Tag: reading

Reading List: Powell’s staff’s best books of 2016

~ EMM ~ 2 Comments

Powell’s just released their Staff Top 5 Picks of 2016 yesterday. I crunched the numbers* and calculated their “consensus” Top Ten. Presented in order of most to least total points, they are (links take you to Powell’s, because that seemed appropriate):

PowellsBestOf2016

  1. The Lonely City by Olivia Laing (20 points)
  2. The Girls by Emma Cline (17 points)
  3. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (12 points)
  4. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (12 points)
  5. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (11 points)
  6. What Is Obscenity? by Rokudenashiko (10 points)
  7. The Fireman by Joe Hill (10 points)
  8. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (10 points)
  9. LaRose by Louise Erdrich (10 points)
  10. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (10 points)

What I love about this list is that there are so many books on here that I’d not heard of before. Sure, I knew that The Girls and The Fireman were getting a lot of buzz. I’ve also been hearing great things about Commonwealth. I’ve already started Homegoing and the first few chapters are great. But, other than that, the rest are completely new to me.

As I’ve mentioned before, I trust Powell’s staff recommendations. So, I’ve added these to my to-read shelf and created a separate PowellsBestof2016 Goodreads shelf to keep track of them. I’ve already started Homegoing, but if you’ve read anything else on this list, or are planning to read anything else here, let me know what you think/recommend in the comments.

 

* In case you’re interested, here’s how I came up with the total points… I did some good old “copying and pasting” of all the lists into a spreadsheet. Then I assigned points to each mention of each book based on where it appeared in each list (5 points for first place, 4 points for second place, etc.). Then I made a pivot table and sorted the results by total number of points in descending order. There was an obvious cut-off after the first ten books. After that, there were a bunch with 9 points each. So I capped the list at ten books.

I did this same analysis last year for the Powell’s Staff Top 5 Picks of 2015. You can check out that post here if you missed it. You can also check out my shelf for those books on Goodreads, where I’m keeping track of what I’m reading.

Pop Update: What I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this week

~ EMM ~ 3 Comments

I’ve been keeping a list of what I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this week and making note, especially, of the stuff that makes me happy and feeds my creative soul. I’m going to try to post on this weekly. We’ll see how it goes.

Here’s what pop culture I was consuming in the final week of 2016:

