Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Top 10 Books on my Winter To-Be-Read List

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Today's topic is books on our winter to be read list.


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme started on the Broke and the Bookish blog.
They set the topic, we make the lists. Visit their site to see more on this topic

Winter is a wonderful time for cuddling up in your favorite seat, looking out the window, and thinking ‘Thank God I have this awesome book and don’t have to go outside!’. 

So here are the awesome books I will be reading this winter:

The Martian by Andy Weir. This is kind of cheating because I’m currently reading this book, but it is so excellent so far! Mark gets left behind on Mars after a sand storm. His crew mates and the rest of the world believe he is dead, so Mark has to figure out how to survive and make it until the next NASA mission to Mars. The main character, although in a dire situation, still keeps his sense of humor and there are a lot of places I’ve laughed out loud. If you liked “Castaway” and “Apollo 13," or if you’re a human who enjoys books, please read this!

The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg. This is a nonfiction piece about Afghan girls/women who are presented as men and raised as men temporarily. Since Afghani culture does not look highly upon women, these daughters are raised male and then expected to eventually return to their female roots, but while male, they have more opportunities. The book sounds fascinating and the writer meets and follows the lives of women who have been raised this way or are currently living as men. 

Villette by Charlotte Bronte. I do love English classics and Bronte’s Jane Eyre is a favorite of mine. So because winter makes me brooding, I figured I’d give Ms. Bronte’s other work a read. This is the story of Lucy who becomes a teacher at a French boarding school, and then (shocking) must decide if her freedom is more important than the love of a man. A very modern woman in a time when women were married or were considered pathetic, lamentable creatures. 


Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron. Christmas reading and Jane Austen! What a happy combination. Oh except for that part where this book is a murder mystery. Not so happy for the dead guy. 

The Price of Blood by Patricia Bracewell. The first book in this series was Shadow on the Crown. It is historical fiction about Emma of Normandy, the bride of Athelred of England. It takes place in 1000 A.D. and I enjoyed hearing about this century, the lives of the people, and especially the choices and cunning of young Emma. I cannot wait to see what happens to Emma as Viking hordes descend on England!

Museum of Mistakes by Julia Wertz. Wertz is hysterical. Julia Wertz is a great graphic novelist whose sardonic stylings make for good fun. Whether she is talking about her time as a waitress, or relaying conversations had with friends and family, her life experiences make an easy and entertaining read.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. I recently read Outlander (yes I gave into the hype) and loved it. But since these books are tomes, I decided I needed to give myself several months in between each book in the series. I am very much looking forward to throwing myself back into 18th century Scotland though! More kilted men? Yes please!

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose your own autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris. Things that are brilliant: this autobiography. Thank you Mr. Harris for using a well-loved version of writing to write your autobiography! I cannot wait to lay my greedy little hands on this and cheat until I get the ending I want. Very clever.

My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins. This is a collection of short stories by Young Adult authors. They are all holiday themed and are fun little romps. Rainbow Rowell wrote the first story, so I’m excited. Holly Black and David Levithan are also contributors, so if you’re a YA lover, give this book a look!

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith. There is a project right now to have contemporary authors reimagine Ms. Austen’s masterpieces, and the delightfully pushy Emma is being rewritten by the king of current cozies, Mr. Alexander McCall Smith. I’m excited to see what a modern day Emma looks like to him and how she fares in our society. (This is a cheat as well since it technically isn't out until spring, but I'm so excited!)

~Kristin M.

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