I’m nearly thirty, so I really don’t know why we’re still doing Christmas presents quite the way that we are, but when my mom asked me what I wanted this year, I said a rolling pin, and she said that wasn’t good enough, so I gave her a list of books that I’d end up buying myself eventually. Although, if we’re honest, she’s ended up buying most of my Shadowhunters books because I just ask for the ones I don’t have since there always seems to be a million every year, so don’t be surprised in the least bit when that’s what most of this list. Here’s what I’m hoping to find under the tree on Christmas!

After this, I’ll probably own all of the Shadowhunters books, and I’ve got Chain of Iron on preorder, so now they can all just stare at me and make me feel guilty about the fact that I’m still behind on reading. I truly don’t know why, either, given how much I love this series, and especially because I always end up bingeing an entire series when I start it, but alas, here I am, with still so many outstanding books.

I’m hoping to get both The Red Scrolls of Magic and The Lost Book of the White, and I’ll be honest, I’m definitely looking forward to these two the most. Like most people, I adore Alec & Magnus, and the idea of an entire series just for their adventures sounds wonderful, so I can’t wait to get this started. Ghosts of the Shadow Market is also the only (currently published) short story collection that I haven’t read yet, so I’m feeling pretty good about that, and hopefully, I’ll manage to convince myself to read it sooner rather than later!

I’ve already read Humphrey Carpenter’s Tolkien biography, but I’ve heard excellent things about Tom Shippey’s Author of the Century, and I’m always going to want more Tolkien in my life in any way possible. My dad really likes being able to gift me Tolkien books, too, because he actually knows what they are, and he knows how excited they make me. I’ve been eyeing Tolkien and the Great War by John Garth for a while now, and it’s something that Carpenter mostly skipped right over, but it effected Tolkien’s life so much that I’m excited to read something specifically about this period in his life.

And, the only book on my list that my mom both knows what it is and actually wants to read herself is Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks. I’m a big Hanks fan, and while I don’t often ascribe to getting excited about actors who write books, I have a lot of faith in Hanks, just given his personality. I feel like these short stories will be interesting for a lot of reasons, and I’m eager to dive into them.

What books are you hoping for this year?