I have logged 45 books this month, my second highest ever monthly total since I started keeping track in November 2003. A lot of them were very short; a lot were Clarke submissions that I have put aside after fifty or a hundred pages and will get back to some time; also as the new year dawned I had almost finished several books which automatically boosted the total. I’ve also had a high page count, not quite the highest ever but I think in the top five since November 2003. I doubt if the whole year will be like this, but there’s an awfully large pile of Clarke submissions to get through…
Non-fiction 9
God is No Thing: Coherent Christianity, by Rupert Shortt
Diary of a Witchcraft Shop 2, by Trevor Jones and Liz Williams
Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
Horror of Fang Rock, by Matthew Guerrieri
Battlefield, by Philip Purser-Hallard
The Karmic Curve, by Mary I. Williams
Juggle and Hide, by Sharon van Ivan
Representing Europeans, by Richard Rose
Complexity: A Very Short Introduction, by John H. Holland
Non-genre 2
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
λ2 (did not finish)
Plays 1
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, by Frank McGuinness
Poetry 2
Metamorphoses, by Ovid tr. Stephanie McCarter
Tales from Ovid, by Ted Hughes
SF 22
γ2
Fugue for a Darkening Island, by Christopher Priest
All the Names They Used for God, by Anjali Sachdeva
“The Mountains of Mourning” by Lois McMaster Bujold
δ2
ε2 (did not finish)
ζ2
η2 (did not finish)
θ2 (did not finish)
The Chosen and the Beautiful, by Nghi Vo
At The Edge Of The World, by Lord Dunsany
ι2
κ2
Death Draws Five, by John J. Miller
μ2
ν2
ξ2 (did not finish)
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, by Dubravka Ugrešić
ο2
The Perfect Assassin, by K.A. Doore
π2 (did not finish)
The World Set Free: A Fantasia of the Future, by H.G. Wells
Doctor Who 5
Doctor Who: Galaxy Four, by William Emms
Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii, by James Moran
Rise of the Dominator, by Robert Mammone
Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock, by Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who: Battlefield, by Marc Platt
Comics 4
Alternating Current, by Jody Houser et al.
Sin Eaters, by Cavan Scott, Adriana Melo, Cris Bolson and Marco Lesko
Neptune – Épisode 1 by Leo
Neptune – Épisode 2 by Leo
9,900 pages
17/45 by non-male writers (Williams, Cheney/Lofgren/Murphy/Luria, “Williams”, van Ivan, λ2, McCarter, Sachdeva, Bujold, δ2, ε2, η2, Vo, ι2, Ugrešić, Doore, Houser et al, Melo)
5/45 by a non-white writer (Thompson/Aguilar/Murphy, λ2, γ2, Sachdeva, Vo)
416 books currently tagged “unread”, 21 more than last month, with more Clarke Award submissions to come…
Reading now
ρ2
The Number Mysteries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life, by Marcus Du Sautoy
Coming soon (perhaps)
Agent Provocateur, by Gary Russell et al
Doctor Who: The Eaters of Light, by Rona Munro
Lucy Wilson & the Bledoe Cadets, by Tim Gambrell
Doctor Who: Timelash, by Glen McCoy
Timelash, by Phil Pascoe
Listen, by Dewi Small
Wild Cards: Deuces Down, ed. John Jos. Miller
Peculiar Lives, by Philip Purser-Hallard
Elizabeth I and Ireland, ed. Brendan Kane and Valerie McGowan-Doyle
Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov
Madam Secretary, by Madeleine Albright
Tales from Planet Earth, by Arthur C Clarke
The Secret to Superhuman Strength, by Alison Bechdel
The All-Consuming World, by Cassandra Khaw
Ratlines, by Stuart Neville
Redwood and Wildfire, by Andrea Hairston
My Family And Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell
When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation, by Paula Fredriksen
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
The Revolution Trade, by Charles Stross
The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
“Bears Discover Fire”, by Terry Bisson
Partitions irlandaises, by Vincent Baily and Kris
Falling to Earth, by Al Worden
Love and Mr Lewisham, by H.G. Wells
A Marvellous Light, by Freya Marske