How is it the end of 2023 already? This year has absolutely flown by! I’ve bought a lot of books this year and this is my final haul (excluding the books I’ll probably be gifted at Christmas).

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I’ve actually never read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, despite having a tattoo of Herman Munster, a TV character inspired by Frankenstein’s Monster. I feel like its one of those classics everybody reads at school, but we didn’t have it on the syllabus at mine. This is the 1818 text edition, which is considered to contain more feminist and political aspects of Shelley’s writings.

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Another horror classic, Carmilla is a foundational vampire text which is credited with inspiring Bram Stoker’s Dracula (which I love), as well as countless modern vampire novels. It’s very short, this edition only 156 pages, so I should get through it in 1 or 2 sessions.

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

In Memoriam by Alice Winn is my local book club’s pick for January and is also the winner of Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. I’ve heard several people say this is their favourite book of the year so I have high hopes for this. I’ve not been able to attend my local book club for 6 months because I travel a lot for work. I can finally make it to the one in January and am very exited to catch up with everyone and discuss all the books we’ve read together in 2023.

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: How the Natural World is Adapting to Climate Change by Thor Hanson

As someone who graduated with a Bachelor of Science 5 years ago, I feel like a dumb bitch now. I haven’t engaged in any sort of scientific literature in a very long time, I feel like I’ve forgotten everything I know! Back in my first year first year of university I took a module called “Biology Book Club”, where every week we read and discussed a different popular science book. My goal for next year is to read at least one scientific non-fiction book a month, engaging with in by making notes and writing little summaries for them on here, as a way to actually use my brain for once. 😂

Geography in Bite-Sized Chunks by Will Williams

Continuing on from the “Biology Book Club” idea, I picked this up. This again is just to help refresh my memory on the basics of geography because I’ve forgotten so much of it. It’s crazy how so much of your early life is dedicated to nothing but education and after you ender the work force you loose almost all of it after a few years. One of my goals for 2024 is to regularly make time in my schedule for learning, either things that I’ve forgotten or something completely new to me.