Everything On My Physical TBR

Just in case you’re as nosy and book-obsessed as I am.

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Whenever my friends and I meet up for a cosy country pub afternoon, we always end up talking books. This is easily one of the best parts of having met at school and bonding over being the English lit kids. We always leave feeling inspired to read more, to read each other’s recent favourite books, and with more recommendations. So, I thought I’d share what’s on my physical/owned TBR too, along with a quick explanation of how I ended up with it on my list and shelf. Thanks to Ella, Izzy and Soph for inspiring this post!

All The Books On My Physical TBR

60. Everything On My Physical TBR

January reads

I’m one of those readers that typically reads a book as it comes into their possession, which means I usually have a small stack of unread books in my collection. Yet in 2023 when I discovered that the 66 Books Ltd. was local to me, that completely changed. Suddenly, I found myself with 88 unread books piling up in my room and imposed a year-long book-buying ban that I successfully completed. Now, I only have 24 unread books on my physical shelves, plus a handful on my Kindle. Let’s talk unread, upcoming reads…

Find me on Goodreads and StoryGraph to see what I’m reading and reviewing in real-time.

Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery by Cain Blythe

I picked up this nature non-fiction from David’s, a local-ish secondhand bookshop, for £2.99. I am unbelievably passionate about rewilding and what it can do for our planet, our creatures, and for climate change – I even lead an editorial campaign rooted in rewilding at Stella McCartney! This feels like it goes hand in hand with How Trees Can Save The World, which I read in January, and I’ll be picking it up soon.

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

Found a copy of this much-talked about cosy, healing fiction book in the Little Free Library I run, and I couldn’t have grabbed it faster! When Yeongju feels burned out from a life she thought deemed her successful – busy social calendar, high-flying career in Seoul, and a demanding marriage. Following divorce and leaving her job, Yeongju moves out of the city and opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop. This is a book about books, about running a bookshop and its meaningful work, and I can’t wait to read it. I’ve earmarked this one for May, which is when my boyfriend and I are going to Seoul!

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

This huge tome has been haunting me for months and is what inspired my 2025 reading resolutions. I loved Clarke’s Piranesi and, although this is supposed to be very different, this magical historical fiction set in Yorkshire sounds right up my street. Of course I’m itching to get to it, but I’m imagining this to be a great early autumn read.

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada

One thing about me is that I love historical fiction set during World War II. It was a pivotal moment in history and a time that we must really continue to learn from, and historical fiction helps to maintain this purpose. Alone in Berlin is a ‘gripping tale of an ordinary man's determination to defy the tyranny of Nazi rule’ and I really can’t wait to get to this, especially given the state of our world in 2025.

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I really love the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series and was thrilled when my sister gifted me the newest instalment for Christmas! The series revolves around a magical time-travelling café where its guests can meet with somebody from their past and speak to them ‘before the coffee gets cold’. It’s a sentimental, cosy series and I have truly loved dipping into it when the moment is right.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

My boyfriend gave me his copy of this book and now we’ve moved in together, so it’s technically back in his possession! Vowing to start reading horror last year, I finally read The Shining in October and hopefully I can read its sequel soon!

Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin

After completely falling in love with Le Guin’s work a couple of years ago, I hauled a few of her books, including Always Coming Home. Imagine my shock when I opened it to find it’s a swirling culmination of artwork, poetry, prose, music and more to create one of her most imaginative works. I’ve since discovered that I should probably complete her Earthsea series before tackling this. And, yes, sadly I have the SF Masterworks edition!

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

“Two people, until recently strangers, find themselves on a long, tortuous and dangerous journey across the ice. One is an outcast, forced to leave his beloved homeland; the other is fleeing from a different kind of persecution. What they have in common is curiosity, about others and themselves, and an almost unshakeable belief that the world can be a better place.

As they journey for over 800 miles, across the harshest, most inhospitable landscape, they discover the true meaning of friendship, and of love.”

Space Crone by Ursula K. Le Guin

I started reading Space Crone a while ago and have two or three more essays to pore through. This collection is very focused on motherhood, feminism and gender, and has been a brilliant read thus far. I love that you can trace Le Guin’s feminist journey through her back catalogue of works.

The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin

A collection of 17 short stories by Le Guin that I can’t wait to plough through. Somehow I’m feeling like this will be a great summer read?

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

“Alison Hart, a medium by trade, tours the dormitory towns of London’s orbital ring road with her flint-hearted sidekick, Colette, passing on messages from beloved dead ancestors. But behind her plump, smiling persona hides a desperate woman: she knows the terrors the next life holds but must conceal them from her wide-eyed clients. At the same time she is plagued by spirits from her own past, who infiltrate her body and home, becoming stronger and nastier the more she resists…”

I picked this up solely because it mentions Hertfordshire – my home county! – on the first page, but really want to explore Mantel’s work this year.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

… including another attempt at Wolf Hall! I first tried reading this in March 2020 and we all know how that month panned out. In fact, I have a theory that much of what I read, or tried to read, in 2020 was objectively good but my brain couldn’t compute a single thing.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Found a cool copy of this in the Little Free Library that I run, only moments after talking about it with my boyfriend. Decided that was A Sign™️.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

I got two minutes into

Jessie Lethaby

’s review of this and instantly ordered a copy.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer

One thing about me: I LOVE a nature non-fiction. The SBJ Book Club raved about this last year and I can’t wait to get to it.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami

My quest to become a Murakami completionist continues! This is a collection of 24 stories that ‘generously expresses Murakami’s mastery of the form’.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

Then Murakami went and released his first novel in six years! The City and Its Uncertain Walls follows our protagonist as they traverse a ‘mysterious City, and a disruption to the barriers between the real and shadow worlds’.

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

I meant to read this years ago after I read the previous instalment in the ‘series’, yet here we are.

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

Having grown up on a literary/media diet of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, I knew I needed this book. An ode to manga, this one follows a millennial woman turned magical girl as they grapple with the complexities of adult life.

This Feast of a Life by Cynthia So

Gratefully received an ARC of this book a few weeks ago and I can’t wait to delve in: a story that brings together identity, food, belonging and love. I think.

The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota

Another ARC that I kindly received and didn’t get ‘round to.

“Nayan Olak is a man with a past. Haunted by the sudden death of his young son and his mother and driven onward by activism in his local union, he has a strong sense of what he believes to be right: solidarity above all things. When his certainties are challenged by his younger colleague Megha, who sees the world in different terms, and when his guard is broken by Helen, who has her own reasons for wanting to be close to him, Nayan's life is upended. Observing all this is a shadowy writer-figure called Sajjan who knew Nayan as a kid. He is determined to find the key to the tragedy of Nayan's loss—but at what cost to those who remain?”

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I will not read this in 2025. I already know this to be true.

Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman

Books about writing by my favourite authors >>>>

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer

Borrowed from a friend about two years ago when I mentioned I want to start reading some VanderMeer. Oops.

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What’s on your owned to-be-read stack?