Bloggin' 'bout Books: 12/20/22

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama

- Alaska

- ~~Arizona~~ (1)

- Arkansas

- ~~California~~ (5)

- ~~Colorado~~ (3)

- Connecticut

- Delaware

- ~~Florida~~ (1)

- ~~Georgia~~ (1)

- ~~Hawaii~~ (1)

- Idaho

- Illinois

- Indiana

- ~~Iowa~~ (2)

- Kansas

- Kentucky

- Louisiana

- ~~Maine~~ (1)

- Maryland

- ~~Massachusetts~~ (1)

- ~~Michigan~~ (2)

- Minnesota

- Mississippi

- Missouri

- ~~Montana~~ (1)

- Nebraska

- Nevada

- New Hampshire

- New Jersey

- New Mexico

- ~~New York~~ (5)

- ~~North Carolina~~ (2)

- North Dakota

- ~~Ohio~~ (1)

- Oklahoma

- Oregon

- Pennsylvania

- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

- ~~South Carolina~~ (1)

- South Dakota

- ~~Tennessee~~ (1)

- ~~Texas~~ (1)

- Utah

- ~~Vermont~~ (3)

- ~~Virginia~~ (2)

- ~~Washington~~ (1)

- West Virginia

- ~~Wisconsin~~ (1)

- ~~Wyoming~~ (1)

- Washington, D.C.* (1)

International:

- Australia (3)

- Canada (2)

- England (5)

- France (1)

- Puerto Rico (1)

- Scotland (1)

Top Ten Tuesday: I'm My Own Santa Claus!

10:14 AM

Christmas is on Sunday? What?? It still feels surreal, just like every year. I'm feeling much more prepared today than I was last Tuesday, so I'm hoping I'll be able to enjoy a nice, calm, peaceful weekend holiday celebration with family and friends. I wish the same for you and yours!

I mentioned last week that my reading goal for 2022 is 200 books. How am I doing? Not TOO badly. I'm at 188 read and I should finish both my paper read and my audiobook today. That gives me ten days to read ten more books. Can I do it? Like Bob the Builder says, "YES, I can!" Well, we'll see about that, Bob, but like the Little Red Engine chants, "I THINK I can."

Anyway, it's Tuesday and that means it's time for TTT. Today's topic is, naturally, Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes (Link up those wishlists and grant some wishes for the holidays!). I'm going to ignore the second part since I can't imagine asking you all to buy me books and just do the first one. Now, I don't know about you, but I always get what I want from Santa because, you know, I am him. Plus, my birthday is a few days before Christmas, so I just load myself up with whatever I want to get for myself. It always works out super well for me. Ha ha.

If you want to share your bookish holiday wishes, join in the TTT fun. All the details are at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Bookish Gifts Santa Is Going to Bring Me (if he gets "his" act together, of course)

1. A Little Free Library—I've been wanting one of these babies for forever and since we just moved into a neighborhood with a much lax-er HOA than our last one, I bought myself one for my birthday. Squee! We haven't put it together yet (and by "we" I mean my husband because I have no DIY skills whatsoever), but it's the one in the picture above.

Beautiful, isn't it? I can't wait to get it up and running. Anyone else have one? Do you have any tips for me on how to be a good LFL librarian?

2. Children's Books—I have plenty of adult books to stock my library, but I don't have a lot of kids' books. For my birthday on Thursday, I'm going to hit up my favorite indie bookstore, Changing Hands, and use my birthday discount to get some good ones. It's a new and used bookstore, so the stock is always changing. We'll see what I can find. Which titles would you buy?

3. My Favorite Mug—My husband bought me this mug, which I love, a number of years ago at Changing Hands. I don't drink coffee or tea (Mormon, natch), but I do down a lot of cocoa during the (too few) cold months here. My old mug has an annoying chip in it, so I'm going to grab myself a new one while I'm in the store.

4. Changing Hands T-shirt—Speaking of my favorite indie, my two Changing Hands t-shirts are bleach-stained and full of holes, respectively. I might pick up a new one on Thursday.

5. Read in Peace Cross-Stitch Pattern—This is more Halloween than Christmas, but I love this fun little pattern from LolaCrowCrossStitch. Plus, considering how slow I am to actually finish my cross-stitch projects, I need to start now in order to finish by October!

As for actual books, these five are definite possibilities:

6. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese—I've been on the library waiting list for this buzzy hist-fic novel for forever. I might just go ahead and buy it.

7. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean—This very unique-sounding novel has been all over the book blogosphere. It's one of the titles I'm planning to read for my Bookish Books Reading Challenge.

8. Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash by Tammy Pasterick—I'm intrigued by this family drama set in 1910 Pennsylvania.

9. Atomic Habits by James Clear—I love this motivating book, which I already own, but I'm thinking about buying it on audio so I can listen to it whenever I need a little goal-getting inspo.

10. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—When these books originally came out, I bought every one in hardcover. In the years since, they've been read to death by me and my daughter. The first volume has also gone missing (except for the dust jacket, weirdly). I've been wanting to buy a shiny new set, probably in (super expensive) hardcover, but I do like the paperback set above.

There you are, ten books and bookish items "Santa" will likely bring me for Christmas and my birthday. What bookish treats are you hoping to find under your tree this year? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!

Books Read in 2025 (asterisks denote favorites)

1. Coram House by Bailey Seybolt (Jan)
2. She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke (Jan)
3. My Salty Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Jan)
4. The Echoes by Jess Montgomery (Jan)
5. The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro (Jan)
6. Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes (Jan)
7. Murder at Chateau sur Mer by Alyssa Maxwell (Jan)
8. Away by Megan E. Freeman (Jan)
9. Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh [audio] (Jan)
10. A Golden Grave by Erin Lindsey* (Jan)
11. All Over the Map by Lanie Jacobs (Jan)
12. Stranded by Nikki Shannon Smith (Jan)
13. Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany [audio] (Jan)
14. The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright (Jan)
15. How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn (Jan)
16. A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (Jan)
17. The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos, RN* (Jan)
18. Red River Road by Anna Downes [audio] (Jan)
19. Janitors School of Garbage by Tyler Whitesides (Feb)
20. Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce (Feb)
21. Janitors School of Garbage: Trials of the Trash by Tyler Whitesides (Feb)
22. The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse [audio] (Feb)
23. A Legacy of Murder by Connie Berry (Feb)
24. The Crash by Freida McFadden (Feb)
25. To Catch a Storm by Mindy Mejia (Feb)
26. Murder in Miniature by Katie Tietjen (Feb)
27. A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia (Feb)
28. If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell (Feb)
29. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano [audio] (Feb)
30. Wool by Hugh Howey (Feb)
31. Shift by Hugh Howey (Feb)
32. Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns [audio] (Mar)
33. The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan (Mar)
34. Last Light Over Galveston by Jennifer L. Wright (Mar)
35. Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber (Mar)
36. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (Mar)
37. The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden (Mar)
38. The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor [audio] (Mar)
39. You Belong Here by Megan Miranda (Mar)
40. Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell (Mar)
41. The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth* [audio] (Mar)
42. Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks With Monks and Amish Farmers helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human by Carlos Whittaker (Mar)
43. Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister (Mar)
44. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto* (Apr)
45. Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams (Apr)
46. The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez (Apr)
47. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan (Apr)

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Top Ten Tuesday: I'm My Own Santa Claus!

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Books Read in 2025 (asterisks denote favorites)