We all have it—the book you bought ages ago, that you’ve been meaning to read forever. But for some reason, you haven’t gotten around to it. Either you haven’t been in quite the right mood, or you know you’re going to need a real stretch of uninterrupted reading time. Now that the holidays are almost here, you know exactly what you’re going to do with your free time: sit down and finally read that book.
For our last newsletter of 2014, we thought we’d share our list with you. So here are a selection of Tor staffers talking about the books they’ll be reading over the holidays:
Paul Stevens, Editor: I’m looking forward to checking out Kameron Hurley’s The Mirror Empire. The premise is fascinating and very large in scope, so I’m curious to see how the story plays out against such a large backdrop.
Claire Eddy, Senior Editor: What am I looking forward to reading over the holiday break besides the mountain of submissions that continually haunt me? I am eagerly awaiting the publication of Pogo Vol. 3: Evidence To The Contrary by cartoonist Walt Kelly. A labor of love by Fantagraphics and spearheaded by Kelly’s daughter, their plan is to release a 12 volume series that will reprint the complete run of Kelly’s work. Kelly was a fantastic cartoonist and one of the best in social satire that I have ever encountered. His work is a snapshot of American politics that all students of history should read. Wicked funny too. I plan to curl up in my jammies and relive a warm and fuzzy piece of my childhood…
Ryan Meese, Assistant to the Associate Publisher: As a new member of the Tor team, I’ve been making an effort to read some of our more prominent titles. First on the list was Ender’s Game, which turned into reading the entire Ender quartet. Now that I have finished that, I plan on switching over to the fantasy side of things for Sanderson’s Mistborn series. Also on the radar is Ender’s Shadow!
Rayna Erlick, Digital Marketing Assistant: I’ve never really tried reading graphic novels before, but this holiday season I’m looking forward to finally stealing (uh, I mean borrowing) Watchmen from my dad and snuggling into my childhood bed for a read-a-thon. Thanks for sharing, Dad!
Desirae Friesen, Publicity Assistant: The problem with working here at Tor is that my to-read pile is always full of our own books! But since I love the Bartimaeus trilogy I made time for Jonathan Stroud’s new Lockwood & Co series. While less funny than Bartimaeus, it has more action and adds a lot of creepiness. The first book, The Screaming Staircase kept me up all night – the ghosts were too scary to keep reading, but the action was too exciting to put it down! Since I read a galley of the first book, the wait has been extra-long for the second book in the series, The Whispering Skull, but it’s finally out and I know that as soon as I get the chance I will curl up for another terrifying adventure.
Diana Pho, Editorial Assistant: I have to admit: when I first got into A Song of Ice and Fire a few years ago, I read the first three books in two months, and then stopped a third of the way through A Feast for Crows because it focused on all of the characters I didn’t care much for. Then, when A Dance with Dragons came out, I thought, “Finally! They’re back!” So this holiday season, I’ll pull this 5-pounder from the shelf to tide me over during the next predicted Polar Vortex.
Emily Mullen, Senior Publicist: Wally Lamb is one of my favorite fiction authors. From She’s Come Undone, The Hour I First Believed, and I Know This Much Is True, he doesn’t disappoint. The thing I love most about Lamb’s work is that I’m always able to fully immerse myself to the point where I feel like I’m actually one of the characters and part of the unraveling story. So I can’t wait to read his latest, We Are Water, over the holiday. I also plan on reading Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which has been on my TBR list since it came out. The holidays are the best time for catching up!