1𝓠84 𝓫𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓾𝓴𝓲 𝓶𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓴𝓪𝓶𝓲 is the book that has been on my physical tbr the longest. I got this book in 2016, I believe, because I had heard so much about it and wanted to see what the fuss about 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓾𝓴𝓲 𝓶𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓴𝓪𝓶𝓲 was about. Since then, I have read Norwegian Wood which was…okay? But I still want to read this. At this point, it’ll be an achievement.

𝓜𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓵𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓱 𝓫𝔂 𝓖𝓮𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓽 is one that I’ve been meaning to read for years. I think for the past two years, it has been on various personal reading lists for me to finally read. But this is the year. I can feel it. And also, I am fully intending on picking this up in march…because it just makes sense.

𝓑𝓾𝓷𝓷𝔂 𝓫𝔂 𝓜𝓸𝓷𝓪 𝓐𝔀𝓪𝓭 is exactly what I want in a book. Weird and unhinged. And I don’t need to know more, to be honest.

𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓜𝔂 𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓫𝔂 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓵 𝓜𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓻. The only reason why I haven’t picked this book up is because I know it’s going to emotionally destroy me. I read the introduction ages ago and I cried. Sobbed. So, I’ve been waiting until I feel emotionally stable, but let’s be honest, I don’t think that’s a state I will ever feel in the foreseeable future, so I may as well read it soon.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓜𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝔂 𝓐𝓵𝓮𝔁𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓮 𝓓𝓾𝓶𝓪𝓼 is one of the big classics I want to get to this year, specifically, before my 28th birthday. I so badly want to read this and I am hoping that in the June/July months, I will finally be able to actually commit my time to it. All I know is that it’s a story that encompasses the human experience and the extreme emotions we all feel. Maybe too extreme??

𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓻𝓸𝓸𝓶 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓫𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝔂 𝓔𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓐𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷. This is a more recent purchase but regardless, I feel like I’ve been waiting all of my life to read this book. Cue existential crisis. We are talking about a queer woman, working as the receptionist in a Catholic charity or church, battling with existiential dread and the inevitablity of death as well as being queer in a Catholic workplace. Literally, written for me only *grinning madly*

𝓙𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓜𝓻 𝓝𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝓾𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓪 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓮. ‘Tis the year of big books. Period.

𝓑𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓤𝓹 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓗𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓻𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓵 and honestly the entire Thomas Cromwell series. Before my 28th birthday is when I’m going to finally finish this series. After reading Wolf Hall and absolutely falling in love with it, my desire to complete this series has been at an all time high. I am even thinking of binge reading the rest of the series in my birthday month. But I’ll most likely won’t be able to stop the temptation of picking this series up before then.

𝓑𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓔𝓰𝓰𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓜𝓮𝓲𝓴𝓸 𝓚𝓪𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓪𝓶𝓲. I so badly want to read this book because I feel like it will hit as much or even more than Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 and Convenience Store Woman did. I loved those two books so I can’t wait till this one.

This one is slightly random. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓜𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓤𝓭𝓸𝓵𝓯𝓸 𝓫𝔂 𝓐𝓷𝓷 𝓡𝓪𝓭𝓬𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮. I just want to read more gothic classics and this one is considered one of the oldest.

𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓾𝓮 𝓫𝔂 𝓓𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓪 𝓡𝓮𝓲𝓭! Another relatively recent release and purchase. This book had me at the Sally Rooney comparison. Give it to me.

The past year or so, I’ve been slowly realising that I actually love short story collections. This was a huge surprise to me. So one of the short story collections on this list is 𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓸 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓚𝓷𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓱𝓪𝓶 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓼𝓪. The reviews for this collection have only been amazing and I can’t wait to read it.

Another memoir that is on my list is 𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓑𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓯 𝓑𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓫𝔂 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂-𝓡𝓪𝔂 𝓑𝓮𝓵𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓽. I discovered this book through Kayla from BooksandLala whom I adore watching on Youtube! This sounds right up my alley – genre-defying, combination of memoir and queer theory. Love it.

