Tag Archives: TBR List

December 30, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Library Books With Long Waitlists


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

The original topic for this week was Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf, but I’m tweaking it a little bit as nearly everything I read comes from my local library. 

Black and white photo of someone walking down a desolate road next to a line of street lamps that are closely packed together but not turned on.Here are ten books with long waitlists that I hope to request from the library once the demand for them isn’t quite so high. Yes, I know I did this same topic a while ago, but might as well recycle it every now and again.

 

 

 

Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging by Angela Buchdahl

Wait Time: 12 weeks

Why I’m Interested: Earlier this year I met someone who is on the heart transplant list. I continue to think of him and hope he gets his transplant.

 

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

Wait Time: 12 weeks

Why I’m Interested: I generally enjoy her work quite a bit.

 

On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters by Bonnie Tsui

Wait Time: 15 weeks

Why I’m Interested: The science of fitness is interesting and can change rapidly.

 

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Wait Time: 16 weeks

Why I’m Interested: Terrifying vampires are the best sort of vampires if you ask me.

 

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Wait Time: 16 weeks

Why I’m Interested: I like the idea of memorializing a child who died young a very long time ago (even if a good deal of this is probably fiction). Too often their lives were forgotten.

 

Ingram: A Novel by Louis C.K.

Wait Time: 2o weeks

Why I’m Interested: It predicts how climate change will affect us all in the coming decades.

 

Flashlight by Susan Choi

Wait Time: 22 weeks

Why I’m Interested: It appears to be long and character-driven. If I’m going to read a long book, it needs to have excellent character development, so I’m hoping this will fit the bill.

 

Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
by

Cory Doctorow

Wait Time: 22 weeks

Why I’m Interested: I may or may not have ranted about this phenomenon a few times this year.

 

Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson

Wait Time: 23 weeks

Why I’m Interested: This is something I struggle with.

 

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Wait Time: 25 weeks

Why I’m Interested: Climate change, seed banks, and literary fiction sounds like an interesting combination.

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December 16, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Winter 2025-2026 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

A sprig of holly lying on an opened hardcover book that itself is lying on some rough rocks at the beach on a sunny day. Just so you all know, I’ve been having trouble leaving comments on some WordPress blogs recently. They ask me to log in even though I’m already logged in, and then when I leave my comment it never appears on the post. If I don’t comment on your post, I am not ignoring you.

The photo I included in this post made me chuckle because the beaches in Ontario are often inaccessible in the winter.

Windy days are common here in Southern Ontario, and in the winter all of that wind can blow freezing water up the shore and onto any sidewalks or piers nearby.

So not only it is well below freezing for us then, the land next to our lakes is often coated in a thick layer of ice that can be incredibly slippery and dangerous.

I’m glad that people in some other parts of the world can take leisurely strolls next to their lakes or oceans in the winter without possibly slipping straight into the freezing water, though. It must be lovely, and I mean that sincerely if also slightly humorously.

With that mental image  firmly in place, here are some books I’m looking forward to checking out this winter.

 

Book cover for “Is This a Cry for Help?” By Emily Austin. Image on cover is a drawing of two pale legs sticking out from behind a gigantic stack of books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin

Publication Date: January 13

Why I’m Interested: Book bans are something I’m always curious to read about, especially from the perspective of a librarian who is fighting them.

 

Book cover for How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days: Tales from Hawthorne Cottage by Jessie Sylva. Image on cover shows flowers growing around a golden mirror or some other similar round object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days: Tales from Hawthorne Cottage by Jessie Sylva

Publication Date: January 20

Why I’m Interested: Honestly, the title is what drew me to this one. I love puns and cozy speculative fiction.

 

 

Book cover for Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett. Image on cover shows a drawing of cats of various colours sitting in a large wooden piece of furniture that looks like it may have originally been built to hold china instead. It has little windows and recesses to put your valuables, like cats for example. Ha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

Publication Date: February 3

Why I’m Interested: Animal rescue is one of those topics that will draw my attention to all sorts of different books. There’s nothing like reading about an abandoned animal finding a happy new home.

 

Book cover for The Daughter Who Remains by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover is a drawing of a black woman being enveloped in a yellow-green mist as she holds both arms up and embraces whatever is happening to her. There also appears to be a snake writhing near her neck for reasons I do not know as I haven’t read this book yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  The Daughter Who Remains by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication Date: February 17

Why I’m Interested: It will hopefully encourage me to finally begin this trilogy. I’m generally a fan of Ms. Okorafor’s work and the afro-futurism genre as a whole.

