My April reading list

Dammit, Brandon, why do you have to write so many words?

In March, I set out to read just three books. Three. That’s all. Admittedly, two of them were The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two books in The Stormlight Archive, each clocking in at over 1200 pages.

I didn’t make it.

I read Way of Kings (and loved it), but it took me pretty much all month. I just can’t read as fast as I used to, probably due to a combination of other commitments and age. Gone are the days when I could read the whole of Shogun in less than 24 hours, in a single sitting. (It was winter in a house outside Brattleboro, Vermont. I was 15, and on my own while the adults went off to some New Year shindig somewhere.) Or the whole of the five-volume Belgariad or Ashok Banker’s six-book Ramayana series in a week. (Ramayana is up to eight books now. I’ve had them all sitting on my Kindle for years, but I still haven’t gotten around to reading Vengeance of Ravana or Sons of Sita. I will. Some day. Maybe. )

I guess one mammoth fantasy novel per month is a more reasonable target. At that rate, I’ll finish Stormlight by August, and still have time for other books. I’ve also decided that over the course of the next year, I want to re-read all the Salman Rushdie books, and delve into the novels of Jack London, who wrote a hell of a lot more than dog books and sea stories. So here’s the list.

• Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson, the second book in The Stormlight Archive.

• Grimus, by Salman Rushdie. His first novel: I liked it, but nobody else, including Rushdie himself, did. Except, apparently, Ursula LeGuin, so I’m in good company. (The next one is Midnight’s Children, which I may skip. I always found that one tough going.)

• The Iron Heel, by Jack London. Widely regarded as the first work of dystopian science fiction, first published in 1908. I was surprised to find out that London wrote sci-fi - that’s what got me interested in reading more of his work. Check out The Star Rover (published in the UK as The Jacket).

• Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work, by Mithu Storoni. Neuroscience and productivity, part of my research for Unhack Your Brain.

• The Shootist, by Glendon Swarthout. Apparently, it’s quite different to the John Wayne movie, much darker and grittier. I was inspired to read it by reading about Unforgiven and the animosity between Wayne and Eastwood, and I’m hoping it’ll be one of the books that

  Ricky Lee Grove
  and I discuss in our
  The Paperback Show
  podcasts about movie adaptations.

• Green Teeth, by Molly O’Neill. A lake-dwelling monster unites with a witch to defeat evil in their village, inspired by Arthurian legend and Welsh folklore. There’s quite a waiting list for this at the library, so I may not get to it until next month.

• Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson (Book club selection). I enjoyed the TV series, and I’ve heard good things about the book.

Let’s see how much of that I can get through. I’m quietly optimistic.