Abigail wants to read

 Next year I am setting myself a goal of reading 100 books, these are the top 23 books I want to read next year to get to that goal. 1) Babel by R.F.Kuang 2) Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare 3) Five Survive by Holly Jackson 4) Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 5) Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan 6) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 7) Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco 8) One Last Stop by Casey Maniscalco 9) Radio Silence by Alice Oseman 10) Belladonna by Adalyn Grace 11) I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy 12) How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie 13) She Gets The Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick 14) This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi 15) Before The Devil Breaks you by Libba Bray 16) The King of Crows by Libba Bray 17) Oceans Echo by Everina Maxwell 18) Husband Material by Alexis Hall 19) Beasts of Ruin by Ayana Gray 20) Jade City by Fonda Lee 21) City of Brass by S.A Chakraborty 22) Misrule by Heater Walter 23) A Man Called Ove ...

  Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia -- a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change ... and a great sacrifice. I read this whole series in a week last year during Christmas time and this one was by far my favourite book out of the seven. It was the most whimsical and the most heartwarming. I adored the sibling bond and how they would fight for each other. The setting of Narnia is one of my all-time favourite settings I've ever read, it's perfect for this time of the year and with the way it's written I can imagine that I am there with the siblings.

 5/5 Stars On Christmas Eve Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by his old business partner Jacob Marley who died 7 years before on Christmas Eve where he tells Scrooge that he will be visited by 3 spirits, the ghost of Christmas Past, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This is possibly one of the most famous Christmas books ever to exist and it is definitely my favourite one. I read it in high school for fun and for my GCSEs and reread it every year on Christmas Eve. I've always loved the story of an old miserable old man who changes his ways and opens his heart to others. While it was written in the 19th century the writing isn't too dense and is easy to follow.  The Ghost of Christmas present is my favourite out of the ghosts and I loved his scenes where he showed Scrooge how happy and joyful everyone else is during Christmas day. Also, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that the ghost having 1800 brothers is because that's the ...

 It's the most wonderful time of the year and what better way to celebrate the season then books! 1) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens  A Christmas Carol is about an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge has devoted his life to becoming rich but undergoes a profound change over the course of a Christmas Eve night. He is visited by three spirits over three nights, and each of them has a lesson to pass on to him. After meeting the three ghosts, Scrooge changes his life and reverts to the generous, kindhearted soul he was in his youth. 2) The Christmas Carrolls by Meg Taylor Bennet Wish it could be Christmas every day? Well, for nine-year-old Holly Carroll and her family, it is! Living her merriest life in a house with year-round fairy lights and Christmas trees, a carol-singing toilet and a diva donkey who thinks he’s a reindeer, home-schooled Holly tries to spread cheer wherever she goes. But when she goes to a new school with a singing Santa backpack and first-day...

 I Read this one last but didn't post my review of it on my blog only my insta so I'm posting it here this year as it was so good and needs to be posted everywhere. 5/5 Stars Holly and her family love Christmas so much that they celebrate it 365 days a year. Holly loves Christmas however when she starts school for the first time people give her strange looks and her new friend Archie thinks she should turn down the Christmas cheer. I adored this book so much. Its one of the best Christmas books I've read in recent years even though it is actually set during September and not December which I thought was new and fun. It showed how the Christmas spirit should be spread all thorough the year while still being respectful of people who don't celebrate Christmas for whatever reason which I loved so much. The ending where everyone got together to celebrate Christmas and raise money was the most adorable scene I've read in a while. Overall I think this book is one for every...

5/5 stars  Over twenty years J R R Tolkein wrote his kids every Christmas letters from Father Christmas.  I adored reading these letters that JRR Tolkien to his children. I savoured this book over a few days even though it was a quick read and could be done in a few hours ad I was enjoying it so much and didn't want it to end. I adored the aspects with the polar bear and the elves and you cab see how much J R R Tolkien loves and adored his kids when you read this as he pours his heart in the letters, even the ones that are quite short and the ones he wrote during the war.

