Winter Reading List

Holy cow, my book pile just keeps on getting bigger. It's ridiculous, it is. Sigh.

I finally finished reading George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, first in his A Song of Ice and Fire series and the source material for that apparently awesome television series that aired this past spring (whoo! I finally get to watch that now, don't I?). I took it slow, reading along with Leigh Butler over at Tor. Two(ish) chapters a week. It took a while.

I am really not sure if I will be able to hold back on the next four books though. That ending. Man. I mean, man.

Currently, I am reading Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. I will probably do a write-up of my thoughts on that when I finish it in the next week or two. It is pretty spectacular so far, and the ball has just started rolling downhill.

Leigh's ASoIaF read-along is on hiatus until January. I am thinking once I finish Elantris I might try to squeeze in the conclusion of N. K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy, The Kindgom of Gods (it just arrived on Tuesday, much to my delight). After that I want to wrap up Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle with Inheritance, which has been hanging out in my pile for about a month.

Probably I won't get finished with those two before Leigh starts up with A Clash of Kings, but I figure I can stick to the read-along schedule on that until I do. Then I can just plow through the rest of Martin's insanity. It will be like ripping off a band-aid, I suspect. Yeesh. That man. Not very nice to his characters. It's kind of delicious and terrible all at the same time.

After that...well...who knows? There are oh so many to choose from. There are worse problems I can think of.

Does anyone else have this kind of insanity going on in their bookshelves? What are you guys reading? (Please for the love of Pete, no suggestions though, I am full up at the moment!)

Reading Recommendation: N.K. Jemisin's The Inheritance Trilogy

In one of those weird quirks of life, I have ended up following the blogs of several authors whose books I actually haven't read. However which way I stumbled upon those blogs, reading them has definitely made me want to read their books as well. But my reading pile (as has been previously established) is not small, and rarely stops growing.

One of those authors that I have been following is N.K. Jemisin. I discovered her when she filled in as a guest blogger for John Scalzi while he was out on a tour (I think) last year. I find her blog absolutely fascinating, whether it be about her writing process, her actual works, her commenting policy for the site, or her views on gender and racial equality. Everything she writes is extremely well written, and I rarely find myself disagreeing with what she has to say. Even when I do, the way she expresses herself allows me to respect her opinions nonetheless. Often what she writes challenges me to think about my own writing and actions. I'd say that makes her blog pretty worthwhile reading.

Her voice is a unique one in the world of fantasy, though as she points out, it shouldn't be. She has written many short stories, which I would like to check out at some point, but her primary project to date is The Inheritance Trilogy (not to be confused with Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle--think Eragon--which was initially supposed to be a trilogy but ended up expanding to four books, thus becoming a "cycle" rather than "trilogy").

Earlier this year my husband surprised me with the first two books in the trilogy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and The Broken Kingdoms (the third book, The Kingdom of Gods, is due out next month). I was finally able to dive into this series recently, and I found myself absolutely devouring the two books. They are fantastic! Much like Jemisin herself, her work is unique and very eloquent.

I think my favorite thing about the books is that each one is its own story, with its own characters. Book two is set some time after the end of book one, and deals with the ramifications of all that passed in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. While some characters from the first book appear in The Broken Kingdoms, they only appear when they are integral to the story, and they are supporting cast rather than main characters. The two books are set in the same city, but the settings could not feel more different. Yet there is a sense of familiarity there still that does tie them both together and allows the reader to revel in the continuity of story, even with all of the differences. It is wonderful, and I delighted in it. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how the third book continues this style.

I think for fans of fantasy this trilogy will be a must read. Even more so for readers who crave strong female characters--which are so sorely lacking in other forms of entertainment these days. Even better, if you are a fan of fantasy looking to convert a friend or loved one to the genre, this might be a great gateway series. It is fast-paced and so a quick read, and will only clock in at three books when done (Jemisin is already working on her next series which sounds equally intriguing). The setting, while not our "modern" world, is urban, and while still deliciously fantastic it is also amazingly familiar, something that I think will make this breed of fantasy more accessible to newcomers.

