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I have a lot of reading goals, but my top ones right now are reading the GRC Awards that I haven't already read, and catching up on my series. That's how this list was compiled.

1. Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B.B. Alston - this will help me finish out a series READ 4/25/2025, 3 STARS
2. Games Untold: An Inheritance Games Collection by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - this will help me finish out a series; READ 3/28/2025, 3 STARS
3. The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir by Kelly Bishop - GRC Award winner for Memoir READ 4/9/2025
4. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley - GRC Award winner for Science Fiction
5. The Wedding People by Alison Espach - GRC Award winner for Fiction READ 2/2/2025; 3 STARS
6. The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss - GRC Award winner for History & Biography READ 1/9/2025; 3 STARS
7. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt - GRC Award winner for Nonfiction
8. The Women by Kristin Hannah - GRC Award winner for Historical Fiction READ 2/2/6/2025; 3 STARS
9. Funny Story by Emily Henry - GRC Award winner for Romance and Audiobook READ 1/8/2025; 3 STARS
10. Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand - this will help me finish out a series READ 1/3/2025; 3 STARS
11. You Like It Darker by Stephen King - GRC Award winner for Horror
12. Matilda by Roald Dahl - because I really need to read this book. READ 2/23/2025; 2 STARS

Alternates:
1. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune - both a GRC Award winner for Fantasy and will help me finish out a series READ 1/30/2025; 2 STARS
2. How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang - GRC Award winner for Debut Novel
3. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore - GRC Award winner for Mystery & Thriller READ 2/21/2025; 3 STARS
4. Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan - this will help me finish out a series READ 3/21/2025

I had read some and added some more to my tbr shelf. I think I have some on my 12 plus 4 list, but not the winners.

Bonnie wrote: "I had read some and added some more to my tbr shelf. I think I have some on my 12 plus 4 list, but not the winners."

I always want to read the winners because they won, but also many of the others because they sound more interesting.

I haven't read any of your choices but I am enjoying the Klune book I'm currently reading so I may try more of his work. Enjoy your selections.

Bill wrote: "I haven't read any of your choices but I am enjoying the Klune book I'm currently reading so I may try more of his work. Enjoy your selections."

This will be the third book I've read by him, and I've lowered my expectations so I won't be too disappointed. The first book was the best! :-)

Great list, Lea. One of these days I will read new books. One day! LOL

I haven't read any of these! I admit, I don't pay much attention to the GRC winners, so interesting to see what's on your list. The Wedding People & The Ministry of Time are 2 of my BOMC picks I haven't picked up yet. Hopefully, next year as well.
Happy Reading!

Alondra wrote: "Great list, Lea. One of these days I will read new books. One day! LOL"

I know. I am trying to balance new books with old books. So many on my shelves and books that I missed reading in the past!

Patricia wrote: "I haven't read any of these! I admit, I don't pay much attention to the GRC winners, so interesting to see what's on your list. The Wedding People & The Ministry of Time are 2 of my BOMC picks I haven't picked up yet. Hopefully, next year as well.
Happy Reading!

I started reading the GRC winners many years ago because I wasn't reading any new books. I was so focused on my existing shelves and all the books I missed in the past, and I found that I missed reading books that were more currently written. It helps now that I have a Book Club. And I should probably join this Book of the Month Club that you all are advertising. It sounds fun to get books every month!

Hi Lea,
Looks like a great list. I am about to read The Women for my local book group. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Happy Reading!

Mary wrote: "Hi Lea,
Looks like a great list. I am about to read The Women for my local book group. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Happy Reading!"

Thanks, Mary. I hope you enjoy it too. Have you read anything else by Hannah? I've only read The Nightingale which I loved and The Great Alone which was good, but not as good as The Nightingale for me. I need to read more of her books.

Nice list, Lea. You can't go wrong with GRC winners. I loved The Women. My new favorite Kristen Hannah. I hope you like it too. Happy Reading!

I like your list and your goals. I've only read The Women, which I enjoyed. The Nightingale was my favorite Hannah book too, but she's always a solid writer for me. Give The Four Winds a try.
When you get ready to read The Anxious Generation and/or The God of the Woods and you want a buddy read, let me know.
Happy reading!

