This reading list includes both recent books I’ve gotten but haven’t read yet and much older books I was able to require, but haven’t read or re-read yet. (I am very behind on my reading in some respects because I keep getting distracted by other books.)
Recent (Within the past couple years to present.)
The Hands of the Emperor/At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard: I am only 36% of the way through The Hands of the Emperor. I got the book at the beginning of the year and I keep getting distracted by other books. The Hands of the Emperor is one of those well written novels that I just can’t get into, and never get into the mental space where Reading is Life and I plow through it at breakneck speed.
The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison: This is another mystery featuring Thara Celehar and this book is slow going because Elven society/culture is a traumatic shitshow of victim blamey misogyny and class warfare and it’s painful and sad to read. Things that are only hinted at in The Goblin Emperor are much more blatant and miserable in the Celehar books. I’m only 3% through this book.
Tsalmoth by Steven Brust: I am actually gaining with this book! This installation of the long running series involves the wedding preparations of Vlad and Cawti. Brust is apparently attempting to make it more clear that Vlad is sometimes kind of a callow dipshit and only funny in his own mind. (It is of course a spectrum. Vlad is also ridiculously giddy-in-love, occasionally is ACTUALLY FUNNY. He’s just also really annoying and currently obsessing over collecting a debt and then falling into some kind of conspiracy. I keep getting distracted because I Know How This Relationship Goes And It’s Like Watching a TrainWreck Where You Already Know There Are No Survivors. This makes reading Difficult.
The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold:
I’ve barely gotten past the first few pages, even though I really like it so far. I blame being continuously distracted by Other Things. I will get to this book eventually though I feel like I should get the whole series before I start. Or something.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell: I have not been able to get into this book. I don’t have a feel for the characters or the worldbuilding. I do however know that several people on a Discord server I’m on apparently like it? So I will have to make another attempt at reading it.
I Have No Butt and I Must Pound and Not Pounded By The Physical Manifestation Of Someone Else’s Doubt In My Place On The Autism Spectrum Because Denying Someone’s Personal Journey And Identity Like That Is Incredibly Rude So No Thanks by Chuck Tingle: After reading Camp Damascus I decided to give Chuck Tingles Tinglers a try. As one does. I got slightly stalled after reading Comic Strip Writer Scomp Adams Haunted In The Ass By The Things He Can’t Say Now That Free Thought Is Illegal Then Realizing It Is Legal He’s Just Not Smart Or Funny And Is A Bigot That Nobody Likes which was funny but also hit my second hand embarrassment button pretty hard.
Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon: It’s cute? But I got distracted.
(Really Old) Books to Re-read
Skeen’s Leap, Skeen’s Search, Skeen’s Return by Jo Clayton: The Skeen Trilogy is a favorite I have not read in decades due to not being able to find it. (For a while I had paperback copies bought from a library sale but they fell apart.) I managed to get them via Kindle, and I have plans to get the Moon trilogy, the Dancer trilogy and other Clayton books available on Kindle. Skeen is a dealer in (illegally acquired) archaeological artifacts! After getting into some hot water with local legal authorities and the apparent betrayal of her boyfriend, Skeen ends up activating an artifact and escaping into another universe. Things Happen.
The Children of Ynell series by Shirley Rouseau Murphy:
This series was a minor obsession for me as a kid! I was able to acquire them a few years back, but wasn’t able to read them due to the “sometimes books aren’t as good as you remember them” factor. The series deals with issues like misogyny and people being really shitty to each other because of prejudice and ignorance. The problem is that it’s a lot more soapboxy than I remember, and I dislike the worldbuilding and Murphy’s handling of religion/culture.
More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon: More than Human is a frequent re-read for me and I was able to get a kindle e-edition a few years back. I want to do a review/long critique/meta on it and to do that I need to re-read.
(Dis) Honorable Mention:
I briefly had JT McIntosh’s The Fittest via Kindle Unlimited but did not read it all the way through like I said I was going to do. (I was originally planning to do a critique.) I need to get a copy and do that. (It will not be a very kind critique as McIntosh’s work is deeply misogynistic/sexist in a very offhand, extremely disturbing/gross way.)
Leave a comment