Winter Reading List

        Hope you guys have had a great Holiday! I'm excited for the new year and wanted to jump on a Winter reading list before it gets any later. Click here & here if you'd like to see my other reading lists from past seasons. I love the Winter holidays and cozying up in a blanket with some hot chocolate and a great book... who doesn't? I've picked out 10 books for this list I think you guys might enjoy as well...

1. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
       After reading The Husband's Secret, I'm curious about reading more from Liane Moriarty. She's a great writer and I really enjoyed the first book I read from her. Here's an overview of Big Little Lies;

"Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal.

 
A murder…A tragic accident…Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.
 
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.
 
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive."

Her stories a kind of remind me of the TV Show & book series, Pretty Little Liars, where there are characters who tie in together and each one is keeping something from the others.. just my opinion. There's no villainous A (don't click that "A" if you're not caught up on the series! *SPOILER*) obviously  but if you've been a fan of PLL and read some of Moriarty, you might see some similarity.. any who. Big Little Lies sounds like a fun read!

Also, a quote from Stephen King, “A hell of a good book. Funny and scary.”

YAS.

2. Bossypants by Tina Fey

I love reading and hearing about people who have achieved their goals & dreams. This book came out a couple years ago and I can't believe I haven't gotten my hands on it yet! I love Tina Fey and can't wait to hear about her upbringing, when she started getting into comedy and motivated her. 

3. 13 Reason Why by Jay Asher

        Imagine someone you know committed suicide. Now imagine receiving a mysterious package filled with 13 audio tapes from that person explaining why you and other people you know are the reason behind their suicide. I picked up this book from the library a few weeks ago and only got through half of it before needing to return it (Vlogmas took up some time, Holidays, excuse, excuse.) I picked it up again and have really gotten into the story. Here's a quick summary from Barnes & Noble..

"You can’t stop the future. 

You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. 
                
Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever."

I found this book online, searching under popular young adult fiction and thought it sounded intriguing. It's also a quick read with excellent pacing. I'm excited to finish it!

4. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

       On a lighter note, this next book is part of a series I know very little about but the story sounds like something I could really get into. Here's an overview taken from Barnes & Noble:

"Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal."

This book is also part of a series - perfect!

5. The Martian by Andy Weir
I heard such great things about this book and could't pass up seeing the movie when it came out! Which is something I hardly ever do, see the movie, then read the book *facepalm* 

6. On Writing by Stephen King
      I was completely shocked when I saw this on a book shelf in my local library I almost dropped all of the other books I was carrying. It's one that I've been wanting to read for quite a while now but it's always checked out or I'm on some long waiting list. FYI - I like to pick up most of my books from my local library lol =) I've admired Stephen King's writing ever since I was allowed to read it (or sneak to the horror section of the library and read it when I was a kid) and couldn't be more thrilled to finally start this book soon. I love the idea of King interweaving his memoir with advice and tips for writers.

7. The Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel
     One of the hardest books I've ever read was Night by Elie Wiesel. Harder in the sense that it was such a heartbreak to get through. I never read the other two books that came after it and have been thinking about picking them up soon. 
"Night is one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature. First published in 1958, it is the autobiographical account of an adolescent boy and his father in Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel writes of their battle for survival and of his battle with God for a way to understand the wanton cruelty he witnesses each day. In the short novel Dawn (1960), a young man who has survived World War II and settled in Palestine joins a Jewish underground movement and is commanded to execute a British officer who has been taken hostage. In Day (previously titled The Accident, 1961), Wiesel questions the limits of conscience: Can Holocaust survivors forge a new life despite their memories? Wiesel's trilogy offers insights on mankind's attraction to violence and on the temptation of self-destruction."

8. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
      While wondering around the library the other day, I Googled 'best horror books' and this popped up at the top of the list. I'm such a fan of horror and think this one sounds right up my alley. It kind of reminds me of a spooky Twilight Zone episode... 
"Aging death-metal rock legend Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals...a used hangman's noose...a snuff film. But nothing he possesses is as unique or as dreadful as his latest purchase off the Internet: a one-of-a-kind curiosity that arrives at his door in a black heart-shaped box...a musty dead man's suit still inhabited by the spirit of its late owner. And now everywhere Judas Coyne goes, the old man is there—watching, waiting, dangling a razor blade on a chain from his bony hand."
Yay! This also sounds like a book my husband, Kyle would really not like =) Anything having to do with ghost stories totally creeps him out.

9. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk 
       If you've read my other book lists you'll see Chuck Palahniuk pop up every time. He's such a great writer (Fight Club, Choke, Diary, etc.) and this one sounds thrilling ---- I can't wait to read it! If you're also into horror, add this book to your list! This book includes lyrics of a culling song kill you may not want to repeat. 

10. The Story of God: A Biblical Comedy About Love (& Hate) by Chris Matheson
       I've saved the most controversial and best for last (of course) =) Since coming out as an atheist on my Youtube channel and few months back (see my video here) I started reading more from Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins & Christopher Hitchens. After diving into those books, I've been wanting something with a comedic touch on the whole 'god' thing. Kyle told me about this one and we're both very interested in reading it soon. 
"The Bible offers some clues to God’s personality—he’s alternately been called vindictive and just, bloodthirsty and caring, all-powerful and impotent, capricious and foresighted, and loving and hateful. But no one has ever fully explored why God might be such a figure of contrasts. Nor has anyone ever satisfactorily explained what guides his relationship not just with angels, the devil, and his son, but also with all of creation. Might he be completely misunderstood, a mystery even to himself? Might his behavior and actions toward humankind tell us much more about him than it does about us? Enter the mind of the creator of the universe, travel with him through the heavenly highs and hellish lows of his story, from Genesis to Revelation, to better understand his burdensome journey: being God isn’t easy. After hearing his story—at times troubling and tragic but always hilarious in its absurdity and divine in its comedy—you’ll never look at a miracle or catastrophe—or at our place in the universe, or God’s—the same way again." -Amazon
I hope you guys get a chance to read a lot this month and that you found some books on this list you're also curious about reading soon! Let me know in the comments what you're currently reading.