Wendy’s Winter Reading List

My new year’s reading resolution for 2014 includes a half-hearted promise not to buy any more new books next year because I need to focus on my mighty to-be-read pile. There are a number of books that I have sitting right beside my bed or at the top of my ebook list because I keep meaning to read next, but something always hops in the way. Making a list challenges me to stick to it. Oh I’m sure a lot of other things will pop up, such as review requests, book club reads and other challenges, but these books are definitely going to be read this winter.

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

I’m a bit amazed to look at the calendar and see that it’s already been a year since I finished reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for the second time within two months. I didn’t continue with the Inheritance Trilogy at that time because I just wasn’t ready for the emotional commitment. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was emotionally exhausting! But a year is ample time to get over that, so here we go…

The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny

This was a recommendation that spawned from a discussion about writing magic and mages. And while I’m impatiently awaiting Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance, I decided that the beginning of the year is an excellent time to start a new epic fantasy tome. This is a collection of 10 books within the series, but it’s a pretty hefty book, so it still counts.

The First Confessor by Terry Goodkind

A few years ago, my parents took the kids for a week and I had myself a Legend of the Seeker marathon. I really enjoyed the show and have been meaning to read its source material, starting with The Wizard’s First Rule. I mulled over this for a while, but decided to go with the newer book, The First Confessor, which is the beginning of a new series that predates The Sword of Truth timeline.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

As far as gaming goes, I have determined that 2014 will the The Year of The Witcher. This game has been sitting in my Steam library for a while now as a result of the painful original Mass Effect 3 endings. I’m a fan of books based on my favourite video games, but I have not yet read a book that inspired a game.

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

Goodreads recommended this book to me, but before I got around to reading it, Lord’s second book, The Best of All Possible Worlds, popped up on NetGalley. I loved The Best of All Possible Worlds, and the sequel for it will be out in the spring from Jo Fletcher books, but it’s about time I checked out Redemption in Indigo.

Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock

Pronounced ” mee-seh-reh-reh,” this is a book that I’ve been meaning to read since Mogsy’s glowing review, but more so now that I’ve unofficially become one of Ms. Frohock’s twitter minions. One of the things I’ve come to appreciate about the book blogosphere is the opportunity to interact with the authors, and Ms. Frohock is absolutely one of the best of them. She is good, good peeps.

Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells

The moment I finished reading The Cloud Roads, I went and bought a whole bunch of Wells’ other books, including this one. I ought to be reading the next book in The Books of the Raksura series, but this one caught my attention first. I really enjoy Wells’ world building and, while I do plan to return to the Raksura, I’m curious about the other worlds she’s created.