Miscellaneous Chatter > Literature

Yearly Reading Targets 2020

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Wilshire:
Another year, another book topic.

I think I'm going to try and finish the series I didn't get to last year, and sprinkle in some new stuff. Maybe even a reread or two if there's time. 30 was pretty easy last year, and since the outlook for this year seems similar, I'll try for 40 to make it a bit of a stretch.

Happy reading.

Some books I'd like to get to this year:

Sabriel by Garth Nix (maybe)
Labyrinth of Flames by Courtney Schaffer
Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James
Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson
Beyond Redemption by Michael R Fletcher (read Smoke and Stone instead)
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
Acts of Cain by Matthew Stover
Powder Mage by Brian McClellan
Enchantment of Ravens (christmas)
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
An Unkindness of Magicians (been sitting on my shelf for ages)
The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A Wolf (christmas)
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (christmas gift, thus required reading)

January (4)
1) Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
2) The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen Donaldson
3) Six Sacred Swords by Andrew Rowe
4) The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

February (6)
1) The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A Wolf
2) Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

March (8 )
1) The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
2) The Lathe of Heave by Ursula K Le Guin

April (9)
1) A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

May (11)
1) Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
2) Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover

June (16)
1) Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike
2) The Raven's Tower by Ann Leckie
3) This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (blue/red respectively)
4) An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
5) To be taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

July (24)
1) Minimum Wage Magic Rachael Aaron
2) Off to Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer
3) The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith
4) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
5) The Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan
6) Uprooted by Naomi Novik
7) Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
8 ) The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan

August (26)
1) The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
2) Scientific Secrets for Raising Kids Who Thrive by Peter M. Vishton

September (29)
1) Caine Black Knife by Matthew Stover
2) Caine's Law by Matthew Stover
3) Dragon's Flight (Pern 1) By Anne McCaffery

October (33)
1) 1984 by George Orwell
2) Crib Sheets by Emily Oster
3) Smoke and Stone by Michael R Fletcher
4) A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

November (35)
1) Hyperion by Dan Simmons
2) The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

