I’ve always had the tendency to read too many books at the same time. There are some books I have on a perpetual TBC list. I plan to get back to them, but I don’t seem to get around to it. Usually, this doesn’t bother me as much, but right now, it doesn’t seem to be working. I am chapters deep into several books, and some I’ve just started. But often, when I read, it’s late and I’m tired, and depending on my mood, I prefer to read this or that, and it’s rarely the same book.

I feel this is currently working against me, and as a result, I don’t get to enjoy any book. As in, I’m not getting lost in them. I need to show more persistence and try to finish a book before picking up a new one (or the tenth new one🙈). Now, a friend of mine got me to sign up for a monthly book club (because I needed more books), but I want to try to schedule an hour or as least half an hour every day during the week to read in a physical book (also as a ways to learn more about writing). We shall see how that pans out. 

My current reading list (things I’m actively reading): The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, The Reaper’s Quota by Sarah McKnight, Escape from Hell by Mary Irving, Rand by Sylvia Shaw, Paper Love by Jae, Back into Your Arms by Monica McCallan, The Right Fit by Nicole Pyland.

I’m not mentioning my perpetual reading list, but there are three books on there right now. I will also not add the other books I own or got access to via KU because then I will write for another half hour. Sigh.

I’ll also admit that I sometimes struggle to read while I am writing or revising (it’s way worse when I’m revising) because I feel like an imposter. What I see on the page when I read another author’s book and what I produce myself seem to be worlds apart, and my own work seems like the scribblings or an “arrogant, rank amateur” (to quote Willow from Buffy). And that’s not… pleasant. I haven’t yet figured out how to separate these things better. Because yes, I will not ever be able to write like Naomi Novik, for example, given that I’m not her, but I can write like Sabrina Blaum, and no one else can write like me. Much like is true for everyone else.