In today’s post, I’ll be talking about the books that I really want to read before I die. Let me start by saying that these are not all of the books I want to read. These are the books that I think are most important for me to read before I am reincarnated as an illiterate naked molerat. No offense intended to any literate naked molerats out there who can read this. The books I list here are ones that I believe will have the most meaning to me or will be the most important for me to read. A lot of these will be older works that I believe to be influential in the literary space, but that I still haven’t read. At least one of them, though, is one that will be a deeply personal read for me.

Today, I’m going to validate your opinion that you shouldn’t read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series by giving ten reasons not to. Prepare to have your convictions and opinions reinforced by me. All of these reasons are entirely logical and well-thought-out. You literally cannot argue with them, it’s impossible, so don’t try. Grab some popcorn, sit back, and prepare to hear ten objective opinions.

As I write this, I have just finished reading Ruin not ten minutes ago. I want to at least start drafting my review while the memory is still so fresh in my mind and before the wounds have healed. John Gwynne’s Ruin is masterful and remarkable, definitely the best book thus far in The Faithful and the Fallen, in my humble opinion. It exceeded my expectations unfalteringly and I had a blast reading through this, with much of the final pages in the book being a flurry as I flipped the pages so quickly they were bound to tear.

Today, I’m going to talk not about what’s on my reading list, but about how I organize my reading list to make sure that I don’t just read what I want to, but that I read often and don’t get burned out from reading, which is something that I’ve experienced in the past on a few occasions. In some cases, a reading burnout has led to months or even years of me not reading (and is a big part of why I think that most lists of required reading for literature classes are dreadful and poorly optimized, at least from what I’ve both experienced and heard). So, how do I organize my reading list to make sure that I’m getting the most out of my experience? Let’s get into it!

Boy, did I get some reading done this winter. I read more between late November and March than I had in the entirety of 2021—at least, in terms of word count. So, today, I want to reflect on the books I read over the winter months!

My previous book review was for John Gwynne’s Malice, the first book in the Faithful and the Fallen series. I thought that it was good, but not great, and didn’t really stand out to me as a unique and impressive work. However, I found the ending to be a really compelling and well-written contrast to the first chunk of it, so I was excited to get into Valour, the sequel. In this spoiler-free review, I’ll talk about whether Valour met or even exceeded my expectations for the book!