catlarks: (Kinjou: Dramatic)
This year, I decided to do something a little different in my literature consumption. I've been reading more novels each year for the past few years but I don't read very much short fiction and I wish I did, because short fiction is what I prefer to write. So I subscribed to several literature magazines.

I now have subscriptions to Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Uncanny Magazines. As it turns out, three magazines may have been one magazine too many, because I absolutely cannot read that volume of stories each month and am piling up a hefty backlog of things to read, but... There's no reason I can't keep chewing through what I've bought as time allows. It's really satisfying to see my collection of magazines grow as the months roll by!

In light of this, I will now be keeping a list of the stories I've read from these magazines, along with very brief notes on my impressions of each story. I originally created the list in the order I read the stories, before shuffling them to be in alphabetical order by title. If you would prefer descending order by how highly I rated my enjoyment of the stories, let me know.

I've genuinely really, really enjoyed the things I've read and they are all available to read online and linked below; I recommend checking some of these works out as suits your interest!

Short Fiction Read in 2019 )
catlarks: (Kinjou: Magician)
As promised, I present to dreamwidth the following: my intended reading list for 2019!

I have chosen to color-code it to communicate my own progress; anything in plain text has yet to be read, anything in red is currently in progress, and anything in green has been completed. I will not be REMOVING anything from this list, however, I may add more books if anything comes up during the year that seems worth preemptively recommending. I will try to keep it updated with my progress; if I read something not on this list and didn't find it worth sharing, that book will not be added.

That all said, the list:

  • Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz
  • The Bear and the Nightengale, by Katherine Arden
  • A Darker Shade of Magic, by V. E. Schwab
  • The Devourers, by Indra Das
  • Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson
  • The Grace of Kings, by Ken Liu
  • The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin
  • In An Absent Dream, by Seanan McGuire
  • Infomocracy, by Malka Older
  • The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers
  • The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang
  • The Rise and Fall of DODO, by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
  • The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman
  • Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer
  • An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon
  • The Witches of New York, Ami McKay


I make no guarantees that I will read and finish all of these books in 2019 (or possibly ever) but this is the list of novels I'm excited to read and which I would be excited to talk about with friends! I know a formal book club is a big commitment so rather than trying to organize anything like that, I hope folks will join me for this kind of, opening the doors for informal book discussion.
catlarks: (Kinjou: Magician)
In light of the fact that I cannot write a brief discussion of literature to save my life, I bring to you now: the second half of my 2018 literary year in review. My previous post consisted of mini-reviews of every book I completed in 2018; in this post I offer you commentary on the books I began in 2018 but am still in the process of reading for 2019.

As previously mentioned, some of these books I am still very much excited to read and I simply put them on hold in favor of something else I wanted to read more, or because the tone of the book was something I was no longer in the best frame of mind to consume. Other books on this list — a few, not many — I didn't turn out to be so much of a fan of. Even so, there is only one book here which I don't plan to finish. Everything else on this list I would recommend reading, depending on your personal taste.

With that out of the way... I present my ongoing reads into 2019! )
catlarks: (Kinjou: Red)
I am quite late for a yearly review of the novels I read in 2018 but in my defense, I have had this planned since the last week of December. There are always memes about writing and reading and art that go around leading up to new year's and I couldn't find one that was quite what I wanted, so I made my own.

I'm the sort of person who always has a dozen different books in progress because I'll hop to something new every time my mood changes and am always reaching to read something that hits a specific tonal note. To that end, I present two lists: the list of books I completed in 2018, and the list of books I was reading in 2018 but which I have yet to finish. I'll be writing little mini-reviews of each; with the ongoing reads, some of them I'm still very excited about, some I got burnt out on for one reason or another and may or may not finish.

For a number of years I hadn't been reading much and since maybe 2016 I resolved to start reading more again. I use my library's digital lending system a ton for checking out ebooks and each year I've been reading more than the year before. I wish I did a roundup for 2016 and 2017 but I wasn't back in the swing of journaling yet; I hope that after 2018, I'll do one of these at the end of 2019 as well!

This post contains only the list of books I completed in 2018. In light of the fact that I am a walking TL;DR and cannot keep a post about literature brief to save my life, I am splitting the list of books in progress off onto a separate post, to be completed at a later date. I hope you, dear readers, enjoy this discussion of the books I finished.

And without further ado... The books of 2018! )