  • On the way home from Christmas in Portland, I listened to the final Writing Excuses episode of the year. I loved their Elemental Genre podcasts this year, and I have to say, this is possibly my favorite podcast.
  • I also been loving the second season of the Sub Pop Podcast. On that same trip, I listened to the first of the final two episodes, featuring the first half of a two-part interview with Sub Pop artist Father John Misty.
  • I tried a few episodes of a new-to-me swimming podcast, and it’s okay. Not a ringing endorsement, I know, but for a podcast called “Swimming Science,” I don’t feel like there’s enough science or data driven info in these episodes to make it worth it a listen.
  • I am, however, finding a ton of useful, educative content in the pages of SWIMMER Magazine (free with membership to USMS, but also available online if you can deal with the crummy website design…). While cleaning up, I found a stack of these laying around that I hadn’t read. So, I caught up on all my back issues this week.
  • I’ve also been catching up on my back issues of the RWR (Romance Writers Report) magazine (free with RWA membership). If you write romance, you should really join the Romance Writers of America. The community is fantastic, and this magazine is chock full of useful and encouraging content.
  • As for other news, Alyssa Rosenberg’s article about all the celebrity deaths this year really resonated with me. It put into words a lot of the feelings I’d been having about all the great entertainers we lost this year.
  • I caught up on TOR’s “Women of Harry Potter” series and was reminded of Luna Lovegood’s relentless optimism and awesomeness. She really is possibly the best underrated character in the series… I highly recommend this post and all the other posts in Sarah Gailey’s series: the evil Dolores Umbridge, the fierce Molly Weasley, my hero Hermione Granger, and my favorite Ginny Weasley. They posts make me want to re-read the entire series with fresh (older) eyes.
  • After that, I finally got around to reading an article by Anil Dash that I’d had open in my browser for a couple weeks. The title pretty much sums up what it’s about: “It’s time for Asian American men to stop being the “Model Minority” in tech.” He makes some very interesting points that I hadn’t previously considered, or even realized, but that make a lot of sense to me based on some things I’ve experienced working in the tech community. If you’re at all interested in diversity in the technology industry, I highly recommend this read.
  • Because I had some extra time on my hands this week, I caught up on some of the YouTube channels I subscribe to… my two favorite videos this week were 1) this Vlogbrothers guest post from Tessa Violet on fear in art, and 2) Jenna Moreci’s “10 Worst Female Character Pet Peeves.” Note: I also liked Jenna Moreci’s “holiday writing tag” video, but I’ll save that one because I might respond to her question prompts as a separate post.
  • I finished two books and two comics trades this week. Here’s what I read (links take you to my Goodreads reviews):
    • Alterations by Stephanie Scott (Kindle, pre-order) — This book was so fun! I really enjoyed seeing how the author adapted the original (and re-make) movie, Sabrina, into this modern-day romance. Definitely recommend.
    • The Magician King by Lev Grossman (Kindle, library) — This book was a slog. I really enjoy the world building in this series, which is why I keep trying to enjoy these books. But, I hate the characters and the plot is way too predictable. There’s just too much snark and not enough sincerity for me in this series.
    • Saga, volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (trade paper) — I am so late to the party on this one, but I LOVED this so much. If this has been on your list for a while and you haven’t read it yet, go check it out immediately. It hits the trifecta of excellent world-building, characters you care about, and compelling story/plot. Highly recommend.
    • Monstress #1 by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda (trade paper) — The art in this is stunning. The story was a little hard to follow at times. However, you definitely get the sense that there is depth to the plot and complexity to the characters, and that pulls you through the narrative until you start getting more of the backstory. I’m still unclear on a few points, but otherwise very much enjoyed this. Definitely recommend.
  • My first issue of my new Teen Vogue subscription arrived while I was in Portland. No, I am not regressing to my teenage years. I have a lot of respect for teenage girls (having been one myself and knowing how tough it can be), and I think Teen Vogue and Rookie Magazine are providing the quality journalism that their audience (and really everyone) deserves. I love the December issue just as much as I thought I would. An annual subscription is only $5 and well worth the money.
  • And, finally, I watched two documentaries. The first was a graphic, disturbing, but ultimately important documentary about the US policy on torture called Taxi to the Dark Side. The other, called Grizzly Man, was about a guy who spent 13 summers living out in the Alaskan wilderness with grizzly bears, before finally being eaten by one at the end of his final summer. Both were fascinating, thought provoking, and probably not films I would have selected if left to my own devices, but I’m glad I watched them.

This list is a little longer than usual because I had more time on my hands this week than I usually do… I definitely don’t expect every week to have this much content.

As for what I’m looking forward to diving into… Queued up next:

New books I’ve pre-ordered for January and February 2017

~ EMM

Now that 2016 is (nearly) over, I’m running stats on all the things I measure (books read, books bought, novel drafts completed, miles swam, etc.) and starting to think about goals for 2017. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve decided to put a temporary hold on purchasing backlist ebooks just because they’re on sale. However, I’m not entirely eliminating my book buying budget. I’m just reallocating it.

I believe strongly in supporting authors/artists by buying their books (and especially in pre-ordering if it’s a new release). I also feel strongly about supporting my local library. And, most of all, I am passionate about supporting diverse books written by #OwnVoices authors.

So, my book buying rule for 2017 is going to be: no buying new books unless they are 1) pre-orders of new releases that I plan to read right away, or they are 2) written by #OwnVoices authors and I can’t get them from the library.

Just for fun (and to keep me honest), every few months I’m going to try to do a summary post where I share the books I’ve pre-ordered.

Below are the books I’ve pre-ordered that are coming out in January and February:

PreOrders-JanFeb2017

  • Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire (Kindle) — This is a novella and priced accordingly, plus the author also wrote one of my favorite novellas read in 2016 (Every Heart a Doorway). So it’s kind of a no-brainer in terms of purchasing. This one is not in that series. It’s either a stand-alone or a new series, not sure which. But, I heard the Galactic Suburbia ladies talking on their podcast about reading a review copy this and it sounds great!
  • Bitch Planet Vol 2 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro (trade paper) — It feels like I’ve been waiting FOREVER for this next volume to be available. But it looks like my wait will be over at the end of January. Hooray!
  • Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor (Kindle) — This is a follow-up to my favorite novella read in 2016 (Binti), and it looks like it will be another novella (and priced accordingly). So, another no-brainer, one-click buy.
  • Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (tbd) — Okay, I haven’t technically pre-ordered this yet… I’m still trying to decide if I want a hard copy or if I want to just get it on Kindle.
  • A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab (Kindle) — Final book in this series! I can’t wait to see how she wraps this up!
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Kindle) — This book has been the talk of “book Twitter” for probably a year now. It’s possibly one of the best “how I got my agent” and acquisition success stories I’ve read recently, and I’m super excited to finally get a chance to read this book!

