Top Ten Want-to-read-at-the-moment: Print edition

I’m sure you don’t imagine that just because I have a lot of books on my Kindle, that my print TBR pile is shrinking? No!

Some books I buy in paper even if that is significantly more expensive because I have others in the series already and don’t want to switch formats (like Deb Coates’ STRANGE COUNTRY).

Others I buy in paper because the price is not too different and I love the cover, such as with Jensen’s STOLEN SONGBIRD. One thing where the Kindle really falls down: cover art. Black and white images, phooey. Plus I turn some books face-out on my shelves because I really like to look at them.

Every now and then I buy books from the SFBC and of course those are paper.

Library sales! Paper.

And so on. So, yes, my TBR shelves are overflowing again. There are books stacked on the floor. Again. When I start reading, I will probably start with paper books because I would like to whittle the numbers down there in order to clear off the floor.

Here are ten print books that are physically in my library that I would love to read:

1. Tropic of Serpents, by Brennen. I enjoyed the first book very much.

2. Vessel, by Durst. A lovely cover. This review at the Book Smugglers was not the only great review I’ve seen.

3. Stolen Songbird, by Jensen. Another lovely cover, and that crystalline rose! It’s apparently got that beauty-and-the-beast thing going, which I almost always love. I’ve heard good things about this one, especially this review at Books Without Any Pictures.

4. Strange Country, by Coates. I have read the other two, but I would need to re-read the second book before reading this one, which means it’s a tiny bit more of a commitment of time than I would prefer.

5. Crown of Embers, by Carson. Even more of a commitment of time, because I have the whole trilogy now, but would need to read the first book again before going on. Which I would not object to, I loved the first book! But these are not short books. Plus, I’m a little nervous about where Carson might have taken certain aspects of the plot, which makes me a tiny bit reluctant to pick it up. But I still would like to get to this trilogy this year. Or, shoot, at least sometime next year.

6. Railsea, by Mieville. Mieville is a bit intimidating, I don’t expect to be able to just read one of his books without paying much attention to it, but I loved The City and The City. I have Un Lun Dun on my shelves, too. Not sure which one I’ll wind up reading first.

7. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Taylor. I’ve heard lots about how beautiful this book is.

8. The Thousand Names, by Wexler. This one hits a lot of tropes that appeal to me — military fantasy, woman-disguised-as-man. I hear it’s good, but without checking I believe it’s the first of a series, so not sure I’ll get too it very soon.

9. The Demon King, by Chima. I’ve had this on my shelves for waaay too long.

10. This is Shyness, by Hall. A YA that I picked up quite a long time ago because of Ana’s review at The Book Smugglers, which made it sound seriously intriguing. “It is hard to describe This is Shyness because parts of it are so surreal, it would be like describing a Dali painting to someone who has never seen one. … It is like walking into a dream that belongs to someone else, someone you never met and whose subconscious works in completely different ways than yours.” Hmm, I said, really? And it’s been on my shelves ever since.

I believe I have about fifty or sixty books on my physical TBR shelves (and the floor). That’s after whittling it down last year. I am actually MOST likely to try some of the titles I am LEAST interested in first and see if I can sock them onto the DNF/Giveaway pile and clear some room. (These are mostly the ones from library sales and such, which I pick up because why not. Sometimes I find a real gem that way, though, and get unexpectedly distracted from things I ought to be doing, so it’s a risk to open one and read the first page.)

I bet some of you have read some of these titles already. Any I should definitely move to the no-kidding-you-must-get-to-it-this-year shelf?