Michelle wrote: "Nice list, Lea. You can't go wrong with GRC winners. I loved The Women. My new favorite Kristen Hannah. I hope you like it too. Happy Reading!"

Thanks, I hope I like it too. I've been a bit nervous - sometimes it helps if I wait to read overhyped books, and this one has got a lot of attention. Fingers crossed...

Ioana wrote: "I like your list and your goals. I've only read The Women, which I enjoyed. The Nightingale was my favorite Hannah book too, but she's always a solid writer for me. Give The Four Winds a try.
When you get ready to read The Anxious Generation and/or The God of the Woods and you want a buddy read, let me know.
Happy reading!"

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed The Women also. I was waiting on The Four Winds until the hype settled down, since I theorized that might be why The Great Alone didn't appeal to me as much.

I tried to get The Anxious Generation and The God of the Woods it looks like a 13 week wait for me at my library. So, I'm thinking The Anxious Generation in February/March and the God of the Woods in April/May. Are you using the library, because you may want to put them on hold as well?

Note: I think you should read Cujo before you read You Like It Darker. ijs

Hi Lea,

I read The Ministry of Time a few months ago. I gave it 5 stars and voted for it. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but I do like time travel and historical fiction. This book has a little of both.

The rest of your books look amazing. I hope you love them all. Happy reading!

Alondra wrote: "Note: I think you should read Cujo before you read You Like It Darker. ijs"

I was afraid of that. Off to reshuffle my individual list. :-)

Karen wrote: "Hi Lea,

I read The Ministry of Time a few months ago. I gave it 5 stars and voted for it. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but I do like time travel and historical fiction. This book has a little of of both.

The rest of your books look amazing. I hope you love them all. Happy reading!"

Karen, thanks for letting me know your thoughts on The Ministry of Time. I'm looking forward to it more now. :-) Here's hoping we both have lists full of books we enjoy.

Lea wrote: "Alondra wrote: "Note: I think you should read Cujo before you read You Like It Darker. ijs"

I was afraid of that. Off to reshuffle my individual list. :-)"

I mean..... 😂

In my most esteemed and humblest opinion; I think it will make the experience of one of the stories, much more enjoyable. It is not a requirement, but.... I mean....

Alondra wrote: "In my most esteemed and humblest opinion; I think it will make the experience of one of the stories, much more enjoyable. It is not a requirement, but.... I mean....
..."

I'm going to disagree lol she needs to read it. Does she NEED to for the story? Debatable? But everyone just needs to read Cujo IMO *shrugs*

Great list! I'm also looking forward to List #2 when this one is done by April ;-)

Alondra wrote: "I mean..... 😂

In my most esteemed and humblest opinion; I think it will make the experience of one of the stories, much more enjoyable. It is not a requirement, but.... I mean...."

I bow to your superior knowledge Sai Alondra.

Alissa wrote: "I'm going to disagree lol she needs to read it. Does she NEED to for the story? Debatable? But everyone just needs to read Cujo IMO *shrugs*"

I know. I'm so behind on my King game. And he leaves so many fun Easter eggs in his work, I just want to read them all at once. I'm super excited about another Holly Gibney book coming out this year!

Alissa wrote: "Great list! I'm also looking forward to List #2 when this one is done by April ;-)"

I don't think I've ever finished in April. Maybe April of the following year. :-)

Lea wrote: "So, I'm thinking The Anxious Generation in February/March and the God of the Woods in April/May. Are you using the library, because you may want to put them on hold as well?"

Yes, I'm using the library...and I haven't thought about the wait list. They are both around 130 days wait, which means April? Or later? I can keep them on hold.
That's the big NYC library, my local library has wait time of 2478 and 1827 days for these 2 books 😱😱😱

Ioana wrote: "Yes, I'm using the library...and I haven't thought about the wait list. They are both around 130 days wait, which means April? Or later? I can keep them on hold.
That's the big NYC library, my local library has wait time of 2478 and 1827 days for these 2 books 😱😱😱"

Well, let's cross our fingers and hope that our libraries order more books or the people ahead of us read quickly! I can keep deferring until you get your copy, we'll just have to coordinate when we can both get them. Good luck!

