My Winter Break Reading List

The top book on my list right now, because it’s the one I’m currently reading, is the fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fires by George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons. I’ve been on this book for just under a week and have read about 1/3 of it. I’ve really enjoyed it, but I’m excited to finish it and move on to something else since I’ve been reading the Song of Ice and Fire series since mid-October. The next book on my list (and the only one mentioned here that isn’t from the Boston Public Library) is The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. I picked this book up at Trident Booksellers early in October thinking it would make a good Halloween read, but I’m looking forward to getting into it soon!

This is one of those things that I won’t read straight through, but that I’ll be picking up off and on over break and hopefully reading for a little bit of at a time every day. I’ve not watched “The Queen’s Gambit” yet, so my need to get better at chess doesn’t stem from that, but after playing with my boyfriend (and losing always) and playing with some 8-year-old twins I babysat a few times (and losing 85% of the time), I realized I need to up my chess skils, so I have a few chess strategy books checked out for that reason. Hopefully next time I play my boyfriend I’ll be much more of a challenging competitor.

Inspired by some conversations in my picturebook course this fall, one afternoon on a whim, I ended up placing a hold on most of the books in the Boston Public Library’s collection that were written by Leonard Marcus, a noted children’s literature scholar. I have books on myself shelf right now such as Golden Legacy (a book about Little Golden Books), a biography of Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown, and a history of children’s literature and publishing called Minders of Make Belief (chapters of which were readings for my history of children’s literature publishing course this past spring). Not by Leonard Marcus, but also of interest is a biography of well-known illustrator Garth Williams.

This is actually one of the categories that I’m most excited about when it comes to reading this winter break! I’ve got several good non-fiction books lined up. I’ve had Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman on hold from the library since September and it finally came in! I’ve also got Sex with Presidents: The Ins and Outs of Love and Lust in the White House by Eleanor Herman on my shelf because with a title like that, how could I not add it to my list? Mill Town by Kerri Arsenault is one I’ve had on hold since I read a review of it earlier this semester. It’s about the paper mill towns of Mexico and Rumford, Maine, both of which I’ve been through due to their proximity to the summer camp I worked at. Finally, perhaps the books I’m most excited for is World of Wonders a collection of essays about nature by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. I’ve been a fan of her work since I met her my senior year at K-State and this book has been named a best book of 2020 by Barnes and Noble, and maybe I’ll get it finished before 2020 is over.

Finally, I’ve got a pretty big amount of fiction on my list ranging from children’s and young adult fiction to adult fiction. A few highlights from the library include Gregory Maguire’s new book, A Wild Winter Swan, M. T. Anderson’s graphic novel The Daughters of Ys, and We are not Free, a National Book Award finalist by Traci Chee. Beyond library books, I’ve also got a ton of unread books that I can pull from my shelf at any time, but those are the lowest priority for me at the moment.