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In August 2022, I vowed to control my book-buying impulses and read all the unread books on my shelf. Here are the final 6 books I own. I can finish them all in January if I'm motivated (and stay out of the library).

🧣  Books To Read In Winter  ⛄

WILD AND CROOKED BY LEAH THOMAS

Young Adult Contemporary

In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence's name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym . . . or face the lingering anger of Samsboro's citizens, who refuse to forget the crime.

Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he's either known as the "disabled kid" because of his cerebral palsy, or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself.

When Gus meets Kalyn, her frankness is refreshing, and they form a deep friendship. Until their families' pasts emerge. And when the accepted version of the truth is questioned, Kalyn and Gus are caught in the center of a national uproar. Can they break free from a legacy of inherited lies and chart their own paths forward?

Why I want to read it: Mostly because of the cover. Last year, I added this book to my Christmas wish list because I loved the cover. Then my friend bought it for me because she liked the story. She said it's about two quirky friends. Friends! No romance. I'm hyped.

Buy it on Amazon

THE PROPHET CALLS BY MELANIE SUMROW

Middle Grade Contemporary

Born into a polygamous community in the foothills of New Mexico, Gentry Forrester feels lucky to live among God’s chosen. Here, she lives apart from the outside world and its “evils.”

On her thirteenth birthday, Gentry receives a new violin from her father and, more than anything, she wants to play at the Santa Fe Music Festival with her brother, Tanner. But then the Prophet calls from prison and announces he has outlawed music in their community and now forbids women to leave.

Determined to play, Gentry and Tanner sneak out. But once they return, the Prophet exercises control from prison, and it has devastating consequences for Gentry and her family. Soon, everything Gentry has known is turned upside down. She begins to question the Prophet’s teachings and his revelations, especially when his latest orders put Gentry’s family in danger. Can Gentry find a way to protect herself and her family from the Prophet and escape the only life she’s ever known?

Why I'm excited to read it: It's clearly inspired by Warren Jeffs and how he's running his cult by phone from prison. The plot sounds exactly like a billion other cult books. (I feel like I've read a billion cult books.) However, I'm stoked to read cult book number one billion and one.

Buy it on Amazon

10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD BY ELIF SHAFAK

Adult Literary Fiction

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life—friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . .

Why I'm excited to read it: "Excited" is the wrong word because the book is about a murdered sex worker who remembers her whole life during the 10 minutes, 38 seconds it takes for her to die. That's . . . severely depressing. I'm mostly interested in this book because of its structure. The whole plot takes place in 10 minutes, 38 seconds. I want to see how the author does it.

Buy it on Amazon

ANGER IS A GIFT BY MARK OSHIRO

Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks.

Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration.

When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.

Why I'm excited to read it: I'm interested in the school-to-prison pipeline and how to prevent kids from ending up in prison before they've even gotten a chance to live independently. That's what this book is about.

Buy it on Amazon

THE LAST HOURS BY MINETTE WALTERS

Adult Historical Fiction

When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is—or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.

But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.

Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband’s steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs . . . until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?

Why I'm excited to read it: I bought this during the COVID times because it sounded relatable. Can you imagine hiding in a manor house and not having access to news from the outside world? (Now that I'm thinking about it, that might actually be awesome.)

Buy it on Amazon

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER

Adult Historical Fiction

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

Why I'm excited to read it: I wrote a post about modern books that I think will become classics. While researching that post, I kept coming across this book. I don't read enough about Africa, so I decided to give it a shot.

Buy it on Amazon

What are you reading this winter?