Lea wrote: "Well, let's cross our fingers and hope that our libraries order more books or the people ahead of us read quickly! I can keep deferring until you get your copy, we'll just have to coordinate when we can both get them. Good luck!"

Sounds like a good plan!!

Ioana wrote: "Lea wrote: "So, I'm thinking The Anxious Generation in February/March and the God of the Woods in April/May. Are you using the library, because you may want to put them on hold as well?"

Yes, I'm ..."

Not that you asked me to join but im currently #125 for God of the Woods so we'll see if I can too haha

Alissa wrote: "Not that you asked me to join but im currently #125 for God of the Woods so we'll see if I can too haha"

Oh, we just assumed you'd join in, no invitation needed :-)
No worries, my library only allows 3 holds, so I need to get the 1st one out in a few days to get on the hold for these. As of today, I'd be #1053, we'll see in a few days...

Alissa wrote: "Not that you asked me to join but im currently #125 for God of the Woods so we'll see if I can too haha"

Consider this your standing invitation...any time you want to read any books I'm currently reading or planning to read in the future at the same time, let me know. I'd loooove to read them all with you!! :-)

Ioana wrote: "Oh, we just assumed you'd join in, no invitation needed :-)
No worries, my library only allows 3 holds, so I need to get the 1st one out in a few days to get on the hold for these. As of today, I'd be #1053, we'll see in a few days..."

Your library only allows three holds?!?!

Say what you will about East Coast/West Coast rivalry, but West Coast libraries are better. I currently have 57 books on hold amongst my five different libraries, and six books borrowed on Libby. :-)

Only allowing 3 holds is crazy. We are able to have at least 50. The Hennepin county (Minneapolis) system tries to make it as easy as possible for people to check out and read a lot of books. That's one of the reasons they merged into a county system many years ago rather than having each city with its own system.

Anne wrote: "Only allowing 3 holds is crazy. We are able to have at least 50. The Hennepin county (Minneapolis) system tries to make it as easy as possible for people to check out and read a lot of books. That's one of the reasons they merged into a county system many years ago rather than having each city with its own system."

Maybe I want to move to Minneapolis! Although I really do have a lot of options - just none with a limit of 50 at the moment. My city library allows 20 loans and 30 holds. My county library allows 10 loans and 10 holds. The county next to me allows 15 loans and 15 holds. A big city next to me allows 30 loans and 30 holds and has the best collection of books. Over 10 million checkouts last year, and only half of that was from me. Another local city allows 10 loans and 10 holds. So, I can have 85 loans and 95 holds at a time. I have been considering getting more library cards from new other local counties and a couple of other big cities. We'll see.

Lea wrote: "Your library only allows three holds?!?!"

The NYC Public Library only allows 3 holds and 3 loans. It used to be 15 of each before covid, but they reduced the number then and never went back.
My local library allows 5 holds, but they only get a few copies so the waiting list is huge.
So you see, you are on a list for a long time, it's really hard to remove the hold to put something else on, it feels like so much time wasted for nothing....

Anne wrote: "Only allowing 3 holds is crazy. We are able to have at least 50. The Hennepin county (Minneapolis) system tries to make it as easy as possible for people to check out and read a lot of books. That'..."

That's so cool, I wish I could join your library....

I now feel very spoiled. Our system serves about 1.3 million people, so they often buy more than 100 copies of the most popular books, and I can get a book from any of the branches sent to a branch closer to my house. I can check out up to 50 items, and up to 15 of them can be digital (e-book or audiobook). If for some reason they don't have a book, I can easily use interlibrary loan from Ramsey County (St. Paul) or one of the other counties in the metro. I can get books from farther away also, but that is rarely necessary (most of the MN population lives in the 7 counties that make up the Twin Cities metro area).

Example hold: I am currently #446 on one item that has 137 copies. I reserved it about 2 months ago, and it will be a few more months before I get it. It would be much worse if they didn't get so many copies.

Keep in mind, our winters are very long and cold, so reading is a good way to keep us busy when it is miserable outside. We are expected to get windchills around -20 F this week, so I don't plan on leaving my house unless I have to.

