Top 10 Books I Wish I Could Read

As we approach the new year, I want to wrap up this year, look forward to the next, and then look beyond even that – because, yes, I’m a greedy bookslut when it comes to stuffing my shelves!

This year I read 124 books, the shortest being 24 pages and the longest 1,232 pages. During the year I read some stinkers (Tell Me I’m Worthless comes to mind) and some disappointments (The Dragons of Deepwood Fen tops that list), but I also had my hand in proofreading or editing some absolutely amazing titles (but I won’t play favorites there).

To wrap things up, here are the Top 10 Books I Wish I Could Read next year – books teased, abandoned, postponed, and unwritten:

Stealing Thunder 3 by Alina Boyden – I have no idea if there are plans, but I absolutely adored the first 2 books of this series and I desperately want more. More epic fantasy with transgender heroines positively portrayed.Feminine Pursuits 4 by Olivia Waite – I know her contract was only for 3 books in this series, but I’d dearly love another massmarket paperback book of sapphic regency romance with a backdrop of art, science, and biology.Tempests and Temptation by Kara Jorgensen – tentatively scheduled for 2025, this f/f entry in the Paranormal Society Romance series (which I’ve loved) is a book I’ve been waiting for since 2020.Domains 5 by Miss Irene Clearmont – I absolutely adored the Domains saga (Miss Irene even wrote me into an exclusive short story!), so when she blogged about writing a series of tales that would serve as the 5th book she originally envisioned, it immediately went on my wishlist.Initiates of the Blood by Cecilia Tan – a long-delayed book I’ve been waiting for since 2017, this promises sex, blood magic, and romance in a stimulating, sensual, satisfying tale by an author who has defined queer/erotic SFF.Poor Relations by Jo Walton – announced in 2017 and placed into limbo due to online concerns and Walton wanting to be a good trans ally, I still desperately want to read this ‘Mansfield Park as a space opera’ alien invasion tale because I love Walton and trust her to manage the core gender aspect with sensitivity, creativity, and thoughtfulness.Walk in Shadow by Steven Erikson – this 3rd book in the Kharkanas Trilogy was paused back in 2022, but I love the idea of delving deeper into the history of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, and honestly I’d rather read this than the Witness trilogy.Talisman 3 by Stephen King – I don’t know that this will ever happen now that Peter Straub has passed away, but King first talked about writing a 3rd book way back in 2006, and I still desperately want to see the duology become a trilogy, so here’s hoping. Captal’s Tower by Melanie Rawn – long-awaited since 1997, this 3rd book of the Exiles series is my holy grail of epic fantasies (sorry, Winds of Winter fans), and while I wholly sympathize with the life challenges she has faced, she’s talked about getting back to this, so I continue to hold out hope that we’ll see it one day.Book of The Art 3 or Galilee 2 by Clive Barker – Barker has been talking about a sequel to The Great and Secret Show & Everville since 1990 and a sequel to Galilee since 1997, and if there was only one book I could look forward to, it would be just one more epic adult doorstopper from the greatest author of our generation.