 

Book cover for Onward: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope by Erin Entrada Kelly. Image on cover is a drawing of a sandglass-shaped hole in a cave that opens to show the viewer a bird sitting on a ledge in the cave looking down at a serene pool of water in the forest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Onward: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope by Erin Entrada Kelly

Publication Date: February 24

Why I’m Interested: To be honest, climate change is not looking good at the moment. I worry about what the future may hold as the Earth continues to warm up. My fingers are crossed that this book will imagine some cleaner, cooler futures for us all.

 

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October 7, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Series I Hope Will be Satisfying


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Several bunches of lilacs lying on or next to an opened hardback book that’s laying on a wooden porch or bench. The original theme for this week was “Satisfying Book Series,” but it’s been a long time since I read a series that I was quite happy with. So many of the series I have read start off fantastically but then fizzle out in the end.  

Therefore, I am going to list some series that I have not yet read but hope will end on a high note. If you can confirm or deny that they have great endings (at least so far if they’re still ongoing) without sharing spoilers, I’d love to know your thoughts on anything on this list.

1. Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1) by Diana Wynne Jones

2. The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan

3. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N.K. Jemisin

4. Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1) by Seanan McGuire

5. Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1) by Anne Rice

6. Dune (Dune, #1) by Frank Herbert

7. The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) by Lev Grossman

8. Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes, #1) by Elizabeth Lim

I wasn’t able to make it to ten answers this week, but my fingers are crossed that some of you will have great suggestions.

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September 23, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2025 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Two freshly picked apples and several apple leaves lying on an opened book that itself is lying on a wooden surface, possibly a picnic table. I have the full ten books this time, and I’m excited about all of them.

Brandy Norwood’s autobiography that I mentioned in one of my summer TBR posts  has been pushed back to a March of 2026 release. I hope to feature it again on a winter or spring TBR list if the publication date remains more or less the same in several months.

There are a few Top Ten Tuesday bloggers who talked about some fabulous books I ended up adding to this list, so I will be thanking them today as well.

 

 

Book cover for Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese White. Image on cover is a painting of a pale-skinned child with dark brown hair wearing a bright red coat and green hat. She is smiling as she walks into a dark woods at dusk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese White

Thank you to Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits for this recommendation.

Why I’m Interested: I love picture books and the woods, so this is going to be a fun read for me.

 

 

Book cover for The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson. Image on cover shows a painting of a foreboding statue or figure wearing a white hood and cloak and standing in the middle of a garden. Weirdly enough, all of the plants are blood red and there is blood dripping from the bottom of the painting as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson

Why I’m Interested:  Two words for you all: cursed paintings. Such a scary topic as we slide into Halloween season.

 

Book cover for Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood. Image on cover shows a white cat standing underneath a neon light and looking up expectantly. Various parts of its fur are orange, red, green, yellow, or purple depending on which lights illuminate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Release Date: Today

Why I’m Interested: Chronic illness amidst a global pandemic sounds intense for sure…but you also don’t get to read about disabled characters in this setting very often. I’m intrigued and hoping this is fantastic.

 

Book cover for Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach. Image on cover shows a human face that is, oddly enough, comprised by dozens of ears, noses, eyes, lips, and pieces of skin that look like they were taken from a variety of donors. There is blue space between each piece and the pieces do not match up evenly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

Thank you to AJ Sterkel for this recommendation.

Release Date: September 26

Why I’m Interested:  I know a bit about organ transplants and cadaver skin being used to help heal burn victims but not about all of the other body parts that could be used to give the living better and longer lives. This could be quite interesting.

 

Book cover for The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee. Image on cover shows a painting of a frightened woman standing in the shadow slightly hunched over and looking over her right shoulder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee

Release Date: September 30

Why I’m Interested: Yes, I know I may be repeating a few answers from this past summer, but this still sounds like such a good read. I love books that follow the same family through multiple generations.

 

Book cover for Good Spirits by B.K. Borison. Image on cover shows a man and woman embracing. Snow and autumn leaves are tumbling down around them as they kiss. They’re both wearing warm clothes and look cozy despite the cold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Good Spirits by B.K. Borison 

Release Date:  October 7

Why I’m Interested: October is often a horror-heavy month for me because Halloween is my favourite holiday, but as I slowly drift away from (most) horror I’m finding other festive books to read. This one looks cute, especially given that I reread A Christmas Carol every December.

