what xavier is reading (2026)
MARCH:
THE NAME OF THE WIND:
PATRICK ROTHFUSS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 7.5/10 (FIRST TIME)
This book had been on my TBR list for far too long.
I finally got around to reading it and I wasn’t disappointed. It's the kind of book that you read and then feel sad when it ends. Though the ending was a bit abrupt. Such a fun read! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series (cough), though I probably won’t continue past book one until Mr Rothfuss writes some more books.
APRIL
LEVEL UP YOUR WRITING: SELF-EDITING FOR AUTHORS
BY CHRIS FOX ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 9/10 (FIRST TIME)
In this short book Chris Fox teaches some of the greatest advice on the whole editing process. From developmental, line, to proofreading, this book covers it all.
Good writing is re-writing, or editing.
If you want to become a better writer, buy this book!
NEWSLETTER NINJA: HOW TO BECOME AN AUTHOR MAILING LIST EXPERT
BY TAMMI LABRECQUE ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8/10 (FIRST TIME)
I read this book because I felt I owed it to my newsletter subscribers. I have treated them badly far too many times, and I want to become better at treating them well. I want to give them more than I ask for in return.
NEWSLETTER NINJA 2: IF YOU GIVE A READER A COOKIE
BY TAMMI LABRECQUE ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 9/10 (FIRST TIME)
This book focused primarily on the reader magnet aspect of email marketing and provided some highly practical advice on creating and advertising your own reader magnets.
I found it very inspirational, and I now look back at my own library of reader magnets with some regret, but also with hope. I did handle things poorly, but I now know what to do and what to avoid. I can therefore make some improvements to my methodology. Thanks to Tammi, at least. Thanks, Tammi!
THE WILL OF THE MANY: HIERARCHY, BOOK I
BY JAMES ISLINGTON ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8/10 (FIRST TIME READ)
I have been bombarded for quite some time with recommendations of this book, implored to read it by many trusted sources, so finally, I forced myself to spend an Audible credit and listen through the whole thing.
I was not disappointed.
One of the things I expected was a plot much more akin to something that either Joe Abercrombie or Brandon Sanderson might create, but I was pleasantly surprised (not that I don't like those other authors, indeed I adore their work). To my surprise, The Will of the Many was similar in many ways to another of my favorite reads: Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Some similarities I found were in the actual style of prose (first person present tense, which was handled beautifully I might add), and in the characters and shape of the plot of both stories.
One problem that I saw with the actual recommendations I received for this book was that it was pitched as a sci-fi book, but to my delight it was more of a sci-fantasy book once you actually delve into the worldbuilding. This seems to be a growing genre, but I have often found it hard to express the nuance of such stories compared to either of their straight counterparts of sci-fi and fantasy.
At first I found it hard to force myself through the first chapters as I found them disjointed and a poor sign of the rest of the narrative. The main character seemed like a Gary Stu, overly talented and unable to fail, but the farther I got the more intrigued I became as to where the author intended to lead the character, the plot lurking in the subtext. The worldbuilding that seemed bland and vague at first glance was slowly deepened throughout the mystery of the character's background and the conflict they have found themselves involved in, so that by the end I was jumping at the chance to read the next book (The Strength of the Many), which the first book promises will better explain the truth of the first narrative.
I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of Brandon Sanderson and Pierce Brown, and have at one point ever wished that they would co-author something together. That book would be The Will of the Many.
THE WILL OF THE MANY: HIERARCHY, BOOK I
BY JAMES ISLINGTON ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/10 (FIRST TIME READ)
Like The Will of the Many, this book was pushed heavily to the top of my TBR. Unfortunately, I appreciated it less.
I suspect the rating I gave Dungeon Crawler Carl is a result of my prerequisite reading of the litRPG genre. I have already had the privilege of enjoying other works in the genre such as Battle Mage Farmer (whose author I am familiar with), Advent, and He Who Fights With Monsters. All of these were so great!
Then stepping back to read the most popular litRPG series of the current era, I found myself let down by my own expectations. I want to be clear that this is not the books fault.
It was enjoyable, but it wasn't groundbreaking or particularly well written. Still, I will keep reading the series in hopes that it grows stronger.
THE SWORD OF KAIGEN
BY M. L. WANG ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 9/10 (FIRST TIME READ)
When I started The Sword of Kaigen, I was not expecting the ending or the experience that M. L. Wang delivered.
I was, however, not disappointed by the delivery.
In the corners of the indie world that I read in, I will admit that I am oversaturated with grand, sweeping epic fantasies and expansive, earth-shattering stakes.
The Sword of Kaigen is not one of those books.
It is instead something quite a bit smaller in scope and scale, but what it leaves by the wayside of genre norms and expected length, it makes up for with its characters.
The book itself is extremely conscious of the tropes and norms, and manages to take many of them by the throat and subvert them in interesting ways.
With multiple POVs, only one of which is permanent, this book offers well-tempered and thoughtful social commentary through character struggles that you can nearly forget are fictional.
I will certainly recommend this book to my friends, though they will have to prove some literary worth beforehand.
