6 Non-Christmasy Books for the Winter Holidays

At this time a year I always see a lot of Christmas books, especially Christmas romances, going around the blog-o-sphere. You know the kind, Hallmark movies in book form. A lot of people really love them, but if I’m being honest they are not for me. But I do like to read wintery books at this time of year. So I thought I would share some of my favorites for anyone who, like me, is looking for something a little less Hallmark-y this Holiday Season.

Okay, so half of these books are fantasy. That’s what I like, get over it. 😛

The Bear and the Nightingale

If you’re looking for atmospheric books set in winter, it doesn’t get much colder than the Winternight Trilogy! This book is lyrical, lush, and nuanced. Though the entire book isn’t set in winter, it’s sure to give you the desire to curl up with some hot coco by the fire (and maybe leave some toast in the grate for a domovoi). This has become one of my favorites these last few years. Read it!

Top 10 of 2018

2018 has been such a great year for me for books! Probably my best reading year ever. In addition to setting a record for the most books I’ve ever read in a year (not counting the upper/elementary middle school years where I read a book a day), I read the most 5-star books I’ve ever read. Where last year’s Top 10 list had I think three 5-star books, this year there are nine. NINE!

So without any further ado, here are my favorite books of 2018.

Review: Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Genre: Fantasy
Maturity Level: 4
View on Goodreads
Rating: ⋆⋆⋆⋆

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Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders… but her father isn’t a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed–and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.

But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand. 

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OH MY GOD, you guys. My mind is so just completely blown by this book! Naomi Novik is a freaking genius. I love how her books are so unpredictable. The middle is about something completely different from the beginning, and by the end it’s about something else entirely. I never have any idea what direction the story is going to go!

Mid-Year Freak Out Tag – 2018 Edition

I did this tag last year, and I was so much fun! It was maybe the first book tag I ever did? Can’t remember for sure… Anyway, I was surprised to see it going around again this year. Does it make the rounds every year? I wouldn’t know, I guess I’m still a bit of a book blogging newbie. 🙂

Anywho, after seeing it on a couple of blogs, I decided to tag myself. Which, I am happy to say, Kay at Hammock of Books invited me to do, so there.

Best Book You’ve Read so far in 2018

Hands down, no contest, The Goblin Emperor. I would just set it down every ten pages or so and yell “This book is SO GOOD!!!” then go back to reading it. If you like fantasy and you haven’t read it, you MUST!

My Summer Reading List

IT’S SUMMER VACATION!!!!!!

Being a teacher is rough, but I have to admit, summer vacation is an awesome perk. Don’t get me wrong, I’m probably going to be doing a lot of work this summer lesson planning and stuff, and I’m taking care of my sweet baby too, but it’s definitely going to be better than getting up early and going to work every day.

My plans for this summer include:

• Reading
• Getting back into excercising
• Reading
• Zoo trips on Mondays
• Reading
• Possible beach trip
• Did I say reading?

Last summer I probably read about twenty books. And while I think I’ve got a little more on my plate this summer and won’t quite be able to manage that, I’m really looking forward to what I have coming up.

What’s Ahead in 2018

I’m not a huge planner. In the past the things that I’ve planned have always seemed to … not work out. You can plan and plan and plan, but inevitably something doesn’t go the way you thought it would, and you have to re-do EVERYTHING. So I’ve sort of stopped planning. I keep ’em vague.

I DO like goals. That’s different. But let’s not go into that, lol.

All this to say, I don’t really have a plan for this blog going into 2018. I’m just going to do what I did this year: do whatever I want and see which direction it goes.

But there are a couple of things that are solid and (probably) going to happen, so let’s take a look at those.

Goodreads Challenge

Setting my goal for 30 books. This is a lot less than 2017, but there’s a few good reasons.

1. Giving birth and maternity leave. I’m trying to be realistic here.
2. As you’ll read below, there’s a couple of behemoths on my list. Like, 800 pagers. They’ll slow me down quite a bit.
3. I can always bump it up, but not down. I mean, you can, but how would you live with yourself?

*Side note* I love how goodreads is like, “You’re on track!” even though I’ve read 0 books. Bless January 1st, lol.