December (36)
1) Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson

Also, a running list of the books I've read in the last few years, organized generally by how much I liked them in relation to all the others on the list:
(click to show/hide)(5.1) The Second Apocalypse Series - 7 books by R Scott Bakker
(5.1) The Hyperion Cantos - 4 books by Dan Simmons
(5) Morning Star (Red Rising 3) by Pierce Brown
(5) Ender's Saga - 4 books by Orson Scott Card
(5) Malazan Book of the Fallen - 10 books by Steven Erikson
(5) Dune series - 6 books by Frank Herbert
(5) Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy 1) by Robin Hobb
(5) Gentleman Bastards - 3 books by Scott Lynch
(5) Perdido Street Station (Bas Lag 1) by China Mieville
(5) The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles 1) by Patrick Rothfuss
(5) The Last Mortal Bond (The Unhewn Throne 3) by Brian Staveley
(5) The Providence of Fire (The Unhewn Throne 2) by Brian Staveley
(5) The Emperor's Blades (The Unhewn Throne 1) by Brian Staveley
(5) Blindsight by Peter F Watts
(4.8 ) The First Law series - 3 books by Joe Abercrombie
(4.8 ) The Red Knight (The Traitor Son Cycle 1)  by Miles Cameron
(4.8 ) Three Body Problem (Three Body 1) by Liu Cixin
(4.8 ) The Reality Dysfunction (Night’s Dawn 1) by Peter F Hamilton
(4.5) Golden Son (Red Rising 2) by Pierce Brown
(4.5) Red Rising (Red Rising 1) by Pierce Brown
(4.5) The Real Story (Gap into conflict) (Gap Cycle 1) by Stephen R. Donaldson
(4.5) Legend (or Against the Horde) by David Gemmel
(4.5) The Magicians (Magicians Book 1) by Lev Grossman
(4.5) Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
(4.5) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
(4.5) Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy 3) by Robin Hobb
(4.5) Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy 2) by Robin Hobb
(4.5) The Fifth Seasons (Broken Earth 1) by N. K. Jemisin
(4.5) The Dispossessed (Hannish Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin
(4.5) The Scar (New Crobuzon 2) by China Mieville
(4.5) The Whitefire Crossing (Schattered Sigil 1) by Courtney Schafer
(4.5) The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer 4) by Brent Weeks
(4.5) The Burning White (Lightbringer 5) by Brent Weeks
(4.3) American Gods by Neil Gaiman
(4.3) The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastards 3) by Scott Lynch
(4.3) The Final Empire (Mistborn 1) by Brandon Sanderson
(4) Hidden Empire (Saga of Seven Suns) by Kevin J Anderson
(4) The Foundation Trilogy by Issac Asimov
(4) The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
(4) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Brandbury
(4) Paladin of Souls (World of Five Gods 3) by Louis McMaster Bujold
(4) Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera 1) by Jim Butcher
(4) Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy 1) by Jacqueline Carey
(4) Rendezvous with Rama (Rama 1) by Arthur C Clarke
(4) Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse 1) by James S. A.  Corey
(4) The Neutronium Alchemist (Night's Dawn 2) by Peter F. Hamilton
(4) The Naked God (Night's Dawn 3) by Peter F. Hamilton
(4) The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth 2) by N K Jemisin
(4) The Stone Sky (Broken Earth 3) by N K Jemisin
(4) Poppy War (Poppy War 1) by R. F.  Kuang
(4) The Dragon Republic (Poppy War 2) by R. F.  Kuang
(4) Promise of Blood (Powder Mage) by Brian McClellan
(4) First Fifteen Lives of Hary August by Claire North
(4) The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles 2) by Patrick Rothfuss
(4) The Well of Ascension (Mistborn 2) by Brandon Sanderson
(4) The Hero of Ages (Mistborn 3) by Brandon Sanderson
(4) The Tainted City (Shattered Sigil 2) by Courtney Schafer
(4) Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
(4) Heroes Die (Acts of Caine) by Matthew Stover
(4) The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer 2) by Brent Weeks
(4) The Black Prism (Lightbringer 1) by Brent Weeks
(4) The Broken Eye (Lightbringer 3) by Brent  Weeks
(3.8 ) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
(3.5) The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi
(3.5) Senlin Ascends (Books of Babel 1) by Josiah Bancroft
(3.5) Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
(3.5) Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
(3.5) Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch 1) by Ann Leckie
(3.5) The Dark Forest (Three Body 2) by Cixin Liu
(3.5) Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastards 2) by Scott Lynch
(3.5) Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock
(3.5) Gideon The Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir
(3.5) Ringworld by Larry Niven
(3.5) The Colour of Magic by Terry Prachett
(3.5) On the Shoulders of Giants (Arcane Ascension 2) by Andrew Rowe
(3.5) Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Arcane Ascension 1) by Andrew Rowe
(3.5) The Last Wish (The Witcher 1) by Andrzej Sapkowski
(3.5) Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust 1) by Anna Smith Spark
(3.5) Godblind (Godblind 1) by Anna Stephens
(3.5) The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A. Wolf
(3.3) The way of the Shadow (Night Angel Trilogy) by Brent Weeks
(3) Arm of the Sphinx (Books of Babel 2) by Josiah Bancroft
(3) Storm Front (Dresden Files 1) by Jim Butcher
(3) Black Company (Black Company 1) by Glen Cook
(3) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick
(3) The Magician King (The Magicians 2) by Lev Grossman
(3) The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
(3) The Pastal City (Viriconium 1) by M. John Harrison
(3) A Storm of Wings (Viriconium 2) by M. John Harrison
(3) The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower) by Stephen King
(3) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
(3) Dreamsnake by Vonda Mcintyre
(3) Iron Council (New Crobuzon 3) by China Mieville
(3) Circe by Madeline  Miller
(3) La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust 1) by Phillip Pullman
(3) Six Sacred Swords by Andrew Rowe
(3) Echopraxia by Peter Watts
(3) Artemis by Andy Weir
(3) The Time Machine by H G Wells
(2.5) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
(2.5) The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen  Donaldson
(2.5) Darkmage (The Rhenwars Saga 1) by M. L. Spencer
(2) In Viriconium (Viriconium 3) by M. John Harrison
(2) Ilium by Dan Simmons
(2) Blackout by Connie Willis
(1.5) The Tainted Crown by Meg Cowley
(1.3) Lord Foul's Bane (Thomas Covenant 1) by Stephen Donaldson
(1.2) Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence
(1) (S1) The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
(1) The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
(1) Blood Meridian by Cormic McCarthy

Madness:
No commitments on my part but I'll try to be more diligent about recording what I read this year here :).

Madness:
Halfway through Blade of Tyshalle, which I believe sci and Wert told me to follow through on a year ago and more. Stover has some... really unprecedented prose.

I really do wonder what Stover and Bakker disagreed about in terms of writing styles given that they tread some very similarly unsettled ground.

Wilshire:
Hey that's one I plan to read. Hope its good... Whats this about Bakker/Stover disagreement?

Skullsworn by Brian Staveley (1)

As a standalone, it suffers without the context of the larger series. As a quasi-prequel exploring the origins of a mysterious character who plays a big role in the trilogy, its pretty good. But even "pretty good" is a disappointment by Staveley. I really enjoyed Unhewn Throne, one of my top 10 series of all time, and this doesn't hold up. Its a fun romp, but I can't recommend it to anyone who isn't craving more Annur.

Madness:
Link.

That comment seems more in jest but I remember reading something once about Bakker and Stover agreeing about thematic intentions but disagreeing on execution in writing.

Blade of Tyshalle is turning into a great read though. Almost done. Probably burn through the other books soon, what with the fancy digital library, but I'm going to interject some of my other holiday purchases first - I've had a couple books on the go towards the end of the year that I'll list as I finish them but not count as this year's number but I'm really excited to read Pressfield's The Legend of Beggar Vance finally!

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