Between these, the books I got for Christmas, my library holds, and my massive backlog of unread ebooks, I should have plenty of books to keep me entertained for the foreseeable future. There are just so many good books and never enough time to read them all!

Year in Review: Reading stats on genre and format

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

I just finished my analysis of what I read this year (yay! more book-related data!), and I thought I’d share some fun facts about my reading habits this year…

Total “books” read: 53 <– projected total… I still have a couple I plan to finish before tomorrow night…

Total Fiction vs. Non-Fiction: 77% fiction (41 books) and 23% non-fiction (12 books)

Total YA vs. Adult: 19% YA (10 books) and 81% adult (43 books) <– bet you didn’t anticipate that, huh? I certainly didn’t.

Total books read by diverse authors (non-white and/or non-American): 12 (23%)

Total books from library: 14 (26%)

Total books by format:

  • Kindle: 66% (35 books)
  • Audiobook: 13% (7 books)
  • Paperback: 13% (7 books)
  • Hardcover: 8% (4 books)

Of the 41 fiction books I read, here’s how they broke down by genre:

  • Sci-fi and fantasy: 25% (13 books)
  • Romance: 17% (9 books)
  • Comic trade volumes: 13% (7 books)
  • Novellas and other short fiction: 13% (7 books)
  • Literary fiction: 8% (4 books)
  • Mystery: 2% (1 book, which I nearly could have almost classified as romance…)

Beside the fact that I read a lot more “adult” books than “YA” books, which was the first stat to jump out at me, it seemed like my percentage of short fiction and comics was higher than in years past. These data points seemed unusual, so I went back and checked last year’s stats. Turns out, last year I read 75 books total and 26% of those were YA (vs. 19% this year). So, this year was definitely a lighter YA year for me, but my percentage of short fiction and comics was about the same (24% vs. this year’s 26%).

Overall, I’m pleased with the diversity of what I’m reading. I have a pretty wide range of taste in books, and it’s nice to see that verified by the numbers.

Does anyone else track stats like this for what they’re reading? Is there anything else I should add? A different slice you’d like to know? Just let me know in the comments (or on Twitter).

Year in Review: Book buying stats for 2016

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

I keep track of the ebooks I purchase in a spreadsheet, because of course I do. My spreadsheet doesn’t account for ebooks I receive as gifts, only ones that I purchase for myself. However, just to make things slightly more confusing, the books I buy for myself are usually purchased with gift cards. Technically that makes them gifts. So, I really don’t have any idea why I even bother with this exercise except that at some point I realized that I buy a lot of ebooks and wanted to know how much money I was spending.

For the past three years, I’ve averaged about $235 spent on ebooks per year and purchased about 60 books on average. This puts my average cost per book at just under $4.

Actual stats:

BookBuyingStats_2014-2016

As you can see from the table above, my book buying has been steadily increasing over the past few years, but I am doing a decent job of keeping my average cost per book under $4. So, basically, my ebook buying habit roughly equates to just over one Starbucks cappuccino a week.

I feel pretty good about that. I mean, ebooks last a lot longer than a cappuccino, right?

The part about all this that makes me a little uncomfortable is another metric I keep track of… How many of these books that I’ve purchased have I read? And what’s the average cost of those books that remain unread?

The answer to that question is that I have 85 unread books of the 181 that I’ve purchased (~46% unread). That’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. I feel a bit better when I consider that the average cost of those unread books is only $2.90. But, assuming I read about 50 books per year, that’s still nearly 2 years worth of reading without me buying any more books at all.

This is why I’m going to put a temporary hold on purchasing any more sale ebooks, unless it’s something I really want to read and can’t get on ebook from my library. When I started buying ebooks, I don’t think you could even get books for Kindle from the library, or at least, if you could the options were very limited. These days, almost anything I’d want to read is available. The only catch is that I might have to wait a bit if it’s an extremely popular book, but that’s something I can plan around.

