mug of coffee.
Comfort Zones, Women writers tackling unfamiliar ground in aid of Women for Women International
Next up on my list is Comfort Zones, another 2019 release, which is a collection of essays, letters and stories from a group of women writers all writing about themes that are a bit new and vulnerable. Comfort Zones was published by Jigsaw and is in aid of Women for Women International so all profits go towards a great cause and they very kindly gifted me this copy. I don’t often reach for essays and short story collections but this one keeps calling out to me, maybe partly because of the beautifully designed cover, but also because it sounds like such an interesting collection. I’m hoping to maybe dip in and out of this and read an essay a day for the next few weeks.
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
The oldest book on the list and maybe the one I’m most looking forward to– if you know any of what I’ve been reading this year then you’ll know that memoirs have featured heavily in what I’ve been reaching for and loving and so I couldn’t not include a memoir here! The Year of Magical Thinking has been on my radar for a really long time– Joan Didion is a very well known and well loved author but for some reason or another I have never got around to picking up any of her books– this memoir has grief as a main theme & seeing how different people cope with grief is something that always interests me. Definitely looking forward to reading this before the end of the year.
Killing and Dying: Stories, Adrian Tomine
I wanted to include a graphic novel in this list– first because obviously it makes for a great ‘reading challenge catch up’ book because I can read it in one sitting & second because I tend to hoard graphic novels so I have quite a big collection sitting on my TBR shelf. I picked out Killing and Dying– which is a collection of short stories looking at loss, creative ambition, identity, and family dynamics– because I’ve heard so many good things about Adrian Tomine’s graphic novels and because after a quick flick through I can see that I’m going to love the art style, it looks clean and beautiful and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in.
The last book on this list, Uprooted, is one I picked out because it’s been sitting on my TBR shelf for the longest time, since it was published which was four years ago now, so I decided that it was finally time that I pick it up and read it! I am sure that most people will have heard of this book but in case you haven’t– it’s a high fantasy with references to Polish culture and storytelling. It’s a been a little while since I’ve read any high fantasy and I thought it would make for a great autumn/winter read so I knew I had to add to the list.
And that’s it, that’s the list of the five books I want to get to before the end of the year! Once I’ve read each of these I will try and keep you updated on Goodreads or over on Instagram with my thoughts and feelings and I’d love to know what you’re looking forward to reading in the last few weeks of 2019, so please feel free to let me know below!