The Reading List 2012 – Update

I realized this week, as I finished Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Impossible by Nancy Werlin, that I hadn’t checked in on my original reading list since March.

Also, after this week’s awesome news, which was pretty much like the entertainment gods saying “Happy early birthday, Michelle!”, this slipped my mind.

Here’s where I stand:

My 2012 reading list

Hector wanted to be in the picture.

Kindle books:
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Fiction:
Endymion by Dan Simmons (Just started)
The Ancient by R.A. Salvatore
Long Lost by David Morrell (currently on loan to my roommate)
A Coral Kiss by Jayne Ann Krentz (Screw it. Life’s too short to read romance novels you don’t like.)
If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Nonfiction
The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire by Susan Ronald
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain
Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham
Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey

Story by Robert McKee

I’m more than halfway done!

New stuff added to the to-read list It’s been slow going, partly because I’ve been editing and then plotting out a new WIP, partly because a lot of these books are outside my normal genres (or are just plain huge, as in the case of The Wise Man’s Fear), and partly because I kept discovering new writers and recommendations from friends that I just had to read right NOW. (See: The Parasol Protectorate.)

In fact, that new stack you see just to the right here are books that have been added to the “unread stuff on my shelf” over the past two months. (Including a birthday gift from my roommates. GUESS WHICH ONE THAT IS.) :-D

However, it’s progress, and it’s also broadening my horizons. I’m insanely glad I made myself sit down and read The Shadow of the Wind, and the nonfiction books I’ve finished so far have been really, really helpful in terms of studying the craft.

Are there any books you didn’t think you’d like that you ended up loving once you read them?

10 comments to The Reading List 2012 – Update

  1. Chelsie says:

    HECTOR!!! Evil wittle ball of fur :)

    I got a Kindle for Mother’s Day, and ever since then I’ve been trolling Amazon’s lists for free smut. Let me just say that there are some, um, GOOD ones out there. In the process, I also came across a steampunk romance called Viridis by Calista Taylor. I immediately thought of you. It was my first foray into the steampunk world, and I kinda liked it. You probably would, too, aside from the weird formatting errors in the e-book.

    • thebnc says:

      I’ll put it on the list and give it a go. Thanks, Chels!

      If you like steamy steampunk, may I recommend Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series? It’s not free, but I’ve really, really liked the books so far.

  2. Becca says:

    I should take a page from your book and expand my reading horizons. I too often get stuck in spec fic and probably should throw in some nonfic.

    So, on that note – tell me how you like The Pirate Queen. I do adore Tudor and Elizabethan era history. :-)

    • thebnc says:

      I’ll let you know! I’m not very far in — only about 50 pages. So far they’ve been explaining the issues that Elizabeth faced politically and economically when she took the throne, and how she was working to combat them.

  3. DUDE. You have Cinder! Can I borrow it when you’re done? Please?!

    Hm . . . books I didn’t think I’d love that I did . . . um . . . I know there have been some, but I don’t remember what. *goes to glance at Goodreads*

    Hah! I know what one was – Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis.

    The first time I read it, I only had a passing familiarity with the myth of Cupid & Psyche, and I wasn’t quite sure what to make with the story, but as I read more and re-read it several times over the years, it slowly became one of my favorite books of all time.

  4. Elizabeth says:

    Hmmm, more often I read a book I think I’ll love and then don’t like it. Though I will say, I was a bit hesitant to read Soulless since the other steampunk I’d read (Cassandra Clare something or other) really turned me off. It was a really fun book, though, and I will totally be finishing out the series! I loved how tongue-in-cheek it was… I can’t really take paranormal that takes itself too seriously.

    • thebnc says:

      I tried reading the first book in Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, and though I did finish, I didn’t like it well enough to read any more.

      The Parasol Protectorate is SO much fun. I’ve just started the last book. It’s a great steampunk series.

  5. Mark says:

    Dont kill me but if you missed Brent Weeks stuff then you have two trilogies to add to that list ASAP. Plus if you missed Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael series then you don’t deserve to be around books.

    • thebnc says:

      Brent Weeks is on my to-read list. I will probably pick up his stuff after I make some more headway through what I’ve already got. I hadn’t heard of Daniel Quinn; I’ll keep an eye out for that as well. Thanks!

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