Every month, I try and assemble my TBR with some sort of theme in mind. For October, that theme was reading my TBR from oldest to newest publication. This took me from the late 1970s into the early 1990s, and ended up making my spreadsheets look a whole lot tidier. I must confess, however, I did take a few sideways steps into the early 2000s, for some books I’ll be reviewing in the near future. Why break the system? Well, because I wanted to. The system is entirely self-enforced, I’m a bad enforcer, and I wanted a bit of variety in my reading.
Which brings us to November. I put a little poll on social media to see what I should have as my next monthly theme, and the results were in favour of either books that have won awards, or books by some of my favourite authors. Both ideas that could take up a fair bit of the month. Conveniently, many of my favourite authors have also won or been nominated for awards. But as October comes to an end, I’m thinking it might be time for a bit of a shake-up. Maybe even these loose themes are too rigid.
One discussion that keeps coming back online is the purpose of a TBR, with some phrasing it as ‘Do you see a TBR as a to-do list, or as a menu?’ Obviously, a to-do list is here framed in negative terms, whereas a menu sounds enticing. I see things a third way. To abuse the food analogy further, a see my TBR not as a menu to be picked from, but as the food on my plate. I have already paid for it, so of course I’m going to eat it. At the same time, there’s no reason I can’t mix and match my dishes. Maybe I’ll save that naan bread for the end. Maybe I want to tuck straight into the rice. Maybe I’ll nibble away slowly at the chicken, with breaks for a drink in the middle.
The other thing to consider is that November is traditionally science fiction month for many bloggers. I sort of take part every year, but since I don’t like following orders, am rarely interested in the scheduled buddy reads, and talk about science fiction all day every day, it’s not quite the same event for me as it is for primarily fantasy bloggers who also take part. Nevertheless, I shall always be cheering from the side-lines.
This November, I’ve decided to throw myself into sci fi month by keeping my reading varied. I want to expose myself to all sorts of different science fiction. Consider it my yearly plan condensed into a single month. this does mean my TBR stands on very shaky foundations. I currently have 40 books there, 30 of which are science fiction. Plenty of choice.
One of the best ways to expose oneself to new science is of course the humble anthology. I’m putting three on my monthly schedule. Vivid Worlds and Obsidian, both edited by Donna Scott, were FantasyCon acquisitions, with the latter being published this year. I also have the Nisi Shawl-edited New Suns to read for the Boundary’s Edge Book Club. You can hit me up on either BlueSky or Instagram if you’d like an invite to the buddy read.
I also have two other buddy reads in the plan, both with my regular buddy reader. The concrete plan is The City and the City by China Mieville, which is of course a Hugo Award winner. If there’s time, we’ll also be tackling Nebula and Clarke-award winner The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell.
Once again I am provisionally making space on the schedule for Scott G. Gier’s Genellan books, which I have been planning to reread for over a year now, making this section a bit of a joke. however, they fit both my oldest to newest theme, and my challenge to read my old favourites, so there’s an ever-increasing chance I’ll get to them before the year is out.
Beyond that, there are no solid plans. Rebecca Throne’s Moss’d in Space is a strong contender as time to read this year’s Boundy Award contenders runs out, but there’s also a glut of 90s and early 2000s hard SF calling my name. We shall see what becomes of all this.
Beyond the books, I’m hoping to finally get around to watching Star City, but with a slew of new shows (including but not limited to the new season of Dexter: Resurrection) I don’t now if they’ll be time for that. I have finished watching the fourth season of Strange New Worlds, so there will be a review of that, including my thoughts on Starfleet Academy (spoiler: I loved it). This might also be the month that I finally watch The Mandalorian & Grogu, but we shall have to see.
Finally, despite firmly being in the grasp of a book buying ban, I am visiting family this month, so a few books might accidentally fall into my hands while I’m out and about.
Dates for your Diary
05/11 – Everything Happens So Much, by Andrew Hunter Murray – Murray’s return to science fiction sees a story of drugs and parallel universes that sounds positively Dickish in its design. We’ll see if I can snag a copy.
17/11 – Blackjack Interstellar #2: Star Swindler, by A. Zaykova – It’s been delayed yet again, but hopefully the second part of this fun space adventure finally hits shelves this month.
24/11 – Songs of the Sun Eater, by Christopher Ruocchio – With the main series finished, it’s time for Head of Zeus to bundle together the short stories. This is the first mass release of these stories, but as only one is new I’ll probably be skipping this purchase.
25/11 – Blade Runner 2099 – A limited series exclusive to Amazon Prime, I’m probably going to watch this at some point, but I should also probably watch the two films beforehand.
As always, if there’s something you think I’ve forgotten or overlooked, let me know in the comments.
