I’ve been trying to read more. This sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but, well. I’m having a hard time finding stories I really love. I can find many that are ‘good enough’, stories that I can finish, but few which really grab me by the lapels (if I wore something with lapels, of course) and drag me down into their interesting depths.
That metaphor got away from me.
I’ve set a personal goal to read at least 100 books this year. I’m counting fanfiction, of course, because I read a lot of that (and often, it’s better written than commercially published fiction), and I’m setting a 20K word limit as my minimum to be considered a ‘book’. This leaves a lot of room.
So far I’ve finished six commercially published books and three fanfics, all based on one canon. The story that the fanfic is based on is finally out in translation in the West, and I’m definitely going to have to get it. I’ve watched some of the TV show made from the story and it’s amazing, if hard to follow without paying a lot of attention. (Yes, it’s The Untamed. Yes, I’m totally hooked.)
Anyway, I haven’t found any commercially published book yet this year that’s really sucked me in. I’m reading in the genres I write in (Paranormal Women’s Fiction, Romantic Fantasy…) and I’m just not sure that I’m looking for the same things that the bulk of other readers are interested in.
What are you reading? Tell me about your current favorites! And your older favorites – those are often really great.
My husband got me a Kindle Paperwhite for giftmas and I’m enjoying reading on it. It feels luxurious to curl up in one of my wingchairs with a cup of coffee and a bunch of books to choose from. Sometimes I have to evict a cat to get my chair, but she ends up in my lap, so we both have a good time.
In other news, it’s been bitter cold here in New England. We had snow, then a couple of warm days, and now some extremely cold days (below zero Fahrenheit), so the melted areas are now thick sheets of ice. Watching the hens slip on the ice is unexpectedly amusing. (They’re less amused, but they forgive me for laughing when I hand out the mealworms.)
I hope you’re all staying warm and cozy (assuming you’re in the northern hemisphere), and that you have plenty of good reading to fill your spare time.
On that note, Kay’s third book is charging right along. It looks like it’ll come in a bit bigger than the last one, but that’s good, right?