𝓜𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓫𝔂 𝓑𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓦𝓪𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓽𝓸𝓷 was an impulse purchase in 2020 during the many lockdowns we had. Still haven’t read it and I cannot believe I haven’t yet graced my eyes on its pages. The audacity of me.

𝓛𝓲𝓮𝓼, 𝓓𝓪𝓶𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓛𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓖. 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓷 is a non-fiction novel that is a memoir but also a collection of essays, I believe. It is written by Claire G. Coleman, who is an Australian First Nation woman, and it discusses the legacy and trauma of colonisation in Australia and I picked this up this year and will be reading it asap. Pick it up and read it with me!

I think this might be my only poetry collection on this list and it is 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓽 𝓐𝓽𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭. Margaret Atwood is a hit or miss author for me and I have a few of her books on my physical tbr, but I really want to prioritise her poetry. This book was a christmas gift from 2019 so I really want to read it immediately. The guilt is killing me.

𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓲𝔁 𝓫𝔂 𝓛𝓪𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓷 𝓖𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓯. QUEER WARRIOR NUNS, I MEAN DO I HAVE TO JUSTIFY WHY I WANT TO READ IT?!

I really want to get into this author this year. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓛𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓛𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓐𝓭𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓔𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓪 𝓕𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮 is one that is also top of my priority-list to read as soon as possible. I don’t really know much about this book, other than the first few chapters grabbed my heart and also stomped on my chest. Fun times ahead.

Why do I keep wanting to start series? 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓷 𝓫𝔂 𝓐𝓷𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓷𝔂 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓮 is the first book in Trollope’s Barchester Towers series and I just really want to read it. I have heard some really fantastic things!

Now, the next is 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓸 𝓫𝔂 𝓓𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮. I was going to write the entire Divine Comedy but I thought to be nice to myself. I have recollections of actually reading the Divine Comedy but I honestly don’t remember any of it other than it was beautiful. I think I read it in high school, though, so that makes sense as to why I don’t remember much of it. Unless I lied to myself.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓗𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓻 𝓫𝔂 𝓨𝓸𝓴𝓸 𝓞𝓰𝓪𝔀𝓪. This just sounds really heartbreaking and wonderful. I want to read this and then eventually, I want to read The Memory Police.

𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝓪𝔂𝓪𝓴𝓪 𝓜𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓪 is one that I will also be prioritising as soon as possible. I know that this book is completely unlike anything I have ever and will ever read and that it is completely different from Convenience Store Woman. I can’t wait.

𝓑𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓮 𝓖𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝔂 𝓣𝓸𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓴𝓪𝔃𝓾 𝓚𝓪𝔀𝓪𝓰𝓾𝓬𝓱𝓲. At this point, I just want to cry really.

This choice might seem random, but the next on my list is 𝓞𝓾𝓻 𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓔𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓒𝓱𝓵𝓸𝓮 𝓖𝓸𝓷𝓰. I quite enjoyed These Violent Delights and I want to conclude this duology and also see how Chloe Gong likes to write her endings. I am interested to see what happens in this finale.

I am trying not to start too many series this year, but I do want to try and read at least a few novels by this author. And the one I’m prioritising is 𝓔𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓸𝓷 𝓢𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷. It is going to happen! It is. I know technically this is going to become a series, but for the moment, it is a standalone. So I thought this might be a good book to start with the Cosmere universe.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓙𝓪𝓻 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝔂𝓵𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓱 is a book that I still haven’t read. Which surprises me! I tried reading it years ago but couldn’t get into it. I think I’m ready to now, though. I’m in my sad girl era.

𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓵 𝓛𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓫𝔂 𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓸𝓷 𝓣𝓪𝔂𝓵𝓸𝓻 is also a book that I purchased in the midst of 2020 lockdowns. I just really want to read this soon as it sounds like something that I am going to enjoy reading.

And the last book is also a recent purchase and release. 𝓐𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝔂 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓪𝓼𝓱𝓪 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓷. This is a novella and one that I am thinking of picking up in the next couple of weeks to read on a Saturday. All I know is that it’s supposed to be fantastic and is blurbed by Bernadine Evaristo. That’s all I need.