Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Santa Brings

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

---

I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas and the end of the year. 2021 has both flown by and crawled through all at the same time. Ah, time, what a fickle thing it is depending on our circumstances.

With that said, a lot of my plans for the holidays have been unfortunately cancelled to continue hunkering down from the pandemic. The public health scientist in me understands it but can still be a little bummed at doing less than I had anticipated.

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to some rest and spending more intentional time with my family. Not sure if they will be getting anything for me, even though it’s both Christmas AND my upcoming birthday. Does anyone else hate having a birthday close to Christmas and only ever getting one present growing up while everyone else got two? No? Just me?

Since I know people will not be getting me books for Christmas/my birthday even though I have a ton of books on my wishlist each year, here is what I wish would be coming this year in the form of book mail.

All books highlighted below are also on my Amazon wishlist linked here.

1. The Mortal Instruments complete 6-book paperback box set

It’s #1 on my wishlist (aka the oldest on my list) probably because it’s one hefty present to gift, but I LOVE the way all the spines connect on this box set with each character getting a spine. I may have read all of these books before, but I never bought a single one so it’s the perfect collection to purchase. Here’s to wondering if this will be the year someone gifts this to me.

2. Any Karen M. McManus book to be honest

I absolutely adore her mystery writing since the very first book when it came out. And with each book she puts out, I keep warily waiting for one to not satisfy but I’ve yet to find a book from her like that. And oddly enough, I’ve never purchased any of her books so now is the perfect time to start collecting, including her latest novel, You’ll Be the Death of Me!

3. Beloved contemporaries from authors I love

I don’t always enjoy every contemporary written, but I have come to respect what contemporaries are released by Kasie West and Wibbroka (Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka). I particularly loved certain books they each put out that I keep rereading from the library, so it is definitely time I get a copy of my own so I can read it any time I like.

4. Dark academia is in

I didn’t know what this even was for the longest time but I can see the allure with releases that came out last year like Ninth House and A Deadly Education. I want to branch out my genres more and these definitely pique my interest with plenty of allure and excellent pacing.

5. Stalking Jack the Ripper complete series box set

Another box set on the list but this is because it’s always cheaper to buy together than separately, right? Plus, I don’t own a single one of this series either but I fell in love with Thomas and Audrey Rose on their investigations wherever they went. And the hardcovers box set is selling out so I’m super nervous I may miss my chance soon.

6. My favourite book of the year

I read enough in a year that sometimes it’s hard to choose just one favourite out of the bunch, but this year there was definitely one outstanding winner among the rest, and this went to The Rose Code. I gobbled up this historical WWII standalone about female code breakers and what happened to them post-war. Simultaneously thrilling and filled with interesting facts, I couldn’t put it down and I really can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy to share with others.

7. Poetry love, anyone?

When I worked at the bookstore, I developed an interest into poetry, a genre I never touched prior to that time. I could see why people connected with certain popular poetry collections such as Rupi Kaur, r.h. Sin, and Atticus. Personally, I’m tryin to make my way through collecting all of Atticus’ work at the moment and I can’t wait to display them all together on my shelf.

8. The travelling Love & Collection box set

I just found out today the hardcover box set sold out completely. I suppose the paperback box set is still very nice, but I loved “travelling” during the pandemic through the lens of this series and the beautiful stories of love and family that each brought to the table. Likewise, I think they’d look pretty amazing on my shelf, but mostly I just want to be able to pick it up whenever I need a dose of travelling escapism (I’m assuming I’ll need more for next year too).

So those are some of the big titles and box sets I *hope* to see come through my mail this Christmas. A girl can hope, right?

I wish you all a restful and wonderful holiday season! We could all use some joy to reflect on to end off this tumultuous year.