2021 Reading List

[valkryor]

I kind of want to keep track of what I'm reading this year, because my memory is terrible and lists are fun!

January:

1. Murderbot Diaries (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect) - Martha Wells
   
2. Swordheart - T Kingfisher
   
3. Strange Love - Ann Aguirre
   
4. Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Talia Hibbert
   

February:

1. Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee
   
2. Who's That Earl - Susanna Craig
   
3. Collapsing Empire - John Scalzi
   
4. Consuming Fire - John Scalzi
   
5. Last Emperox - John Scalzi
   
6. Paladin's Grace - T Kingfisher (reread)
   
7. Rakehell of Roth - Amalie Howard
   

March:

1. Paladin's Strength - T Kingfisher
   
2. Sweet Home - Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang (manga)
   
3. Ippos King - Grace Draven
   
4. Devil in Winter - Lisa Kleypas
   
5. Forever Mine - Erin Nicholas
   
6. Season of Storms - Susanna Kearsley
   
7. What to do with a Duke - Sally MacKenzie
   

April:

1. Off the Record - goddamnhella (FrostIron fanfic, reread)
   
2. Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
   
3. various ficlets and collated email threads - clawfoot, myself
   
4. Lord Holt Takes a Bride - Vivienne Lorret (reread)
   
5. Miles in Love - Lois McMaster Bujold (anthology containing Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts)
   

May:

1. Miles in Love - Lois McMaster Bujold (anthology containing Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts) (reread - Yes, I just finished it. No, I don't care.)
   
2. Mirror Dance - Lois McMaster Bujold (borrowed)
   
3. Shards of Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
4. Barrayar - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
5. The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
6. The Vor Game - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
7. Cetaganda - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
8. Accidentally Engaged - Farah Heron
   

June:

1. Captivated - Charlotte Stein (short story collection)
   
2. Brothers in Arms - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
3. Borders of Infinity - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
4. Necrom - Mick Farren (borrowed)
   
5. Trade Me - Courtney Milan
   
6. Mirror Dance - Lois McMaster Bujold (reread)
   
7. Memory - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
8. Captivated - Charlotte Stein (finished)
   
9. Riot Baby - Tochi Onyebuchi
   
10. Komarr - Lois McMaster Bujold
    
11. A Civil Campaign - Lois McMaster Bujold
    
12. Winterfair Gifts - Lois McMaster Bujold
    
13. Polaris Rising - Jessie Mihalik
    
14. Seafarer's Kiss - Julia Ember
    
15. Bitterburn - Ann Aguirre
    
16. Kissed by Magic - Erica Ridley
    
17. Spoiler Alert - Olivia Dade
    

July:

1. Raven Stratagem - Yoon Ha Lee
   
2. Revenant Gun - Yoon Ha Lee
   
3. Book of Love - Erin Satie
   
4. Diplomatic Immunity - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
5. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
6. Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
7. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - Lois McMaster Bujold
   
8. The Wrong Marquess - Vivienne Lorret
   
9. Turned Gay By the Existential Dread That I May Actually Be A Character In A Chuck Tingle Book - Chuck Tingle
   
10. Any Duchess Will Do - Tessa Dare
    
11. Bone Maker - Sarah Beth Durst
    

August:

1. Bigfoot Pirates Haunt My Balls - Chuck Tingle
   
2. Bad King - M Malone
   
3. Trouble with Dukes - Grace Burrowes
   
4. A Raven's Heart - K C Bateman
   
5. Highland Promise - Alyson McLayne
   
6. Heir to the Duke - Jane Ashford
   
7. Uprooted - Naomi Novik
   
8. A Memory called Empire - Arkady Martine
   
9. The Hollow Places - T Kingfisher
   

September:

1. Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
   
2. Wayward Son - Rainbow Rowell
   
3. Worst Duke in the World - Lisa Berne
   
4. The Penultimate Peril - Lemony Snicket (Series of Unfortunate Events Book 12)
   
5. The End - Lemony Snicket (Series of Unfortunate Events Book 13)
   
6. Beatrice Letters - Lemony Snicket
   
7. various fanfics on Ao3 - various authors
   
8. Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling
   
9. Once Upon a Highland Autumn - Lecia Cornwall
   

October:

