What I Want to Read: Winter 2018

A new year means new books and a new reading goal! I'm aiming for 30 books this year and plan on starting off with these:

Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything by Aly Raisman

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Aly Raisman is amazing, in case you haven't heard recently (which I find hard to believe given the Women's March and Nassar trial happening last week and this week). So if that isn't enough reason to read her book, Aly tells her stories of struggle and success well. Fans and readers get more of an inside look at her gymnastics career and even her family.

She shares more of her inspiring and motivating words that teach young girls, women, and everyone really to love themselves and not be ashamed of how they look or what others say about them. I think it's one of the best ―if not the best ― memoir/biography a gymnast has written in recent years. Plus, it has a great author's note and resources at the end.

Still Here by Rowan Blanchard

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Rowan Blanchard is such an intelligent, artistic, and inspiring young woman with her wealth of knowledge and activism before graduating high school. All of those qualities seem to shine through in her first book, which is more of a scrapbook full of letters, poems, and photos from herself and some of her favorite artists than a normal book full of words telling a story. This doesn't come out till mid-February, but I can't wait to get it and see all of the deep and raw content.

Girl on Pointe by Chloe Lukasiak

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Another teenage girl who's pretty wise beyond her years is Chloe Lukasiak, star of Lifetime's former hit reality show Dance Moms. In her debut book, Chloe shares what's she's learned through her experiences with dance, being on TV, and more in addition to her own words and doodles, letting fans of all ages connect with her and know that she's a normal teenager, too.

As I write this, I actually just returned from the Naperville, Illinois, stop of Chloe's book tour. Chloe is such a sweet person, and even though this book is aimed more toward middle grade/early young adult readers, I'm sure I'll still enjoy reading this.

Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia

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Speaking of Chloe Lukasiak, she recently started a book club with Girls' Life magazine. Chloe's a bookworm herself, so I'm not surprised she started Chloe's Book Club. The club doesn't officially start until February, and the book for February is Broken Beautiful Hearts.

I hadn't heard of this book or Kami Garcia until Chloe's Book Club was announced earlier this month, but I know Chloe has good taste in books (I started the Red Queen series because of her, and it's so good!). And after reading the synopsis, I'm interested in reading it. It's a young adult sports romance, which is right up my alley.

Breaking the Ice by Julie Cross

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I didn't mean for these past three books to connect to one another, but they just happen to! Julie Cross's second installment of the Juniper Falls series continues the young adult sports romance series with new characters and new conflicts. I loved the first one, how it balanced sports and personal conflict and can't wait to read this one. 

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

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I haven't read much young adult mystery, but I was intrigued by this book the second I read the back cover in Barnes and Noble. This is described as The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, and that honestly just sounds awesome. My best friend was reading this and told me it was good, so I'm excited to read this once I get the chance.

Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray

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I'd honestly never heard of this book until I was rewatching The Royals (E!'s scripted show about a fake royal British family). I was watching the end credits of one episode and noticed it said the series was based off this book, which I had no idea of. So I looked up the book after seeing that and was definitely interested in reading it. (Plus, The Royals has become one of my favorite TV shows, so of course I want to read where the idea came from.)

As you can probably guess from the title, the book is based off the Shakespeare play Hamlet. The main character, Ophelia is Prince Hamlet's boyfriend, and her life gets kind of turned upside down when Hamlet's father, the king, dies, making Hamlet king, changing not only Hamlet's life, but Ophelia, too.


What books do you want to read this year? Any new releases you can't wait for? (For me, it's the final installment of the Red Queen series.)