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Ten more books. Ten more adventures. And absolutely no guarantee I’ll read them in any reasonable order.
If you’ve been following my 40 for 40 birthday celebration, you know my TBR is gloriously out of control. Catch up with Part One (books 1–10) and Part Two (books 11–20) before diving into this next batch.
This time we’ve got comas, corporate scandals, whispering books, complicated families, intellectual elitism, fantasy, German spies, Harry Potter fanfiction, and Vietnam. You know. A perfectly normal assortment.
21. The Book of Dreams — Nina George
A father returns after years away and ends up in a coma. His thirteen-year-old genius son sits by his side; there’s a woman in love with the father, and an eleven-year-old girl in a coma after surviving a car accident. AND NOW I HAVE QUESTIONS. Is she the survivor of the SAME accident that put Sam’s dad in a coma?! I haven’t opened it and I’m already connecting dots. I need to know how these stories intertwine.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
22. Whisper Network — Chandler Baker
Four women working together in a corporate environment, and one man whose treatment of women is the subject of workplace whispers. Until the women take a stand. After twenty years in corporate America, this premise grabbed me immediately. I want to know how far those whispers travel. Because sometimes the most powerful thing a woman can do is stop whispering.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
23. The Book of Lost Things — John Connolly
A boy believes BOOKS are whispering to him?! EXCUSE ME?! Is his imagination running wild? Are the books actually talking? And his whole world is falling apart? WHY?! I want to know whether those books offer an escape or lead him somewhere unexpected. If books started whispering to me, I’d probably listen.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
24. Love Walked In — Marisa de los Santos
The description promises an unlikely bond between two women. Okay. Except one of these “women” is an ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL. So now I’m confused. How do their lives intersect? Sometimes I choose a book because the premise is incredible. Sometimes I just raise an eyebrow and think, Well, now I need an explanation.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
25. Moonlight on Linoleum: A Daughter’s Memoir — Terry Helwig
Memoirs fascinate me. Real experiences hit differently. This one explores childhood, complicated family relationships, and children navigating circumstances beyond their years. I’m interested in the mother-daughter dynamic and how children understand adults who are struggling with things they can’t fully comprehend. I suspect this one will stay with me.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
26. The Glass Bead Game — Hermann Hesse
A society that praises its intellectual elite and essentially separates them from everyone else so they can flourish? UM. Who decides who’s elite? What about everybody else? Is this an ideal society or a critique of the whole concept? This sounds like seventeen rabbit holes waiting to happen. Naturally, I need to read it.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
27. Crown of Midnight — Sarah J. Maas
I read Throne of Glass in approximately SEVEN HOURS. Seven. Hours. AND I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! I fell in love with Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and apparently she specializes in making me forget I have responsibilities, children, and an actual life. Don’t even tell me the synopsis. Just give me the book.
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
BTW – If anyone cares – my BIRTHDAY is Saturday…. and what I REALLY want – is the SET!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️ HAHAHA. Please and thank you!!
28. Irish Secrets: German Espionage in Wartime Ireland, 1939–1945 — Mark M. Hull
I probably have FIVE to SIX HUNDRED WWII books on my TBR. Yes, really. Much of my reading focuses on the Holocaust, and after finishing a book about Josef Mengele this summer, I wanted a WWII subject I don’t know much about. Enter Ireland. German espionage in a neutral country? What happened behind the scenes, and who was involved? I don’t know how deep this rabbit hole goes, but I’m about to find out.
29. Alchemised — SenLinYu
I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan. So when I heard about Manacled, the dark fanfiction that left so many readers emotionally devastated, I was intrigued. And then I discovered SenLinYu had reimagined that story as an original novel: Alchemised. Familiar inspiration, but a new world and its own characters. A dark fantasy with a reputation for putting readers through the emotional wringer? SIGN ME UP. I need to know what happens, though I suspect tissues may be necessary.
30. The Women — Kristin Hannah
A woman’s bravery, patriotism, and determination, both abroad and at home? YES, PLEASE. Add the divisions of the Vietnam War, the overlooked experiences of women who served, and the challenges of returning to a divided country. And then there’s the author. KRISTIN HANNAH. I mean, COME ON. How could I leave this off the list?
Find this book on Amazon (Amazon search link; availability and editions may vary.)
Thirty Down. Ten to Go!
One minute I’m investigating a fictional coma mystery, the next I’m researching German spies in Ireland, and somewhere in between I’m volunteering to have my heart ripped out by Harry Potter fanfiction. No rhyme or reason. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Have you read any of these? Which should I pick up first? Tell me in the comments!
Until next time, happy reading!
Kelly
I’M ME
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