I started thinking about this when author and friend Craig Alanson replied to a tweet of mine. The tweet was me responding to a tweet by Gareth Powell’s book EMBERS OF WAR. I saw it on sale, have been wanting to read it, so I went to Amazon to purchase it for my kindle (only $2.99)! Only to find out that I already have it on my kindle.

I do this a lot. I see a book that I know I want to read go on sale, and I purchase it. That way, if the worst happens, say, I don’t know…a global pandemic…and everything goes to crap, I have a bunch of books to read.

Craig’s response got me thinking about my TBR list…that’s To Be Read, to those not familiar with the lingo. I don’t really have one. Or…do I?

First, some things about me. I only read maybe 35 books a year, for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s because I spend a lot of time writing, which is by nature a solo endeavor. So when I’m not writing, I often spend time with my wife, who I kind of like. But the point is, there’s a limited amount that I can read. To make up for this, I read mostly new stuff. The majority of what I read is from the last 2 to 3 years, and often I read stuff that’s not even out yet.

By the way, that’s one of the best perks of being a pro author. People send you free books before they’re published. Especially, if, like me, you tend to gush about books that you love in public. See my recent twitter paean to NOPHEK GLOSS, by Essa Hansen.

For the purposes of this blog post, I will interchangeably use the terms read and listen to. I love audio books. I always have a read book and a listen book going at the same time.

So with that long introduction out of the way, here’s me trying to make sense of my TBR list for the rest of the year by using categories.

Category 1: Books I’ve read recently (with a short reason for why I read them)

NOPHEK GLOSS (The editor asked my agent if I’d read it, and it looked great. Spoiler: It was great)

THE CITY WE BECAME (It’s NK Jemisin. Of course I read it)

THE LAST EMPEROX by John Scalzi (Book 3 of a series I enjoy, and I really love Wil Wheaton’s narration of Scalzi books)

PARABLE OF THE TALENTS by Octavia Butler (I try to read 4 or 5 classics of SF each year. This qualifies)

THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY by Alix Harrow (Everyone was talking about it)

THE ALEPH EXTRACTION by Dan Moren (I enjoyed the first one, and Dan sent me book 2 ahead of publication for a blurb. Great series, full of action)

THE LAST WATCH by JS Dewes (I think this comes out in 2021. I saw it on twitter, thought it looked awesome, so I tweeted at the author, who got the editor to send it to me. Great book)


Category 2: Books I’m reading currently

Audio: THE RAGE OF DRAGONS by Evan Winter (Had wanted to read it for a while. Finally got around to it)

Print: THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Once a book wins two major awards, I’m probably going to read it. Plus a friend recommended it)


Category 3: Books coming out later this year that I’m already planning to read because I can’t imagine not reading them

HARROW THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir (GIDEON was probably my favorite book from 2019) I’ll probably listen to this on audio because I loved Moira Quirk’s narration of book 1.

HOLLOW EMPIRE by Sam Hawke (Loved book 1, CITY OF LIES, and have been waiting for this one for a while now). Comes out December 1st, which, conveniently, is right around my deadline for my 4th novel.


Category 4: Other books I plan to read this year in no particular order.

STORM BLOOD by Jeremy Szal
EMBERS OF WAR by Gareth Powell
PARADISE: EX FORCE 3 by Craig Alanson (on Audio. Already own it. Probably my next listen)
GHOST SQUAD: by Claribel Ortega (My only middle grade entry. I have it sitting on my table in hard cover)
THE RUIN OF KINGS by Jenn Lyons (Been meaning to read this one for a while)
THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater (I feel like this is a hole in my SFF reading, and I want to fill it)
POOR MAN’S FIGHT by Elliott Kay (Another one I’ve been meaning to get to for quite some time)


And that’s it. I’ve got more books that I own. But I know myself…I’ll add in several other things that I don’t currently have planned, and those others will get pushed down the list. Someone will send me an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) or I’ll see everybody talking about something hot, and I’ll jump on those.

Now that I’ve got this organized, it will certainly go 100% as planned. Right up until I see the next book on sale and go “Oooh…look! Shiny!”