I am still spending a lot of time writing these days, but as all writers know, it’s important to keep a well maintained reading list nearby for any spare hours you might have.

A Reading List Ready for a Spare Hour

I like to keep a to-be-read pile ready to go for those rare spare hours when I can actually sit down and read properly. Here are a few titles currently waiting their turn:

• The Gormenghast Novels — Mervyn Peake
• Hunting by the River — Daniel Carpenter
• Lucky Jim — Kingsley Amis
• Mort — Terry Pratchett
• Mortal Engines — Philip Reeve
• Unnatural Creatures — Neil Gaiman
• The Bookshop — Penelope Fitzgerald
• The Sense of an Ending — Julian Barnes
• If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things — Jon McGregor
• Small Things Like These — Claire Keegan

Of course, this is an entirely aspirational list — but as you can probably tell, I tend to gravitate towards books that might stretch me, both as a reader and as a writer.

Over the past year, I’ve read work by Brian Evenson (one of my favourite writers), Andy Weir, Kafka, Paul Tremblay, and Terry Pratchett. One particular standout was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which I really enjoyed.

Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro – A Dark Fantasy Read

I recently read Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro, and while I really enjoyed his recent Netflix series, I’m still a bit undecided about this book. Del Toro’s imagination is unmistakable — dark, strange, and beautifully detailed — but this particular story didn’t quite land for me in the way I expected.

That said, it’s definitely reinforced my love for dark fantasy books and rich, slightly unsettling worlds. Even when I don’t completely connect with a story, I always appreciate an author who commits fully to their vision.

Which brings me to my ever-growing TBR pile.

What’s currently sitting on yours? Are there any recent reads you’d recommend? I’m always open to new book suggestions, especially within fantasy and speculative fiction.

(As for me, I do own the full Game of Thrones box set. I will read it one day… it’s just that it looks so nice in its shiny box that I hate to disturb it.)