1. Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?
I don't think I've DNF'd any books this year that I still intend to finish. I do have a couple of books from previous TBRs that I didn't get to yet, that I would like to read before the end of the year. One is Tales of the Greatcoats by Sebastian de Castell. This is a short story collection set in the world of the Greatcoats. I read the rest of the books in this series in January, so it would be good to finish off this series fully by reading this book before I forget everything. The other book I didn't start was The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. Harrow wrote another of my favourite books, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which I adored, so I'm really excited to get to this one. It's also got very autumnal and witchy vibes so it'll be perfect for this time of year.
2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?
The Once and Future Witches will definitely be able to do that: When the Eastwood sisters - James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna - join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive. This just sounds like a feminist Hocus Pocus.
Another book for this would probably have to be La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. This is the first book in a new trilogy set in the same world as His Dark Materials. Pullman's Dark Materials series was one of my absolute favourites growing up, and I always associate that trilogy with autumn/winter. I've been meaning to get to this series for so long but I put it off because I'd heard bad things. I'm hoping I'll love it though!
3. Is there a new release you're still waiting for?
Technically I'm still waiting for Babel by R.F. Kuang, although I don't know when I'll be getting a copy of this because I'm trying not to spend too much money right now (thank you electric bills!). This sounds incredible though and I know most people will already know what it's about. For those who don't, this is an adult fiction book set in Oxford and has all the markings of a dark academia: secret society, mystery, intrigue, exploration of language, etc. It sounds like it'll be right up my street when I finally get to it!
4.What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?
Only three? Oh boy. For those who don't know, I've spent the past couple of years trying to read through the oldest books on my TBR and I've really succeeded in that. However, I do still have a few older books I want to get to in the next few months.
1. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
In Derry, Maine, four young boys once stood together and did a brave thing. Something that changed them in ways they hardly understand. A quarter of a century later, the boys are men who have gone their separate ways. Though they still get together once a year, to go hunting in the north woods of Maine. But this time is different. This time a man comes stumbling into their camp, lost, disoriented and muttering about lights in the sky. Before long, these old friends will be plunged into the most remarkable events of their lives as they struggle with a terrible creature from another world. Their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past - and in the Dreamcatcher.
To be perfectly honest, this sounds a lot like IT or The Body, but I do love Stephen King's work and especially this kind of trope so I'm hoping I'm going to enjoy it.
2. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her? Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.
This is another dark academia book that I've really been meaning to get to. I really like Bardugo's writing style so I'm hoping I'm going to enjoy her foray into New Adult.
3. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for his door, though he does not know it. He follows a silent siren song, an inexplicable knowledge that he is meant for another place. When he discovers a mysterious book in the stacks of his campus library he begins to read, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes. Suddenly a turn of the page brings Zachary to a story from his own childhood impossibly written in this book that is older than he is.
I first read The Night Circus by this author in 2014 and adored it. This is her second book and I bought it as soon as it came out in 2019 but I still haven't read it. This is a book about books (a trope I always love) and it feels perfect for the autumn/winter season.
5. Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year?
Some of the books mentioned above, definitely. Other than those though, I'm still hoping to read the final Fitz and the Fool trilogy so I think any of those books could become a favourite.
6. Have you already started making reading plans for this year?
Of course, who hasn't? (Wait, it's not just me, right?) As I said earlier, my plan this year was to read a lot of backlist books and, while I still want to focus on the books more than 2 years old on my TBR, I think next year I want to focus more on my epic fantasy series that I've been neglecting. It'll mean I probably read fewer books overall, but I'll finally get to so many of the fantasy books on my shelf that I've been excited for, and I can't wait.
Let me know what your plans are for the rest of the year! Do you have any plans for next year yet?
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