Lists – Marked for Plot

Top 10 Books I’d Like to Visit

As a homebody, I don’t feel the need to travel often, especially since it can be expensive once you get a pet. He’s the light of my life, but he’s also a money pit. Anyways, instead of talking about places I’ve visited, I thought it would be more fun to focus on speculative worlds that I’d enjoy visiting instead!

Unfortunately, most of the worlds that I categorize as cool are also terrible places to live. Fantasy and Science Fiction loves dystopian societies, and usually the cooler the world is, the worse it would be to live there. However, there are some truly delightful settings out there that I wish I could step through a portal and live for … well in some cases forever.

10 Series I Plan on Continuing Someday, I Promise!

It has been interesting to see how my reading habits have shifted the more I read. Used to be that I read 20 books on a good year, and I would read series back to back if they were out. Now I’m probably going to top 200 reads this year, and it feels painful to devote time to a sequel when I could be discovering something new. It’s increased my preferences for standalone books and duologies, and my interest in long series has dwindled.

Some of these I’ve left behind for so long that I’ve forgotten important details, while others are new discoveries that I know I plan on continuing. For each, I’ve put the cover and link for Book 1 in the series.

What Was I Reading on August 11? A Retrospective

Ten years ago I’d just gotten out of college, was gearing up to be a student teacher, and was grappling with independent adult life for the first time. I also hadn’t done much pleasure reading for years; being a college English major really kills your drive to read for fun, and I had a lot of trouble getting back into my old habits. I owe Brandon Sanderson a lot for being the on-ramp back into reading. I don’t pick him up much anymore, but I’ll forever have a fondness for the sparks he lit back inside me for books.

I did my best to find the exact books I was reading on August 11 for the past ten years. Many of the earlier years are estimates, as I don’t have exact data. However, they’re certainly books I was reading that year, even if not on August 11 exactly.

Books I Couldn’t Wait to Buy, but Still Haven’t Read Yet!

I am so bad at this! The more I read – and I’m reading more than ever before – the more I feel like there are so many great books that I haven’t gotten the chance to touch. These are books which I immediately wanted to read, but which have ended up languishing on my bookshelf. I’m limiting myself to physical books

Morally Bankrupt Protagonists I Fell in Love With

As a 6th grade English teacher, one of the first units I teach every year focuses on characters. We do a recap of things they should have learned in elementary school, how to cite textual evidence, and a few other basic skills they’ll need in middle school. My favorite part of the unit, however, is showing them stories where the main character isn’t necessarily a ‘good’ person. While I love a protagonist I can unapologetically root for, I’ve found that I often can’t stop thinking about characters who are a bit more complicated.

So, here are some of my favorite characters that kept me up at night. They’re complex, charismatic, and addictively readable. When thinking about my all-time top 10, four currently appear on this list. You’ll find redemption, unapologetic villainy, and everything in between.

Queer Books Not About Falling in Love

Valentine’s Day has never particularly interested me. I like anniversaries much more to celebrate a relationship. When I was single it felt stupid and corny, and when partnered I found that anniversaries felt more meaningful. It helps that anniversaries (usually) don’t involve fighting with a bunch of other couples for a restaurant reservation. As I started reading more Fantasy and Science Fiction, I quickly discovered that most books with Queer protagonists tended to focus on romance plotlines, Achillean books even moreso. As an avid Genre-Romance reader, I’m a big fan of love stories, but I also love seeing books about Queer folks living life, tackling evil dictators, and doing grand acts of magic.

This is a list of Queer books I love that don’t feature major romance plotlines. Some of these might feature established relationships, others may have romantic elements that don’t have a traditional happy ending (or are so minor to be unremarked on), or are unconcerned with romantic bonds altogether. You’ll find everything from popcorn action stories to thematically ambitious literature here, so hopefully you find something interesting if you’re looking to scratch your anti-Valentine’s day itch!

r/Fantasy 2025 Bingo Card #2 – Comics and Graphic Novels

For the past three years, I’ve taught middle and high schoolers classes on reading and creating comics and graphic novels. What started as an impulsive decision quickly spun into a rekindling of my childhood love of sequential art. I grew up reading manga (unsurprisingly, I read a fairly equal balance of Shoenn and Shoujo; truly we gays get the best of both worlds) and finding my footing in what I like and dislike as an adult has been a fun adventure. Around November, I realized it would be pretty feasible for me to complete a bingo card comprised entirely of graphic novels. Some of these I read for school, others for personal enjoyment, and a few to explore things outside my perceived comfort zone.

Reviews are organized according to vibe so you can find the type of comic you’d enjoy, with my favorites within each category further towards the top. I anticipate that this is a challenge I’ll continue to pursue, though I think I’ll probably just read what’s interesting and see where the pieces fall for future years. Enjoy!

12 Books I’m Prioritizing in 2026

I am a sidequest reader who frequently gets distracted by the shiny new recommendation that magically jumps to the top of my TBR. I don’t dislike this about myself; most of my favorite reads from 2025 were not at all on my radar before the year started. However, I find that picking a few titles I know I want to try helps keep me from putting interesting books on the treadmill of procrastination for too long, and to ensure promising new titles actually get read.

Here are 12 books I’m committing to reading at some point in the year 2026. While there would be some beauty to me reading exactly one every month, I know myself too well to try and commit to that plan. Some of these I’m confident that I’ll love, others are risks I’m excited to take, but all have taken root in the back of my brain and won’t let up until I finally buy myself a copy.