I actually have 11 fiction books in my current reading list now (not even bothering to count monographs and academic collections plus articles). More than half of those are for research articles I am writing.
As for the other half:
- I am still slowly rereading The Lord of The Rings, and have finished rereading The Silmarillion and am now enjoying a slow read of Unfinished Tales. I’m teaching my Adaptation Studies course soon and this semester students will have an option of either working on the PJ movies or on The Rings of Power. So, this is still reading for work — but also for pleasure because I am even more of a Tolkien nerd than ever before.
- My NK Jemisin article utilising Anna Tsing and Donna Haraway’s Plantationocene theory has already been published but I’m partway through my reread of the third book of the Broken Earth trilogy, The Stone Sky. Will I write another article on the trilogy? Probably. I feel I have barely scratched the surface.
- I also galloped through the Bridgerton books while I was in hospital (nearly five weeks, what). They are not unproblematic but enjoyable enough for me to have read through them pretty quickly. Again, this has become work-related because I teach the Bridgerton books and series in the Popular Culture MA course.
- I’ve been on a Star Wars kick since I was in hospital and watched Obi Wan Kenobi on my phone. Having finished rewatching all the movies, I decided it was time to read the books — something I’ve been putting off since the 90s because I didn’t know where to start. Start at the beginning, apparently — so I’m slowly reading Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire.
- Lud-in-The-Mist remains my “go to hospital appointments” book and so I tend to read through it slowly in hospital waiting rooms. Enjoying the slow read.
- I reread Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour before reading Briar Queen and Nettle King. She has made a very rich and dark world and her vision of Faerie is chilling. I can’t help wondering if there’ll be a fourth book.
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern had me starstruck. What an amazing book. So dreamlike, so powerful. This one is definitely amongst the best books I’ve read this year.
- I read three delightful romances by Alyssa Cole: The AI Who Loved Me, Can’t Escape Love and Once Ghosted, Twice Shy. Always happy to read her romances and believe more contemporary romances should be like these.
- Unsure when I’ll pick up The Wheel of Time again. I was partway through The Great Hunt when I got distracted by the ACOTAR books earlier this year. Maybe when Season 2 comes around, ha ha.
- Finally, I’m also slowly reading Fire and Blood by GRRM because of That Dragon Show.
And that’s about it for now. My TBR list both physical and electronic is quite terrifying though. I bought so many ebooks through Kobo over the years! Looking forward to reading more…