I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about NetGalley and ARCs and 2021 books – it really struck me that I am totally neglecting so many books that are in print already!
So here is my opportunity to talk about some books that I really want to read and hope that Santa will be bringing me this year! My wish list is shamefully long, but I’ve picked 10 brilliant books to mention here.
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‘The Midnight Library’ by Matt Haig
This is one that I’ve heard so much about on Twitter that I am going to give in and read it! I resisted it for a while (as I am quite contrary!) but everything about this story of a magical library – one that allows a woman to explore what her life would have been like if she had made different choices – is appealing.
‘Maiden Voyages: Women and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel’ by Sian Evans
My NetGalley ARC of this didn’t work, so it has been transferred to the Christmas list!
I absolutely love anything to do with women’s social history and pioneering women who went against the conventions of their eras. This book promises to explore a range of women’s lives as they made life-changing journeys across the Atlantic – some in the lap of luxury, others as workers on the ocean liners that sailed between the wars. I’m hoping for some interesting real-life characters, some amazing stories and a little of the glitz and glamour of the golden age of sea travel!
‘Under a Dancing Star’ by Laura Wood
I saw this on someone’s blog the other day and it looks glorious! It’s a YA romance, which isn’t my genre at all, but the review was marvellous and it made me feel that I’d love to read this story about a young girl in the 1930s who spends a heady summer in Italy just as the storm clouds begin gathering for war.
I wish I knew whose blog I read this on – thank you!
‘Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ by Kathryn Harkup
Harkup writes brilliant popular science books about the reality behind the fiction and I anticipate this one will be every bit as brilliant as her previous books which explored Shakespearean deaths (in all their weird variety!) and Agatha Christie’s poisoning methods.
‘Scoff: A History of Food and Class in Britain’ by Pen Vogler
Another non-fiction social history book here, but one that had brilliant reviews in the newspapers. I’m so intrigued by what our meals and food choices reveal about social class and was really interested in some of the examples I read in reviews – snobbery about baps versus baguettes, the etiquette of milk in tea and the origins of the Christmas turkey to name just a few. I think this book will be packed with interesting snippets of information that I will be able to ‘astound’ (*bore*) my friends with for some time!
‘Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature’ by Viv Groskop
Having written on this blog about how much I love books about books, I mentioned Groskop’s excellent book about life lessons from Russian Literature. Turns out she has also written about French Literature, so this one is a must!
‘Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread’ by Michiko Kakutani
Another book about books, and one that has had fantastic reviews. I love this kind of list book as it (hopefully) both reassures me that I have read some good books and also totally destroys my TBR!
‘The Lions of Fifth Avenue’ by Fiona Davis
I love the look of this book set around the New York Public Library. It promises to be a multi-generational tale (it is set both in 1913 and 1993 with a grandmother and her granddaughter) with elements of mystery too as family secrets get uncovered and manuscripts go missing. I love a historical novel and pre-war New York is a pretty compelling setting for me.
‘Moonflower Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz
Having read some of the other books by Horowitz written for adults, I’m really tempted by this one! Previously, I knew Horowitz only as the children’s writer of the Alex Rider series but I’ve been totally won over. This book promises to be another fiendishly-plotted murder mystery that picks up some of the same characters from ‘Magpie Murders’.
‘To the End of the World: Travels with Oscar Wilde’ by Rupert Everett
I really love Rupert Everett but have shied away from his autobiographies because I’m actually a bit scared that he will come across badly and put me off him! This book is the third of his memoirs, but holds more appeal for me as he talks about the film he made about Oscar Wilde (which I dragged my mum to see!) I also saw him talking about the making of this film at the Hay Festival last year and the whole process sounded really intense but also really interesting – he also seemed absolutely hilarious and quite lovely. I’m sold on this one and fully expecting that I’ll then need to read the other memoirs!
So there we have it – 10 books that I really want to read that aren’t ARCs or promises from a future time! I’d love to know what’s on your list in the comments…
Header photo with thanks to Samuel Holt for sharing their work on Unsplash.
