2018 Book Bucket List

At the start of the year I did a big roundup of my top ten books of 2017, and when I checked through my Goodreads to see what I'd read, I realised that I'd read a lot of shit books. I'd been saving all the good books for a rainy day and reading things I thought I ought to, or that I figured had been sat around on my shelf for too long. I don't want that to happen this year, so I'm making a big list of all the books I want to read in the rest of 2018 (although I'm sure there will be others!), and I'm pretty proud to say that I've kickstarted this by reading two already since I took these photos.

Life's too short to read boring books, so here's all the fab ones that I've got sat on my bookshelf waiting for me to love them.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I read Half of a Yellow Sun years ago and it's a book that's absolutely stuck in my mind as being graphic and eye-opening and raw and beautiful. I want to read everything that Chimamanda's brought out, and Purple Hibiscus seems like a fab place to start.
Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare. I did a big Shakespeare module at uni, and whilst it meant that I read a whole lot of his work, I managed to miss this. The fact that a possible sequel to this, Love's Labour's Won was lost and never recovered has me obsessed with a need to read this play.
More Than This by Patrick Ness. The Chaos Walking trilogy by Ness are some of the best books I read as a teen, and if you haven't read them, then you need to. I spied More Than This a couple of months ago and I've been putting off reading it for fear that it won't be *as* good, but I'm putting my faith in the author on this one now.
Zero K by Don Delillo. DeLillo is one of my all-time favourite modernist authors, and Zero K sounds like a full on terrifying dystopian novel. The protagonist looks at ways to preserve his wife after she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the book discusses the implications of this.
The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. On a mission to read more plays this year, this is pretty much at the top of my wishlist. I missed out on seeing the play when it came to my University, but I've wanted to read it ever since. I'm ready to feel angry and empowered and more learned.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. We all love The Great Gatsby right? Fitzgerald is an incredible author, and I adored the film version of Benjamin Button when it came out. I was shocked to see that the book is so thin (when the film is soooo long), and I'm ready to see how they compare.
Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. I'm a big BIG Victorian novels fan, and Dickens is one of my faves. I've never read Barnaby Rudge and this version is so beautiful that I can't leave it unloved on my shelves for much longer.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I've been putting off reading this because the size is a little too intimidating. BUT, 2018 is a year of pushing myself out of my reading comfort zone (and so far I'm loving it), so this is firmly on the agenda. 

The Power by Naomi Alderman. I don't really have words for how incredible this sounds? It was all over the internet at the beginning of the year and the blurb is ace. The Power is all about a world where teenage girls can inflict any amount of pain they desire if they want to. It's a world where men fear that women will physically abuse them if they want to, and the tables are absolutely turned.
Body Positive Power by Megan Jane Crabbe. I adore Megan's work to make the world a better, more body positive place. This year I'm determined to find ways to love my body despite its flaws, and Megan's book is something that I know will open my eyes to theories about body positivity I've never even thought about. 
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I've gone ahead and read this one since taking these photos and oh my god. It's incredible. I'm glad I waited until adulthood to read this because it's graphic and so so upsetting but wow. It was something that every time I put down, I snatched back up again because I couldn't bear to leave the story. It broke my heart and is 100% the best book I've read so far this year.
A History of Loneliness by John Boyne. Historical fiction is my guilty book pleasure (hellooo Philippa Gregory) and John Boyne is an incredible writer of it. As well as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I've read and loved The House of Special Purpose by Boyne. Both made me cry, and this, his newest book, will almost certainly do the same.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Another dystopian novel, this is set in a disturbing future in which some young people are brought up for the purpose of being organ donors. It discusses the crisis of our shortfall of organ donors, and this extreme solution.
Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven. I've wanted to read this ever since it first came out and Zoella spoke out about how fab it was. Since then I've heard so many people rave about it, and Niven's high on my list of authors I want to try reading.
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. It's basically a crime that I haven't read this already. I adore Animal Farm and I know this is going to absolutely make me horrified at how little in the world has changed since Orwell penned this novel.
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman was basically the fiction book of 2017, but I wanted to wait until all the hype died down a little before reading it. This is another one that I've now read and whilst I loved it, it's not my top read of the year.
What are you planning on reading this year? I need some more books to add to my pile!
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