8 Books I Have to Read in 2025

 

For the past two years, I've published a post called 'Big Books I Want to Read' and although I did the odd little check-ins I never did a proper update on last year's list nor did I do very well with it haha. Today I'll give a summary of how 2024's BIG books went as well as a bit of a refresh on the idea for the following year.

10 BIG Books I Want to Read in 2023
8 BIG Books I Want to Read in 2024


Starting off with the books I wanted to get to last year...

2024 List

The Book of Dust Vol.2 by Philip Pullman (from last year's list) - 720 pages UNREAD
The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton (from last year's list) - 586 pages UNREAD
Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker (from last year's list) - 563 pages READ
Murtagh by Christopher Paolini - 665 pages READ
Reynard the Fox by Anne Louise Avery - 424 pages UNREAD
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke - 675 pages READ
Mossflower by Brian Jacques - 427 pages UNREAD

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow Book by Natasha Pulley - 482 pages UNREAD

You'll see that although I did tick off 3 books (2 of which admittedly were audiobooks), over 60% went unread yet again! This system obviously isn't working and so I'm switching it up a little for this year. Rather than having a list of BIG scary books that I keep avoiding, I'm going to have a list of 8 books, of any size, that I'm looking forward to and want to make time for in 2025. I have so many books on my TBR bookcase that I'm excited to get to but there are so many books, and so little time! This way I hope that most months I can look at this list and try to fit one into my monthly reads. 

2025 List

The Book of Dust Vol.2 by Philip Pullman 
The Legend of Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood

The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

Dreamstalkers: The Night Train by Sarah Driver

The Lion Above the Door by Onjali Q. Raúf

While the Storm Rages by Phil Earle

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Forget Me Not by Sophie Pavelle

Unintentionally, it still works out that many of these are on the longer side but let's not think about that! This is the first time I've also included some Non-Fiction picks. I have found such a love of non-fiction in the past couple of years, especially nature and wildlife-related books and I always want to read more. 
I'm feeling optimistic and hope that I can make a huge dent in this stack throughout this year. If I read what I read last year (80 books) then this is really only 10% of that...easy! ....?

 

8 BIG Books I Want to Read in 2024

 

This time last year I published a post called '10 BIG Books I Want to Read in 2023' and although I did the odd little check-in within my quarterly reading round-ups, I never did a proper update. Today I'm going to give updates on that list as well as talk about what I plan on reading in 2024.

2023 List
The Book of Dust Vol.2 by Philip Pullman - Unread
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Unhauled
The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton - Unread
The Primrose Railway Children by Jacqueline Wilson - Read
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse - Unhauled
A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons - Read
The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans - Unhauled
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - Read
Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker - Unread
The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell - Read

Read - 4
Unread - 3
Unhauled - 3

So I've, as of last year, decided that if I keep putting off a book to read I'm probably not going to read it and those three books that I've unhauled had been on my shelves for many years. Before I donated them I did look into them a little more online and realized they weren't for me after all. 

As for the 4 I did read, I had mixed feelings...
- The Primrose Railway Children by Jacqueline Wilson I rated a mere 1 star and I was so disappointed with it. I don't want to clog up this post with my ranting but if you're interested to know why I hated it so much I did talk more about it in my previous quarterly reading round-up here > What I Read Last Quarter // October - December. 
- A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons I gave 4 stars. It's been about 7 months since I read this so I can't pinpoint anything in particular that I liked but it was an enjoyable premise and I look forward to reading the second book at some point.
- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke got a 3-star rating from me. If I hadn't seen the movie before reading this I'd maybe have enjoyed it more, but the pacing seemed a bit off and I feel some chunks could have been missed out completely and it would still have been a perfectly fine book.

- The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell was another 4-star-er for me. It was read way back in February '23 so it's even harder to remember but I do know that I enjoyed it more than its predecessor.

Technically there should be 5 read books, as originally I had The Book of Dust Vol.1 on that list. However, I read it in January before I published the blog post so thought I couldn't count it. I wish I had counted it though because I never got around to it and like the other unread books it has been brought forward into my 2024 list, as seen below!

2024 List

The Book of Dust Vol.2 by Philip Pullman (from last year's list) - 720 pages
The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton (from last year's list) - 586 pages
Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker (from last year's list) - 563 pages
Murtagh by Christopher Paolini - 665 pages 
Reynard the Fox by Anne Louise Avery - 424 pages
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke - 675 pages
Mossflower by Brian Jacques - 427 pages

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow Book by Natasha Pulley - 482 pages

As I probably said in last year's post, I know that a 'Big' book with be different to everyone. The majority of the books I read are usually between 200-300 pages so for me 400-800 pages is pretty long! I look forward to getting around to (hopefully) all of these books this year and have my fingers crossed for some more 4 and 5-star books in 2024!!