1. Shepherds - VK Evans
   
2. various Vorkosigan saga fanfic - various authors
   
3. The Algorithm - SamadiW (Draco/Hermione fanfic)
   
4. Paladin's Hope - T Kingfisher
   
5. more Vorkosigan saga fanfic - various authors
   
6. (Un)Masked - VK Evans
   
7. The Hate Project - Kris Ripper
   

November:

1. A Scot to the Heart - Caroline Linden
   
2. Winter's Orbit - Everina Maxwell
   
3. Hawkeye: Rio Bravo - Matt Fraction, David Aja
   
4. Love Code - Ann Aguirre
   

December:

1. How to Forget a Duke - Vivienne Lorret
   
2. Cinnamon and Gunpowder - Eli Brown
   
   Notes: To be fair, I was already reading through the Murderbot Diaries when the year changed over, but Murderbot is the socially anxious, misanthropic, ace/aro hero we need right now. I don't remember which one I was reading when 2020 leveled up, so I'm including them all.
   
   Reading is also how I'm going to get through the rest of this week and next.
   
   Jan 26 Edit: Hit a period of *meh*, finally picked up my tablet to do more than play games.
   
   Feb 5 Edit: Ninefox Gambit was the kind of book that I had to put down yesterday because I didn't want to finish it. It was a slow start (hard sci-fi, no hand holding) that became a novel I couldn't put down. I did put the next books in the series on my wishlist. For reasons.
   
   Feb 8 Edit: Who's that Earl was just the kind of lovely, low-angst second-chance Regency romance I needed. It was a fluffy sweater on a chilly day. 10/10, would recommend.
   
   Feb 16 Edit: Started the second book in the Interdependency Series by John Scalzi. After I read this trilogy, I'll likely go back to some soft and fluffy romances for a bit before going back to the space opera, hard sci-fi stuff.
   
   Feb 22 Edit: Finished the trilogy and now have that good book hangover. I'm also kind of pissed about the ending, too. I think that was probably the point, so while I enjoyed reading it (and I did), that last third of the final book? Oof. Good set of books, well worth the read, but that final bit? NOT A FAN. I'll be over here, being grumpy about it.
   
   Mar 8 Edit: I've already picked and and read Paladin's Strength, the sequel to Paladin's Grace, by T Kingfisher. Haven't really picked up my tablet for a good read for at least a week, but dental nonsense will do that to you. They're also just about finished clearing the big trees in the vacant lot nearby and it makes me sad. For a couple of years, at least, we had lovely trees, and wildlife, and quiet. Construction season begins soon.
   
   Mar 10 Edit: Found and watched Sweet Home on Netflix, then found the manga it was based on online and devoured it. Noted the changes between the two, approved of some, others were a bit...*meh* (as is typical), and figured it was a case of manga not being complete when the scripts/filming were being written/done. Still, both stand on their own merits, and are worth the watch/read.
   
   Also started the Ippos King by Grace Draven, which is the last of the Wraith Kings trilogy. I loved, Loved, LOVED Radiance for its slow burn romance between two people who only meet hours before they are married to each other, both knowing pawns in political machinations between two kingdoms.
   
   Mar 14 Edit: Did some digging and there will be more Wraith Kings to come. Also, the Regency I'm reading is...okay. The sex is good, at least, but I kind of want to smack the hero as he tends to be quite the alph-hole.
   
   Mar 25 Edit: I read the odd contemporary romance, and some are great and others are...not great. Forever Mine was a book, that I read, and I am struggling to remember why I picked it up in the first place. I think it was recommended on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books? Contemporaries are not really my thing; not enough suspension of disbelief, I think.
   
   Season of Storms is both a contemporary and a historical, and is very good so far. I loved Bellewether, love that mix of romance and mystery and find it easy enough to sink into it and let the world go by.
   
   Apr 2 Edit: Yep. Back to fanfic for a bit. It's comforting to reread and I could use a little comfort right now.
   
   Apr 13 Edit: Between us, we've written over 600 000 words, the bulk of it for one player character (and a lot of the rest for a different character who was created as an NPC and possible partner for yet another important NPC), and it runs the gamut from tense, coldly civil interactions between antagonists, to first dates and domestic fluff, and all the way up to steamy porn (and there's a LOT of porn). I reread them when I'm itching for more (which is coming, I know, once we get through a craptonne of important battles that we're about half-way through), or not all that invested in starting something new.
   
