Book #21 of 2021: The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #1) I always think that I like this prequel more than I actually do, because in my memory, only the strong parts stand out. The devious uncle, the rings that take you to the Wood Between the Worlds from which …
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Book #8 of 2021: The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) This is one of my favorite Narnia installments, in part because it’s an odd misfit even for such a haphazard and eclectic series. The fifth volume to be written, it’s also the first time author C. S. …
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Book #299 of 2020: The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #6) I’m not a big fan of the first half of this novel, in which the three protagonists — a returning Eustace, his classmate Jill, and a rather miserable creature named Puddleglum — are very nasty toward one another as …
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Book #287 of 2020: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #5) This was always my favorite Narnia volume growing up, and it turns out I actually like it even better as an adult. The nautical adventure is episodic but fun, and the way the children travel from …
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Book #271 of 2020: Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) Although perhaps not as enchanting as the original Narnia story, this first sequel (in writing / publication order) does much more to flesh out the worldbuilding, providing a sense of history, geography, and culture to the setting that had been …
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Book #259 of 2020: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia #2) I’m approaching this reread of the Narnia series in publication order rather than internal chronology, which I don’t believe I’ve actually ever done before. So that means starting here, with young Lucy Pevensie stumbling into …
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Book #246 of 2020: Daughter of Regals and Other Tales by Stephen R. Donaldson Stephen R. Donaldson is one of my very favorite authors, and although I don’t remember liking this 1984 collection of fiction as much as his novels or the later Reave the Just and Other Tales, my current reread through his oeuvre …
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Book #242 of 2020: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #29) This wasn’t my first Discworld title, but for a long time, it was the only one I had read in the subseries about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. It’s the volume I’ve reread the most as well, so I can attest that it works just …
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Book #229 of 2020: The Power That Preserves by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever #3) A suitably epic conclusion to this classic postmodern fantasy trilogy, bringing both its setting and its reluctant champion to the verge of apocalypse before pushing forward to a measure of redemption for each. This series …
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Book #218 of 2020: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Last Survivors #1) I already loved this novel when I first read it five years ago, and I’ve only grown more appreciative over time. The narrator is a realistically flawed teenager, alternately moody and intensely caring, and her slice-of-life diary entries document …
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