I can't believe it's time for an updated reading list. Didn't we just go back to school?! This fall has really flown by. How is it December already?
So far this year, excluding October and November, I've read 77 books, not including rereads. I've shared four seasonal reading lists, starting with a (late) winter reading list posted in January. Over the summer, I decided to start back doing more regular TBR updates since I'm constantly finding new titles; I posted one in July and another in October. Out of all those lists, I've read 22 titles. I've DNF'ed three titles --
The Phoenix Pencil Company, which was written in a style I didn't enjoy,
Hurt Me, whose main male character I just couldn't like, and
The Stroke of Winter, which I just didn't get into. I'm also
still reading
Love and Ruin, which is based on Martha Gellhorn, whom I'm extremely interested in, but it's a really long book and very serious, so I keep taking breaks from it.
This will be my second-ever Winter Reading List, and I can almost guarantee that it will not be like other winter reading lists out there. For one thing, I'm not into holiday-themed books. I don't mind books that have holidays woven into the story, but I don't read books that are based solely around a holiday, so you will not find any Christmas-story books on my list.
This reading list is meant to last through the entire winter, so December through February. I curated this list based on the type of books I've been craving lately as well as the books that I think I'm most likely to read during the breaks I'll have from school during these months.
Also, you're getting a bit of a preview of the 2026 One Woman Book Club as I'm including what will be the January and February book picks in this list. Obviously, be sure to pop back around in January for the full book club list, which I'm still putting together at this point.
Sorry I Missed You
Author: Suzy Krause
We'll start this list with my December book club pick, which is touted as "the perfect read for anyone who ever felt haunted by their past." Felt appropriate for an end-of-the-year read. It's the story of roommates, Mackenzie, Sunna, and Maude, who have nothing in common except for the important people who've ghosted them -- a sister, a best friend, and a fiancé. When a letter arrives in their shared mailbox hinting at long-awaited answers, each assumes it's for them.
The Restoration Garden
Author: Sara Blaydes
Here is your first sneak peek at the 2026 One Woman Book Club. The Restoration Garden will be my pick for January. Julia has been hired to restore the historic gardens at Havenworth Manor. The restoration is fulfilling a promise made by 92-year-old Margaret a lifetime ago. In 1940, Margaret's half-sister Irene follows an RAF officer to London, where she disappears from Margaret's life forever. Now, Julia is determined to uncover the truth of the mystery.
The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth
Author: Barbara O'Neal
Y'all know I love Barbara O'Neal, so it should come as no surprise that next year's One Woman Book Club will feature a title by her. The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth is my February 2026 book club pick. I have already shared this book with y'all on the blog once before in my October TBR update. Recently-divorced Veronica Barrington takes a position as travel companion to Mariah Ellsworth, a former Olympian hoping to trace the steps of her mother Rachel's final unfinished project. Together, the two women, along with a former war photographer, follow Rachel's letters through London, Paris, Morocco, and India.
The Once and Future Witches
Author: Alix E. Harrow
I enjoy a good twist on historical fiction, especially ones that involve magic. I'm especially interested in this book because it is a reimagining of the Women's Suffrage Movement, which I wrote a research paper on in high school. In 1893, modern women searching for any measure of power must find it at the ballot box. When the Eastwood sisters join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that cold turn the women's movement into the witch's movement.
The Lost Story of Sofia Castello
Author: Siobhan Curham
For more than sixty years, Sofia Castello has been keeping a secret, and writer Lily Christie is about to uncover it. Lily is writing a memoir about Sofia, a world-famous singing sensation who died in 1941. In reality, Sofia is in her 80s and living in hiding in Portugal, but she agrees to tell Lily her story.
The Last Secret of Lily Adams
Author: Sara Blaydes
It's rare that I feature two works by the same author, but I really am so fascinated by this one that I couldn't help myself. I also shared this one in my October TBR. Seventy years ago, Hollywood star Lily Adams disappeared from the spotlight. After her passing, Lily's granddaughter, Carolyn, discovers a letter among her grandmother's things. The letter admits that Lily was living a secret life and reveals a connection to the murder of her rival, superstar Stella Lane.
Booked for Murder
Author: P.J. Nelson
Here's another title that was also featured in my October TBR. After a not-so-successful stage career, Madeline returns home to Enigma, Georgia, where she's just inherited The Old Juniper Bookstop from her late aunt. Not long after she moves in, someone sets her gazebo on fire, and a late-night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if Madeline doesn't leave. Madeline ignores the threats until there's another fire and someone is murdered in the store.
