Currently Reading – Pandemic Edition

This post is way less dramatic than it sounds, I promise. As I’ve been publishing three posts per week for the last month or so  in order to do my small part in keeping you dear readers entertained, I have actually reached the end of the review wait queue. There is one review of Kathleen Jenning’s Flyaway scheduled for July (it was great and you should buy it if you like your stories gothic, weird, and atmospheric) but other than that, I’m all out of reviews.

But so you know what’s coming up next, as soon as I finish reading them, here are my current reads and the books I intend to pick up next.

Currently Reading

Mark Lawerence – Red Sister

This is Booktube’s fault. Everybody there seems to love and admire The Book of the Ancestor, especially people who love Brandon Sanderson’s books. So I thought I’d finally give it a try and see if the fuss is justified. I’m 75% done with this and while the beginning was very strong and the ideas super interesting, nothing much has happened for quite a while now. Sure, we learn teeny tiny bits about the world and the characters, but compared to how amazing the beginning was, I’m a bit disappointed. But, let’s not judge the book before knowing the ending. For all I know, it might be mind-blowing.

Charlie Jane Anders – The City in the Middle of the Night

This is the last book I need to read for the Hugo Award Best Novel category.  I’m almost halfway done and I’m still waiting for the book to connect with me. There are interesting ideas, flawed yet intriguing characters, but somehow I’m missing that spark. I expected to love this so I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. But there’s still a bit more than half the book left – we’ll see if it can conquer my heart yet.

Raymond E. Feist – Magician

I didn’t think I’d ever pick this book or this series up again. I read the first half of the first book as a teenager (the paperback is split into two for the US edition – Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) and while I liked it, I never continued the series. However, it is the May book pick for the Sword and Laser Podcast and so I took this as an opportunity to re-read the part I’d read before and then add the “Master” part of the book as well.
It’s incredibly generic fantasy but knowing what you’re going to get is pretty comforting right now. I’m not even a third done with this and it will probably still be a while. This chonker has over 800 pages.

Next in the Reading Queue

These are the book babies that I will probably pick up next, right after I’m finished with the ones listed above.

For the Hugo Awards:

• Tade Thompson – Rosewater (for Best Series)
• Seanan McGuire – In an Absent Dream (for Best Novella)
• Frances Hardinge – Deeplight (for the Lodestar)

Review copies:

• Melissa Bashardoust – Girl, Serpent, Thorn
• Victoria McCombs – The Storyteller’s Daughter

Just because:

• Ursula K. LeGuin – The Farthest Shore