Since one of my writing goals was to read more, I thought it would help to keep track of what I knocked off Mount Tsundoku. Here’s as good a place as any to post what I’ve read to keep me honest, and what I thought of each book immediately after finishing.

I’m changing how I build my to-read stacks in 2022. This year, each stack of five will have to include at least two books by women, one non-fiction book, one book by an author I know personally, and one anthology (I’m making a conscious effort to read more short stories this year). Previously my goal was for each to-read pile to contain at least one book by a BIPOC or LGBTQ2S+ author, one book by a woman, one non-fiction book, and one book by an author I know personally. Creating those piles from my own shelves was starting to get tricky after two years, and I still plan on trying to read through books I’ve already purchased as much as possible. I’m going to add at least one book from the library by a BIPOC or LGBTQ2S+ author for every stack I build to continue trying to diversify my reading.

The library has become my go-to for keeping up on what’s going in comics, so I’m sure there’ll be a number of graphic novels (and roleplaying games I backed on Kickstarter) that jump the queue and end up in the piles from time to time as well.

Finished my previous to-read stack just before June ended, so a new month meant a new reading pile!

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire: The third volume in McGuire’s Wayward Children novella series. This one delves into a nonsense realm when the daughter of a character who died before becoming a mother pops into the school looking for help. One thing I’ve enjoyed about this series is that McGuire seems to keep avoiding doing the thing I expect to see next.

Be Like a Crow by Tim Roberts: A solo RPG I backed on Kickstarter. An interesting read, and a game that uses a deck of cards for its random prompts and resolution. I don’t really play solo RPGs, but I love crows so I failed my saving throw on this one. It was an interesting read, but I doubt I’ll get it to the table.

Flight Risk by Cherie Priest: Read this as an Advanced Reading Copy. I love this psychic travel agent cozy series! Really enjoyed book one, and book two was no different. I hope Priest writes many more with these characters!

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala: Second book in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen cozy series. I think I enjoyed book one and getting to know the main characters a little bit more than this follow up, but it was still a very enjoyable restaurant-themed cozy.

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire: A Wayward Children novella, this one tells the story of Lundy and the Goblin Market. I’d read a short story by McGuire earlier this year set in the Goblin Market which ended up being some good background for this novella, everything unspoken was laid out in that story, which definitely coloured my read. Not sure how I would’ve felt about this one without reading that story first, but I did enjoy both, and I think the short story enhanced my read of the novella.

Mazes by Chris O’Neill: A Kickstarter reward I’ve been waiting to check out for some time. It has a super interesting dice mechanic where every character class has one die associated with it, and rolls that one die to resolve everything. A very rules-lite system that does a few things I don’t necessarily agree with. Not sure it’s a game that I’d enjoy running, but I’m hoping to get to play it.

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty: The final volume in Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy. I’m so glad I kept going with this series! It’s been a long time since I’ve finished a series. I think it ended perfectly.

Savage Worlds Rifts: The Tomorrow Legion Player’s Guide by Pinnacle Entertainment: I don’t have a huge background with Rifts. I’ve made up a few characters here and there with its original Palladium rules system but I’m not sure if I ever actually played any of them. I did really enjoy my last game experience with Savage Worlds though, and I think the system will work well to run the world of Rifts where super high technology, powerful magic, and monsters face off on a post-apocalyptic Earth. The inclusion of the Tomorrow Legion as a conceit to give a reasoning for a party of super powerful characters to travel and work together is a great, if, for me, overly militaristic, solution.

Savage Worlds Rifts: Game Master’s Handbook by Pinnacle Entertainment: Everything you need advice-wise to run Rifts for Savage Worlds. Lots of tables, charts, and adventure seeds. I’m highly unlikely to run Rifts, but there was a lot of good background information that could inform character creation.

Savage Worlds Rifts: Savage Foes of North America by Pinnacle Entertainment: Pretty strictly a monster book, but also good information and adventure seeds for some of the power groups in the Rifts for Savage Worlds ‘verse.

Yes, Roya by C. Spike Trotman, Emilee Denich, Kelly Fitzpatrick: An erotic graphic novel set in the 60s commercial art world involving a trio of lovers. Sexy, fun, and features gorgeous art and colours.

Here’s what I read in January.

Here’s what I read in February.

Here’s what I read in March.

Here’s what I read in April.

Here’s what I read in May.

Here’s what I read in June.

Check out my roundup of my 2021 reading here.

Check out my roundup of my 2020 reading here.