10 BIG Books I Want to Read in 2023

 

Recently I was looking at both Mr H and I's Goodread's Year in Books. Though I read 55 books and he read 38, my annual page total was only 14,326 compared to his 16,372 with my average book length being 260 pages and his 430.
Now, of course, it is no competition and I only mention it because Mr H works full time, has way less free time to read, and still managed a fantastic number of pages. I have a few larger books on my shelves that I put off and put off, intimidated to pick them up...but why?! Therefore this year I've been inspired by Mr H and set my reading goal much lower in the hopes I can get through at least half of the list below.
Everyone will class a book 'big' at different lengths, so for the purpose of this I am listing books of 450 pages or more seeing as my average read last year was only 260! For quite a while now I have also not been making monthly TBR's and instead reading completely what I feel like when I feel like it so we'll see when I make myself pick any of these up haha!
 

The Book of Dust Vol.2 by Philip Pullman
I've actually already ticked Vol.1 off my list in January and I read it much quicker than expected.
I look forward to getting around to volume 2.

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This has sat on my shelf for years and if I don't read it this year, I will be donating it. 

I am interested in things set around Carnivals/Circuses etc and thought the blurb sounded good.

The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton
I picked this up at a used bookstore purely because I liked the cover (don't tell me you have never done the same!).
I did read the first chapter so hope to get around to this book soon.

The Primrose Railway Children by Jacqueline Wilson

I haven't read Jacqueline Wilson since I was a child, however, I am a huge E. Nesbit fan and I'm intrigued to read something inspired by such a classic.

Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
It was back in 2019 when I read Labyrinth and have wanted to read the next in this series since.
It really isn't my usual genre but I '3-starred' the first book so as I own the following two, I do want to at least try them.

A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons

Probably the most recent publication on my list and another I'm really excited to get around to!
I read the sentence ''...with all the magic of Narnia and the humour of Mary Poppins...'' and was immediately invested!

The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans
Another I chose purely by title and cover haha.
A charity shop find and I didn't really know what it was about until putting together this post. 

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
This series is another I have owned for far too many years.
I had actually already planned to read it this year and then, like many others, we watched the movie on Netflix in December so now I need to prioritize it and the sequels.

Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker
A long-standing 'joke' with Mr H surrounds this book because I went on and on about it and needed to buy it straight away,
yet it has sat on the shelf since it came out and the sun has even bleached the red from the spine to pink ha.

The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic
My current read after reading the first book at the end of 2020. 
It isn't 460 pages of just writing either and is full of wonderful illustrations and the like breaking it up.

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So that's my list of bigger books from my shelves that I hope to work through this year. I'll perhaps do a check-in later in the year with how I'm getting on but as I've started off the year quite well, I am hopeful! 

Until next time...

What to Read in October + My TBR

 

Ooooh, it feels strange to be writing bookish content again, especially on Underland to Wonderland rather than our book blog - Pages of the Hallows. Since we're taking an unspecified length of a break from that blog yet I still wanted to share a book post for Halloween, I thought I'd just post it here!

Just like my movie post, you'll be able to tell my tastes in Halloween reads are more paranormal, magical and just generally nice fun weirdness. I want to share a list of recommended books that I have already read as well as my actual TBR for the month of October. So if you are looking for family-friendly, slightly spooky or thrilling reads this Halloween, keep reading...

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For starters, my actual TBR:

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

The House in the Woods (The Ghost Hunter Chronicles #1) by Yvette Fielding

The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty

Ghostly Tales: Spine-Chilling Stories of the Victorian Age
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James

Usually, I stick to about 3 books on my to be read list each month, however, there is so much I want to read this October that my list will likely bleed over to November. No big deal, I read these genres of books all year round anyway!

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Earlier this year I have also read many books fitting for this season and I recommend these in particular:

The Crooked Mask (The Twisted Tree #2) by Rachel Burge

Bridge of Souls (Cassidy Blake #3) by Victoria Schwab

House of Teeth by Dan Jolley (Only on Audible)

Nightmares! the Lost Lullaby (Nightmares! #3) by Jason Segel, Kirsten Miller

The Jumbie God's Revenge (The Jumbies #3) by Tracey Baptiste

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

The Witch of Lagg (Dark Powers #3) by Ann Pilling

Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

Those that are listed as part of a series I have also previously read the others and recommend those too, especially The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge and The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste. 

