Confession time- I didn’t read as much as I wanted to in 2020. I bought a lot of books, but most of them (probably about 98.5% if I’m being completely honest) have remained unread… and then I just buy more books to add to that pile! In my defense for this vicious cycle- I work at a bookstore now and my employee discount is really, really good! I bought a lot of books before (just ask anyone who knows me), but working at the bookstore has made it worse.

So in an attempt to lighten my to-read pile by a little bit, I am actively going to make the attempt to read at least 13 books in 2021. These 13 books fall under the categories of:

• A series I want to finish
• A book I’m reading after watching the tv show for it
• Subjects I’m interested in
• Books on writing
• Series I’ve always wanted to read, but haven’t started yet
• A book that will (hopefully) help me achieve one of my goals for the future
• A self help book

These are the 13 I definitely want to read this year, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be reading any other books along the way. I would like to be able to read at least 2 books a month, but we’ll see how that goes because the foreseeable future is going to be very busy for me! So here are the 13 books I want to read in 2021!

1, 2, and 3- Baptism of Fire (Book 3 in The Witcher series), The Tower of Swallows (Book 4 in The Witcher series), and The Lady of the Lake (Book 5 in The Witcher Series)

After watching and absolutely loving the show, I went out and bought the five main books of the series. I was excited to read them! … and then the first book dragged on for me, with the second one only being a little better. This might be one of those very rare occasions where I enjoyed the show more than the books! And no it has nothing to do with the fact that Henry Cavill looks amazing in leather pants… OK, maybe it does a little. But the point is, the books just didn’t feel as wow as the show does. However, I am very curious to see where the story is going and that’s enough to keep me reading. I hope they get better as I get deeper into the series, but we’ll see!

4- Zen in the Art of Writing

I’ve had this book suggested to me by a few people, so when I was finally able to track down a copy, I purchased it. I’ve heard good things about it, so I’m hopeful it will be a helpful book to read as I go along on my writing journey!

5- Mastery

Admittedly, I’ve only read a few select chapters from it because I had to read it for my Mastery class (which was the first class of my graduate program). Though I only had to read select chapters, I thought it was really interesting and wanted to read the rest of it. I had a digital copy of it gifted to me by the University, but I am not a fan of eBooks and found it difficult to read. So I bought a physical copy, which will be much easier to read and keep my place in!

6- The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing

I came across this book at the bookstore I work at and briefly paged through it. I decided it was a read, so I decided to buy it. This is another book I am hoping will be helpful as I go along on my writing journey.

7- Good Omens

My fiancée and I watched the show and absolutely loved it! It was without a doubt one of the best things I watched in 2020 (it’s right up there with The Witcher) and after watching the show, I decided to buy the book and read it. I bought the edition that has the television show cover, which isn’t something I normally do. Normally when a book has a movie or television cover, I don’t buy it, but I liked the television show cover a lot better than the original one! I’m interested to see how closely the show follows the book and I’m really hoping I like the book as much (if not more) than I like the show!

8- It Starts with the Egg

I don’t have this book yet, but I have a copy coming in the mail. Children are something my fiancée and I have talked about numerous times throughout our relationship and we want to have a family one day. Recent health discoveries have revealed that children may or may not be in our future (testing is needed to confirm it one way or another), but I also know that sometimes our bodies need a little extra something to help with pregnancy. One of the YouTubers I watch credits this book as the book that helped her get pregnant with her son, so I’m hoping that it can help me and my fiancée also have that same result one day.

9- The Path of Druidry

I have always found Druids to be interesting, but I don’t know much about them. And (potential spoiler alert) I have been thinking for awhile now about having a character in one of my novels that has a Druid background, but in order to make it as accurate as possible, I need to do some research first! So I am very excited to start reading this book and seeing if it will work with my character or not.

10- Paganism

I have read a lot of books about Wicca, but not many (if any) about Paganism. As I’ve gotten older, experienced more, and educated myself about certain things, I’ve started to form beliefs that most people might not agree with (especially some people in my family and a majority of the older customers who come through my line at work). Still, I want to become better educated so I can confidently say what my beliefs are and if I am in fact asked to assign my beliefs to a religion, I can say what religion my beliefs fall under (though I’m pretty sure the answer would piss most people off).

11- The Alchemyst

I can’t believe it has taken me almost fourteen years to start this series. Seriously. Nicholas Flamel was mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and as we all know, I’m Harry Potter obsessed. And yes, I know he was a real person, there was a whole section about him in a Witchcraft encyclopedia I own as well as another book I had about different things from Harry Potter that were based off other legends. My point is that it took me way too long to finally decide to read this series and I’m really hoping that I’ll like it.

12- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

So I haven’t waited as long to read this one, but I probably should have started it sooner. Truth be told, I saw the movie trailer for it, but never watched the movie… and if it wasn’t for that movie trailer, I really wouldn’t have a clue what this series is about! I don’t have any particular feelings about this book one way or another. I’m just curious to see if it’s really worth the hype or not!

13- The Happiness Project

Since this last year I’ve been on a self help/self-improvement kick with my books. Especially since working at the bookstore and being able to check out a book, I’ve been reading more of them and even bought a few of the ones I felt I would read again. This one I bought at Goodwill for a dollar (or maybe it was less, I can’t remember anymore… or it could have been three dollars. Either way it was a good deal). I remember someone mentioning it while I was in college and how it helped them, so I figured I’d give it a read and see if it would be helpful for me.

So there you have it- My 13 books for 2021! I feel I have a good mixture of leisure reading and educational reading for whatever mood I’m in. And obviously other books will be read as well, so I’ll have plenty of reading options before me.

Are there any specific books on your to-read list? Or are you reading whatever books capture your attention? I would love to know! I hope everyone 2021 is treating you all well so far and that you have a great start to your week!