K.B. Wagers

K.B. Wagers lives and runs in the shadow of Pikes Peak. She loves flipping tires and lifting heavy things. She's especially proud of her second-degree black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu and her three Tough Mudder completions. When not writing she can be found wrangling cats with her husband, or trying to keep up with her teenage son.

Wagers's new novel is After the Crown.

Recently I asked Wagers about what she was reading. Her reply:

I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to read this year, so rather than focus on my pitiful recently read list I pulled in some books that are at the top of my list to add to two books I read and loved in 2016.

Hamilton: The Revolution, also known as the Hamiltome, by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

I just finished reading this the other day and it’s such a fantastic companion for anyone who’s obsessed with the Broadway musical. With fantastic pictures and insight into LMM’s process as well as a timeline that follows the show from its birth to its appearance on Broadway, the Hamiltome gives you such a lovely look into a musical that will have a long lasting impact on history and pop culture.

Salt: A History, by Mark Kurlansky

Any time someone asks me for my favorite history or biographical novel this is the one I suggest. It gets a laugh, but once that dies down I can go on and on about how fascinating the subject of salt is. For me personally it’s one of the biggest problems we’ll have to solve if we’re going to be at all serious about leaving earth and traveling out into the stars.

The Geek Feminist Revolution, by Kameron Hurley

Kameron Hurley’s collection of articles was by far my favorite non-fiction read of 2016 and I keep throwing it at people like the scene in The Heat where Melissa McCarthy throws the book at the criminal. *laughs* “Persistence and the Long Con of Being a Successful Writer" is such a great thing for writers to read. Hurley talks about persistence, rejections, and why the skill of coming back to the keyboard is so much more important than being a "good" writer.

"Taking Responsibility for Writing Problematic Stories" is this great essay about owning up when you mess up, and being aware that it’s going to happen if you challenge yourself by writing outside of your comfort zone.

"We Have Always Fought" which is in my top five favorite essays of all time, is a reminder that women in positions of power, authority, and battle are not anomalies in our world, no matter how much society tries to get us to believe that they are.

On Basilisk Station, by David Weber

I stumbled onto David Weber’s Horatio Hornblower tribute more than ten years ago and fell in love with Honor Harrington. The first book in the series will always be my favorite. It’s a wonderful blend of political intrigue, space battles, interpersonal conflicts, and some of the best bromance moments (I don’t have another term for those “awwwww” moments in books that aren’t romantic but are definitely tripping your heart-strings.) in science fiction.

The Places that Scare You, by Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön’s book on living fearlessly through troubled times is a book I come back to again and again. Her soothing advice and easy writing style makes it feel like you’re settling in for a drink with an old friend—one who’s not only going to hug you and tell you everything is okay, but who will slap you upside the head and tell you to set some more sunshine and stop worrying so much.

Visit K.B. Wagers's website.

The Page 69 Test: After the Crown.

--Marshal Zeringue