Eleven Books in A Pre-Christmas Book Haul I'm Ecstatic to Marathon After Slaying Finals Season and Carb-loading with Oatmeal

After finals season, there are two activities I enjoy partaking in: reading books until the sun announces the next day and napping until my dreams resemble that of a dragon fever dream. And, when I passed all my classes of my first semester (of many) of grad school, I knew there was only one appropriate response: a pre-Christmas book haul. Especially when there is no truly no bad occasion to excuse bringing books into a good home. 

Thus, the following are only a few of the acceptable reasons for a (mandatory) book haul:

Earn good grades? You definitely deserve a book (or one for each A+)!

Get a bad grade on a test, or have a bad day? Sop up your tears with a breathtaking story to rejuvenate your motivation for school and other difficult challenges.

Bored of doom-scrolling on social media? Read for 5 minutes to achieve another addiction that is even harder to break and can be expensive on the wallet or the library card!

Left heartbroken by your last re-read of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince or Clockwork Princess?

Yep, you will definitely need a retail therapy session at your nearest bookstore or collect all the books from your town's library. The only trusted cure is to mourn your literature losses and read until your heart can be mended and eventually broken by another literary tale.

- - -

Since my finals have finished and I thankfully passed my classes, I have continued my mandatory 30-minute Anki sessions to actually retain this past semester's material; meanwhile, I have also been catching up on the hottest stories on my TBR list that I may have missed while studying. Below are some of the titles I will be marathoning during my Christmas/winter holiday break, and please let me know if I should prioritize one of the books over the others! 

Also, to build up my glycogen stores and maintain the energy required to tackle this challenge, let me know which snack is best. I am currently deliberating between hearty bowls of cake-flavored oatmeal or oatmeal-flavored cake. 

So, without further ado, welcome the latest additions to my already very full and toppling bookshelf.

Eleven Books in A Pre-Christmas Book Haul I'm Ecstatic to Marathon After Slaying Finals Season and Carb-loading with Oatmeal

1. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Two years ago, my family and I visited Arkansas as a celebration of both my brother and me graduating from high school and university, respectively. Along that several hours of driving, we stopped at the greatest grocery store chain of all time--also commonly known as Walmart--and my mother and I immediately ran to the store's book section. My mother picked up the second book in this trilogy, Kingdom of the Cursed, without further researching the book on Goodreads. Thus, when she finished ten pages, she was left clueless and wondered who exactly Maniscalco intended to be cursed and why a fallen angel was the love interest of an Italian mortal. But of course, if an Italian does not take the time to season their sauce to perfection, only bad things happen from there.

2. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Trilogy by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and its subsequent books by Jackson sound just like perfection to me, particularly as my high school years would have been somber but more interesting if I had been given the chance to solve a murder...and that of a previous student. Thankfully, I graduated within the fifth class of the high school I attended, so there were not many opportunities for this mystery to present as my reality.

Still, this trilogy and Jackson's works receive praise from readers, the first book and overall series boasting 4.31 and 4.64 ratings on Goodreads, as of today. Therefore, it only seems reasonable to read this trilogy before the books are adapted into a blockbuster movie or a Broadway musical.

3. The Last Hours Trilogy by Cassandra Clare

Without a doubt, Clare was one of many authors who influenced my reading preferences in high school. From middle school to my first semester of college, I vowed to read 100 pages nightly--just so I could maintain the speed required to absorb Clare's mountain of supernatural drama and the colossal mound that became my TBR. Despite my faults in not maintaining my soon-to-be record-breaking reading speed, I hopefully have redeemed myself by purchasing this trilogy to complete the challenge I began in my middle school years. 

As with any of Clare's previous works, I’m absolutely certain that diving back into the world of Shadowhunters and folklore creatures will be a blast—right before I cry an entire river mourning my beloved literary heroes.

4. The Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black

Subscribing to Amazon's KindleUnlimited has been a lifesaver, particularly as I have instant access to various popular novels and authors. Along with flying through Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing, I instantly loved Jude and Cardan in Holly Black's The Cruel Prince. Unfortunately, KindleUnlimited does not include The Wicked King. Instead of moping about the possibility that I would have to wait to see the trilogy's ending (because even my library did not have the last book in stock), I fought the fate initially set for me and ended up with the cheapest option for both my emotional river and pocketbook: the trilogy's boxset. So now, binging the series without interruptions is the best pre-Christmas gift I could ever ask for.

5. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

My third home—after my family’s house and school—was the library. And my fourth? The cozy aisles of Half Price Books.

My mom and I recently browsed the brick-and-mortar bookstore, and I was able to convince her and myself to choose one book each as an early Christmas gift. After reading the first ten pages of at least 20 books with too many yawns in between page flips, my temporal lobe was alerted by this interesting tale of a woman's self-discovery in the midst of a possible forced marriage and obscure family past. From Goodreads' reviews, this book is a deeply thoughtful experience for many; moreover, I hope it is the same for me.

So, how would you rate this sleepy-eyed book haul I completed via Amazon immediately after finishing my FINAL final exam? If you loved any of the above books or heard about them, which ones would you recommend to others (aka, me!), and why? What bookish treasures or literature-themed gifts are you hoping Santa will leave under the tree tonight? If you do not celebrate Christmas, what holiday or occasion are you celebrating, and which traditions do you wish were more commonly known? Let me know by chatting with me in the comments below or on any of my social media.

𝓜𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓼 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶,

Nicole

Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr