What have you recently finished reading?
Mara Wilson’s biography, Where Am I Now? Obviously, I wanted to be Matilda as a kid, so it was interesting to catch up with the life of someone who lived the dream… sort of. It’s quite touching in places, and she writes frankly about her anxiety disorder. I found it entertaining and worth the read.

What are you currently reading?
On the go right now… The Return of the King, as I finally finish off my reread, and Dark Sky, by Mike Brooks — the sequel to Dark Run. Tolkien’s work is fascinating, of course, although for once I think maybe I’m not quite in the right mood. Dark Sky is entertaining, though I’ve got a bit bogged down in the current section with the riot. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps I’m just being picky in general about my books. It wouldn’t be the first time…

What are you planning to read next?
I’ve got a tonne of non-fiction reviews all lined up to post at around the same time, so I think I’m going to try and make sure it’s fiction, at least. I have to look at my reading challenge prompts that are left; stuff like ‘a book I haven’t read since high school’ and ‘a book and its prequel’. Hmm…

Picked up from Chuckles, this tag looked kind of fun. Obviously, consider yourself tagged if you agree!

Author you’ve read the most books from:
I have a suspicion it’s probably Ursula Le Guin, just because she’s written so many books. But the number on my Goodreads might be misleading, due to rereads, so it could also be Mary Stewart — I might’ve read more unique books by her, especially when you consider both the mystery/thrillers and the very different Arthurian novels.

Best sequel ever:
Well, I think I might be contractually obligated to say The Lord of the Rings… no, but really. The Hobbit is fun, but The Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece.

Currently reading: 
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu. By the time this posts I’ll have finished it, but for right now I don’t quite know what I think of it. Might have to go round some other blogs and see what people I trust have said!

Drink choice when reading:
Diet Coke, always. Well, not always — at one point I wasn’t drinking caffeine, and then the drink of choice was Fanta, usually the passionfruit flavour.

Ereader or physical book:
Both.

Fictional character you probably would have actually dated in high school:
Uh, Hermione Granger? She was probably the main thing about Harry Potter that I’d never get tired of. Although I have a sneaking suspicion my sister might give the same answer, which is kind of weird.

Glad you gave this book a chance:
Rosemary and Rue, by Seanan McGuire. It took me so long to get round to it, feeling like it couldn’t match up!

Hidden Gem book:
Critical Nikki error: I have no idea right now.

Important moment in your reading life:
My first year of my English Lit BA. Suddenly, I was being challenged and really taught analytical skills, and I took to it like a duck to water. I will never understand people who say they no longer read after their English Lit degree, because analysing books so much spoilt them. How? Knowing more, having a bigger toolkit, was just an encouragement for me. Incidentally, the first year of my degree is also when I first ran into what I guess some people would call Social Justice Warriorism. In a different way, that also made me more aware of what I was reading, and more able to analyse it.

Just finished:
The last book I finished was A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness. Gah, is all I have to say.

Kind of books you won’t read:
Books where I know in advance they’re really gross about race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. I’m sure some of those are even worth reading in their way, but I don’t have the time and energy to spare for books that’ll make my blood boil.

Longest book you’ve read:
I don’t know, but Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is probably high on the list.

Major book hangover because of:
I don’t tend to get that feeling.

Number of bookcases you own:
Oh, heck. Eight or nine? It’s hard to gauge, because I also have random shelves everywhere all over my room at my parents’ house, plus a set on wheels, plus a coffee table that’s actually a bookshelf…

One book you have read multiple times: 
Just one? Uh. The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison, then.

Preferred place to read:
I’m not too picky, honestly. I read anywhere and everywhere. As a kid, I used to like sitting on stairs, for some reason, but they’re a bit narrow for me to sit on comfortably now.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:
“Lord, if I thought you were listening, I’d pray for this above all: that any church set up in your name should remain poor, and powerless, and modest. That it should wield no authority except that of love. That it should never cast anyone out. That it should own no property and make no laws. That it should not condemn, but only forgive. That it should be not like a palace with marble walls and polished floors, and guards standing at the door, but like a tree with its roots deep in the soil, that shelters every kind of bird and beast and gives blossom in the spring and shade in the hot sun and fruit in the season, and in time gives up its good sound wood for the carpenter; but that sheds many thousands of seeds so that new trees can grow in its place. Does the tree say to the sparrow, ‘Get out, you don’t belong here?’ Does the tree say to the hungry man, ‘This fruit is not for you?’ Does the tree test the loyalty of the beasts before it allows them into the shade?”
–The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Philip Pullman

Reading Regret:
I took so freakin’ long to get round to reading Seanan McGuire’s books!

Series you started and need to finish (all books are out in series):
I don’t even know and I’m not sure I want to.

Three of your all time favourite books:
The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison; The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien; A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin. 

Unapologetic fangirl for:
J.R.R. Tolkien, Jo Walton, Dorothy L. Sayers, Mary Stewart, Georgette Heyer, Jacqueline Carey, Guy Gavriel Kay, Scott Lynch…

Very excited for this release more than all the others:
The Burning Page, by Genevieve Cogman. Gimme, gimme, gimme.

X marks the spot-start at top left of your shelf and pick 27th book:
Taking my shelves at my wife’s place, it’s The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. 

Your latest book purchase:
Bought for myself, it’d be Dark Sky, by Mike Brooks. Assuming I haven’t bought anything as I passed through London between writing this and it going up on the blog.

ZZZ snatcher book (the last book that kept you up way late):
I think that’d be The Talisman Ring, a reread. But that was more because I didn’t feel like sleeping…

So, uh, that was a politics, am I right. Let’s talk about books instead.

What have you recently finished reading?
The last thing I finished reading was The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu (trans. Ken Liu). I’m still processing what I thought of it. The hard science passed me by, but other aspects intrigued me. I wasn’t that much of a fan of the translation, and yet I feel that it probably did catch something of the original prose. It’s just that the aesthetics are different between Chinese culture and mine. I think I’ll pick up the next book, soon.

What are you currently reading?
I picked up my ARC of The Lost City of the Monkey God, after noticing it on Bob @ Beauty in Ruins‘ blog. I’m fascinated; it is a bit populist and treasure-hunty, but that’s part of the fun of it, too. I’m also reading Nick Clegg’s Politics: Between the Extremes. I was a Lib Dem voter at one point, so I was interested to see what account he made of himself. So far, so self-pitying. He has a point about the way politics needs to be shaped as a story, though. Why he seems to have been surprised that the heart rules the head when the average person makes political decisions, I don’t know. It feels particularly topical today, given the US elections.

But that’s politics again.

What are you planning to read next?
I’ve actually assembled a shortlist of books to read by the end of 2016, so ideally I should just pick from the list. I’m thinking I should get stuck back into Cleopatra’s Heir, by Gillian Bradshaw — I’m partway through it, and it’s a very interesting exploration of Caesarion and what could have happened to him.