Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. It’s been a little while since I’ve put one of these lists together, and with January being so much about looking back as well as forward, this topic felt like a perfect one to take part in. I do have to wonder which of these will end up being unread by 2025, though I don’t even want to think about that year being a reality right now.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Fittingly, one of my main white-whale reads, such as I call them, is the very book the concept is named from. I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages, but I’m a little too intimidated by it to pick it up. Nevertheless, it languishes on my shelf and I probably think about it at least a couple times a week. I just worry it will consume a month or two, taking attention away from other books. But maybe this year will be the year?

The Employees by Olga Ravn

This book is really short and written in a rather brisk format, though meaning in the narrative is a little obscure and fleeting. Regardless, I was hoping to squeeze this book in last year; alas, it wasn’t to be. I’m happy to report, however, that I’ve already read it this year. Go me!

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

I’ve been meaning to start the Southern Reach trilogy since, I think, 2017; that’s when I believe I acquired all the books. I meant to start last year, but I didn’t manage to get around to it. Once again, however, I’ve turned that around, as I just finished this first book last night! It seems I’m on a roll, but I expect I’ll lose momentum. I also just learned last night that they all came out in 2014, so coincidentally I’m reading the trilogy during the year of its ten-year anniversary.

The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott

I really enjoyed starting the Star Wars: The High Republic books back in 2021, but I sadly haven’t managed to be able to continue them since then. I was hoping I could get at least one more read last year, but it was not to be. I’m hoping I can squeeze in this and perhaps another, but that may be too ambitious in the grand scheme. We’ll see.

The Ghost: A Cultural History by Susan Owens

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while after passing it by once in a book shop; I regret not buying it but have since committed to reading a copy from the library. I got so close with that plan that I actually had a library copy in my possession in December. However, I realized I wouldn’t have time and somebody else put a reservation on it, so I decided to just give it back and reserve it again myself for the new year. Still I wait, but I hope it’ll be returned soon (though it is 10 days overdue now).

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

It has been simply too long since I read the first book in this series and I really need to continue it finally. I really liked that first book too, so I really don’t know what I’m waiting for. It kinda feels weird that I’ve committed more to the Southern Reach, now that I think about it. Why can’t I commit to this?

Hellboy: The Dragon Pool by Christopher Golden

It’s been over two years since I last read a book from the Hellboy spin-off novels now, and that simply won’t do. Though I have a number of them ahead of me, which I’ve renewed effort into acquiring, this one would mark the end of Pocket Star Books’ run on publishing these novels before Dark Horse picked them up; this feels like a sort of milestone, so I really want to get this “last” one done.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I really meant to read this as a short story for much of 2023, but I think I stopped myself because I resented the crappy little book I bought of it off of Amazon. The binding was flimsy, and the cover art wasn’t the right resolution. Just shoddy craftsmanship. I’ve since purchased a volume of her stories that includes this short and I’m much happy with this.

Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

I’ve been a fan of Ellis for a while now, and I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Axiom’s End, so I really need to get this one finished in time for the third book coming out this summer. I’ve not got much else to say about this one, I just really wanted to have it read already. I’m not sure if I’ll then read the newest one, because I don’t want to fall behind on other books. So it goes.

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

I don’t have a lot of experience reading philosophy, so I fear a lot of this book will go over my head, but I’ve heard enough about Camus’s philosophy that I’m really curious about this book and its ideas about embracing the absurdity of existence. It’s also not very long, so I really ought to just dig in and see how I manage with it.

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Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own list down below.