a winter tbr

I've been watching a bunch of booktubers, and I'm thinking making my own to-be-read list for the seasons. I'm not going to overwhelm myself, and I don't want to set anything in stone (that sort of thing stresses me out and might be a step backwards). But I'm hoping this might be an exercise to get my mental health back on track, so we're gonna give it a shot. ✩

For Christmas -- (I already know my gift, but I'll still be happy and "surprised" anyways, haha), Meggie's giving me a copy of Murakami's IQ84, and I'm super excited about it, but really nervous at the same time. I've never read him before, and he's supposed to be super-duper wonderful in Japan, but I picked the one book of his that is over a thousand pages long (1056 to be exact), and I don't know why I would have done that to myself. I guess I should have looked into it before Meggie asked for gifting suggestions, but still, I thought it'd be something like 350ish..but it'll be fine, I have high hopes for it, and it fits in the dystopia genre, which is one of my favorites.

Next I've got The Messenger by Markus Zusak. He's the author of The Book Thief, which I've read twice (I should really read it again, it's a good winter book, too, I think). I read the first chapter or two of this one, and it's so snarky, I think I'm just going to love it simply because of the tone. I need to pick it up somewhere, hopefully the kitty cat bookshop will have it. If not, I'll have an excuse to go out scavenging for it.

Then I really want to look into the SAGA series. It's a graphic novel (not a manga, which makes this series something completely new for me). It seems really interesting, and the first few pages I've read on my kindle make it seem like the storytelling is gonna be great. So hopefully I can find this somewhere, too. I don't know much about it, I haven't really looked into the plot line --all I know is that the couple are from two opposing sides and have a little one together and the cover has weapons and horns and wings and I think I'mma dig it.

And lastly, I've got some Pearl S. Buck, because The Good Earth was very good, so I'm hoping to read Pavilion of Women. This one I think is on the longer side, too (I think it's 350-400, which isn't too bad, but the spacing and the wording isn't like Zusak at all, so it'll feel much longer, I think). But the story sounds so fascinating and elegantly femme kickass --the lady of the house turns 40, finds a concubine for her husband so she can take up her own hobbies and education, and then starts acquainting herself with an excommunicated Catholic priest..it sounds like a wild ride that I'm just going to love, I feel it.

So that's all I've got planned out for this winter, I'm hoping to get them all read by the spring solstice (so even a little bit past my birthday!). And I'm actually really excited about it, so I'm hoping this excitement sticks with me and sees me through. ☺

Love, Lizzie.