I took a blog hiatus last week because I just couldn’t pull it together long enough to finish this tag (which was originally supposed to be published last Saturday), but now I’m back, or at least I’m back until the next hiatus. I’m so fucking tired and I’ve just been through about four or five weeks of absolute hell, and I can’t wait for it to be over. And Circe says hi. Inclusion of the picture not at all fueled by my compulsive need to make the post look longer, no sir.

Original tag by Ariel Bissett. Text taken from my very dear friend Lori, who recently rebranded as Shh…Just One More Chapter.

1. Are there any books (series) you started this year that you need to finish?

Jeez, all of them. Though technically I didn’t start them this year, I just randomly decided that I would finish them this year. I have finished four series thus far, which I guess isn’t bad, but four is a bad number so I want to get to at least five, which I will if I ever finish and review Foul Heart Huntsman (Chloe Gong). Just one chonky book stands between me and a really bad number.

2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition you into the end of the year?

Mockingbird Court (Juneau Black)!!! This is the sixth and planned final installment of the Shady Hollow series, which I have madly worshipped since reading Mirror Lake. On the one hand, I guess it’s good that it’s wrapping up before the premise has a chance to get stale; on the other hand, I cannot imagine this premise ever growing stale, literally what the hell am I talking about. Anyway, I’m pumped for this book, and I still need to stick my newest signed bookplate into it, and I will be starting it as soon as I finish The Poisoned King (Katherine Rundell).

3. Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

I can’t WAIT to get my hands on Breadknives & Brigands (Travis Baldree), the long-awaited (at least by me) sequel to Legends & Lattes. Now: having said that, I do want it on the record that Viv lied to me. Barista-ing is not fun. Satisfying, yes, if you’re in a rush and watching the finished drinks pile up, but generally not fun. Of course, Viv’s shop dealt exclusively in lattes and mine has a far less limited menu, so that might have something to do with it.

4. What three books do you still want to read before the year is over?

We’ll go with the Chloe Gong hat trick: Foul Heart Huntsman, Immortal Longings, and Vilest Things. I would so love to catch up on Chloe Gong by the end of the year, considering I’ve been obsessively collecting her books. I’m still on the fence about the newest one, but could potentially change my mind depending on how I feel at the end of the Flesh and False Gods books. Or I could decide to completely shun it if her habit of egregiously misusing verbs doesn’t get magically fixed over the course of the next three books. The sky’s the limit.

5. Is there a book that you think could shock you and become your favorite of the year?

Not really.

6. Have you already started making reading plans for 2026?

Ugh yes ;___; in that my plans for 2026 are “finish the series challenge I couldn’t get through in 2025,” or finish at least a couple more series. If I’m honest, I’m losing ambition fast on the Poppy War books (R.F. Kuang), which I read several years ago now and have no particular interest in revisiting, other than to finally record my thoughts on this blog. I’ve said before that Kuang is a skillful writer and I stand by that, I think, but I do not have fond memories of the characters in that series. Must-read series would be The Lost Queen (Signe Pike), The Radiant Emperor (Shelley Parker-Chan), and Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao). Earthseed (Octavia E. Butler) and Adunni (Abi Daré) are nice-to-haves; I also want to finish the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling) after a seriously extended hiatus following the two-month disaster that was my Goblet of Fire reread, and I need to review the rest of the Hunger Games series (Suzanne Collins) as well.

One more thought: I really really really want to finish the Books of Babel (Josiah Bancroft), but it’s been long enough since I read the first book that I’m starting to mull over the idea of completely restarting the series on Kindle. The paperbacks are just so big, and I hate when their spines start to get creased. I seriously doubt that will happen in the space of a year, what with everything else I want to read, but we’ll see. I could get bit by the reading bug big-time and finish all these books and more. It’s been known to happen.

Book Tags