 

Book cover for Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia . Image on cover shows a heavily-muscled white man embracing a middle eastern woman who is wearing a purple dress as she floats underwater with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia 

Release Date: October 14

Why I’m Interested: It looks silly and fun, and I mean that in the best possible way.

 

Book cover for Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines. Image on cover is a drawing of a black cat who has ten eyes on its head and octopus tentacles growing from its backside. The cat is winding its legs around someone who is wearing yellow trousers and using a cane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines

Thank you to Annemieke @ A Dance With Books  for this recommendation.

Release Date: October 21

Why I’m Interested: Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of my favourite shows back in the day. I’ve always wondered what a slayer (or other chosen one) does after they retire.

Book cover for The Look by Michelle Obama. Image on cover shows Mrs. Obama wearing a stunning, floor-length, light blue gown. She’s standing at a window and looking out at the light and whatever is on the other side of that glass. She looks thoughtful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Look by Michelle Obama

Release Date: November 4

Why I’m Interested: Fashion is generally a topic that doesn’t’ interest me at all, but I’m hoping Mrs. Obama might throw some more stories in with the photos of her various outfits over the years.

 

Book cover for Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood. Image on cover shows Ms. Atwood smiling and holding one finger up to her lips as if to shush the viewer. She’s wearing a bright read sweater and red gloves, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood

Release Date: November 4

Why I’m Interested: I know almost nothing about Ms. Atwood’s personal life but am curious to change that.

 

 

 

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September 3, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I Keep Meaning to Read (but Haven’t)

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A dozen hardbacked books placed with their spines sticking up. The angle of the photo isn’t quite high enough to read their titles, but you can see their white pages and the yellow wall behind them. Since I’m such a huge mood reader, some books hang around on my TBR list for a very long time. Here are some of them:

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2. Dune (Dune, #1) by Frank Herbert

3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

5. Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

6. Children of Time (Children of Time, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Now I’m drawing a blank at what else to add!

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August 5, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Nonfiction Books on My TBR List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

A beige agaric mushroom growing in a lush patch of grass.I am grateful for all of the Top Ten Tuesday participants who blog about nonfiction and enjoy talking about it. One of my quiet hopes for the future for this blog hop is that we’ll get even more nonfiction readers to join in on the fun.

With those thoughts in mind, here are eleven nonfiction books on my TBR list that I’m excited to read.

1. Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

2. I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying by Youngmi Mayer

3. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne

4. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer

5. Elephants in the Hourglass: A Journey of Reckoning and Hope Along the Himalaya by Kim Frank

6. How to Be Resilient: Simple Steps to Embrace a Positive Mindset and Build Inner Strength by Gail Gazelle MD

7. Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson

8. The Meteorites: Encounters with Outer Space and Deep Time by Helen Gordon

9. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

10. How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty by Bonny Reichert

11. Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them by Lydia Kang  Nate Pedersen

Which genres, if any, do you wish you saw represented more often in TTT posts?

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June 24, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A row of colourful beach huts painted red, blue, yellow, green, and other primary colours. The beach has white sand and looks pristine. This week’s list is going to be a shorter one because there aren’t many books that have been announced for the second half of this year yet.

It will remain as eclectic as always, though! Jumping around between genres is so much fun.

I’m sure I’ll find more titles that pique my interest once we’re further into the year.

In the meantime, I’m excited about….

 

 

Book cover for The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson. Image on cover shows a painting that has blood dripping out from behind it. The painting itself shows a faceless figure wrapped in white gauze standing in front of a terrifying forest where all of the trees are red and look like they’re covered in blood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson

Publication Date:  September 9

Why I’m Interested: Haunted paintings are so interesting to read about.

 

Book cover for Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood. Image on cover shows a possibly AI-generated image of a white cat sitting and peering up at a light that has a rainbow assortment of coours in it. The cat’s face is orange, purple, green, blue, white, and pink depending on where you look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Publication Date: September 23

Why I’m Interested: The protagonist has a mysterious disease that is resistant to all treatments. I am so hungry for more books about characters who are not perfectly able-bodied and healthy.

