The number of books I’ve read has dropped over the last couple of years because I no longer have a commute during which I can listen to audiobooks. And given the choice of working from home and reading fewer books or working in the office and listening to more audiobooks–that choice is trivially easy for me.
One consequence of this, however, is that I’ve read nearly zero fiction since COVID. Audiobooks were always the way I read fiction; I found that the format was perfect for fiction, less so for nonfiction. So I’ve been feeling the itch to get back to some fiction this winter. I’ve been accumulating a list of possibilities and I’m open to any suggestions:
- Apuleius, The Golden Ass
- Adam Roberts, The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate (mentioned by Alan Jacobs yesterday)
- Robin Sloan, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (weirdly, I follow his writing online but have never read his books)
- Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo (this and the one below were recommended by the Weird Studies guys)
- William Burroughs, Naked Lunch
- Daniel Mason, North Woods
- Ursula LeGuin, Always Coming Home