   Apr 26 Edit: Yeah, I'm picking a weird place to start in with Miles Vorkosigan, but this is the only thing that I want to read right now, so I'm gonna take it. Reading slumps are not great, especially when they're stress-related. That I found something to help me dig out is a good thing.
   
   May 3 Edit: I'm doing something I never thought I'd do: started reading the book(s) I just finished. They are, at least, very enjoyable, and Miles does a good grovel (I loves me a good grovel).
   
   May 9 Edit: I borrowed this because I've found another author that I very much enjoy and hadn't noticed until now. Yes, I'm reading these out of order. No, I don't care. Also, can Mark just get all the hugs now?
   
   May 15 Edit: I have started in earnest. Pray for me.
   
   May 17 Edit: Oh, hello, rabbit hole. It's been a while.
   
   May 28 Edit: Damn, these things go down like cold beer on a hot day. Miles continues to be a little shit. Ivan is still an idiot. Aral and Cordelia are terrifying in their awesome. It might be good for me to read something else after this one. I have another book loaned to me that I should get to.
   
   May 31 Edit: Found something else to read. Holy fuck, I needed to stop with the Vorkosigan stuff. Not that it stopped me from BUYING it, but my brain needs a break from READING it. This book has one of my more favourite tropes: a fake relationship. I'm not that far in, but I am enjoying it thus far.
   
   June 1 Edit: Finished my contemporary romance, read about half-way through a short story collection, and have gone back to Bujold. The short stories are erotic, the hot-and-slippery parts that were missing in the romance I read. They're good, but I've pounded back eight of them like cheap whiskey and I have to stop for a bit.
   
   June 3 Edit: Borders of Infinity, despite being a collection of novellas is a lot. As easy as they are to read, it was Miles-full-tilt and felt more like three novels. So I'm switching gears again, reading something else that was loaned to me as a bit of a palate cleanser. Hell, I might go back to the next book in Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire or through a bunch of romance or Tinglers or something. I love his stories, I do, but it might be time to put Miles Vorkosigan down for a bit.
   
   June 9 Edit: Necrom was a fun ride. It could have used a little more cross-dimensional shenanigans, but quite enjoyable all the the same. I started Trade Me today, which is a contemporary from Courtney Milan. I ADORE her Brothers Sinister historical series, so it will be interesting to see how her writing translates from corsets and carriages to f-bombs and texting.
   
   June 11 Edit: Back to another reread, this time to put Mirror Dance into the context that it deserves.
   
   June 16 Edit: Finishing up this short story collection as a bit of a palate cleanser. Might read something else after this, but I don't know yet.
   
   I found my read after that. Riot Baby is so very angry, and rightfully so. It's a world I don't know, have only brushed up against, but the people in it are real, realer than a lot of other characters I've scanned my eyeballs over. I'm fairly certain that it was a freebie from Tor.com, too, that I'm just finally getting around to reading.
   
   June 18 Edit: I'm beginning to think I should be putting the months behind various 'read more' links. The list is getting hella long and we're not even half-way through the year. Also, I have come to realize that Komarr is a comfort read for me, and still found enjoyment in it reading it a third time in less than two months.
   
   June 20 Edit: I think I'm going to put Barrayar aside for a bit, give some of my other unread books some love. I also don't necessarily want to rush to the end quite yet; it's been a wild ride.
   
   June 22 Edit: Polaris Rising was...okay. It certainly got better in the last half of it, but it was a bit of a slog to get there. I also have no interest in reading the rest of the series. I'm hoping that the Norse myth retelling of The Little Mermaid is better.
   
   June 25 Edit: On a whim, I picked up Bitterburn, a gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It seems I need more fairy tales in my life. I have, though, enjoyed both and do recommend them.
   
   June 29 Edit: Up next is a contemporary romance based in fandom and fanfic with a plus-sized heroine. Hopefully, this will scratch the romance itch I've had lately.
   
   July 3 Edit: I wanted to finish off the Machineries of Empire before even thinking about going back to Barrayar. Raven Stratagem is the second of the trilogy, and I'm curious how General Shuos Jedao is going to triumph in this one.
   