Goodnight from Paris
Author: Jane Healey
I've always been fascinated by the different people who took on unexpected roles during World War II, especially the women, and this book is based on a true story, so I couldn't resist! Drue Leyton is an American film star living in Paris during World War II. When her husband is dispatched to Brittany, Drue accepts an opportunity with the French Resistance to broadcast radio programs to the U.S. in an attempt to rally America to action. (Originally featured in my October TBR)
The Bookshop of Yesterdays
Author: Amy Meyerson
When her Uncle Billy dies, Miranda inherits his bookstore, Prospero Books. It's where she spent her childhood until she was 12, solving scavenger hunts her uncle designed just for her. Now, Miranda has returned home to Los Angeles and Prospero Books, determined to save the store and solve her uncle's final scavenger hunt. (Originally featured in my October TBR)
The Housewarming
Author: Kristin Offiler
I've been enjoying psychological suspense stories lately, which if you've been around awhile you'll know is not my norm. This one is about four estranged friends who agree to reunite on the five-year anniversary of their friend Zoe’s death. The goal is to come together again, memorialize their friend, and put the past to rest — but a true crime podcaster who originally made a name for herself off of the mystery is back, as well. (Originally featured in my July TBR post)
The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris
Author: Evie Woods
This author can truly spin a magical tale. I truly loved The Lost Bookshop, so I'm excited for this one. Instead of a bookshop, this book centers around a magical bakery in France. It's that bakery that has Edie Lane leaving everything behind in Ireland. She believes that she's taking her dream job in Paris. There's just one problem -- the bakery isn't actually in Paris. It may not be where Edie intended to be, but soon she'll discover it's exactly where she needs to be.
The Magician's Daughter
Author: H.G. Parry
When I read the blurb for this, it made me think of The Paper Magician series, so I knew I had to give it a try. Hy-Brasil, a legendary island hidden by magic, is the only home Biddy has ever known after she washed ashore there as a baby. When her guardian, the magician Rowan, doesn't return from his travels, Biddy ventures into the outside world for the first time ever in order to find him. But Rowan has powerful enemies who have set their sights on his many secrets, and Biddy may be the key to stopping them.
Family and Other Calamities
Author: Leslie Gray Streeter
I can never resist books about journalists, and this one sounds so good. Dawn is a successful entertainment journalist but life is far from perfect. Dawn is returning home to Baltimore for the first time in years...with her husband's ashes in the passenger seat. There, she'll have to face her past in a big way -- her arch-nemesis, Joe Perkins, wrote an exposé about big-city corruption starring Dawn as the villain, and it's being turned into a movie.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
Author: Benjamin Stevenson
The reviews for this book are fantastic. It's called witty and a cross between Knives Out and Agatha Christie with even a few Schitt's Creek references thrown in for good measure. It's the first in a series but can be read on its own. The main character is Ernest Cunningham, and in this first installment he's gone to a family reunion where - you guessed it - everyone in his family has killed someone.
The Midnight Feast
Author: Lucy Foley
The Manor is the newest, hottest luxury resort. On opening night, old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Before long, local police are called in. The past has crashed the party in a deadly way. Everyone present has a secret and an agenda, but not all will survive.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
Author: Gary Hendrix
I discovered Gary Hendrix earlier this year when I read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. It was fantastic and will be on my end-of-the-year best books of 2025 list. So when I saw this become available in my library app, I added it to my holds immediately! The Wellwood House in St. Augustine is where pregnant girls are sent by their families to have and give up their babies in secret. It's where 15-year-old Fern finds herself in the summer of 1970, along with Rose, Zinnia, and Holly. When a librarian gives Fern a book about witchcraft, the girls find power in their hands for the first time in their lives. But power always has a price, and it's usually paid in blood.
Real Americans
Author: Rachel Khong
In the late 1990s, Lily and Matthew fall in love in New York City. The two couldn't be more different: Matthew the heir to a pharmaceutical empire and Lily the child of scientists who fled China during the Cultural Revolution. Fast forward to 2021 where Lily lives with 15-year-old son, Nick, on an isolated Washington island. Nick feels like his mother is hiding something from him, and when he sets out to find his biological father, it threatens to raise more questions than answers.
Nightbitch
Author: Rachel Yoder
And we're back with another title that was originally featured in my October TBR. This is a satirical fairy tale about motherhood. Two years after putting her career on hold to be a stay-at-home mom, a woman discovers she's no longer altogether human. Seeking a cure for her canine-like condition at the library, she discovers A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography. She also meets a group of marketing-scheme moms who may be more than they seem.
Little Fires Everywhere
Author: Celeste Ng
This one has been on my radar for awhile, too, and was also featured in my October TBR. It's also a Reese Book Club pick and was turned into a drama series, so you know it has to be good. Elena Richardson's family is picture-perfect and the epitome of Shaker Heights, where everything, including the lives of its residents, is planned out. Then single-mom Mia and her teenage daughter, Pearl, come to town and begin renting a house from the Richardsons. Soon, Elena and Mia find themselves on opposite sides of a controversial adoption issue. Elena becomes suspicious of Mia's motives and begins to dig into her past, but her obsession comes with a cost.
From a Distant Star
Author: Karen McQuestion
I feel a little silly including this title on my list...since it dates all the way back to my original One Woman Book Club in 2023. There were two books that I didn't read from that year's list, and this is one of them. I'd really like to cross it off my TBR list. Lucas Walker has miraculously recovered from a terminal illness, but while his friends and family celebrate, Lucas's girlfriend, Emma, can tell he's changed and suspects something is very wrong. The two set out on a road trip to discover the truth, a trip that turns into a life and death race against time.
No comments:
Post a Comment