Top Ten Tuesday – Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Erm, hi? So, I took another unplanned break there. A 6 month unplanned break. In fact the majority of 2021 has NOT gone as planned, as I expect it hasn’t for the majority of us. I can’t claim that I’ll be back here consistently from now on, with everything the universe keeps throwing our way it would be a foolish guarantee to make, but I’m going to try and engage with my blog more, it’s one of my “2022 Goals”.

I know, I know, it sounds familiar. Best intentions and all that.

I started the year well, I was on track to meet my goal of reading 100 pieces of writing this year. But my reading went down hill after May when I ended up with a pile of unexpected marking near the beginning of Wyrd & Wonder. After that, things just kept happening to waylay me and reading ended up at the bottom of my priority list.

My 2021 reading goal is definitely unsalvageable, I’ve not even reached the half way point of my 100 pieces as I write this, but I’m trying to get myself back on track. Not out of a sense of obligation, I know as members of the blogging community we’re prone to the guilt complex of not reading all the great books out there. Perhaps there’s a bit of that at play, but reading is something I do for me. Yes, it feeds into my writing, my position with Litfest and my multiple book related jobs. But, at its core, reading is self-care for me. It’s fun, it’s escapist and it helps me do the other thing I’ve not done enough of this year – write.

So now, and in 2022, I’m going to read. I’m going to try to make space for it each day, even if it’s only one page or one paragraph. Not because I should read, but because I want to.

So, for this week’s TTT we’re meant to be sharing out Winter TBRs. Mine’s a tad over the ten books we need for a TTT but hey I have a lot of reading to catch up on!

New Reads

Read:

Gallows Court & Mortmain Hall by Martin Edwards

I’m a longstanding fan of crime procedurals and mysteries in film and TV form but I’ve never really got into crime novels. I was hoping that 2021 would be the year that I changed that, to this end I’ve started borrowing crime novels from the library and nabbing some in the kindle monthly/daily deals. I don’t really know much about crime authors (any suggestions welcome!) so I’ve been mainly going off covers and synopsizes that grab my attention. These two were the first two novels featuring Rachel Saversnake and have a strong ‘golden age of crime’ feel. I’ve enjoyed them a lot, they gave me strong Agatha Christie vibes.

Sycamore Gap #2 DCI Ryan by L.J. Ross

I’m working my way through the DCI Ryan series on Kindle Unlimited at the moment, they’re light reads, somewhat shallow on character development but full of fun, twisty plots with a northern slant. They work well as a palate cleanser and as something for my brin to tick over whilst I build up to the next SFF novel.

Currently Reading:

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

I got part way through this novel earlier in the year, but felt like I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do it justice. SPC’s writing is rich, detailed and evocative of the era. I love what she’s done with history and the ways she’s using point of view to give a multi faceted view of the conflict. Basically, I’m really enjoying myself so far.

Started but not finished:

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

And why Natalie have you not finished AEH’s first novel when she’s one of your favourite authors? Well readers, for pretty much the same reason I haven’t finished SPC’s debut yet. This book is too good not to devote your whole attention too. I’m about a third of the way in an the writing it just…delicious. It’s a book that deserved savouring.

Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

Again, a promising start from a book I began when I was still sitting in the freezing cold at the front of the library. I’m itching to get back to this intriguing world of sorceresses, immortals and dark magic.

Dune by Frank Herbert

I got a good chunk into this one many MANY years ago. It was interesting and I can see why it’s been a SFF classic. Lady Jessica and the Bene Gesserit particularly caught by attention, but once again things happened and I got distracted… I turned back to it when the film was due to come out and I’m going to try and finish it before I watch the film adaptation.

To re-read if I have time!

I read a lot of good books over the last couple of years that I’ve never reviewed but I really want to. However, so much has happened this year that I couldn’t do them justice reviewing them from memory, Alas, I must re-read!

How’s your reading year been? What are your 2022 goals?

Advertisement