It’s often said that in order to be a writer, one must make himself a reader. In essence, I think that’s a true statement – but in reality I feel I am a reader and a writer, sometimes they come as a bundle, but more often than not, I am one or the other.
In fact, I read before I wrote. I spent countless hours as a kid immersed first in Choose Your Own Adventure, and Can You Solve the Mystery?, before becoming a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle and later – in my teen years – of Edgar Allan Poe, Jack London and Ray Bradbury. At some point in that journey, I was engulfed by speculative fiction and magical realism, and the hunger for those words has never left me.
As a reader, I enjoy the time I set aside to plunge into other people’s worlds, and as a writer, I admire, learn from, and get influenced by big ideas captured in craftily constructed sentences.
Half the year is gone and I’ve read forty-seven books so far. Some are new or have been published in the last couple of years; others have aged for decades or even centuries. I can talk at length about at least fifteen of them, but let me be economical and only share three titlesI’ve read this year that are here to stay – in my bookshelves.
1. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004)
I got to this book the long way around, after reading the wonderful Piranesi. It’s a thick book full of delightful footnotes that add to the worldbuilding Clarke created, referencing fictional books and tales that make you believe magic in England is a real thing.
The arc of both main characters is well thought out, and although most readers will cheer for Jonathan Strange, the reality is that the two practical magicians of Britain are deeply flawed.
One can only aspire to write at this level. One can only be delighted to have read it.
2. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Hodder & Stoughton, 2024)
Somehow I had been living in a cave, unaware of this near-future time travel amazement. It’s not just my fascination with time travel in general – it’s the fact that the present is both the future and the past in this story.
I also didn’t know it had links to the doomed Arctic expedition of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus. Like Bradley, I was a big fan of The Terror, the AMC TV series that sparked this What if? plot.
Art creates art that creates art.
3. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab (Tor Books, 2025)
I liked this as much as I liked The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Perhaps it’s the historical journey through different parts of Europe, the characters who change over centuries, or the fact that – despite lesbian vampires being at its core – the story remains grounded.
I think the words and the narrative flow seamlessly in a world that takes one fantastical creature and spins it on its head, ditching some rules (mirrors, for instance) and bringing in new ones to surprise and delight.
Several well-thought-out lines are spread throughout the pages, and it was a real page turner for me.
I’ll be back at the end of the year with three more books earning a shelf.
David Cuen 
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