My Spring 2016 To-Read List

Happy Tuesday! Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is one my of my favorites. I love putting together the quarterly to-read list posts because it gives me a chance to look through all the books I want to read, from upcoming releases to new discoveries to novels that have been out for years.

This spring my list is pretty ambitious -- I've got 20 books on here! -- but we'll be moving in April and I'm going to stay with my parents in Colorado for a month while my husband is taking a class for his new job. (We'll be stationed back in Hawaii, and staying with my parents will ensure that our stuff meets us there so we don't have to live out of a hotel for several weeks like we did last time we lived there.) It seems a little weird to be a 30-year-old going to live with my parents for an entire month with nothing at all to do, but theoretically that should mean I have plenty of time to read, read, read!

 Current Library Check-Outs:

Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey: I've been meaning to read this WWII novel forever! I love novels that are written entirely or in part in letters and I'm fully expecting to love this one.

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A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly: I came across this while processing new books at work. I've been in a major sci-fi/fantasy mood lately, and this seems like just the thing to quench my thirst for some magic! From Goodreads: "It's 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city's magic underworld is booming." (And since it's set in the '20s, it's great for my "Downton Abbey" withdrawal!)

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katrina Bivald: I'm about 100 pages into this novel right now. It's billed as a charming book for bookish people and it's cute, but it's also twee and predictable and I'm not yet feeling attached to our main character. Still, it's a book about people who love books, so it can't be that bad! I also like that our main character is from Sweden and the book is set in a tiny village in middle-of-nowhere Iowa, which sets it apart a bit. (Although I'm not actually crazy about the town, so...)

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Poor Your Soul by Mira Ptacin: This memoir deals with a very tough decision -- what to do when you find out your baby has birth defects that will prevent the child from surviving outside of the womb. From Goodreads: "Moving, wise, and passionately written...a beautiful reflection on sexuality, free will, and the fierce bonds of family."

 Everything Else:

The Things We Keep: I sorta missed the boat on this one and I'm a zillion people down on the library holds list. I definitely want to read it though -- I'm interested in this unique romance between two middle-aged people suffering from dementia.

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Saga: Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples: Gotta get caught up before the next installment comes out in July! (Is anyone else obsessed with Lying Cat? I want a real, live Lying Cat to go with my snowy owl and my direwolf!)

Morning Star by Pierce Brown: This really should be at the top of the list because it's the book I'm most excited about! I LOOOOOOOVED "Red Rising" and "Golden Son," and I can't wait to see how this amazing trilogy ends. I would be sad, but Pierce has said there will be more books set in the Red Rising-verse.
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The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner: I expect to be enthralled by this memoir about growing up in a polygamist cult. Ruth was the thirty-ninth of her father's children -- I'm fascinated already -- and spent her childhood in poverty in a compound in Mexico.

Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase: English Gothic mystery, yes please!

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A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro: This Sherlock Holmes spin-off is intriguing enough to make me forget my ban on contemporary YA!

American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis: I'm not usually a short story fan, but I am basically an American housewife so I thought I'd give this book a try!

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Finders Keepers by Stephen King: I loved "Mr. Mercedes" and I have to read book two of the series before the final installment comes out this summer!

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye: I'm excited about this modern-day Gothic re-telling of "Pride and Prejudice"!

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A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab: I enjoyed "A Darker Shade of Magic" and I'm looking forward to learning more about these parallel-universe Londons!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik: I saw this book on so very many best-of-2015 lists, and since I'm more into the fantasy genre now it's a must-read for me!

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I'll See You in Paris by Michelle Gable: This dual narrative, which takes place in both present-day and the Vietnam War (an unusual setting!), has me intrigued. From Goodreads: "Annie’s quest to understand...her own history takes her from a charming hamlet in the English countryside, to a decaying estate kept behind barbed wire, and ultimately to Paris where answers will be found at last." 

Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson: This book sounds so fun and quirky! I've got it in my box at the library right now.

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Dark Places by Gillian Flynn: The only Gillian F. book I have yet to read. It's time.

The Two-Family House by Lunda Cohen Liogman: From Goodreads: "Brooklyn, 1947: in the midst of a blizzard, in a two-family brownstone, two babies are born minutes apart to two women. They are sisters by marriage with an impenetrable bond forged before and during that dramatic night; but as the years progress, small cracks start to appear and their once deep friendship begins to unravel. No one knows why, and no one can stop it. One misguided choice; one moment of tragedy."

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A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold: I'm from Colorado and I was in middle school when the Columbine school shooting happened. I cannot fathom the horrors of realizing you're the mother of a mass murderer and I'm interested to read Sue's story.