In an attempt to try to clear a few books off the pile that have been sitting there for too long, I've come up with a November reading plan. Right now I am reading By the Mountain Bound by Elizabeth Bear, which I absolutely love for its mythology, subtlety and troubled characters. For reviews, I am working on The Bone Key, a collection of ghost stories by Sarah Monette.
I just read a book I need to read for work last night so I'm going to reward myself next with a book I absolutely cannot wait to read - Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor.
After that the plan is to read the following:
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington (This one sounds dark and I really like the sound of it)
Busted Flush edited by George R. R. Martin (one of the Wild Cards books in preparation for Suicide Kings, the next book in the new trilogy, coming out next month)
Then depending on how much time is left after I finish those, I'd like to read as many of these in November as possible:
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott
The Dragons of Hazlett by Michelle Scott
The Wolverine Files by Mike W. Barr
If I get through two of the above, I may swap one out for Graceling, though, since I'm also really looking forward to that one and would like to read it sometime in the near future.
What's everyone reading this November?
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My reading plans actually detract from my making my way through my reading pile. This November I am reading VanderMeer's Ambergris books, of which I was forced to buy two in order to do. I have been looking forward to Finch though and enjoyed Shriek a lot, so I figured I would pick up City of Saints and Madmen as well and make a goal of it. It's my Weird November. :P After I finish that I will be reading The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart as well.
Next month is my Bleak December and I will be reading Poe's collected fiction as well as some of the work of M.R. James and Thomas Ligotti (both of which I had to buy, thereby adding to The Stack :P).
James - I like the idea of Weird November and Bleak December. Although I'm trying to reduce the stack, I won't be surprised if I end up adding more so don't feel too badly.
Have you read M.R. James before? I just read The Bone Key by Sarah Monette and he was one of her influences for writing it (along with Lovecraft who I've also never read).
I haven't read anything from M.R. James yet. I bought the book specially for the Bleak December and really haven't even had the time to look through it. I had never heard of him before the latest issue of Weird Tales, which introduced me to both James and Ligotti and piqued my interest in both of them. Very much looking forward to reading his collection.
I have read a little of Lovecraft's work, as I have two collections, but I am more inclined towards novels than short fiction and read it "when I can" (code for: once in a blue moon, when the stars align in just the right way, and the children in town sleep fitfully for terrible nightmares of unspeakable horrors, nameless and ancient). The stories I have read are very much influenced by Poe, but that may be because I have yet to stumble upon one of the Cthulhu Mythos stories.
Wow, you have so much to get through. I have a plan to read at least six titles as well and we shall see whether I succeed or not. I wish you luck with it.
Im too involved in writing month to pick up a new read right now. But I really wanna have this as a fallback for whenever I run out of creative steam.
James - I'm more of a novel reader than a short story reader as well. This year I've read more short stories than normal - 2 books of them, which is 2 more than I normally read in a year. Both of the ones I read were good, though, but I'm sure it helps that they were by two of my favorite authors (still wasn't as good as their novels though).
Harry - Thank you, good luck to you as well! The month is off to a good start so far since I finished By the Mountain Bound tonight (which I LOVED) and read the first novella in Lips Touch.
Emperor - Good luck with writing month!
I am a bit lazier in the reading department, but that is to be expected since I am writing heavily and the energy deposit is jumping from one place to the other. But I will manage.
Norilana Books just released The Captain's Witch by Rosemary Hawley Jarman:
http://www.amazon.com/Captains-Witch-Rosemary-Hawley-Jarman/dp/1607620464
I've been waiting for it for a while, so I'll probably read it this weekend.
"A stunning, erotic, dark epic fantasy by the acclaimed historical novelist Rosemary Hawley Jarman, newly revised and expanded, and detailing the complex story of true love and impossible evil."
"One of the greatest dark fantasies ever written -- in any genre."
-- Tanith Lee
Really excited about this one.
Great plan Kristen! Good luck - it sounds like you're off to a good start!
Kristen-
Oddly enough, the amount of short fiction collections I have continues to grow, despite not reading them all that much. It takes either a lot of focus or a lot of interest to keep me reading a collection. The sole author I exclude from that is Neil Gaiman, as I think his short fiction far surpasses any of his novel-length fiction.
Only managed to read one collection this year, by debut novelist Ken Scholes, and I felt that it lived up to his longer work, which might eventually get him listed next to Neil Gaiman.
Can say that I will be very happy to remove at least three collections from The Stack come December.
Harry - Yeah, if I were writing too there is no way I could get through six books. I suspect my reading pace is going to be a lot slower until next week is over. At least there is a 4 day weekend later this month, so hopefully I can make up some of it then.
Anastasia - That sounds very good! I hadn't heard of that one, but it's on the wish list now. Let me know what you think of it if you do read it this weekend.
Orannia - Thanks, I'm not sure if I'll get through all of those but I should at least be done with the Laini Taylor book by the end of the weekend.
James - That's funny, I also recently added 3 short story collections to the stack in spite of not reading them all that often either. Some of the authors in them were ones I enjoy very much, though, so they were too good to pass up.
Have you read Fragile Things? It's the only short story collection I have by Gaiman and I haven't read it yet. Since The Graveyard Book seemed more like interconnected short stories and I loved that one, I'm hoping I'll like those as well.
I am reading Ken Scholes Canticle. I'm also reading Jennifer Estep's Spider's Bite, but it's not due out until Feb. I also have Justin Allen's Year of the Horse on its way to me.
Tia - Can't wait to hear what you think of all those! I didn't end up sticking to my reading plan since I wasn't in the mood for any of the books I tried and ending up starting Black Ships by Jo Graham instead (which was first brought to my attention by your review and is great so far). This week has been to hectic to get much reading (or reviewing) done though.
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