Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Winter 2021 To-Read List

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish tag hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

Listen. I can't be the only one staring down the barrel of a year reaching its end left feeling slightly... left behind. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm fully prepared to greet 2022 as a new friend, but in a very real sense, it's never been easy for me getting through the end of a year. Too much room for self reflection. 

Which is probably why I liked this week's Top Ten Tuesday so much! Instead of focusing in on the numerous end-of-the-year lists I've been seeing floating around friends' blogs and bookstagrams lately, this topic serves as a reminder that you're not running out of time to chalk up a few more reads; in fact, you're far from it. Sure, the year's almost over. But soon enough, you'll have a fresh start, a fresh perspective, and a fat stack of books remaining from the ones you didn't manage to make it through in 2021.

How lucky are we?

Yes, there are still a few more weeks left. Let's make them good ones, shall we? And if we can't, then at least let's fill them up with as many cozy corners, animal companions, and mugs of hot chocolate as we can. Oh, and books.

BC : Before Christmas

1. Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, from the Dear America series, Kathryn Lasky

If you've been reading this blog for years (Hi, Dad), then this title is a familiar candidate for you. If you have no idea of who I am as a person, then this probably seems like an odd choice for a 28-year-old's seasonal fixation. The short story is this: I've read this Dear America installment every single December, advent-calendar-style, since I was a kid. It's partially to blame for my love of the 1930s as a time period, and I'll always adore the woefully outdated original cover I own, because I've always kind of thought the girl on it looks like it could have easily been a member of my mom's side of the family. And if that's not enough of an explanation for you, then you should know that Lasky is also responsible for the Ga'Hoole books, another youthful obsession of mine. 

2. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

There will never be a Dickens title I love more than this one, and that's coming from someone with an enormous soft spot for Great Expectations. But to be clear: whenever anyone asks me some kind of oversimplified question like "What are some of your favorite books?" this one ALWAYS makes the list. I'm a sucker for a good moral tale, Christmastime, and anything that gives me an excuse to watch a great Muppet movie. 

3. All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire (Love at Stake #5), Kerrelyn Sparks

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, I'm running out of time to close out the dockets on my 2021 Paranormal Romance Reading Challenge... and wouldn't you know it? This title is a perfect contender for one of the end of year slots. I've still got two other books - and a whole lot of reviewing - to do, in order to dispense with the rest, but this is the one that has earned its place in this line up... partially because I'm just so excited about its terrible font and chapter header illustrations. The rest of the books, on the other hand... I'm sure I'll get around to them before January. 

Soon-ish : Either the End of the Year, or the Beginning of the Next One

4. A Murder is Announced, Agatha Christie

Thanks to a couple Anglophile best friends back in middle school, there is little as comforting and nostalgic for my brain as sinking into an Agatha Christie mystery. After taking it a little easier as an adult, I'm finally beginning to find my way back into the backlog, and picking up as many sweet little copies as I can find at random thrift stores and secondhand shops. My slim vintage copy of this one might be fragile, but so far, the words have been holding up, and I can't wait to slip further between the covers for a good, cozy read. 

5. Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner

I bought this in support of one of my favorite independent bookstores this summer, and quickly found myself surrendering it to my mother only days later because she had committed the cardinal sin of only having brought ONE book on a week-long vacation. My impulses served as correct, as she was not only immediately hooked, but handed it back to me with the solemn declaration that "You are going to cry. So hard." I've been looking forward to it ever since!

6. An Everlasting Meal, Tamar Adler

An absolute favorite, and masterclass of the food writing genre. I also happened to only have read it for the first time two Decembers ago, back in 2019, and I have been borderline evangelical about it ever since. Most likely as a result of a youthful obsession with M. F. K. Fisher - one that, as an adult, I have been trying my damnedest to pass along to my fledgling college kitchen lurker baby brother - this sustainability and instinct-guided entry into the world of home cooking is definitely going to be worth the reread. 

7. The Blacktongue Thief, Christopher Beuhlman

Speaking of my bro, this Fantasy novel served as an easy-choice birthday gift this past August, one that was immediately validated by the fact that he finished it and passed it back along to me within the space of a week. I've been leaning towards a good Fantasy novel for a while, but didn't feel like reaching for an old favorite, so I feel like this one will make for a good craving crusher during the last lazy weeks of the year. 

8. Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino

Here's the thing: I tried my absolute best to give this book my full attention during a recent flight down to California, and it's a total testament to its strengths in voice and subject matter that it was able to distract me, even for a matter of minutes, from the soul-crushing anxiety and borderline tangible doom that I felt while traveling 1. alone, 2. on an airplane, 3. during a pandemic, and oh, right, 4. for the first time since, I kid you not, Election Night 2016, when I was on a five-hour plane trip back from Florida while voting results were being counted. I only made it 30 pages in to this collection of essays, but those were precious moments I wasn't spending staring out the window and considering whether or not I had told my family I loved them enough times before I left Seattle. Might as well give it another shot, now that I'm safely on the ground. 

9. The Realms of the Gods (The Immortals / Daine #4), Tamora Pierce

I started this wonderful series back during my siblings' Spring Break of this year, and it would make zero sense not to finish the tetralogy out before we hit the new one. I'm actually halfway through this thing, but have been postponing picking it up again, for fear of not being able to enjoy it enough. I mean, do I even deserve to read a good book, if I'm not appreciating it properly??

10. Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare

I've gone back and forth a couple of times, trying to decide which of the many titles stacked on my bedside table deserves this final spot. Should it be Circe, by Madeline Miller, whose high-floating words and moody subject matter just don't fit my reading mood at the moment? Or should it be The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton, who I have attempted to start reading what is probably a stingy estimation of four or five times so far, but have never been able to get into? In the end, I'm forced to consider a conversation I recently had with my brother: Shakespeare used to be one of my perennial favorites, something I had an encyclopedic knowledge of and could quote from extensively. Now I can barely get through them, unless accompanied by an audiobook. #pastenglishmajorproblems. It would be nice to get back to basics in the new year. 

What's in your Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!