Because I have not finished the lists I created for summer and fall, I decided to set more reasonable expectations for my winter books list. That is, about one book per week. Many of these are for book clubs, but the other key goal was to read physical books I own to get that pile in my closet a bit more manageable. Yes, I have lots of e-books on the TBR, but the closet… Several of these, I did not choose, so we’re all in for a surprise. My book club, Rotating Reads, changes not only genre but host. Also, I noticed nothing looks too snowy/wintery here! At the conclusion of my books of fall list, quite a few were listed as DNF. Therefore, I added some extra books at the bottom of my list, short ones that serve as backup in case I’m turning down books mid-read left and right again.
Have you read any of these books, or are interested in the titles? Do you prefer a wintery read when the snow hits the ground? Let me know in the comments.
- Monster: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Deder
- Deliverance by James Dickey
- Devil’s Call by J. Danielle Dorn
- Bottom of the Pyramid by Nia Sioux
- Jaws by Peter Benchley
- Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol
- The Lost Girls by Allison Brennan (#11)
- The New York trilogy by Paul Auster
- The Man Who Shot Out My Eye is Dead by Chanelle Benz
- All of Me by Venise Berry
- At Wit’s End by Erma Bombeck
- Minding the Store: Great Literature About Business from Tolstoy to Now edited by Robert Coles and Albert LaFarge
- Touched by Kim Kelly
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
- Awakened by Laura Elliott
- The Road to Helltown by S.M. Reine (Preternatural Affairs series #9)
- Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer
- After Life by Andrew Neiderman
- Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
- This is Not a Book about Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan
- How to Save a Misfit by Ellen Cassidy
- Suggs Black Backtracks by Martha Ann Spencer
Grab the Lapels 
I’ll look forward to your review of Monsters – it’s one I keep hovering over at the bookshop – I’m still undecided about whether I want a whole book on the topic!
The books about Cumberbatch is fun and has some interesting things to say about our gendered approach to leisure time.
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Monsters was chosen by someone in my Rotating Reads book club, so I’m curious. I just saw a news story about a representative of New York accepting the resignation of someone he chose to work with him because of comments she wrote on social media ten years ago that people dug up.
I’m not even sure I read the back of the Cumberbatch book; the appeal is all in the title!
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I’ve read one of course, and you know which one that is. I haven’t read any of the others despite there being some oldies there! Monsters sounds really interesting. And I remember being intrigued by Cumberbatch when it came out. I’m still thinking I should read Auster one day.
Oh and as well as having TBR books on my shelves and next to my bed, I also have piles on the floor of one of my closets (since we downsized.) I’m keen to get stuck into them!
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I’m surprised you still have so many piles that don’t fit in bookshelves despite the downsizing! Hehe, I wonder if there were arguments over which books to keep, and how many.
At Wit’s End is definitely an older book and written by an older lady whom I assume has passed.
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Nope , no arguments about any thing like that. Yes, arguments about how we do things sometimes but less about what we do. Still. I don’t think he’s quite aware of how many I kept because it did move on a lot too!
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Devil’s Call was so good! And I also loved Crafting For Sinners. Enjoy your books😁
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I’ve got high expectations for Crafting for Sinners because I loved This Wretched Valley so much. I interviewed the author recently, and she didn’t have a ton to say 😅
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I LOOOOVVVEEEDDD This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch. Very pertinent to my entire life. Just sayin’!
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Oh, how lovely! The title caught my eye, which is the only reason I bought it. I don’t even have a Cumberbatch “thing,” I just like books that include celebrities. I have one on my TBR called Dear Rachael Maddow that I want to read, too.
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Monster and New York Trilogy have been on my TBR list for ages. I have read Crafting for Sinners, lower your expectations and you will enjoy it more. I have also read Paradise Rot. It is a weird psychedelic sort of story that you just need to go along with otherwise you will spend too much time going wtf? and lose all enjoyment. Happy winter reading!
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I think I’ve OWNED the New York Trilogy for ages, so it’s time to get to it. Monster, I thought, was relatively new, but I’m not sure. I remember your review of Crafting for Sinners, and it was the only one I’ve read thus far. I’m surprised you read Paradise Rot, as I believe that is another horror novel.