Ioana wrote: "The NYC Public Library only allows 3 holds and 3 loans. It used to be 15 of each before covid, but they reduced the number then and never went back.
My local library allows 5 holds, but they only get a few copies so the waiting list is huge.
So you see, you are on a list for a long time, it's really hard to remove the hold to put something else on, it feels like so much time wasted for nothing...."

I have the same problem with my local library - while they allow 20 checkouts and 30 holds, I used to tease that they only have 30 audiobooks total, so it didn't really matter. (That's not true, but the selection is a lot less than the other libraries I am a member of...) And because there are so few audiobooks, sometimes I have to wait a really long time to get ones...which is one of many reasons I joined more libraries.

Anne wrote: "I now feel very spoiled. Our system serves about 1.3 million people, so they often buy more than 100 copies of the most popular books, and I can get a book from any of the branches sent to a branch closer to my house. I can check out up to 50 items, and up to 15 of them can be digital (e-book or audiobook). If for some reason they don't have a book, I can easily use interlibrary loan from Ramsey County (St. Paul) or one of the other counties in the metro. I can get books from farther away also, but that is rarely necessary (most of the MN population lives in the 7 counties that make up the Twin Cities metro area).

Example hold: I am currently #446 on one item that has 137 copies. I reserved it about 2 months ago, and it will be a few more months before I get it. It would be much worse if they didn't get so many copies.

Keep in mind, our winters are very long and cold, so reading is a good way to keep us busy when it is miserable outside. We are expected to get windchills around -20 F this week, so I don't plan on leaving my house unless I have to."

Ooh, that sounds way too cold for me, Anne. Today was 71 degrees today and very windy. I'm wearing long sleeves and a light jacket. I would need to hibernate for the winter with a ready stash of great books if I expected it to be that cold. Please stay warm and read some great books. I am also fortunate with my library system, but yours really sounds amazing.

Thanks, Mary. I hope you enjoy it..."

Thanks, Lea, No this will be my first book of hers. What did you like about The Nightingale? She seems prolific. It would be nice to discover a new author that I like.

Mary wrote: "Thanks, Mary. I hope you enjoy it..."

Thanks, Lea, No this will be my first book of hers. What did you like about The Nightingale? She seems prolific. It would be nice to discover a new author that I like."

I loved The Nightingale (5 stars). The Great Alone was good too, (3 stars, which is still good for me) but not as good as The Nightingale. This book is going to be the tie-breaker for me, to determine if she's a new go-to author for me or not. We'll have to compare notes.

Lots of good books on your list. Enjoy.

Jackie wrote: "Lots of good books on your list. Enjoy."

Thanks, Jackie! I hope it will be a good list.

Do you know which book you will start with?

Alissa wrote: "Do you know which book you will start with?"

Whoops, I already finished Hot Mess, so I'll have to swap that one out. I'm thinking of reading one of your all-time favorites, Matilda, finally! :-)

FYI - because of you, I have started adding if a book is a GRC nominee or winner, on the ATW listings. Never thought about it before.

I may go back through the lists and check, as well.

Again, good luck and happy reading. ☺️

Lea wrote: "Alissa wrote: "Do you know which book you will start with?"

Whoops, I already finished Hot Mess, so I'll have to swap that one out. I'm thinking of reading one of your all-time fa..."

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
YAY FOR Matilda

Alondra wrote: "FYI - because of you, I have started adding if a book is a GRC nominee or winner, on the ATW listings. Never thought about it before.

I may go back through the lists and check, as well.

Again, good luck and happy reading. ☺️"

Thanks, Alondra! I love the ATW listings we have here. So comprehensive. One of these years, I'm going to see if I cannot travel to the countries I have left (it may take two or three years to get all those places...) but it won't be this year. Probably not next year either. :-)

Alissa wrote: "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
YAY FOR Matilda"

I'm so excited to read it!

Lea wrote: "Thanks, Alondra! I love the ATW listings we have here. So comprehensive. One of these years, I'm going to see if I cannot travel to the countries I have left (it may take two or three years to get all those places...) but it won't be this year. Probably not next year either..."

I want to travel, as well and want book places to be included. I definitely want to see the Sherlock Holmes location; Ernest Hemingways home is in Key West where my son is stationed, so, I may get to see that next month. The biggest is New Zealand and visiting The Shire! 😬😬