Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is “Books I Wish Had More/Less [Insert Your Concept Here] In Them”. I decided to go slightly off-piste and talk about characters I want more of in given books, because there are some characters I’d love to understand more about or see the further adventures of.

Without further ado, here are my ten!

1. Csethiro Ceredin, from The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. She’s really cool, but we only really see her through Maia’s eyes — and early in their acquaintance, at that. I want to know about why she learned fencing, I want to know about all her other interests, and of course I want to know how she and Maia work out as a couple.
2. Liu Qingge, from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by MXTX. He’s a fairly prominent character, given the amount of time he spends protecting Shen Qingqiu and fighting Luo Binghe, but I’d love to know about his childhood, how he and Mingyan both came to Cang Qiong Mountain, more about his past animosity toward the original Shen Qingqiu… I just like him a lot, okay!?
3. Ning Yingying, from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by MXTX. It’s fairly obvious that her “demotion” from love interest to side character actually allows her a chance to develop and grow. I’d love to have seen more of that.
4. Liu Mingyan, from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by MXTX. Pretty much the same story here! And why did she decide to wear a veil, and when? What will she do when she’s not Luo Binghe’s love interest, and with her brother alive?
5. Faramir, from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This has been a long-term wish for me. I loved the brief glimpse we got of Faramir from a very young age, and that interest in him hasn’t abated at all. How’d he come to be the best of his family, far nobler, braver and kinder in many ways than Boromir or Denethor?
6. Don Abene, from Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells. And her whole group, really. How do they get on after meeting Murderbot? Does Murderbot ever join them again?
7. Tom Wilker, from A Natural History of Dragons (and sequels) by Marie Brennan. He’s a major character of the books, and we do get to see him succeed, but what would he write in his memoirs? What did he make of his life after he and Isabella’s great discoveries?
8. Cal, from Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. He’s a bit-part, really, coming or going as needed by the plot — but I wanted to know more about how he gets along in the world.
9. Thimble, from Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. I think this might just be because he was cute. But also we didn’t get to know a lot about his thoughts and feelings, and I’m curious.
10. Sun Li, from Shady Hollow (and some of the sequels) by Juneau Black. We know a bit about where he’s come from and why, but he’s developing a friendship with Vera and Lenore, and I’d actually like to see more of it — more than just them eating at his restaurant with him, for example. Do they hang out other than that? What does he do with his free time?

In the end, these are books I love just as they are… but it really wouldn’t hurt to see more of these characters.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is “debut novels I enjoyed”, which I found a bit tricky as I don’t generally keep track of whether a book is an author’s debut or not. Still, let’s have a crack at it…

1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin. I should reread this trilogy at some point, it’s been ages. I remember reading the first book vividly, and curling up with it to just get started, and of course ending up reading most of it.
2. The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù. Remembering that the Scum Villain webnovel was MXTX’s first, I couldn’t resist including this one! I wrote ten reasons why I loved it last week, if you’re curious.
3. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. A chunky historical fantasy with liberal use of footnotes that not everyone enjoyed. I say this because I can hear the comments coming and I want to get out ahead of it: I know! Not everyone liked it! But I did, and have read it at least twice (and am partway through a third read).
4. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey. What a saga this one launched! Once again, it has its detractors (particularly for its flowery language and, of course, the masochism and sex), but I enjoyed the story and characters very much: I found the worldbuilding rich and exciting, and Joscelin is a heck of a love interest. “If I’m to be damned for what I’ve done, I’ll be damned in full and not by halves.”
5. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. I keep wondering if this will enchant me as much if I read it again, and I think I should probably give it a shot.
6. Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. I admit that when I first read it, I didn’t entirely get it: it’s one of those books that stayed with me, and which I had to read again to fully fall in love. Still, I was convinced by the end of the first book, and have enjoyed all Leckie’s other work since.
7. Strange Practice, by Vivian Shaw. Not always accurate about what it’s like to be a GP in Britain in general (said Mum when I eagerly made her read the series), but enjoyable nonetheless — and some inaccuracies can be forgiven since the patients are vampires, ghouls, banshees and mummies. And the story has such a good heart.
8. Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee. It took me a while to get into the right mindset for Ninefox Gambit when I first read it, and I have no doubt it’ll take the same again: there’s just so much going on with the worldbuilding and the politics. That said, everything you need is there in the story, if you give it the time. It’s not always easy to trust readers to do the work, and I know some people who bounced off for that reason, but I found it entirely worthwhile.
9. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. I’m unapologetic in my love for this series, even though (like most others on this list) it has its detractors. It may be about aliens and a galaxy far, far away, but it’s also about people, the connections between people, and how small lives go on amongst much bigger events — with an unapologetic interest in those small lives.
10. The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s been quite a while since I read anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, and his more recent work didn’t get me so excited somehow (though I still need to give it a shot). The Summer Tree has flaws, yes — but the story of Paul, Kim, Dave, Kevin, Jennifer and Fionavar has stuck with me. Maybe I should reread it soon!