 

Book cover for . The Hunger We Pass Down  by Jen Sookfong Lee. Image on cover shows a painting of a frightened-looking woman who is peering over her shoulder at you from the shadows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Hunger We Pass Down  by Jen Sookfong Lee

Publication Date: September 30

Why I’m Interested: The comparisons in the blurb to The School for Good Mothers and Jordan Peele’s Us make me think this will be exactly the sort of story I like.

 

Book cover for Good Spirits (Ghosted, #1) by B.K. Borison. Image on cover shows a drawing of an olive-skinned man kissing a pale blond woman gently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Good Spirits (Ghosted, #1) by B.K. Borison

Publication Date: October 7

Why I’m Interested: I reread A Christmas Carol every year and am curious to see how this spinoff of it goes.

 

(This book doesn’t have a cover or a specific publication date available yet.)

5. Brandy Norwood’s untitled memoir. That link goes to the People article about it. 

I will probably include this title again in an autumn TBR post once we have more details.

Publication Date: October 2025

Why I’m Interested: I was a huge Brandy fan as a kid and am curious to read her life story from her perspective. There are some interesting clues about her life in her music, but of course you never know how much artistic license may have been taken with lyrics or storytelling. Will she discuss her occasional past controversies in her personal and professional life? Is she happy now? I hope she’s thriving!

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June 17, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2025 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A 1970s, muted rainbow-themed graphic that reads “here comes the sun.” The rainbow colours are arranged to look like a circle or the sun instead of a traditional rainbow. I have been saving some of these titles in a document for months as I slowly accumulated them in an attempt to make my seasonal TBR posts a little longer than they have been previously.

Here’s hoping they are all excellent reads.

Do you all do similar things with these seasonal TBR posts and have to do a lot of digging to find books for them?

I am so impressed with Top Ten Tuesday blogggers who routinely come up with ten or more answers for these prompts.

 

 

 

Book cover for The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed. Image on cover looks like an oil painting of a valley filled with spruce and fir trees that has a meadow in the centre of the valley. It looks like it was painted in the 1800s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed

Why I’m Interested: I love science fiction novels about time travel and trying to save humanity from extinction!

 

Book cover for One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford. Image on covers shows a stylized drawing of a pale person turning their head away from the viewer. In place of hair, they have fire flickering their head. As well, a portion of their neck skin is missing and you can see the various muscles and tendons in the neck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford

Publication Date: July 15

Why I’m Interested: Of course some people would try to cure their loved ones if zombies were real. I like it when this genre explores what those cures might look like.

 

Book cover for The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Image on cover shows a drawing of a pale-skinned hand reaching up and out to a small golden phoenix that is flying away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Publication Date: July 15

Why I’m Interested: Ms. Moreno-Garcia writes such interesting premises.

 

Book cover for  The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Image on cover shows a painting of a little farmhouse sitting next to the woods at dusk. There are a few fireflies flying around outside as well as some flowers of various hues at the top of the cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Thank you to Susan @ Blogging’Bout’Books  for alerting me about this title.

Publication Date: July 29

Why I’m Interested: Eugenics was an ugly chapter of history that still echoes loudly through to the present.  I shudder and then become angry when I read about folks who think people with disabilities are somehow less valuable than the able-bodied or express even more horrifying opinions than that one.

 

Book cover for Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. Image on cover is a neon drawing of a large robot picking up red neon noodles from a gigantic neon orange pan of noodles while a small golden robot stands next to the pan and looks on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Publication Date: August 5

Why I’m Interested: Science fiction has given us so many frighting stories about robots that a cozy one is a refreshing change. I wonder what sorts of dishes service bots make?

 

Book cover for The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows a drawing of a tabby cat that’s lying comfortably on the word Space in the title and peering ahead at the audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication Date: August 12

Why I’m Interested: She writes such interesting stuff.

 

Book cover for Legendary Frybread Drive-In by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Image on cover shows a drawing of two Native American women holding a platter of fry bread in a parking lot and gazing down at it as a red heart blooms from it. Behind them there is a car and a few other people standing around. Perhaps they are waiting for food?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  Legendary Frybread Drive-In by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Publication Date: August 26

Why I’m Interested: I love interconnected collections of short stories and poems.

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March 18, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

The first book on this list is one has already been released, and I’ve included publication dates for the rest.

Book cover for They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran. Image on cover shows a realistic drawing of a young Asian woman with long black hair submerged in water and staring at the audience with a frightened expression on her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

Why I’m Interested: Water is an underused trope in the horror genre. Frightening things can happen in it if you’re unlucky or not careful!