   July 8 Edit: The Machineries of Empire was fucking awesome. If you need some hard scifi in your life with no hand holding, then read it. If you want to know how revenants/undead fit into a setting that also includes the vast emptiness of space and planetary colonies and ships, then read it. Very good stuff all round.
   
   Which is why I'm shifting gears and reading a historical romance (Victorian, I believe) about a bookbinder and the prankster duke she encounters on the street. I am not that far in and there's already competence porn aplenty, which makes me happy. I likes me some competence porn.
   
   July 10 Edit: Back to Miles Vorkosigan and his shenanigans. I have noticed that as a young man, he had a lot of capers; he was a shananiganizer of the highest degree. Now that I'm reading books in which is older, more settled, he is less the shenaniganizer and more the investigator. I like this version of Miles. Not that his early adventures weren't fun (and they were), I rather enjoy his wisdom catching up with his intellect: still incredibly clever, but untangling threads instead of creating Gordian knots for someone else Captain Simon Illyan to deal with. Him learning how to handle the mess and not being the chief cause of it is a nice transition of the character from ImpSec agent to Imperial Auditor.
   
   July 12 Edit: Oh hey, Ivan. I didn't see you there. I guess that's the point. Komarr you say? Getting away from Miles and his shenanigans? You went to Earth for the same reason and got landed in it anyway. Well, we'll see how this works out.
   
   July 15 Edit: I can't say that Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is anywhere near my favourite. I like Ivan fine, and Tej is an interesting addition to the cast, but I am not a fan of Byerly. I didn't like him in A Civil Campaign and I didn't like him just as much in this one. I also found that not every character needs their own book. Ivan works better as a secondary character for me, although the first half of the book is decent enough. That second half? Oof. Aside from one part at the end (you know the one), it felt...I dunno...plodding? fan service? phoned in? Maybe it will be better if I read it again at some point, but I'm not in any rush to any time soon.
   
   Cryoburn is proving to be a better read. Although I'm trying very hard to remember to put it down and do other things. :)
   
   July 16 Edit: Finished Cryoburn. Ooof, that ending. Have Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen all ready to go, but I'm not quite ready yet.
   
   July 20 Edit: Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen was a satisfying conclusion to the Vorkosigan series. There are no explosions or intrigue, but plenty of quiet character choices. It's a Cordelia book, which is fitting, and a book for and about grown-ups. My only quibble is that Mark was only mentioned and did not make an appearance, but it's a small quibble. I want more, of course I do, but this is, I think, the right note for an ending: one chapter closing and other starting.
   
   Which is why I'm going to be reading regency romances and tinglers for a while. I am okay with emotional stories, but Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen made me cry a couple of times for reasons and I need some fluff to dull the edges of that grief, you know?
   
   July 21 Edit: Damn, Chuck, you got some LOOOOOOONG titles. Picked up a whole bunch of tinglers during a Humble Bundle and am very slowly working my way through them.
   
   July 27 Edit: From a regency romance loosely based on "Pygmalion" (Tessa Dare is a delight), I have now plunged into a stand-alone fantasy novel involving necromancy. I read Race the Sands by the same author last year and FUCKING LOVED IT. It was nothing that I was expecting and felt unique and fresh and all that good stuff. (No, really, go read it. I'll wait.) This is completely different in feel, although the main characters have a few similarities (middle-aged women who had greatness back when), that's where it stops.
   
   Race the Sands has a very Agrabah/Arabian Nights/but not really kind of feel, and Bone Maker is rather...Northern European/D&D/Bekla/but not really. It is completely fascinating and the blurb claims that it will explore what happens after the heroes win and the big bad is defeated.
   
   August 3 Edit: Oh, Chuck, is there anything you can't write?
   
   August 10 Edit: A nice, easy regency romance with spies! adventure! love is requited but they're both just idiots! period appropriate racist slurs! (Okay, maybe that one isn't all that great as I did find it rather jarring. It's one thing for Mark Twain, for example, to use certain words when he's writing contemporary fiction and another for a modern writer to use certain words writing historical fiction. Yes, the word might be correct for the time period, but when you are removed from that time period by a couple of centuries, it doesn't stick the landing, as it were.)
   
