Autumn Reading List 2021

Summer is ending. Y’know what that means? Another seasonal reading list because ya girl cannot read 10+ books in a month but she can do three 😉 

Cover image from [x]

I have a confession to make: I only read 2.5 books from my last reading list, which was in WINTER TWENTY-NINETEEN. What a lifetime ago! 

Why 2.5 books? That’s bloody odd, huh. Well, that’s because I only read half of one book so far and stopped since because I got distracted lol. Buuuuut I did read like 4 other books in the meantime that was not on the original winter 2019 list lol. It do be like that sometimes. 

So, for this autumn’s reading list I’m limiting it to 3 books because I know I won’t read more than that.

autumn tbr list.

1) Dune by Frank Herbert.

My #currentlyreading book. Like everyone else and their circle, I too am reading Dune before the film adaptation comes out. Dune is essentially a space opera about betrayal, destiny and ✨ space worms & spice ✨ 

I had been meaning to read this for a while but just never got around to it until an incentive – like a movie by Denis Villeneuve – was on the horizon. Typical. Also, I’m reading it before the film comes out because I want to form my own impressions of it before being influenced by the visual adaption – and not because of a pretentious “I read the book before I watched the movie” mindset. I just wanna create my own version of Dune before seeing Villeneuve’s version, y’know? 

So far, I’m enjoying the book but I’m still wrapping my head around the style since it’s very (very) classic old school sci-fi. The world-building though? *chef’s kiss*


2) Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn.

I literally have not shut up about Mass Effect since I finished my first playthrough in December 2020. Yes, I was a million years late to the party but I got there. Goddamnit, it’s such a good game. Anyways, besides all the shit with it (-ahem- the ending), I cannot deny how fantastical the world-building is and how engaging the characters are. So much so, that I kept on referencing the game during two heavy ethical discussions about genetics and artificial intelligence/ robots.

ANYWAYS. When I went home for Lunar New Year this year, I saw/ remembered my sister had the Mass Effect prequel trilogy books. Ya bet ya sweet ass I borrowed them.

Set before the main events of the game, ME: Revelation follows David Anderson as he investigates the smoking remains of a top-secret military research station and the disappearance of young scientist Kahlee Sanders. Partnered with a rogue alien agent (*coughs* SAREN *coughs*), Anderson faces impossible odds to uncover a sinister conspiracy.

I cannot wait to dig my teeth into this one. Saren before Sovereign? A young Anderson before Shepard meets him? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP.

3) The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham.

One of these things is not like the others!

And it’s this book – the only non-sci-fi book on this list. Why? Well, I just can’t resist an Australian gothic novel about love, hate and haute couture set in the 1950s that’s why.

Tilly Dunnage returns to the small town of Dungatar after 20 years of mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris. Though still an outcast, Tilly decides to stay and finds a measure of grudging acceptance through her fashion business and unlikely friends. But her dresses attract competition and envy, causing old resentments to surface. It becomes clear that Tilly has more than just business on her mind: revenge on those who wronged her in the most spectacular fashion.

I can tell this book is going to be full of satirical fun and dark moments. Definitely looking forward to this one after my sci-fi reads!

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Will I like the books I’m reading? Hopefully. Will I stray from this list? Probably. Will I finish this list? Doubtful but I get a gold star for trying.

- Del

All book cover images found via Google Images.