Next year (2017), my only reading goal is to put a dent in this backlog of ebooks and maybe also lower my average cost per unread book. There’s really nothing on that list that I don’t want to read. So, I should be able to find something on my tbr-Kindle shelf to fit whatever reading mood I’m in. If not, there’s always the library.

So, what I want to know is, am I the only one buying this many ebooks? Does anyone else keep stats like this? I’m curious to see where I fall in the book buying continuum.

Reading: Best of 2016

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

The year isn’t quite over yet, but I think I’m going to go ahead and call it. Of the ~50 books I read in 2016 (not counting all the manuscripts I read for critique partners) these were my favorites (links take you to my Goodreads reviews)…

Top 5 non-fiction:

  1. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert — I didn’t really write a review for this one, but it’s hands-down the best book I’ve read on how to deal with being a creative person in the world.
  2. Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground by Kevin Poulsen — This had been on my TBR for a while, and I was inspired to finally pick it up and read it based on my love for the first season of Mr. Robot… it didn’t disappoint.
  3. Yes Please by Amy Poehler — I never watched any of her shows, even SNL when she was on it, but this book really resonated with me.
  4. Making It Right: Product Management For A Startup World by Rian Van Der Merwe — I read this to learn more about Product Management and it turned out to be a great book, filled with tons of useful info. I took a lot of notes.
  5. Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman — Similar to Amy Poehler’s book, I never watched any of his shows, but I’ve seen him in bit parts on other TV shows. Months later, I’m still quoting life advice I picked up from this book.

Top 5 fiction:

  1. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N. K. Jemisin — Easily the best book I read overall this year, this book has everything I want in a novel: unique world-building, excellent characters, compelling plot, politics, magic, relationships… I could gush about this all day, but you should really just read it.
  2. This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity, #1) by Victoria Schwab — While not my favorite of her books (that award still goes to Vicious), I love the world she built here, and I can’t wait for more in this series.
  3. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) by Becky Chambers — I had some quibbles with the narrative here (felt more like a collection of short stories than a full-length novel), but the characters, writing, and the world-building are top notch.
  4. Trade Me (Cyclone, # 1) by Courtney Milan — Easily the best romance book I read this year — complex, nuanced characters, and a unique take on the poor girl / rich boy trope.
  5. A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2) by Sarah J. Maas — I’d nearly written this series off after reading the first book, but this book more than made up for everything that bugged me about the first one. The romance is hot, and the Night Court is possibly my favorite ensemble of any book I’ve read in recent memory.

Top 5 short fiction (comic trades and novellas):

  1. Binti (Binti, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor — I think this won the Hugo and the Nebula for best novella this year. I read it before the short lists for the awards were announced and knew it would be a big hit. One of the reasons I like this is the Meduse (the alien species). Another reason is the perspective it’s told from. The story is surprising and creative and you should really just read it already. It’s less than 100 pages. You can finish it in an afternoon. So, get on it because there’s a sequel coming out in January.
  2. Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1) by Seanan McGuire — This was a surprise hit for me. I loved the premise (what became of the children who had been thru a portal to a strange world and returned?) and the execution (there’s also a mystery to be solved). I’m very excited that there are going to be more books set in this world.
  3. Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Robert Wilson IV — I read this earlier in the year, and it just became more and more relevant the further we got into 2016. I’m (not so) patiently waiting for vol 2.
  4. Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brian Stelfreeze — This is not your typical Marvel super hero comic. It’s way more complex and sticks with you longer.
  5. The Book Smugglers’ Quarterly Almanac: June 2016 by various authors, edited by The Book Smugglers — This little speculative fiction journal contains a few essays and a few short stories, all of them very smart and very enjoyable.

If you’re curious about what else I read, that link at the very top will take you to my “read in 2016” shelf on Goodreads. If you’re too lazy to click through, here’s a snapshot of what you’ll find there (minus the few books I am still finishing up)…

Read2016-part2 Read2016-part1

That’s (nearly) a wrap for my 2016 reading! Just planning to finish up the three more books I’m in the middle of, then I’m looking forward to 2017 and diving into all the really great stuff I still have in my TBR… Especially the awesome books I got for Christmas this year! More on that soon… 🙂

Books on my Christmas wish list

~ EMM

So, yes, I did just post about having too many books to read and not enough time. But, really… is it even possible to have too many books? I don’t think so.

