For my first Unraveling post of 2018, I have new things to share:

I cast this new pair of socks on the evening of Jan. 1. The yarn is Lollipop Yarn Quintessential in Purrfection, the yarn I bought in memory of Posey. I broke open some new needles I’d had lying around, too. They’re Knitters Pride Nova cubics Platina, a set of square dpns, and so far I’m enjoying knitting with them. I’ll need to go down a needle size for the foot, but for the leg, the 2.5mm needles are working.

I had mentioned a few weeks ago that Maia Chance’s Teetotaled was on my list of books I wanted to read this winter. Yesterday, Bridget mentioned she’d read the first book in the Discreet Retrieval Agency, which put the series (about a widowed society woman from 1920s Long Island who, when she finds her scoundrel of a husband has left her penniless after his death, turns, with her Swedish-born former cook, to detecting) in the front of my mind when I headed to the library after work. Lo! There was the second book in the series on the shelf, and I’ve already plowed through a third of it tonight while knitting. Such a delightful, addictive read.

I am also reading Turtles All the Way Down and The Unbreakable Code and have started listening to The Pirate King’s Daughter. Lincoln in the Bardo‘s audiobook has come back up for borrowing, so I’ll give that one more shot in the next few days.

You can visit Kat for more posts on yarn and books.

The penultimate Top Ten Tuesday as hosted by The Broke and the Bookish asks about the top ten new-to-me authors read in 2017.

I was hoping to share my top ten books of the year today, but it’s not ready, but know there’s going to be some overlap here. These are in no particular order, except as how they occurred to me:

1. Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give)
2. Kory Stamper (Word by Word), although I have read entries in the dictionary before, so she only counts if we specify that I knowingly read her work.
3. Nic Stone (Dear Martin)
4. Heidi Heilig (The Girl from Everywhere)
5. Mohsin Hamid (Exit West)
6. Jeannine Atkins (Finding Wonder)
7. Sherry Thomas (A Study in Scarlet Women)
8. Kelly Barnhill (The Girl Who Drank the Moon)
9. Robin Benway (Far from the Tree)
10. Mackenzi Lee (The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue)

I was going to include Roxane Gay on this list, but then I decided that although I hadn’t previously read any of her books, I had read articles she’d written, so she wasn’t really new to me.

How about you? Any new-to-you authors you enjoyed last year?

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish asked for the ten books that we’re most looking forward to in 2018. Here are some of the books coming out in the new year I’m excited about:

1. The Runaways, Vol. 1 by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka: If I’d written this list on Tuesday, I wouldn’t have heard yet that the first six issues of The Runaways comic will be collected into a book. I don’t actually want to bother reading comics one issue at a time (which is how the comics industry would prefer one to procure them at a time), so I was really hoping there would be enough interest by those who are willing to do it for the comics house to issue the book. April.
2. Early Riser by Jasper Fforde: He classifies this as a thriller, which makes me stressed just thinking about it, but Fforde’s works are nearly all favorites, so I have to (unless I don’t). Summer.
3. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith: The next installment of the Cormoran Strike detective series, which sits at the far end of my comfort zone for tension-filled novels. No date yet announced, but I’d put money on October, since that’s when the previous three books in the series dropped.
4. Brass by Xhenet Aliu: A book about immigrants and teens (or maybe immigrant teens?) set in Waterbury, Connecticut. How could I not read it? January.
5. The Merry Spinster by Mallory Ortberg: A collection of feminist fairy tales from one of the internet’s most renowned writers. March.
6. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: Okay, so I’d not heard anything about this book or its debut author, but apparently there’s a lot of buzz. And it has an amazing cover. March.
7. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas: I loved The Hate U Give, so how can I not give her sophomore effort a shot? May.
8. Mr. Occam’s Razor by Barbara Kingsolver: Books from all four of my favorite living writers all out the same year? Be still my heart. October.
9. Down and Across by Arvin Ahmadi: A YA story about a teen guy who sneaks off on a trip to D.C. and involves crossword puzzles, bike rides, and the zoo. Yes, please! February.
10. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert: Jenn raved about this one, so I’m in. January.

How about you? Are there new releases scheduled for the coming year already on your must-read list?

What we have here are likely the final projects of the year. With only four days left in 2017, it’s likely I can finish this cowl and hopefully these two print books — Robin Benway’s Far from the Tree and John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down. (The former is already overdue and the latter is due Saturday.) Since most of Friday will be taken up with driving back home alone, there’s a good chance I’ll also get in an audiobook, but I don’t know which one just yet.

I also haven’t yet decided which book and knitting projects will start off 2018, but I should have time on Saturday to look things over and decide. Got any favorites you recommend?

Head over to Kat’s for her bookish and yarny Unraveled Wednesday linkup.

My Secret Santa presents from The Broke and the Bookish swap arrived a couple weeks ago and I’ve been remiss about sharing the goodies.

My package came from Louisiana from Emily. She sent me some fun gifts:

Emily sent me two books — Me Before You, which I’ve been wanting to read for years and A Court of Thorns and Roses, whose author, Sarah Maas, I’ve been curious about. She added Pride and Prejudice-themed book flags and a Cajun Survival Kit, which includes, among other things Spanish moss, a tabasco packet, and miniature crawfish and crab. It also contained a mosquito, which thankfully escaped during shipping.

Thanks, Emily! I’m looking forward to reading the books in the new year!

Since according to today’s post, The Broke and the Bookish will be ceasing publication in 2018 and since I basically just ask Santa for “Books! Please bring me books!” I thought I’d do another off-week post for Top Ten Tuesday (which will continue, but elsewhere).

I wasn’t ready to think about winter last month, when the topic of what’s on our winter to-be-read lists ran, but since the seasons change later this week, I guess it’s time to look ahead.

In no particular order:

• Catriona Lally’s Eggshells, about a woman looking to make a friend named Penelope (NOT Penny!), definitely did not work as poolside reading, but I suspect it will lend itself well to a weekend curled up under blankets with a pot of tea next to me.
• I was lucky enough to snag a copy of John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down on opening day at the West End branch of the library. My dad has already read it and is waiting impatiently for me to be able to discuss it with him.
• Far from the Tree by Robin Benway, this year’s young people’s National Book Award winner, is overdue to the library, so I’m hoping to finish it before the end of the year.
• Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker by Gregory Maguire is waiting for me at the library and is part of the selection of books I hope to read this Christmas season.
• I cannot seem to get around to Susan Dennard’s Truthwitch, which has been sitting on my shelf for over a year. This winter could be the time!
• I’m thinking Frederick Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Say She’s Sorry should lend itself to a winter reading.
• Mysteries are a solid choice for winter and The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry seems like a fun choice from my shelf.
• John David Anderson’s Ms. Bixby’s Last Day is a middle-grade novel that’s been on my shelf for a year.
• Sherry Thomas’ A Conspiracy in Belgravia came out this fall.
• Also in catching up with series, Maia Chance’s Teetotaled is next up in the Discreet Retrieval Agency.

How about you? What’s on your TBR list for the cold months?