 This past year I think I have done a good job of branching out of my comfort genres to read a wider variety of genres that I don't normally gravitate towards to. This is a list of the genres that I want to read more from next year and I didn't read as much as I wanted this year. 1) Middle grade I love middle grade books, especially the whimsical ones. they always make me feel like a child again and make me feel warm and cosy. I didn't read as many as I would have liked to this year and in the first quarter I don't think I read and at all. Next year I would love to change this and branch out a little bit. 2) Classics This is a wider genre as classics isn't really a genre by itself, however I would love to read more from the time before I was born and specifically more queer authors and authors of colour as in the past when I have read classics they have been the popular cishet white authors and I would love to get out of that box. 3) Paranormal Romance I read a lot ...

 Thank you to Netgalley for the Earc in exchange for an honest review 5/5 Stars A collection of tiny terrors from Bram Stoker Award ® winner Christina Sng. The Gravity of Existence is a weight lifted, a monster freed, a princess with sneakers, a spell for a better world. From one of the leading voices in dark verse, this collection delights in the misunderstood, putting a new spin on werewolves, basilisks, sirens, ghosts, aliens, pandemics, fairy tales and myths. Sng gives new voice to classic heroines and the result is terrifying, magical, and fantastic.  I loved this collection from beginning to end, my favourite part was the Disney poems section. It showed all sides of being a monster, those that exist in the real world and those that don't. I can definitely see why the author has won so many awards. Also, the cover art is stunning and needs to be appreciated 

 5/5 Stars A blood feud between two gangs, The Scarlet Gang and The White Flowers run the streets of 1926 Shanghai red. At the heart of it is Juliette Cai the hair to the Scarlet Gang and Roma Montagov the heir to The White Flowers.  I had such high hopes when I started this book and I was not disappointed at all. It had everything I was looking for when I picked it up. It had an amazing enemies to lovers storyline where they are actual enemies. I enjoyed it so much and immediately read the second book Our Violent Ends which I read in 2 days and also gave it 5 stars. 

 This is one TBR I think I may actually stick to as this month I am doing the Reindeer readathon! 1) Secrets of The Tides by Hannah Richell The Tides are a family full of secrets. Returning to Clifftops, the rambling family house high up on the Dorset coastline, youngest daughter Dora hopes for a fresh start, for herself and the new life she carries. But can long-held secrets ever really be forgiven? And even if you can forgive, can you ever really learn to love again? Secrets of the Tides is a family drama with a dark thread of suspense at its heart. 2) Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray Magic doesn’t exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore, especially for girls like sixteen-year-old Koffi. Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, she cares for its fearsome and magical creatures to pay off her family’s debts and secure their eventual freedom. But the night her loved ones’ own safety is threatened by the Zoo’s cruel master, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn’t fully understand–and the co...

 Thank you to Netgalley for the Earc in exchange for an honest review 4/5 Stars This Poetry collection discusses the weight of being Black in America, Freeman’s relationships with lovers and family, and how the physical place you grew up can become part of your identity.  Urbanshee  expertly combines humour, fantasy, and raw emotion to create this astonishing reinvention of classic fables. Freeman’s poems are venturously unique and are sure to enchant anyone who reads them This was a clever and beautifully written collection of poetry. I enjoyed the way it was written and loved how the author made you feel throughout the collection.

 Thank you to Netgalley for the Earc in exchange for an honest review Roach would rather be listening to the latest episode of her favourite true crime podcast than assisting the boring and predictable customers at her local branch of the bookstore Spines, where she’s worked her entire adult life. A serious true crime junkie, Roach looks down her nose at the pumpkin-spice-latte-drinking casual fans who only became interested in the genre once it got trendy. But when Laura, a pretty and charismatic children’s bookseller, arrives to help rejuvenate the struggling bookstore branch, Roach recognizes in her an unexpected kindred spirit. Despite their common interest in true crime, Laura keeps her distance from Roach, resisting the other woman’s overtures of friendship. Undeterred, Roach learns everything she can about her new colleague, eventually uncovering Laura’s traumatic family history. When Roach realizes that she may have come across her very own true crime story, interest swiftl...