Of course I asked for books for Christmas. Some were included on my “Santa Mom” wish list. Some I put on my TBTB Secret Santa wish list. Most I don’t really *need* right now, but I there are just so many books I want to read. I can’t help it! These are the books I wished for this year:

ChristmasWishlist2016

Comics…

  • Saga vol 1 comic trade — Everyone loves this series and I want to see what all the fuss is about…
  • Monstress Volume 1: Awakening — This art-deco/steam punk art looks so gorgeous, and the story sounds intriguing…

Sequels or companion books…

  • One Was a Solider and Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer Fleming — The final two books (I think) in this Adirondak mystery series that I’ve been enjoying during my summer vacations at Camp for several years now.
  • A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers — The follow up to Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet, which I really enjoyed and might even make it into my top five books read in 2016…
  • The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 2: Fandemonium vol 2 comic trade — I enjoyed the first volume and want to know what happens next…
  • Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen — I haven’t even read the first two books yet, but I will definitely be binge-reading them before the movie comes out…
  • Book Smugglers Quarterly Almanac vol 2 — I really enjoyed their first Quarterly Almanac. So, I plan on continuing to pick these up as they are released.

New releases…

  • Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith — This book about the “alien consciousness” of the octopus looks absolutely fascinating and is possibly the non-fiction book I am most looking forward to reading
  • Revenger by Alastair Reynolds — I am really excited about this new book by one of my favorite sci-fi authors!
  • Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake — I’ve heard such great things about this book, I can’t wait to read it!
  • Frantumaglia by Elena Ferrante — Because I write and I am enjoying her Neapolitan series, I thought I might enjoy this “behind the scenes” book about her writing.
  • The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst — This book looks so good.
  • The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi — This has been getting great reviews…

Not-so-new fiction…

  • Escape from Baghdad! by Saad Hossain — Looks good, can’t get it on Kindle from the library…
  • Slade House by David Mitchell — Really enjoyed Bone Clocks and this is a companion to that book…
  • The Anatomy of Curiosity by Brenna Yovanoff, Tessa Gratton, and Maggie Stiefvater — I’ve wanted this one for a LONG time, but keep forgetting to put it on my wish list… stories by these authors, plus commentary on the creative process!
  • Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson — This looks awesome, even though I don’t often read books of short stories, a review of this caught my eye, and the blurb that says the author has “an imagination that most of us would kill for” sold me on it…
  • Kraken by China Miéville — This looks awesome… and I’ve not read anything by him yet…

And some non-fiction…

  • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott — A classic book on writing that’s been recommended to me multiple times, but I still haven’t read it yet…
  • Automate the Boring Stuff by Al Sweigart — I’ve been trying to learn to code in Python and this combines that plus the fact that, in my day job, I spend way too much time in spreadsheets doing stuff that really should be automated…
  • Song for the Blue Ocean by Carl Safina — Another one that I’ve been wanting to read for a LONG time because I’m fascinated with the ocean…
  • The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson — Same as above… I really don’t *need* either of these, yet… but I don’t want to lose track of them, either…
  • Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg — Something about this made me want to read it… maybe the fact that it was a husband/wife team doing a business together… something that my husband and I talk about a lot.

So, there you go. Way more books than I’d ever get around to reading in the next year. Some new, some really old. Some comics, some short stories. A little bit of everything.

Anything on here that you’ve already read and think I should move to the top of my list? Anything you also put on your list? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

My December TBR is out of control

~ EMM

I didn’t finish any books in November. I tried to read a little bit, but between NaNoWriMo and the election, I just couldn’t make much progress reading anything except Twitter. As a result, I have quite a bit of catching up to do if I hope to meet my 2016 Goodreads challenge goal of 50 books.

Current status:

GoodreadsChallenge2016-DecStatus

I have 6 books to go, and I’m 2 books behind schedule. And let’s just ignore the fact that some of those 44 books read have actually been novellas and comics trade volumes. For some purists, those wouldn’t even really count. But, I’m counting them. And, with Christmas vacation coming up, I think I’ll be able to achieve my 50 book goal.

However, I’ve definitely given up on my other 2016 reading goal, the Book Riot Read Harder 2016 Challenge. It’s just not happening. I wasn’t officially participating this year, anyway. So, no big disappointment there.