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And finally some other must-mentions, long-standing favourites and of course classics:

The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis

Tales from the Haunted Mansion by Amicus Arcane

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Room 13 by Robert Swindells

Nightmare Stairs by Robert Swindells

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

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Those with a sharp eye may notice a couple of additional books in the photo that have not been mentioned...some I haven't yet read and therefore cannot pass judgment and the others I may not have fully enjoyed haha! Obvious books that most probably associate with this time of year are things by Stephen King or perhaps typical horror movie novels but that isn't my cup of tea. 

A large percentage of the lists are middle grade or at least family-friendly and good for many different types of people to enjoy. I hope they serve as some inspiration and of course if you have any recommendations feel free to let me know.

April TBR Lists

 

Nothing much to say here, these are our April TBR Lists of course!

Mr H's TBR List
The Wizard's Promise by Cliff McNish [288 pages]
Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab [300 pages]
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo [432 pages]

Page total - 1020 pages

Mrs H TBR List
Nightmares! The Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller [352 pages]
The Magic Place by Christopher Wormell [290 pages]
The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket [255 pages]

Page total - 897 pages

Reading is going okay as of late, it's picked up for me a little (thankfully!) and I've caught up to be on track for my yearly goal. Hopefully, we'll get some time soon to put together our quarterly round-up before we continue being super behind with everything!

March TBR Lists

 

Sticking with the theme and posting our TBR lists for the month, when the next month is almost due haha! It's insane that it is already March, I literally don't know where the time goes...it especially doesn't go towards reading because 10 weeks into the year I've only finished 7 books (3 behind my goal so far) and Mr H has already gotten through 6 despite working all the time!
You'll see that reflected in our TBR lists below.

Mr H's TBR List
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [308 pages]
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J K Rowling [105 pages]
The Crooked Mask by Rachel Burge [278 pages]

Page Total - 691

Mrs H's TBR List
Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab [300 pages]
The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs [522 pages]

Page Total - 822

February TBR Lists

 

Oh look, it's almost two weeks into the month and I'm only just posting our TBR lists...that makes a change eh? Ha! 

It's not even a surprise at this point, especially when I could only manage to get two posts up in the whole of January. At least we are beating that this month so far! 
If you wonder what all our time is spent on you can check on my other two blogs - Underland to Wonderland and Adventures of the Hallows - and of course on top of that Mr H is always at work and I have a household with 10 animals to take care of...not as easy as it seems!
Anyway, this is about our February TBR lists, so here they are. 

Mr H TBR List
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman [TBR Jar] - 435 pages
Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve - 435 pages

Page Total - 870 

Mrs H TBR List
The Ickabog by JK Rowling - 282 pages
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman [TBR Jar] - 209 pages

Page Total - 491

Yep, only two each for this month. Considering the fact that I have more time to read than Mr H, he has actually completed 4 (nearly 5) good-sized books, whereas I've only just completed 4 including 2 audiobooks! Therefore I at least want to try and get myself caught up...if that's possible!

January TBR Lists

 

This should have been posted way sooner, for sure, however there is no rushing, schedule or time scales here anymore. It's for our own documentation, especially as no one else reads haha, but we also have too many other projects and work to contend with a strict book blogging regime. I suggested stopping altogether but Mr isn't keen on the idea, so here we are. Anyway, this is what we plan to read in January 2021!

Mr H TBR Lists
The Tale Of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo [TBR Jar] - 270 pages
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman - 341 pages
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab - 285 pages

Page Total - 896

Mrs H TBR Lists
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern   [TBR Jar] - 486 pages
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini  [To be Completed 125/748] - 623 pages

Page Total - 1109

I can tell you already that despite beating my reading goal for 2020 I will start off this year very slowly as I find the Inheritance Cycle a slow one to progress through. As long as I get that book finished in January I will be happy though. Happy reading!

Until next time...

July TBR Lists

How is it already that time of the month again?! We're only coming into month 7 of the year, yet both of us are well over half way with our Goodreads reading goals...however, I feel this month it might slow down a bit. Mr H has gone back to work pretty much on his original full hours now which takes away a big chunk of reading time. It also takes away my reading time somehow, but don't ask me how haha. Anyway, here is our TBR lists for the month of July!

Mr H's TBR List

Mr Sparks by Danny Weston - 340 pages

Nightmares! by Jason Segal [TBR Jar Pick] - 355 pages
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [Mrs H's Pick] - 308 pages

- Page Total = 1,003

Mrs H's TBR List

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert - 355 pages

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs [Mr H's Pick] - 480 pages
Haunted by James Herbert [TBR Jar Pick] - 228 pages

- Page Total = 1,063

June TBR Lists

You know the drill by now. We pick some books to read, list them here and then read them. Here are our June TBR lists.

