Hello!

Somehow we’re on the LAST monthly TBR of the year! I only started making monthly TBR lists last year so this marks my first full calendar year of working on completing a TBR every month. Have I finished a single one of these TBR lists? Currently no – this month has worked out that I’m posting this on the last day of the month, so I can’t confirm nor deny whether I’ve actually finished my November TBR but I am very close. I’ve at least started every book that was on that TBR, but whether I can finish the 800 page behemoth that is House of Earth and Blood by the end of the day is a question I cannot answer.

But I am close! I will finish my November TBR, just maybe not in November and honestly I’ll take that! I’m hoping to take that success in December.

My December TBR feels almost irrelevant because I made a 10 Before The End list of books that I will be trying to read before the end of the year, but I’ve chosen the ones that will be my monthly TBR to fulfil each of my categories and then honestly, anything else is a bonus!

But don’t you worry, I’ll fill you in on all the goss – I’ll let you know each of the books on my monthly TBR and the books that are also on my 10 Before The End!

Book Club: Midnight Express – Billy Hayes with William Hoffer

It was my husband’s turn to choose from the wedding library this month and I’m pretty sure he just picked something short that I hadn’t read yet and that ended up being a non-fiction book about a criminal who escaped a Turkish prison that was published in the 70s. I’m trying to go in with an open mind but I have to say I’m nervous about this one. It will be different and interesting, that’s for sure!

New Release (and a catch up read): The Hurricane Wars and A Monsoon Rising – Thea Guanzong

I bought The Hurricane Wars at the end of last year and I said to myself that I wasn’t going to invest in any sequels until I actually read it… Then the Waterstones Special Edition of A Monsoon Rising was announced and I was definitely not strong enough to resist how beautiful it is, so I’ve got to read the first book to be able to read the second book and to justify spending the money on the sprayed edges.

Desperately trying to squeeze in as much of my remaining 24 in 2024 list as realistically possible:

• Strong Female Character – Fern Brady
• Radio Silence – Alice Oseman
• Immortal Longings – Chloe Gong

A bunch of the books I picked for my 10 Before The End were from my 24 in 2024 to try and make as much of a dent in it as possible before the end of the year I picked the three I was most excited about.

I’ve picked up the audiobooks for all three of these books – one on Audible, one from the library and one from Libro FM but I think I will be co-reading all of these with the physical editions.

I’ve been desperate to read Strong Female Character ever since I picked it up last year and I’m so excited that I’ve finally made the time to prioritise it. This is one that I’ve been recommended to listen to the audiobook because it’s narrated by the author and I think it’s going to be so much more impactful. This is the one I’m most excited for, no doubt.

I’m hoping Radio Silence will be a slightly lighter read between the memoire and the first book in a fantasy series – I know Alice Oseman has a fantastic way of addressing heavier topics, but I think the fact that it’s YA will hopefully make it relatively fast paced and a contemporary romance always feels like a palette cleanser to me.

Then Immortal Longings is one that I bought on a whim because it was signed and the author had drawn a little heart, so I took it as a sign that it was meant for me specifically. It’s one of the worst reasons I’ve ever used for buying a book but I don’t regret it. I haven’t read any Chloe Gong yet but I sense good vibes and I’m really excited to read another fantasy book with trials and start another series that I definitely shouldn’t be buying!

So those are the six I chose for my monthly TBR and five of those are on my 10 Before The End (A Monsoon Rising isn’t out yet so I picked 10 books I currently own!). Here are the remaining five books!

We have a real mix of books here!

Lovelight Farms by B. K. Borison and The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan I chose because they’re Christmas books and last year I did an absolutely ridiculous December book haul where I went a lil bit crazy and bought around 30 books (mostly because I was sad) so I have a bunch of festive books to catch up on!

Then But Everyone Feels This Way by Paige Layle was a 2024 new release that was on one of my monthly TBR’s earlier in the year but I didn’t get round to reading it and I really want to read it before the end of the year, so hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze it in!

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes is another one from my 24 in 2024 list and I must have said before that I love Greek mythology and I’ve had this one on my shelves for a couple of years now so it’s as good a time as any! And this one was also available as an audiobook from my library so I’m hoping to co-read this one too.

And last but by no means least – Book Lovers by Emily Henry. This was on my ‘priority tbr’ (which is arguably pointless because it’s only a priority after my monthly TBR and my leftover TBR and I do not read fast enough to justifying having that many lists!) but I’ve read two other Emily Henry books this year and I’m now on a mission to finish her romance backlist then potentially investigate her other releases. I think this would be the perfect book to end the year on if I somehow manage to read all 10 of these books in December!

I was about to write ‘that’s it’ as if I haven’t just listed ten books that I’m hoping to be able to read in a month. I have not read that much in a month since I went on my honeymoon and this month is busy so I will either end up not managing to read a lot at all, or I will spent lots of time driving and getting through lots of audiobooks.

No idea! But it’s officially Christmas season, I will be decorating this weekend and I’m really looking forward to putting this year behind me – I love planning my goals for next year, setting up my new bullet and book journals and getting to spend some time with my family sounds pretty perfect.

Let me know if you’ve read any of these books or what’s on your radar for the end of the year!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx