Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Didn't Get to in 2018

This week's topic:

Books You Didn't Get to in 2018

Discuss the books you didn't quite get around to this year but are at the top of your list for 2019! 

If you celebrated Christmas yesterday, I hope you had a good one!  Did you get any books or bookish goodies?  I got 2 new bookshelves.  I'm very thankful for them, as my lone shelf was overflowing.  Other than that we had a nice family day, I can't really ask for much more than that.

With the year coming to an end this week's topic is kind of perfect.  I spent most of the month wrapping up the remaining reading prompts I had for the Popsugar Reading Challenge.  I have about 20 pages left in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which I plan to finish as soon as I get this post up, then I'm done with the 2018 list.  I really love working on the challenge because it gets me to read things I normally wouldn't and I still get to read a majority of books I wanted to read anyway.  I have a huge list of books I meant to get to this year, narrowing it down to 5 was really tough.  These are all books I bought in the last year but never read for one reason or another.  I've realized that I tend to put off reading books I own because I prioritize the books I get from the library and the ARCs I receive first.

• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• 
• I bought this after Christmas last year when it was on sale in the kindle store.  Kate Quinn has been known to join us in our Popsugar Challenge facebook group from time to time for Q&A sessions.  This spans WWI and WWII and involves female spies.  For a lover of wartime historical fiction it sounds like something I would really enjoy.
• Radium Girls by Kate Moore
• 
• This has gotten so many good reviews.  I'm not a big nonfiction reader, but this really intrigues me.  I bought it on sale as well.  I've read several amazing non-fiction books over the last 2 years and I bought this hoping to read another.  This is one I need to make a priority.  It tells the story of the women who worked with radium, which was a wonderful substance at the time, but they didn't know that it was poisoning them.  
• Attitude by Jay Wright
• 
• Both of my boys play basketball and we are a huge NCAA basketball family.  Go Cuse!  It is pretty much the only thing on TV on our house from October until the championship game in late March/early April.  I really respect Jay Wright as a coach and I look forward to seeing his team play every year.  I bought this for my sons to read, but no reason I can't read it too. I had it slated as a book challenge prompt for a book involving a sport this year but as time was running out, I read a much shorter book and I really regret my choice.  I didn't really enjoy it, other than the fact that I finished it in a day.  Good news is I own this and I can read it in 2019 when I have more time to devote to it.
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
• 
• This is another one I bought on sale and never picked up again.  I really enjoy this type of historical fiction.  This has come highly recommended by many fans of the genre.  It is high on my list of things to get to in 2019.
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• 
• I love mythology of any type.  I find it fascinating.  I bought a hardback of this at a book sale a while back and never picked it up again.  I heard the audio is great and might get to it that way.  I know Hoopla has it.  My husband and I watch Vikings and I really love the mythology that they weave into the show and hope to learn more about it.  I actually find the behind the scenes history episodes more interesting than the show itself.

June TBR

I have a couple of ARCs I want to get to in June, and a couple of Popsugar Challenge Prompts I want to get to.  I'm not going to put too many things on my TBR this month because I just don't know what I want to read.  I need to get my ARCs read and reviewed, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself and find myself in a reading slump.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young
• I received an ARC of this via Edelweiss+.  Sam is one of my favorite authors, and while contemporary isn't my favorite genre, I'll read it if she wrote it.  I just love the way she writes and develops her characters.  This will be out on June 26th.
• Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
• I have a physical ARC of this.  Its a perfect family thriller.  It sounds awesome and creepy.  This comes out July 17th.
• Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
• This comes out in July as well, but I've had the ARC for a while and I want to get to it.  It is a Little Mermaid retelling and it looks amazing.  
• Attitude by Jay Wright
• We are hugh NCAA basketball fans in my house.  We've been to the tournament several times, and there is a game on atleast one TV once the season starts each fall.  I admire Jay Wright, I watched a documentary about how he develops his players on and off the court at Villanova.  He said he's developing young men not just basketball players, and I really respect that mentality.  His book was recommended to my son.  The reading challenge this year has a prompt for a book involving sports, and I can't think of a better book to fill it with.  

Audiobooks

I'm taking the same approach I did last month, I'm going to see what is available and what I'm in the mood for.  I have a ton of  challenge books I want to get to, and audio seems to be the best way to get to my challenge books and the other stuff I want to read.  If only there were more time in the day to read.

• The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
• I've heard great things about this series, and I just got the book in from the library, so we'll see how it goes.  It is narrated by one of my favorite narrators so I'm sure it will be great.
• Till Death by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• This is another book I have a copy of but haven't gotten to yet.  Hoopla has it so I'm hoping to get to it in June.  I'm a fan of Armentrout's thrillers.