Mr H's TBR List
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman [TBR Jar Pick] - 399 pages

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve [Mrs H's Pick] - 293 pages

A Conference of Birds by Ransom Riggs - 321 pages

- Page Total = 1,013

Mrs H's TBR List

Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit [Mr H's Pick] - 237 pages

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison [TBR Jar Pick] - 352 pages

Artemis Fowl: Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer - 325 pages

- Page Total = 914

May TBR Lists

Here it is! What we're reading in May. Well to start out because with the extra time we are definitely getting through these TBR piles quicker than usual. I don't know what it is about Mr H being home from work that makes me read more, but it does! And I'm not complaining haha
Anyway, this is what we plan to read this month.

Mr Hallow's TBR List

The Brightest Star in the North by Meredith Rusu [TBR jar pick] - 234

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis [Mrs H's pick] - 172 

Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee - 403 pages

- Page Total = 809

Mrs Hallow's TBR List

The Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders [TBR jar pick] - 317 pages

Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley [Mr H's pick] - 243 pages

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman - 341 pages

- Page Total = 901

April TBR

TBR timmmee! We have so many books that we are dying to get around to, like most book lovers I suppose, but we are still being sensible with our reading goals and keeping our to be read lists to manageable sizes. If only we could speed our eyes and brains up to read at double speed then get through more of the amazing stories that are laying dormant on our shelves.
Here is what is on our lists for April.

Mr Hallow's TBR List

The Odd Sisters by Serena Valentino  [TBR Jar pick] -  274 pages

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs [Mrs H's Pick] - 480 pages

The Firework Maker's Daughter by Neil Gaiman - 132 pages

- Page total = 886

Mrs Hallow's TBR List

Eldest by Christopher Paolini [TBR Jar pick] -  668 pages

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab  [Mr H's Pick] - 285 pages

- Page total = 953

January TBR Lists

Would you believe I'm writing this post on the 7th on December? Well I am! haha but by the time this goes up it's a new year and that means a re-fresh of the Goodreads goal! We'll have a post all about that itself soon, but for now we're going to stick to the 'to be read'.
Just like last year we're going to have a list of 3 books per month each and choose one of those for each other. However the new thing this year is our TBR jar (another post that will also be coming soon will explain it further) so that is helping us to choose books we may be otherwise procrastinate on picking up. Here is what we have to read this month!

Mr Hallow

Alice in Wonderland Book of the Film by Tui Sutherland (TBR Jar Pick)

Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C S Lewis

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (Mrs H's Pick)

Mrs Hallow

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (TBR Jar Pick)

Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino

Artemis Fowl: Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer (Mr H's Pick)

After really working hard at the end of last year to get better with our reading, we're looking forward to more reading and more book collecting in 2020! Make sure to swing on over to our Bloglovin page and give us a follow! It's quick, free and easy to sign up for an account and will help you keep up with our new posts.

December TBR Lists

December is a busy month for a lot of people I guess, but not for us! So although Mr H will be working loads, as usual, we have just as much time for reading...if not more. A TBR list of 3 books per month seems to pale in comparison to those that most book bloggers have - it's working for us thusfar though so why fix what isn't broken?! Here's what we plan to read in December.

Mr Hallow

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (Mrs H's Pick)

Prince Caspian by C S Lewis

The House with the Clock in it's Walls by John Bellairs

Mrs Hallow

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas

The Switching Well by Peni R Griffin

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (Mr H's Pick)

We have some slightly shorter books in the mix this month as we both have a couple books from previous months that we need to catch up on before the year ends. Mr H and I have completed, well, surpassed our Goodreads goals for 2019 but it's more satisfying to end the year with no incomplete books...isn't it?


💀 Mr & Mrs Hallow 💀

November TBR Lists

I can't quite believe that we're over a month into this new blog venture and already on our second 'to be read' post too! I (Mrs Hallow) have blogged on and off for over 11ish years now, so sitting down to write posts, take photos and jot down ideas in our notebook feels natural. Though this time it's a lot less stressful and more fun with Mr Hallow in tow and no expectations or rules for myself.
Anyway, you find out soon how we did with our October TBR piles and here are the lists for November.

Mr Hallow

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Tree and Leaf; Smith of Wootton Major; The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis [Mrs Hallow's Pick]

Mrs Hallow

The Doomspell by Cliff McNish

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs [Mr Hallow's Pick]

Both of us seem to be really enjoying having this set up for what we're going to read. It's helping us get through more books and pick up things we may have been putting off. Spoiler alert - Mr Hallow's pick for me last month was actually one of my favourite reads in a long time!
Considering how busy last month was (Oh yeah, we got married yesterday!!!) we still read a considerable amount, so here's to an even better reading month in November.
Let us know what you've been reading in the comments or even drop links to your TBR posts too.


💀 Mr & Mrs Hallow 💀