   It was, though, better than the one I read before it. I liked the main couple just fine, but found that there were too many secondary characters with too much to say that it felt like it detracted from the main pair. It felt neither balanced nor nuanced, but rather shoehorned in.
   
   August 16 Edit: Haven't picked something up for a while. Highland Promise is a historical Scottish romance. I'm only a few chapters in, and I hope it gets swoony soon. I kind of want to smack the leads because they are both being idiots and not using their words, but I can only hope that the Old Skool romance stuff doesn't show up anywhere. I can handle pants-feelings and even some insta-lust, but the 'romantic raping of women' can go and die in a fucking fire, thanks.
   
   August 20 Edit: I don't know how I'm managing to pick such lack lustre historicals, but here we are. They're not bad per se, just THERE. I know I'm not being particularly eloquent or descriptive, but both of them were okay. A nice way to spend an afternoon, but ultimately forgettable.
   
   August 20 Edit: You know, it's a little sad when two romances, read back-to-back, aren't even close to being as swoon-worthy as one not-a-romance. Not even together, they did not have nearly as much Swoon as Uprooted. That, and it's so fucking good. So. Good.
   
   It's right out of a fairy tale. That was made up. Yesterday. But feels older? I'm not really adequately describing it, but it is awesome and the magic in it is amazing and I love how it works because it feels believable, so there. I know I will likely read this one again at some point, because it's just THAT GOOD.
   
   August 31 Edit: I wanted some horror, so I'm closing out the month with T Kingfisher's The Hollow Places (it's even on sale over at Kobo if anyone is interested). If anyone out there has read CS Lewis' The Magician's Nephew and remembers the misty wood with all of the pools, it has that idea with the creepiness turned up to 11.
   
   September 4 Edit: I finished Carry On this morning and will likely start the next book, Wayward Son soon. This is probably the first chosen one narrative aimed at the YA crowd that didn't make me roll my eyes ALL THE DAMN TIME. Simon Snow, the Chosen One, feels like a fraud. Magic doesn't work for him like it does everyone else and his roommate Baz, a Draco-in-leather-pants stand-in if there ever was one, has tried to kill/maim him multiple times over the course of their school life together.
   
   It reads like all the best parts of Harry Potter put through a fanfic lens with all of the serial numbers filed off. I'm probably not describing it very well, but I rather enjoyed it all the same.
   
   There is a third and final book, Any Way the Wind Blows, but I don't have it yet.
   
   September 7 Edit: There is something comforting about picking up a regency romance and getting exactly what it says on the tin. I'm not that far in, but it's low-angst, complete with plot-moppets (an eight year old, four dogs, a melancholy tabby, and a pig named Duchess), a lost heir, and an unusual duke.
   
   September 11 Edit: My kid is reading through A Series of Unfortunate Events, and I have the last two books in my TBR pile. So, time to read them before he gets there. Plus, I'm in a bit of a reading slump, so this should, if not get me out of it, at least give me a direction to go in for a bit.
   
   September 13 Edit: Well, cripes. I bought both books second hand and tucked the receipts inside, as I usually do. The Penultimate Peril had been in my TBR for about 11 years, and The End had been hanging around for nearly 12! I really should go and read through some of those books at some point as I suspect that these two are not the only ones that have been languishing on my shelf for a decade or more.
   
   September 22 Edit: My brain kind of hates me, so I've been reading fanfic the past few days. There are some great fics out there, as witnessed by my history on Ao3. Avengers and Vorkosigan Saga are my jam right now.
   
   September 24 Edit: Picked up a horror/scifi a couple of days ago and with the weather being so gloomy (and it being so close to Spoopy Season), it puts me in a horror mood. I'm not far in, but it already has the creep factor dialed up to eleven.
   
   September 30 Edit: I spent yesterday reading a fluffy regency romance. It really was just what I needed.
   
   October 6 Edit: Yes, I'm reading a book that I wrote. I'm trying to determine which one I should start editing, as well as trying to find some inspiration/oomph for NaNo this year.
   
   October 9 Edit: Fanfic. Sometimes, it's EXACTLY what I want to read, and sometimes... *sigh* The Algorithm is both compelling and not very well written. There's a GREAT story here, but it needs a lot of the bulk stripped away (and there is a LOT of bulk). Will I finish reading it? Likely. I do want to know how the story ends, after all.
   