Whew, we got there! Looking forward to seeing everyone else’s lists.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie for missed TTT themes. I have no idea if I’ve done this one before, but I love rereading, so I picked #379, “books I could reread forever”.

I know some people feel that there’s just not enough time in the world for rereading, and if that’s you, that’s totally fine! But I love to reread, because I think the books I’ve already read can hit differently in the future. Sometimes you notice different things, sometimes you’re a different person, sometimes your experiences change how you understand things.

And, to be frank, reading is not a job. It’s usually meant to be for pleasure, for most people. If you feel like you have to be reading all the latest books, are you having fun or just kicking yourself in the shins?

Which is not to say that everyone needs to enjoy rereading, but it’s a pretty common response when I talk about rereading, and I don’t have time for that in my own life. I read what I enjoy, for fun, and I’ll happily encourage anybody to say “stuff that” to obligation and doing things because you “have” to.

Without further ado, here are some of my iron-clad rereads.

1. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is a classic and deservedly so. I do love The Lord of the Rings too, but there is something special about the warm tone of The Hobbit. Mind you, I had to take just one book to a desert island, The Lord of the Rings would be in strong contention. I’ve never read it without noticing something new (and I’ve read it quite a few times, since I studied Tolkien’s work during my MA). It’s very rereadable, in my view.
2. The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper. Technically all of this series, and maybe most of all The Grey King. I listened to the BBC radio adaptation as a kid and adored it (though it scared the pants off me too), and it’s remained something I read and reread fondly. Though it’s a children’s book, there are details on many levels.
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. I think a lot of people felt betrayed to realise it was an allegory, but I don’t think I was ever “fooled”. I knew it was an allegory and still loved it. In fact, some of the sentiments in The Last Battle helped to form some of my thoughts about life and religion, even though I’m not a Christian. I still think these books are a delight and worthy of rereading. In fact, I might be tempted to do just that right now.
4. The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. I hope this one will never wear thin for me, because so far each time of reading has been a total delight. I love how intentional and thoughtful Maia is, and how some of the people around him respond to that and start to build a better world.
5. Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers. I don’t think any of the choices on this list are a surprise coming from me, and this one certainly isn’t. The radioplay adaptations and the BBC adaptation with Edward Petherbridge are all wonderful.
6. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. I recently reread this, in fact. It’s a relatively personal story, focused less on political events in the galaxy (though they happen) and more on the immediate effect on the people of the Wayfarer, and also on the interpersonal stuff between the people on the Wayfarer. It’s a lovely novelised discussion of how we can treat different people with different beliefs and different needs with equity and dignity. There are aspects I’m conflicted about, but even those are good to think over.
7. Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. I think I like this book more each time I read it. It’s hard to separate which book of the trilogy is my favourite, but I love Breq and I love to feel conflicted about Seivarden.
8. A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan. You can tell this list is in no particular order, because I adore this series. I love Isabella and her deranged practicality, and the serious attempt to imagine what it would be like to be a naturalist studying dragons, and the different cultures and peoples one might encounter. It’s also a rare example of a book I’ve loved more and more with each reread, starting from not rating it very highly.
9. Feed, by Mira Grant. This one’s pretty uncharacteristic for me in many ways, but the book fascinates me. I found it deeply disquieting at first, but now I find myself hankering to revisit now and again, and discover all of the details again (horrific as some of them are as scenarios). It’s also one of those books I rated low at first, but which grew on me.
10. Chalice, by Robin McKinley. Also among that number, I didn’t “get” Chalice right away, and I’m still not entirely sure I do. There’s something warm about it, though, and I love to reread it and ponder over again how everything comes together. Also, the magic system is pretty unique and fascinating (based around honey, for the main character).

Oof, those were difficult choices! I feel like there are others I should surely include (Murderbot comes to mind) — and my choices are likely no surprise to long-time readers — but for now, this is it!