As NON Is My Guide

Faye Progress
79163 / 90000 words. 88% done!

Not having a book to read is a certain kind of torture, as I've lamented more than once on this blog. Not having a book to read is not the same as not having any books on my shelf that I've not yet read. It's not having a book that I want to read. I have three different TBR piles (categorized by genre), and not a single book out of those 29 appealed to me.

What's a girl to do? Go to the Official Number One Novels Amazon Bookstore, of course.

I can't often predict when I'll be struck by one of these TBR-pile slumps. Sometimes they strike after I've finished a really good novel, and I don't want to leave that world in my head yet. Sometimes they strike after I've finished a really bad novel, and I'm burnt for a bit. Sometimes, it has to do with other factors in my life—too much work, too much fun, too much How I Met Your Mother to catch up on.

This time, though, I felt it coming. I've interviewed a lot of great authors on NON this past year, including N. K. Jemisin and M. K. Hobson, debut fantasy authors. I've Internet-stalked both authors post-interview and watched their novels garner praise from other blogs and sources. I've run across their novels more than once in Borders, and I've admired their covers, read their first lines, and then ultimately put the novels back on the shelf, telling myself I'll get it later.

The problem with delayed gratification with novels is, after a while, it sours all other books, because in the back of my head, I'm always looking for these books, and no other novels are going to measure up. I fully acknowledge that I funneled myself into this TBR-pile slump, and I suffered for the long four days it took Amazon to ship the novels to my house. Tonight, my book dry spell ends (to the delight of the entire household). Now I just have to decide which to read first:

The Native Star by M. K. Hobson

First Line: Five loud, hard, sharp crashes.

Intriguing...

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin

First Line: I am not as I once was.

Oooh, a troubled character—always a grab for me!

And because it was imperative that I get free shipping, I also ordered...

Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson

First Line: Ellie came into the story very late.

I love Robin McKinley, and I've been looking for good short stories: it was a serendipitous purchase, but as I mentioned before, I've been building those two fantasy novels up in my mind, so this doesn't sound right quite yet.