December 2019 TBR

As the weather begins to get colder, the fire flickers and crackles, and all the yummy sweets appear, I find myself tucked deep under the covers reading until morning (while stuffing my face with said sweets)! I’m sure so many people are the same way and with the downtime around the holidays, there are more opportunities to get some reading done.

I am lucky enough to have some time off this year, meaning my TBR pile will get tackled, and I might bite off more than I can chew. That being said, this list consists of some winter inspired books, old-time classics that I am dying to read, and chalk filled with my favorite genre: Young Adult Fantasy!

Most of these books were released in previous years (which goes to show how long these poor things have been in my TBR pile). They are still available to purchase and read.

• The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

This book has been on my TBR for the longest time and I will finally get to reading it this month! It is the first book in a trilogy released in 2016.

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

Big and sweeping, spanning the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies capable of arranging powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together, they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first, as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and later, when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands. . . .

• Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

When I read the synopsis for this, all I could think was I NEED THIS BOOK NOW! Sadly, like all other books I’ve seen and immediately purchased, it arrived only to sit beautifully with my TBR pile. This book promises all the things I love in storytelling and fantasy! It is also the first book in a series.

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her mind and spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family’s inn, Liesel can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her own sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl has no choice but to journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds–and the mysterious man who rules it–she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.

• The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

Another book I immediately fell in love with once I read the back, not to mention the cover! I have not read anything else from this author but have heard amazing things about her work and this book! I also think that this book will have some amazing girl-power moments which I am here for!!

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.

In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning.

• The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

I am slightly embarrassed that I have yet to read this amazing classic. I purchased it on ebook a couple months ago, planning to read it during the season in which it’s set. An obvious classic that is so loved and I can’t wait to see why!

There is a movie of it, but even that I have not seen so as soon as I finish this book, I will get the popcorn going and watch it!

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal–including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want–but what Lyra doesn’t know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

The cover to this book is GORGEOUS!!! Can we just take a minute to appreciate it in all it’s glory? This is another one I purchased the ebook for (it was on sale!) and I stared at the cover on my phone for hours – no joke. I kept pulling it up just to look at the cover! The story seems intriguing and magical, as well as a nod to one of my favorite Russian folklore.

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

• Winterspell by Claire Legrand

I was so intrigued when I saw this book on the shelves of Chapters Indigo (doesn’t she look so badass, ready to kill you with a single motion?). When I turned the cover and read that it was a retelling of the Nutcracker, I almost squealed then and there. I am a lover of all things ballet, classical music, and wintery themed, dark fairy tales.

Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted—by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets—and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed—if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

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What are you guys reading this month? Have you read any of the ones above? What is your all-time favorite holiday/winter themed book to read around this time of year?