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Heh, I think I have managed to only acquire the first book, but whenever I come across it I think, I should get all the others to have on hand. 😀 I didn’t find Paradise Rot to be horror, horror adjacent perhaps, but more surreal than anything else. I’m interested to find out what you make of it.
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You have some awesome books on your list!! ❤️ Happy reading!
Jaws is sadly one of the most disappointing books I’ve ever read and one of the extremely rare times when a movie adaptation turned out better than the source material. D: The book was more marriage drama, kind of boring subplots that bogged the book down, and very little shark action.
However, I do admit I am a little biased as Jaws is my favorite all time movie and I’ve loved the movie ( and sharks) after the first time I saw it when I was little. My 8 year old self even drew fanart of Bruce the Shark eating a diver. 😀
Honestly, I’m sure the book is fine, and I’m even a fan of the author’s other books, but I think I just didn’t have the right mindset? I was expecting more of a killer shark horror story, not famliy drama.
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I’m in a book club called Rotating Reads, which rotates both hosts and genres. Being rather cheeky, I chose the month with the theme “Classics” to host and picked Jaws 🤣 I’d heard before it’s a lot of marriage drama, so I think I’m prepared. However, I have never met someone else who read Benchley’s other books. I have one called Amazon that I hope is good!
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That book club sounds awesome! I’ll be curious to know what you think of Jaws.
I actually read his other books before getting around to reading Jaws. It took me an embarrassingly long time before reading it. 😅
I don’t run across many people who have read his other books either, and I rarely see him mentioned in the horror book groups I lurk in. I kinda get the feeling half of the people who recommend Jaws have probably never even read it because it’s always suggested when someone posts a message asking for recommendations of killer sharks / sea creature titles.
I have Amazon as well but have not read it yet. But I LOVED Beast. My favorite subcategory of horror is aquatic horror ( 🤔 or is that a sub subcategory of creature feature horror? 🤣), and I love giant squid / giant octopus / the kraken type stories. 😁 I was very happy with it. I’ve also read White Shark, which I liked but it’s a weird one forever sure. Very different than his other books, much more in line with the campy horror of the late 80s and early 90s. The Island is a fun thriller. And he has a very good non-fiction book called Shark Life. I think it’s very good, but I admit I am a huge sucker for sharks, fictional and non-fictional.
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Okay, White Shark sounds fun. I was made in the 80s, so that campy from stuff in late 80s early 90s is my jam.
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I’ll be curious about Deliverance – I never watched the whole movie, but I know its disturbing, so will the book be just as disturbing? probably worse is my guess LOL
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I have no idea! We shall see. The movie is full of famous actors. I’m going to watch it after I’m done reading.
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I’ve read Deliverance, Jaws, and At Wit’s End, but it was years and years ago!
Have you ever considered a “like” button for your posts? I ask because it’s easy for me to go to someone’s blog to see their new posts when they “like” my most recent post. It’s how I keep up with Stefanie (above) now that I no longer get emails about her new posts (no idea why not). Now that you’re not getting emails about my posts, it could be an easy way to go to them, if you care to.
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Stefanie switched hosts, I believe, a couple of years ago, so you had to follow her new blog. I turned off likes years ago because I would just see the same avatars liking everything with zero interaction, and I found it felt really shallow and depressing. Some people admitted hitting like without even reading my posts to “encourage my hobby.” My feelings were basically erm, I’m not a sad little pet project or a plant that needs water.
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I don’t understand people who don’t read…everything.
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I’ve had a copy of the New York Trilogy for something like 20 years…have picked it up several times but each time it goes back on the shelf. I’m not sure whether I find the cover artwork rather dull (yes I do periodically judge a book by its cover) OR I think its going to be a hard book to read and I’m not in the mood
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Now I’m curious how far you get in before you quit! Or do you just look at the book and put it back down?
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Some books I give up on within 20 pages, others it could be around the 80 page mark.
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I’m about the same. I’ll give up so fast. Other times, I try to hang in there and just assume I’m broken, but typically I’m not broken. I’m okay with that, too.
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