Happy Saturday, everyone!

Yes, we’re breaking from tradition in more ways than one with this post…

First of all, you may have noticed my creative new intro. Instead of greeting you with “Happy Friday!”, I’ve come up with a totally original “Happy Saturday!” to spice things up a bit! With me working insane hours during the week that make it next to impossible to write blog posts on the side or respond to comments in a timely fashion, I’ve decided a change in my posting schedule might be long overdue… So starting today, you’ll be hearing from me on Saturdays!

Secondly, for once in my life, I am actually doing The End of the Year Book Tag when it’s meant to be done! Who would’ve thought?

**Conveniently decides to ignore that the only reason she’s posting this now is because she is currently too exhausted to muster enough creative energy to write the posts she was actually supposed to, which has resulted in her doing nothing but tags for three weeks in a row **

Created by Ariel Bissett over on YouTube, The End of the Year Book Tag always provides great opportunity for reflecting on end-of-the-year reading plans. Because doesn’t love some good old autumnal reflection?

(Or wintry reflection, I guess, if you’re like me and tend to realize sometime in December that you still haven’t done the tag… Trust me, there’s ample evidence from 2020 and 2021! 😁)

So yeah – without further ado, let’s get into the questions!

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Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

Yes… 😅 In a bout of idiocy, I decided that it would be a great idea to read Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and gain a more in-depth historical perspective on the rise of nationalism within Nazi Germany. Like, it’s never a bad idea to face the dark parts of your country’s past, right? Especially within the current political climate?

It’s just… I never would have guessed just how awful reading Mein Kampf would turn out to be. While I was prepared for lots of racist garbage, I was not prepared for it to be written in such a profoundly dull and chaotic way! Hitler has one of the most sleep-inducing and grammatically horrifying writing styles I have ever come across, constantly goes on these totally random tangents, and lies about so many things that the fact-checking footnotes in my edition are longer than the original text itself. Add Hitler’s general assholeyness to the equation, and this book is truly the worst thing I have ever attempted to read!

But now that I’ve already invested so much time, I don’t want to give up! I need something to show for the agony I’ve already put myself through! I want to at least be able to say I’ve read the whole thing and be able to discuss it; I want to know if there are any insights in the second half that might make having read the first one worthwhile. However, ever since I put the book on pause during my great car debacle last month, I just can’t bring myself to pick it back up again. Mein Kampf sucks any desire you had to read straight out of you! So I guess we’ll have to see if I ever actually get around to finishing it…

Unless something totally unexpected happens, though, my other two current reads, Warbreaker and An Unkindness of Ghosts, will definitely be read before the year is up. I am on top of something!

Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of Warbreaker when I first read it back in 2017, Line @ First Line Reader somehow managed to rope me into a buddy read, and having her commentary to go along with it has made things way more entertaining than that first read-through! Besides, now that I’ve also read Elantris and The Stormlight Archive, I’m hoping to understand lots of enlightening Cosmere connections that I originally missed! 😎

An Unkindness of Ghosts, on the other hand, is this super weird and intriguing sci-fi story set on a spaceship. With a dystopian societal structure based on the US Antebellum South, it has me thoroughly engrossed, and the only reason I’m not done with it yet is because my life has been so completely swamped with school stuff lately that I simply haven’t had the time. Well, that and because Line distracted me with our Warbreaker buddy read… But you bet I intend to finish this one!

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Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

Not really. Although I do really want to read The Haunting Season, an anthology of ghost stories that I feel like should count as autumnal in spite of its rather wintry blurb. I mean, ghosts are autumnal, right? 👻

However, I’ve been having a bit of trouble obtaining a copy – to nobody’s surprise, my library doesn’t have one, the book’s not on Scribd, and since I’ve done so well sticking to my book buying ban rules this year, I’m not sure whether I can justify making an exception. So I might just have to stick to Dracula having been my autumnal transition book this year!

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Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

Bloodless Ties by Katie Wismer! I started beta reading Katie’s books before she even published her first novel, so obviously, I’m invested. Particularly since The Marionettes, a dark and steamy urban fantasy series set in a world where vampires have claimed power, is probably my favorite thing she’s written so far.

Having been in possession of an early version of the manuscript since the beginning of June, I can’t exactly say that I’ve been dying to get my hands on book three and learn what happens, but I am really excited to see the finished product when it releases on November 15th. You bet I’ll be reading it immediately!

(Plus, I’m apparently not immune to vanity and just love seeing my own name in the acknowledgments! 🤗)

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What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

Gosh, guys, if there were only three books, things would be so simple! There are about a hundred books I still want to get to, as well as a ton of other stuff I probably should be picking up to avoid the total embarrassment of failing ridiculously at my proudly proclaimed 2022 reading goals.

Out of the three French books I said I’d read, I’ve read precisely zero, and my enthusiasm to support local authors by reading at least ten German books has teetered away rather quickly, too. So far, I’ve read exactly four – 4.5 if we’re being generous and want to count Mein Kampf. And then I’m 14 books behind schedule on my Goodreads Reading Challenge…

Still, no matter how crazily teaching has affected my reading schedule, the following three books take such high priority that I’m going to make it my mission to squeeze them in, no matter what it takes!

1. Babel by R. F. Kuang – Confession time: In blatant violation of my book buying ban rules, I have already purchased myself a copy of this. The temptation was too great! Everything about this book just screams “me”! It’s dark academia, it’s set in a fantasy version of Victorian Oxford, it includes a lot of language trivia, and it’s written by the author of The Poppy War, which – even though I didn’t care all that much for the sequel – I am still beyond obsessed with. I needed to have this!

2. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng – Celeste Ng could write a shopping list and I would read it. I have yet to encounter a non-five-star book of hers, so saying that I’ve been impatiently anticipating her new novel is a vast understatement! And that was before I heard that it was a dystopian story featuring libraries!

3. Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux – Look, my pride simply cannot take reading nothing in French this year. Not when I announced I would read three books. I at least have to read one! That can’t be too hard, can it? Especially when The Phantom of the Opera is so universally beloved!

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Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite of the year?

Babel, obviously! You didn’t think I’d break my book buying ban rules without good reason, did you? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Although it’s gonna have a tough time competing with The Liveship Traders, The Darkness Outside Us, First They Killed My Father, and To Paradise, I feel like it’s got some pretty good odds in its favor.

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Have you already started making reading plans for 2023?

No. Haven’t you figured out by now that I’m terrible at making reading plans and sticking to them?

Being Shadowhunters trash, I obviously intend to grab a copy of Chain of Thorns when that comes out. And I want to continue reading books from multiple countries around the world, preferably in multiple languages! And maybe finally get to those ten German books next year?

So sure, let’s say I’ve made plans! 😂

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And that was it for today! Since everyone usually does this anyway, I won’t be tagging anyone, but feel free to leave a link to your own versions below. Being incredibly nosy, I love hearing about everyone’s reading plans!

Also, if you’ve read any of the books that are still on my TBR, I’d love to know what you thought! Which ones should I pick up immediately? Which ones should I steer clear of? And which book do you think might still become your 2022 favorite? I would love to know!