I own a lot of books. Once upon a time, I read a lot of books. Lately, I’ve been buying a lot of books and leaving them to collect dust.

This is my central book hub. It holds about 3/4 of my book collection (not including comics). As you can see, it’s beginning to overflow – because I have a habit of buying more and more books, even though I never read any of them.

“I don’t need more books,” I say to myself, as I walk into a bookstore. “I have plenty of books already,” I insist, as I pile my arms full of shiny new YA titles, a workout that leaves both my biceps and my wallet aching. “I’ll read these soon,” I promise, as I stack my purchases atop twenty other untouched adventures.

But I love reading. I really do. And I’m going to start reading again. Reading inspires my writing – I can’t be the writer I want to be if I don’t read.

So, here are five books – the first five on my 2017 reading list. After these, I’ll choose five more, and five more after that, and so on, and so forth, and – you get the idea.

Mycroft Holmes – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse

A Dog’s Purpose – W. Bruce Cameron

A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness

Tattoo Atlas – Tim Floreen

Hyperbole and a Half – Allie Brosh (on Kindle)

There they are. Wish me luck.

Oh, and let me know what books I should pick up next time I inevitably wander into a bookstore to spend money I don’t have!