TBR of Doom Post Holiday Edition (Patreon)

Man Friend dubbed this our "Sad Christmas" not because we are sad, but because our holidays, for various reasons, involved a lot of sad people.  It made for a kind of strange holiday, especially when you factor in the fact that it was the first Christmas without Bigs living in our house. I am so happy for him and his girlfriend that they found an apartment and are taking big strides in their lives--though they are, of course, stressed out--but it's weird on our end. Especially with my mom out of town. Most days, it's just me and Smalls. So, weird. Not bad. Just weird. Smalls is enjoying setting up his new bedroom and we're planning on turning one of the closets into  a reading nook for his manga. Also, I want a reading nook. Instead, I've been trying to read and people keeping talking to me (mostly Smalls) or the dogs keep barking at me (right now, for example). I wish I had a nook. Alas.

I have managed some reading! I finished the last of the Mercy Thompson audiobooks, which was a fun way to reread the series. I then immediately listened to 10 Things that Never Happened by Alexis Hall (Adult rom com) and I highly recommend it if you're looking for something funny. The audiobook was great--the narrator, Will Watts, did a lovely job. The story has a fake amnesia plot and several jokes about working retail during the holidays that I felt deeply. 

I finally read my copy of Fated Blades by Ilona Andrews (adult, SFF romance). It was a fun, short read about the heads of two families that were created to be fairly unstoppable killing machines. It was fun and sort of reminded me of a blend of their Edge series and the Hidden Legacy series. 

One of my bookseller friends (I want to say it was Stacey at B&N Southcenter who is on IG as staceyrzreads if you're looking for book recs) recommended the Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (Adult, Epic Fantasy romance) which I'm digging so far. I'm not sure how romance-y it is (if it's a thread or an actual straight up romance) but I'm enjoying the underground poison running ring and cool necromancy. I haven't read Whitten before, but so far the writing is great--lots of clear, cool descriptions and explanations of this new fantasy world, interesting characters, and the voice is solid. Can't wait to read more of it.

I actually got gifted a few books for the holidays, which honestly never happens. The people in my life just assume I already have the book, I think, or maybe already read it, so they don't try. Which...fair enough? But I listed a few titles I wanted for people who asked, and I got a few I'm stoked about. My sister in law sent me a copy of The Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (Young Adult/Middle Grade Fantasy--not quite sure on the age range yet.)  I'm here for a book about sentient bread/bread familiars.

My stepmom got me a copy of the Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft (Adult Fantasy). Bancroft is another new-to-me author, and this book looked really good. 

And it's not a book per se, but I fall into the cliche of the mom who has to fill her own stocking (which feels like a metaphor), and this year I managed to get my hands on one of the mini brands book capsules. (@Ezeecat had them on his IG and I thought they looked super cool.) I got for teeny tiny books. My favorite was the teeny tiny Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. It's a bit ridiculous, but I enjoyed it a whole lot. I'm not going to lie, I kind of want to track down more of them. I could make a teeny, tiny bookcase and set it on my actual bookcase! 

The things that make me happy. *shrugs*

So now I have to figure out what audiobook to listen to next. Any suggestions? Did any of you get books for the holidays that you're excited about?