   October 11 Edit: I absolutely DEVOURED Paladin's Hope by T Kingfisher. I found out it was being released October 9 on Kobo, so I preordered it. OMG. So. Good. So good. I adore Galen and Piper's story, I love Stephen being the level-headed one, my admiration for the gnoles knows no bounds, and I greatly admire Beartongue's mad genius. If there are seven remaining paladins of a dead god and three books written, I suspect there will be four more books in this series. Or not. I'm not the author and, well, I'm not going to throw a tantrum because she's not writing what *I* want her to write.
   
   October 15 Edit: Finally reread the NaNo novel I wrote last year. There are some great bones, but it needs an outline. As I remarked to clawfoot yesterday on Discord: I think I may need to sit down and plot it before I can attempt to edit it. That sounds...so weird. Like, I wrote this thing, that's 50k plus words and NOW I want to write an outline? Talk about awkward. :P
   
   There are things I scribbled into my notebook that I never did take full advantage of and I really should give those a once over, make a very rough outline, then go from there? I hope that works; editing has always been one of my weakest literary skills.
   
   October 26 Edit: reading a m/m contemporary romance, because, well, my brain has not been kind to me over the past few days. I'm continuing to plug at editing last year's NaNo novel, and am currently in the 'adding new stuff' phase, which is harder than I expected it to be. I'm hoping that stopping to read something will shake whatever writing inspiration I need loose.
   
   November 22 Edit: Between editing my book and my brain being a raging dickbag, I've not done a lot of reading this month. I am, however, thoroughly enjoying Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell. I just kind of wanted to knock their heads together because they were talking to each other, but not communicating and they were both being dumb. It was adorable, but also a little frustrating; if they were Ken dolls or action figures, I would have already smushed their PVC faces together and yelled, "and now kiss!" (They have now kissed in the book.)
   
   November 24 Edit: I figured I should probably finish reading Matt Fraction's "Hawkeye" run before, you know, starting the series on the big D+. And while I can see the shape of Fraction's run if I squint, it's really only the flavour of the run, and not the run itself.
   
   November 27 Edit: Kobo had recommendations for me, and I usually ignore them and dismiss the notification. Except I checked it out yesterday and saw the sequel to Strange Love, which I had been tempted to reread because it was so warm and fuzzy and November has turned dark and cold. I bought it without a second thought and should finish it today. I found the first more enjoyable, but this is still a good read, and a good escape from the dreary weather.
   
   December 8 Edit: I've been...lax in my reading. Some of it is that I'm still editing the book that I wrote, some of it is finally getting caught up on the streaming shows I'm behind on, and some of it is my own brain trying to eat itself alive. So, a nice, fluffy Regency romance because I am in the mood to read, but don't have the brain capacity for anything that drops me into the deep end without a floatie. I'm about a third of the way in, and it's enjoyable so far.
   
   December 14 Edit: I can't remember when I picked this one up, but the description of a retelling of Scheherazade with pirate captain Mad Hannah Mabbot and captive chef Owen Wedgwood was intriguing. The book reviews well, and I trust the persons at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books to be upfront if something is problematic or just plain gross. So far, I am enjoying it, though I am only a few chapters in.

Comments

[clawfoot]

I'm actually reading much less than I was before the pandemic. Before, I would read pretty much exclusively on my commute to and from work, and at lunch (at work). That was about two hours a day (30 min in the morning, an hour at lunch, 30 min in the evening).

I no longer have that built into my day, so reading actually takes a conscious effort to carve into the day. And it's just so easy to ... not. Even though I love reading.

[valkryor]

I have the built in excuse of not being able to do much whilst Declan and Paul are both home. I can't use the television/stereo in the livingroom during school time, and Paul is often using the set up in the bedroom, so that's not gonna happen.

I have my own devices, true, but there is a corner of the couch where Declan can't see me and it's about as alone as I can get these days, plus reading is an escape and I'm grabbing onto it with both hands. (And yes, I just realized how friggen long that sentence was, but it's not 8+ pages, so fuck it.)

[cinnamaldehyde]

That's reassuring, in a strange way! My reading has been reduced over the years, almost directly due to commute/waiting time. I like the bonus time for other things, but it's become an Intentional Thing to read!!