Books I want to read before years end*

The year’s end nears, and the days slowly grow shorter and colder. I thought I’d share with you all the books I’m avidly excited to read and want to read before the end of the year because, in my own opinion, there is nothing quite like reading during the colder months in Autumn and Winter, sitting by the fire crackling listing to the soft trickling sounds of the rain tapping on the roof, covered in an abundance of blankets.

Willow Leenane

28 November 2023

Am I going to read all these books? No, probably not. This is an extremely pretentious list, and there are a lot of books listed here, all books that I am dying to crack open and devour.

Even if I don't read them all, that doesn't matter because it doesn't matter how many books I read in a year or even a month. To me, all that matters is the quality of the books that I read and whether I've enjoyed them or not. Anyway, here is a list and a brief explanation of the books that I am going to read and want to read in the distant and all-foretelling future.

Pageboy - Elliot Page

At the present moment, while I am writing this article, I am reading “Pageboy” by Elliot Page. “Pageboy” is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page.

“Pageboy” tells the story of Elliot Page’s journey throughout his Hollywood acting career, navigating the abuse and criticism he experienced from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood. “Pageboy” brings us through Elliot Page’s self-discovery and realisation of his true self. “Pageboy” is a beautifully written memoir that tells the tale of how removing ourselves from other’s expectations of us helps us find out who we truly are.

During this school year, I am trying to expand my reading tastes, reading books that I genuinely wouldn’t have reached for on the shelves before. I mainly read fiction books, but I want to read more non-fiction books to help not only expand my vocabulary but also to help improve my writing. I want to start reading more memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, translated fiction and more poetry.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

“The Book Thief” is a novel set in Nazi Germany during World War Two.

Narrated by Death, “The Book Thief” tells the story of how our protagonist, Liesel’s life, is changed for the better when she finds a book abandoned in the snow. This was Liesel’s first act of book thievery “The Book Thief” tells a gripping tale of Liesels love affair with books and words, causing her to start stealing books from Nazi book burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library and wherever books can be found.

Atonement - Ian McEwan

“Atonement” by Ian McEwan is a love story filled with repressed passion and festering jealousy.

Atonement is a novel about war, love, childhood, class and guilt. Atonement is a profoundly moving exploration of shame and forgiveness, of atonement and the possibility of absolution. On a hot day in the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain of their country house.

Watching her is Robbie Turner, the son of the Tallis’s cleaning lady. By the end of the day, their lives will be changed forever. Briony has committed a crime that she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone for.

Dracula - Bram Stoker

“Dracula” by Bram Stoker is an epistolary novel, meaning it is told through various letters, diary entries and newspaper articles.

When Jonathan Harker, a real estate agent, goes to Transylvania for a real estate transaction, he doesn’t realise that he’s entering the lair of the vampire Count Dracula. What unfolds next is a high-stakes race to stop Count Dracula from spreading his curse across Transylvania.

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel set in St Petersburg in Russia and is centred around Raskolnikov.

When Raskolnikov is wandering around the slums of St Petersburg, he commits a random murder without any remorse or regret. The story then unfolds as he plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator. Raskolnikov is pursued by the voice of his own conscience and is overcome by guilt.

Study for Obedience - Sarah Bernstein

“Study for Obedience”, shortlisted for the 2023 booker prize, is a book about a young woman who moves from the place of her birth to a remote country to be a housekeeper for her brother, who is recently divorced by his wife.

Soon after her arrival, a series of inexplicable events begin to occur, with collective hysteria, the death and demise of a ewe and her nearly-born lamb, a dog’s phantom pregnancy and a potato blight. She begins to notice that she is beginning to be directed with some intensity as hostility begins to grow.

Elvis and Me - Priscilla Beaulieu Presley with Sandra Harmon

“Elvis and Me” is a bestseller memoir that reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley.

Decades after Elvis’s death many people still worship him. But very few people know him as Elvis, the man. Priscilla tells the story of their love, marriage, their affairs, their divorce and their unbreakable bond. “Elvis and Me” is a tribute to both the star and legend and the man.

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“The Yellow WallpaperWallpaper” is a story about a woman who is diagnosed by her physician husband with “temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency” after the birth of her child.

The woman is urged to rest for the summer. Forbidden to do any work, spending her days in the nursery, with its barred windows, scratched floors and pulling yellow wallpaper. In her own journals, the woman depicts her obsession with the horrid wallpaper.