So like most readers, I have piles of books all around the house – under the beds, by the beds, in all the bathrooms, on the coffee table, in the stairwell, bookshelves in the kitchen, in the basement, in the bedroom. I even have some overflow at my office. Unlike my Most Anticipated Reads of 2012, the following list consists of books waiting for me in the pile.

1. and 2. Red Bones and Blue Lightning, Ann Cleeves. Books 3 and 4, respectively, of the Shetland Island Quartet.

3. Where Shadows Dance, C. S. Harris. Next in an excellent mystery series set in the upper class during the Regency. Comes right before When Maidens Mourn, #6 on my 2012 Most Anticipated list.

4. The Sherlockian, Graham Moore. Mystery about mystery lovers. How very meta.

5. The Habitation of the Blessed: A Dirge for Prester John, Cat Valente. I mean, it’s Cat Valente. It’s going to be awesome, and the language in it will be so beautiful, it will make me hate her. (I say that with all love, of course.)

6. Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick. From the author who brought us The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wnderstruck is in the same vein – half written, half illustration. A majority of the book appears to be line drawings with no dialogue. Intriguing.

7. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis. I loved The Domesday Book and Blackout/All Clear. My wife told me it was embarrassing that I’d never read this one, which is her favorite of all.