January 2024 TBR and MBR
Intro
One of my favorite things to do during the year is to prepare my reading list for the month. Now, my reading lists are usually divided in two different lists. The first list I use to list my to-be-read (“TBR”) books and this is the place where I list all the books that I have hard plans to read.
The second list is call might-be-read (“MBR”) books, books that are on my wish list and that identify the books that I can pick if my impulsive nature takes control. This allows me flexibility - so giving my spontaneous side room to roam - with structure - and my impulsiveness is curtailed to the plans I have.
The beauty of the MBR list is also that I have the freedom to explore. In fact, while it does not happen every month, I often find myself going down rabbit holes and exploring different parts of the bookish world, learning about new subgenres, new authors, new genres that I might want to dive into (less likely, sure, yet always possible!).
January TBR
Historically, I have been pretty good at establishing a reading list in January and stick to it. I am hoping 2024 to continue this trend.
I will be reading according to a specific strategy allowing for all the different genres to be featured in every month!
Historical fiction
I shared earlier (here) that I would be focusing on Greek and Roman stories; yet, I will start with a different story and I will - finally! - pick Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I have been wanting to read this trilogy for a very long time and I cannot wait to explore Thomas Cromwell’s life and how he navigated an incredibly difficult political environment (namely that this environment was conditioned by the whims of Henry VIII).
Sci-Fi
January will start an interesting journey for me: I will start my journey through the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, starting with book one, Leviathan Wakes.
Not only there was a great adaptation (which I started watching and then stopped because I did not want the story to be spoiled!) but it is one of the prime examples of space opera. I am working on a post that dives deeper on space opera and how I found out that this is a subgenre that appeals to me!
Fantasy
This is the exciting category. There is quite a lot of meet to the bone here, as this is the heavy load.
First, we will start with Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, re-starting my journey through The Realm of the Elderlings. I have been quite excited about returning to this world and finally complete this long series.
I will also tackle a book from Guy Gavriel Kay; he is the second author pillar to my reading year and I have had A Brightness Long Ago for a long time. Hence we will be starting there!
Next, I have another exciting commitment: I am continuing my adventure through Empire of the Wolf by Richard Swan, with The Tyranny of Faith. I have been reading the first book with the Fantasy Buddy Reads group over in Goodreads.
I will also resume another series, Red Rising by Pierce Brown and see whether I jump on the hype train or not.
This leaves me with a ton of options for next reading!
January MBR
Now, this is where things can be even more exciting. There are a few options that will allow myself plenty of freedom. I need to balance these choices to make sure that I either: finish series or progress on series too!
The first option that I have is reading the Chronicles of the Bitch Queen by K.S. Villoso. The premise for the first book is quite interesting; the choice of having a strong woman as the lead is not unique but it is uniquely shaped (as to the choices that make her unlikeable to her people).
The other option si Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse; I know that this is a Meso American inspired story and I have been dying to reading those. This set-up has been something I wanted to enjoy for a very long time and I find this culture to be quite underrepresented. And this is an author writing about her own culture, so this makes me even more excited to dive into this series!
There are also another couple of books that help me scratch the diversity itch: the first is Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty, a story bringing Indian mythology to life, inspired by Game of Thrones. At least this is the tag line that I remember that this is certainly something appealing. The main reason this is a maybe read is that I would like to see book two before committing to it.
Another series that I would like to start eventually is The Burning series by Evan Winter. African inspired story with dragons. This would be sufficient for me to dive into the story at any time (with the caveat that I need to be balanced, on a monthly basis about the male and women author’s ratio!).
Last but not least, I can also start with the Jennifer Roberson’s series, Chronicles of the Cheysuli. It might be a good way to balance my commitments and make sure I add sufficient gender diversity in my process!
