10 Books on my Winter To Be Read List (2024-2025)

Non-Fiction

↗️ 1. How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur: “From the creator of The Good Place and the co-creator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world.” (Goodreads)

I actually feel bad I’ve still not read this. My fiancé bought it for me for my birthday years ago, after I asked for it. It’s just the sort of thing I need to be able to focus on and I’ll want to make notes and I’ve just not had the bandwidth. I did find that it’s on Spotify audio now, so I have been thinking about starting it on audio and maybe switching, making notes where I want to in my physical copy. This could be an Over Christmas project, and I might re-watch The Good Place too!

Sci-fi Adventure

⬆️ 2. Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse #6) by James S.A. Corey: This is the sixth out of the nine-book series, and I still really want to get back to it is staying near the top of the list! I look forward to being back these these characters that I’ve grown so fond of. (Goodreads)

Modern Classic Lit.

🔄 3. Alias Grace or The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood: Again I keep saying I’ll read Atwood, and I will… soon… and which one of these two will depend on what my mood is!

Alias Grace is a historical mystery set in 1842 focused on memory and mental illness, and based on a true story. Whereas The Robber Bride is a 1993 retelling of a Brother’s Grimm story (Goodreads).

Which makes me think I need to add..

Dark, Original Fairy Tales!

🆕 4. The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (1812) translated by Jack D. Zipes: This was on my list for The 10 Oldest Books I Want To Read from last month, and “The Robber Bridegroom” is tale No. 40 in this book, so since it would pair well with The Robber Bride maybe it’s time to start working through these stories! Having also just read Rouge my Mona Awad – which has a lot of fairy-tale influence as well – this could be an interesting comparison as well.

I probably wouldn’t read it cover to cover in one go, but pick up and read a few at a time.

Literary Mystery

➡️ 5. Kala by Colin Walsh: “A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for twenty years, reckon with the terrifying events of the summer that changed their lives.” (Goodreads)

I am still very intrigued about this one and it’s always in the back of my mind, so definitely still on the list.

Bizarre, Dystopic Satire

➡️ 6. She’s A Killer by Kirstin McDougal: “Bold, darkly funny and brilliantly bizarre, New Zealand publishing sensation She’s a Killer is the satirical dystopian cli-fi thriller you never knew you needed. Until now.” (Goodreads).

This is another TBR clinger, which sounds really up my street – an unlikeable, bitchy female protagonist and an imaginary friend twist.

Tense & Unhinged Marriage

➡️ 7. My Husband by Maud Ventura: “The winner of France’s First Novel Prize in 2021, My Husband builds on the premise of hits like Gone Girl and Fates and Furies–how well can you really know your spouse?–and adds the tension and creepy obsession of You. The result is an irresistible read–compelling, tense, and engaging, infused with sly subversive humour, and told in an utterly original voice that makes it unforgettable.” (Goodreads)

Again this sounds like should tickle me! I don’t love books about marriage and kids usually – mostly because almost all the crime thrillers I read have a protagonist with the same domestic problems! – but if you put an unhinged, darkly humorous, obsessive twist on it I’m in.

But what if I’m feeling I want to kick it up a notch?

Fucked & Uncomfortable

➡️ 8. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh: I know I keep going on about this one, it’s consistently on my TBR lists! However “insane“, “gross“, “disgusting” and “disturbing” are frequent keywords in reviews I’ve read, and I’ve felt a bit too fragile for that recently! (Goodreads)

↗️ 9. Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata: “In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humour and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them.” (Goodreads)

One of the stories is about a wedding, so if I feel “challenged” by family over Christmas with our decision to elope, I might turn to this!

After most of these options above I might want a nice, light easy read as a palette cleanse which brings me to..

Nice Tropey Rom-Com

🔄 10. A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin was what I had previously, but this is moving to the bottom of the list, if I’m in the mood for a rom-com I’ll probably go for The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston which I grabbed in a Kindle deal recently. That has a fun time-travel element – “An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past!” (Goodreads).