One of my New Year's resolutions is to re-read The Lord of the Rings, making this the 17th time but the first time in 20+ years! I did rediscover fantasy a couple years ago, and have now sampled some of what's come out since Tolkein broke the mold in 1954. This is the Fantasy and SciFi that kept me sane during the pandemic.

These are not deep-dive reviews, but rather, informal reactions to: Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, Robert Jordan’s (groan) Wheel of Time series, James S. A. Corey’s The Expanse series, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Vorkosigan Saga and the Penric the Shaman series by Lois McMaster Bujold, and Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave and her other Arthurian novels.

I get virtually all of my reading done by listening to audiobooks - no surprise. I use Jabra Elite Active wireless earbuds, which are great for the price point: far less expensive than Airpods or Beats and the microphone is pretty good so they're great for hands-free talking on the phone. (Not an affiliate, just an enthusiast who has spent too much time nerding out over gear and happy to pass along my finds).

Read the blog article here (transcript): https://www.katymorikawa.com/a-pandemic-reading-list-in-fantasy-and-scifi/