What have I learned from all this? Oh yeah, the same thing I learned last year. No. More. Reading. Challenges.

But, I mean it this time. Seriously.

Well… except I will maybe still do the Goodreads Challenge next year… but I’m dialing my goal back to 3 books per month, average. More on that when I post about my 2017 goals.

This post was supposed to be about my December TBR. So, let’s get back to that.

It should come as no surprise that I have an enormous TBR pile at this point. There are SO MANY books that I really want to be reading right now. I made myself narrow that list down to 12. There is no way I’ll read that many books in December, so I’ve prioritized them into two batches.

These 6 are at the top of my list:

December2016TBR-part1

  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi — I started this book, loved the first chapters, then had to put it down to do other stuff. I am dying to get back to it, and I am determined for that to happen before the end of this year.
  • Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin — I’ve not done my “best of 2016” list year, but I think it’s safe to say that book one in this series is definitely going to be on my top 5 list for books I read this year. I am so excited to dive into this next book.
  • Alterations by Stephanie Scott — This one just released today, and it’s a modern, YA re-telling of the movie Sabrina. I love that movie (the original more than the re-do), and I can’t wait to read this book. Plus, I know the author from Twitter, and she seems super cool.
  • The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi — I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, but it’s recently been moved to the top of my list due to reasons that shall be explained later…
  • The Magician King by Lev Grossman — I am rediculously, crazy excited for season 2 of The Magicians on the SyFy channel (starts in January). If you liked this series and aren’t watching that show, you should be. I’m determined to at least read book 2 before season 2 starts, even though I think there are major deviations between the books and the show (in a good way).
  • Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff — This is the sequel to Illuminae, which I loved. I pre-ordered this one, and I’ve had it for almost two months now, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Because of how the story is told (through found documents, same as the first book), I bought the hardcover edition (again, same as the first book). But (like the first book) the hardcover is enormous, and I haven’t wanted to drag it with me on the bus. So, it’s coming with me on Christmas vacation instead.

As if that wasn’t enough end-of-year reading, I also really want to read these:

December2016TBR-part2

  • The Year of the Crocodile by Courtney Milan — a Christmas themed novella featuring the hero and heroine from her novel Trade Me that I read earlier this year and highly recommend.
  • Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton — I’ve owned this for months and it’s been on my TBR even longer. It’s a dance book. I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet.
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo — This went on sale recently, and I bought it. I still haven’t read her first series, but I’ve heard such great things about this book, I may start here.
  • Nuts by Alice Clayton — I grabbed this one when it was on sale after hearing great things about it. Seems like a fun diversion.
  • Bedmates by Nichole Chase — I loved her Suddenly Royal series, and I’ve heard good things about this first book in her new series.
  • Rebel’s Honor by Gwynn White — There’s a really long story behind this one… Short version is, this is by the wife of Andrew St. Pierre White of Overland Expo and 4xOverland fame. My husband is a big fan of Andrew’s videos, and we met Andrew and Gwynn back in April. I am really curious to read this book because it’s a strange coincidence Gwynn and I apparently write in the same genre.

But before I do any of that, I need to finish the book I’m currently reading:

NovReading Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho — I started this in November, but haven’t made much progress. It’s good, but it’s just not capturing my attention the way I thought it would. I can completely understand why this book is getting so much attention. It’s good. It deserves all the praise it’s getting. It’s just not quite what I’m looking for right at this moment. But, I’m enjoying it, and it’s on loan from the library (I had to renew it). So, I’m going to finish it before moving on.

Beyond all those, I still have the remaining stack of books that I either pre-ordered this year, or that I received from my Indiespensible subscription, but haven’t read yet:

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  • Poseidon’s Wake by Alastair Reynolds — This is the third and final book in this series that I am really enjoying
  • Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas — This is book five in this series. Normally I would have devoured this one already, but early reviews were less than gushing. So, I’ve been letting it sit for a while.
  • City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg — This book is enormous. I got it from my Indiespensible subscription box and probably wouldn’t have otherwise picked it up.
  • Best Boy and The Boy Who Went Away by Eli Gottlieb — Both of these also came from Indiespensible and probably weren’t ones I’d have picked up otherwise.
  • Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg — Also from Indiespensible and also something I probably wouldn’t have selected on my own, but the blurb and reviews have piqued my interest.
  • Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt — Another Indiespensible selection, but one I am really looking forward to reading.
  • A Doubter’s Almanac by Ethan Canin — More Indiespensible that I probably wouldn’t have noticed but the blurb and interview with the author make me really want to read it.
  • Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee — I’ve heard this one is really hard to get into, but every review I’ve read puts this squarely into my sci-fi wheelhouse. So, I’m determined to give it a shot.
  • Barkskins by Annie Proulx — Recieved this from Indiespensible and my husband grabbed it to read. I think he’s only halfway through, but enjoying it.
  • Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer — Another Indiespensible pick. I worried this was yet another “white guy literary book,” but the blurb and the reviews have me thinking that may not be the case. So, I’m tentatively interested.
  • Hold Me by Courtney Milan — This is the second book in this series and everything I’ve heard about it so far makes me really want to read it. I just haven’t had a chance to get to it yet.

So, yeah. I need more reading time. And I probably need to stop buying new books. To that end, I’ve canceled my Indiespensible subscription. It made me sad to do it, but I just can’t keep up (clearly). I do have some books on my Christmas list (more about that in a future blog post). But I’m going to try even harder next year to stick to reading what I have or getting books from the library.

Given that I have so much to choose from here — and really, this only scratches the surface of what I have unread on my Kindle — is there anything jumping out at you? Anything you’ve already read that you’d highly recommend me pushing to the top of my list? Anything you want me to read so I can report back and let you know if it’s any good?

If you have thoughts, let me know in the comments…

#TopTenTuesday: ten books I’ve added to my TBR list lately

~ EMM

While I’m busy adding words to my NaNoWriMo project, enjoy this Top Ten Tuesday post featuring a list of the ten books I’ve added to my TBR most recently…

RecentTBRAdds-Nov2016

  1. Thick as Thieves (The Queen’s Thief, #5) by Megan Whalen Turner — YAY! We’re getting another book in this fantastic series! But, we’re not getting it until May of next year… in the meantime, I went out and bought the existing books on Kindle so that I can re-read them. It’s been a while, but this is one of my favorite series.
  2. A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev — I still haven’t read her second book yet (Bollywood Bride), but I loved the first one so much, and the premise for this one sounds like there might be some magical realism involved. I’m intrigued.
  3. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman — Neil Gaiman plus any type of mythology is pretty much my catnip. Neil Gaiman plus Norse mythology has me basically just standing here with a fist full of money trying to decide between Kindle and hardcover. At least I have a little time to decide because it doesn’t come out until February…
  4. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple — I loved her first book (Where’d You Go Bernadette). So, of course this one immediately went on my TBR list. It sounds like it will be very similar, but that’s okay by me.
  5. Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire — I have to wait until June for this one… it’s a follow-up to one of my favorite novellas I’ve read this year (Every Heart a Doorway). I am so excited for this book!
  6. Revenger by Alastair Reynolds — One of my favorite sci-fi authors wrote a sorta, kinda (according to some people) YA sci-fi novel! If that’s supposed to turn me off on this book, it did not work. I think Alastair Reynolds writing YA is a great idea, and I can’t wait to read this one!
  7. Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1) by Kendare Blake — I keep hearing great things about this book, and the premise (three sisters who have to fight to the death to become queen) has me super curious. This one is high on my list for my post-NaNo reading binge.
  8. A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2) by Becky Chambers — This one is a follow up to A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, but this time we get a deep dive on the AI stuff… this was one area where I felt like the first book fell a bit flat for me. So, I’m interested to see where they go with this… but, I’m thinking I’ll get it from my library instead of buying it.
  9. Kraken by China Miéville — I can’t even remember anymore where I heard about this book. I think it was on one of the podcasts I listen to… Anyway, myth plus magic plus London plus a giant squid sounded so freaking amazing that I just had to add it to my TBR. I’ve never read anything by him, but I’ve been meaning to for some time now. I’m hoping this is a good place to start.
  10. The Queen of Blood: Book One of The Queens of Renthia by Sarah Beth Durst — This is another one that I can’t remember how I found out about. I think maybe it was the comparisons to Uprooted and Name of the Wind that got my attention, but the premise sounds just different enough than all the other fantasy I keep seeing over and over again out there, that I added it to my TBR. Something about this book makes me think I might enjoy it more in paperback, but we’ll see.

If you’ve read any of these, or have any thoughts you’d like to share, leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!