What to read next...

Other than posting book reviews from time to time, I rarely talk about my reading list.  I do have a separate page for my reading list.  One quick glance at it will indicate that I'm a bit of a compulsive book buyer, and I can't keep up with reading all that I buy.  Much of this is because I also get lots of books at the library, which interrupt my reading of my own books. I also have a friend who likes to lend me stuff.  And, let's face it, I just don't have as much time to read as I used to and as I'd frequently like.  So what happens is that I make little progress in my mountain of "books that I own but haven't yet read" stack.  At current counting, it was 63 titles (although that includes books that I read as borrowed books before and subsequently bought copies of because I liked them a lot and figured I'd want to read them again sometime.)  Because I don't tick titles off of the list fast enough, I tend to buy them nearly as fast as I read them, keeping the number very near the same.

In any case, here's a small discussion on my reading plans for the next month or two.

I'm currently re-reading the Dresden Files books, since I bought most of them in paperback relatively recently.  I'm on Changes now, so I'm nearly caught up--just Side Jobs and Ghost Story to go.  Of course, very soon now, Cold Days will be out (in November, if I remember correctly) so my timing is pretty good in terms of getting done before the new one is out.  I actually haven't bought the next two yet, because Side Jobs'  only paperback release has been in large trade paperback size, and Ghost Story's mass market paperback release just happened recently.  In any case, I'll finish Changes and put Side Jobs and Ghost Story on hold at the library, hopefully to finish both before Cold Days comes out--which I've also got on hold from the library as soon as it's released, processed and ready to go.  I only buy them in mass market paperback format, but I don't want to wait a year until it's released in that format to read it, of course!

Meanwhile, I'm also reading the four volumes of the Write Great Fiction series.. although slowly.  I may have to take those back to the library before I finish.  Although I have read them before in the past.

Once I finish Changes and am still waiting on more Jim Butcher, I've also got Poul Anderson's Three Hearts Three Lions on hold and waiting for me, which I've never read, but which is considered a classic of the genre before it got to be big and mainstream.  It's also considered to be a pivotal and important book in Gary Gygax's own lexicon, and imnportant to the formation of D&D, so... I also have an academic curiousity about it as well.

After that, though, other than the Butcher titles, it's time to read more of my own books, or books borrowed from my friend.  In fact, the latter will get priority; I've borrowed the first three Monster Hunter books from him, which he's heartily recommended to me as being likely "very much up my alley."  There's a fourth one of those too, I see on Amazon, but given that I haven't read the first three yet, I'm not too concerned about getting that right away.

I happen to have a lot of tie-in fiction, and after reading several books in a row of non-tie-in fiction, I'll probably be due to read some of that and get a bit caught up there.  Although my mind may change by the time I get there, I'm thinking that first I need to read the last volume in Don Bassingthwaite's Legacy of Dhakaan series, then I'll start one of two Warhammer fantasy trilogies--either Steven Savile's Vampire War trilogy (which I have in omnibus trade paperback format) or Mike Lee's Rise of Nagash trilogy which I have in three mass market paperbacks.

I hesitate to project too far beyond that already, though.  Heck; I hesitate to project as far out as I have, and I may yet see major changes to the schedule based on whatever piques my fancy between now and the time I get that far.  That is, after all, 13 titles of projection already.  But those will most likely get me as least as far as Thanksgiving, given my current reading pace. 

Although with any luck, I'll actually be able to pick up the pace as high school football season starts to wind down in a few weeks.  And I've got five vacation days that I have to spend this year so I don't lose them; I may use them mostly at home recovering from an elective surgery.  Or, if not, at least I'll use them mostly sitting at home relaxing.