A living TBR, not a guilt pile

Books

What I’m reading, what just came off my list, what keeps calling from the shelf, and the editions that make my personal library feel like home.

Open books and fresh finishes

Reading now

Active reading currently means audiobooks. I can listen while handling school, work, and everything else that needs my hands; print reading requires time I set aside for only the page.

Cover of Wild Hunt by Alison Levy
Paused review copy

Wild Hunt

About four chapters in · early impression

Already, Wild Hunt has a strong sense of found family and supernatural community. Witches, vampires, werewolves, fairies, and others gather in a club with the energy of a supernatural dive bar. The main character is deeply committed to helping people—sometimes to the exasperation of the club’s owner and everyone else.

This complimentary publicity copy was provided for an honest review. I’m still early in the book, so these are reading notes rather than a finished review. Because it is not an audiobook, finishing it requires dedicated reading time around school.

ISBN-13 9798896363781 · pictured edition

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Cover of Murtagh by Christopher Paolini
Paused, still interested

Murtagh

Christopher Paolini · About two chapters in before another book took over. Interesting so far and firmly staying on the list.

ISBN-13 9780593650899 · pictured edition

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Fresh off the TBR

The Empyrean so far

Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm, and Threshing Day are finished. I completed Threshing Day on October 7, 2026, and Onyx Storm during the first weekend of October.

The central Empyrean story is planned as five novels. Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm are Books One through Three; Threshing Day is a companion anthology rather than Book Four. My shelf therefore has four published Empyrean volumes while I wait for main-series Books Four and Five.

My shelf edition: Every volume shown here is from the special Wing & Claw Collection, with coordinated dragon-stenciled printed page edges—not the standard hardcover editions.

My current Empyrean bookshelf with the four Wing and Claw Collection volumes, blue, black, and gold dragon figures, character art, and a black-and-gold Violet quote bookend
My Empyrean shelf as it looks now: all four Wing & Claw volumes, surrounded by dragons and character art. The individual covers and exact edition links remain below so the shelf photograph never replaces the practical catalog information.
Series status

Five main novels are planned. Threshing Day adds thirteen companion stories but does not take the Book Four position.

Five-book plan · AP Official companion-book page
Format recommendation

For the Empyrean installments available in the format, I recommend the full-cast GraphicAudio dramatized editions.

Explore the official GraphicAudio series · not affiliate

Finished, loved, and sometimes reread

Already read

This is not my complete lifetime reading log yet. It is the part of the shelf I named first—the books and series that still matter enough to mention.

Read

Tolkien’s Middle-earth

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are excellent, and I have read them. I own the HarperCollins author-illustrated hardcover editions, the Andy Serkis audiobooks, and the extended-edition films.

Reread favorites

The Inheritance Cycle

I have read Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance many times. I have read The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm once or twice. The main cycle wears custom jackets on my shelf.

Read

The Shadowhunter Chronicles

Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments has been read. The series and The Shadowhunter’s Codex are represented on the shelf.

Read

Romantasy, vampires, and magic

I have read A Court of Thorns and Roses book one, but not the rest of ACOTAR. I have read Twilight. I have read the Harry Potter series more times than I intend to count.

Read

Star Wars and contemporary favorites

Ahsoka and Red, White & Royal Blue have been read.

Four read

Game Changers

I have read Rachel Reid’s Game Changer, Heated Rivalry, Role Model, and The Long Game. Other books in the series remain open territory.

The review notebook begins

More than a star rating

Each finished book can grow into a spoiler-free review, a spoiler discussion, the problems I had with it, and what I might have done differently—even when I still loved the book.

Cover of Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Reread favorite

Eragon

Christopher Paolini · Book One of the Inheritance Cycle

ISBN-13 9780375826696 · pictured hardcover edition

Spoiler-free note

I have read Eragon many times and still care deeply about the series. Liking it does not erase the rough edges: the first half is so description-heavy that my blunt shorthand for the problem is “description diarrhea.”

What I would change

Tighten the early descriptions, trust the reader to imagine more of the world, and let character choices and forward motion carry more of the opening.

Spoilers for the ending of the Inheritance Cycle

My largest series-level objection is political: after everything the characters witnessed under monarchy, the ending did not show enough learning from those failures. I would not have ended with Nasuada becoming queen; I would have used the rebuilding of Alagaësia to move toward a representative democracy.

Purchase options · not affiliate Cover source

Book covers are shown for identification and discovery. Most are served by Open Library and link back to its catalog record; publisher, distributor, or retailer images link to their original source. Purchase links are informational and are not affiliate links.

Still calling from the shelf

The TBR

Series are grouped together so the list shows the shape of the reading journey instead of pretending every volume is an unrelated task.

Epic fantasy & dragons
  • The remaining A Court of Thorns and Roses books
  • Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
  • A Song of Ice and Fire
  • The Wheel of Time
  • Mistborn Era One trilogy
  • Mistborn Era Two quartet
  • The first five Stormlight Archive novels
  • The Silmarillion — started, but not deeply
  • The Priory of the Orange Tree
Science fiction, classics & mystery
  • The original Legends Thrawn trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command
  • Fahrenheit 451
  • Andy Weir’s The Martian, Project Hail Mary, and Artemis
  • A complete-novels Sherlock Holmes omnibus currently on the shelf—the edition’s claim to completeness still needs checking
Queer stories & found family
  • Legends & Lattes
  • The Goblin Emperor
  • Cemetery Boys
  • The Heartstopper graphic novels
  • One Last Stop
  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda — I enjoyed the film Love, Simon
  • The remaining Game Changers books
Shadowhunters & vampires
  • The Infernal Devices
  • The Vampire Diaries
  • Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, beginning with Interview with the Vampire

The library I want to build

Shelf goals

The physical collection matters too: readable editions, matched sets, meaningful jackets, and books worth living with—not expensive objects for their own sake.

Rick Riordan’s mythology universe

I have read or listened to most of these stories and want shelf editions of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

More Shadowhunters

Build beyond The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and The Shadowhunter’s Codex into more of Cassandra Clare’s connected universe.

The other Sarah J. Maas worlds

Add Throne of Glass and Crescent City to the shelf and the reading plan alongside ACOTAR.

A matched Wheel of Time

The goal is a handsome, coherent set that looks intentional on the shelf—beautiful without becoming a thousand-dollar purchase for books or dust jackets.

Edition notes already worth remembering

The shelf already includes the author-illustrated HarperCollins hardcovers of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the Inheritance Cycle in custom jackets, and an almost-deluxe omnibus paperback of The Chronicles of Narnia.

The conversations around the books

Reviews, library & writing

The reading inventory comes first. Longer reviews and catalog details can grow from it without burying the actual books.

Next layer

Book Talk & Reviews

Spoiler-aware reactions, adaptation comparisons, reread notes, and fuller arguments than a star rating can hold.

Reader to reader

Recommendations

Curated paths by mood, theme, genre, format, and the kind of reading experience someone wants.

Public catalog

My Library

Browse my current personal book catalog on Libib. Edition, jacket, audiobook, adaptation, and shelf notes can continue growing here alongside it.

Browse my Libib library

Work in progress

Writing

Original fiction, worldbuilding notes, process reflections, excerpts, and project updates when they are ready to share.