 

Book cover for  Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed. Image on cover shows a large orange moon or planet hanging low in the sky over a grassy field and some foothills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed

Release Date: April 8

Why I’m Interested: While I’d never want to live on Mars personally, I love reading books about how humanity might be able to survive there one day.

 

Book cover for One Way Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows drawing of a young black woman whose torso has a yellow galaxy superimposed onto it. It’s hard to say where the stars end and the woman begins. There is also a mirror effect going on here, so you can see another copy of her head and the galaxy as an upside down image on the bottom half of the book cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. One Way Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Release Date: April 29

Why I’m Interested: Ms. Okorafor is on my short list of authors whose new works I always check out (eventually), but I do need to read the first book of this series before diving into this one.

 

Book cover for The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig. Image on cover shows a large spiral staircase in a dark woods. The staircase illuminated by a bright yellow light and you can see the small figure of a person - possibly a child - walking up the staircase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

Release Date: April 29

Why I’m Interested: Today I’d like to confess to the  Top Ten Tuesday community that I have started reading all of Wendig’s old books but always stopped reading them at some point because they were too scary for me. Will this book be the one of his I actually finish? Only time will tell. He’s a great storyteller from the bits I have read.

 

Book cover for  The Road to Tender Hearts  by Annie Hartnett. Image on cover is a simple, 1970s-style drawing of a person wearing a teal sweatshirt and brown shorts who is standing behind a station wagon and pushing the back of it as someone in the vehicle is driving. They must be stuck! They appear to be in the desert somewhere as there are cacti and a small, red mountain or large hill in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  The Road to Tender Hearts  by Annie Hartnett

Release Date: April 29

Why I’m Interested: Road trips are so much fun to read about.

 

Book cover for  The Road to Tender Hearts  by Annie Hartnett. Image on cover is an underwater drawing of three young white people who are swimming in a pool while facing each other. Their bodies almost form a circle, and I can imagine them chatting as they gently swim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Release Date:  May 6

Why I’m Interested: Mr. Backman is one of those authors I keep meaning to read. His stories always sound so interesting, but none of them have made it off my TBR list yet. Maybe this one will?

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March 5, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Book I’m Nervous to Read (and Why)

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

Photo of a wooden fence with barbed wire strung at the top of the fence. The sign on the fence reads, “private no public right of way.” On the other side of the fence you can see a large grassy area and, in the distance, a grove of trees separating this grazing area from the next one. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman is my answer for this week’s prompt.

Why am I nervous to read it?

While I’m usually pretty good at ignoring short-tempered curmudgeons in real life, I developed that skill by emotionally distancing myself from them, setting firm boundaries, and accepting that they are (probably) never going to change.

From what I understand about the plot, Ove does eventually change and become a (slightly? moderately? dramatically? ) more tolerable person to spend time with.

I’ve avoided reading this book so far because I’m worried about being annoyed by how unrealistic the character development will be and how much the narrator will expect the kind characters I’m assuming the protagonist meets to bend over backwards to accommodate his surliness.

I am courteous to people like Ove and help them if I can do so without harming myself in real life, but I also don’t think the onus should be on those of us who are easy going to absorb other people’s anger. It reminds me of when teachers would sit me next to the class troublemakers because I was one of the quiet and  studious kids in the classroom. (Yes, I know teachers in some districts have limited options when dealing with disruptive students, but expecting their good students to be the first line of defence against kids who can’t or won’t follow simple classroom instructions is a terrible strategy!)

People like Ove are presumably competent adults who are choosing to behave badly while many of us are quietly dealing with all sorts of problems without ever taking our pain and frustration out on others. A one-time or rare outburst can easily be forgiven, of course, but I avoid people who turn such behaviour into a habit or make excuses for it.

Frankly, I have my own troubles to deal with and simply don’t have the time or energy to try to “fix” the Oves of the world. I wish them well and genuinely hope things improve for them while also believing that it’s ultimately up to them to decide whether or not they will choose to behave in a way that makes others enjoy their company.

Yes, this can be harder for some people than it is for others for a variety of reasons, but part of being an adult is developing these coping skills and taking accountability if you hurt someone else just like you’d work on any other fault. I don’t expect perfection, just effort.

Maybe someday I will have the time and energy to read this book and see if my assumptions about it are valid, though!

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