I don't want to give away too much of the story itself, because I would hate to spoil the joy of uncovering it on your own. But I can tell you that The Inheritance Trilogy is about gods. Actual living gods and their interactions with the mortals they created in the world they also created. It is also about family, in many different senses of the word. Another theme that runs through is facing one's past and confronting those things we thought we had left behind. Of course there is love in there as well--all kinds of love--and extremely well written. Even as these fantastic events, these impossible events, unfold before the reader's eyes, they are wholly believable.

So, for those of you looking for something interesting and entertaining and good to read? I cannot recommend N.K. Jemisin more highly.

I Think They Are Reproducing When I Am Not Looking

Yesterday I finished the second book in Fandemonium's Stargate Atlantis Legacy series. This is the series (I think it is planned to be six books, but I could totally be making that up) that sets out to provide answers to all of the questions left when Stargate Atlantis finished its five-season run on television. Without going into too much detail, I will say that so far it is completely AWESOME (I want Jo Graham to be involved with every Stargate Atlantis book that Fandemonium puts out going forward, seriously). If you are feeling the forthcoming lack of Stargate goodness, you should really check these books out.

After I finished the book, I put it on the bookshelf and then went to grab the next book in my reading pile. Ahh, my reading pile. After retrieving the next book to read, I went ahead and did something I have been meaning to do for a while now. I tackled the pile and gave it a good reorganizing.

It needed it.

I had been putting the books on a dresser in the bedroom in two vertical stacks (and one messy pile of comic books and graphic novels). These stacks were starting to get perilous though, and frequently I have found myself pushing books closer to the wall so as to prevent toppling. So yesterday I pulled everything off the dresser (then dusted because, um, yeah) and spread it all out and really took a look at what I had.

I sorted the books by priority, as in, which books I really wanted to read and in what order. This is harder than it sounds. For instance, the last four books are last not because I don't want to read them very much but because I will have to read the first three books in that particular series again before I can get to those four. Still, I think I managed a good queue. Then I put them back on the dresser in a much neater (and hopefully safer) fashion. They are now in three horizontal rows, with the ones I am most excited about in the front.

I have four books pre-ordered from Amazon right now (one of which will immediately go to the front of the queue when it gets here, the other three are of middling priority). I am going to try very hard to only purchase any new books in series that I am already reading for the rest of the year (i.e., Stargate books). Plus, every six weeks I get a new Stephen King book because I am totally doing the Stephen King book club thing. Some of these are just hardcover versions of books we already have in paperback and are upgrading, but those that aren't will go to on the pile in the back. I don't think there's any way for me to not continue adding to the pile. Me not buying any new books is not a thing that is going to happen. But hopefully I can stanch the flow until I get some of these knocked out.

Also, I have resolved to do a reorg after I finish a "row" to keep the pile from turning into a leaning tower of scary again. That just seems like a sensible idea.

This whole project has reminded me that I don't read anywhere near as much as I like to anymore. Sadly, I am pretty sure video games take the brunt of the blame for that. I am usually playing during the time that is most ideally suited for me to read. I think when I finish my current game sequence, I may need to take a break from video games again for a while and dive into the books. With the nicer weather coming on hopefully that won't be too difficult, since reading outside will have a decent appeal.

Right now my plan is to read the book I just started (another Stargate book, the last in my pile for the time being and a quick read) and then get to my huge pile of comic books and graphic novels:

My current pile of graphic novels and comic books to tackle.

Once I've survived that, it will be time to start climbing Everest.

The newly reorganized reading pile.

I am actually really excited about that first row! For the curious, here is what it contains:

Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik (part of the Temeraire series)
Blackveil by Kristen Britain (part of the Green Rider series)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (book one of The Inheritance Trilogy)
The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (book two of The Inheritance Trilogy)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Star Wars: Knight Errant by John Jackson Miller
Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey

So, yeah, good stuff all around.