Books Read 2024

[Scuzz]

I have thought about starting the Butcher series. But I have also heard that the first book isn’t one of the best. Also I read paperbacks and the series is published in a format I am not a fan of.

[ImLawBoy]

Three-fer! First two are books I read with my daughter, and both are classic Newberry winners, albeit from very different times. First is Maniac Magee by prolific youth author Jerry Spinelli, originally published in 1990. The title character is a 12 year old homeless orphan who runs everywhere. He comes into a new town near the one where his parents were killed and immediately causes a stir among the highly segregated town residents. It's a book that tries to tackle race relations and prejudice for the young set, and while it's a bit simplistic and naive at times, it's overall message that the races aren't all that different is likely to resonate with the audience.

Second is Mr. Popper's Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater, originally published in 1938. I've only seen bits and pieces of the Jim Carey movie adaptation, but I'm guessing there are some big differences. Mr. Popper is a house painter who is obsessed with the antarctic and exploration, although he's never been anywhere but home. By crazy circumstances, he ends up receiving a pair of penguins who go on to have an inordinate number of offspring. The family trains these penguins and they turn it into a traveling show, Hijinx ensue. There's no real message to this book, but it's silly fun.

Third, in keeping with the theme of children and/or animals, is Cujo by Stephen King. I originally read this book when I was a teenager, and I've long claimed that it's the one Stephen King book that I just didn't like at all. I've got the most recent King short story collection on my shelf, though, and I've heard that the money story from the collection is a sequel of sorts to Cujo. It's been so long and I remember so few details that i figured I should give it another go. It's interesting to read a book like this so far from its original publication - the name "Cujo" is so embedded in the public consciousness as a vicious dog that our first introduction to the dog, before his encounter with a rabid bat, already had me on edge. I remembered pretty early on in my re-read what my big issue with the book was. There's an element of supernatural floating in the background of the tale that doesn't really add much and almost feels tacked on because King remembered he was a horror writer.

I was also probably too young at the time to really appreciate some of the other elements of the book. Reading about family and job anxiety and fear for your child hits differently when you're a middle aged, married working parent than it does when you're a teenager. I definitely enjoyed the book more this time around, although I maintain the story is good enough by itself that it doesn't need the supernatural veneer. Not my favorite King by a long shot, but I'll no longer say I didn't like it at all. (Oh, yeah. Plot summary. Big dog gets rabies and gets all bitey-bitey.)

Storm Front - Jim Butcher - This was the first book in The Dresden Files series, which I'd always heard good things about. For those unfamiliar, it's essentially detective noir mixed with magic and the paranormal. Definitely has a bit of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Supernatural type feel to it.

The book was OK - I enjoyed the variety of paranormal creatures and things mixed with the hard-boiled detective genre, but it didn't blow me away. However, I've read that the series really doesn't get going until after the first book so I'll stick with it for a bit.

I just started Turn Coat, which is book 11 of the Dresden Files. The books improve after the first, which I enjoyed but thought was a little trifling. I'm not sure I would have continued except that I got the first 6 books as a Kindle bundle so it was easy to keep going. They get a bit repetitive at times when Butcher repeats some of the basics of the universe he created in each book, but I can see why he does it. Once they get going and you start getting into the wider mythology they become quite good - good enough for me to get 11 books deep, anyway.

[YellowKing]

Wayne of Gotham - Tracy Hickman - A Batman novel by a favorite fantasy author? Couldn't pass this one up when I saw it for cheap. And there were some cool elements - an appearance by the unusual and not widely known villain Ventriloquist and his dummy Scarface, some neat plot devices that put Batman at odds with his closest allies, a great Joker sequence.

However, I just couldn't get into the novel as a platform for delivering Batman material. I also didn't love the novel's device of switching back and forth constantly between present day and the 1950s plot involving Thomas Wayne. It got a bit confusing for me. So, interesting experiment in reading a comic book character in novelized form but I think from here on I'll stick to the comics.

[YellowKing]

Servant of the Shard - R. A. Salvatore - It took me 14 books to get to a Drizzt novel I didn't really care for, and this is it. And that's primarily because Drizzt is barely in it. Instead, this trilogy focuses on two villains, Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle. While I like both characters, I guess I was ready to get back to the core fellowship. Instead Salvatore doubles down on the tired Crenshenibon plotline.

Guess I have no choice but to muddle through two more books of it, though, as I'm sure there is a lot of character development of Drizzt's two arch-nemeses.

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Chain-gang All-stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Set in the not-too-distant future, the private prison system in the US now has the number one athletic competition product going - fights to the death among prisoners. Those who volunteer to join a chain (each member of a chain is a link) agree to battle other prisoners. They start off with nothing, but as the progress they earn Blood Points, which, among other things, allow them to buy weapons and armor. The fighters are ranked by how may kills they have, and if they reach highest rank of Super Colossal, they have the opportunity to be "high freed" - released from prison. (it beats being "low freed", which is being released from the mortal bonds of Earth.) Loretta Thurwar has reached Super Colossal status, and her chain-mate and lover Hamara "Hurricane" Staxxx is just behind her at Colossal.

It's really quite an amazing book. At times it's gory and action packed, but it's also a devastating commentary on US culture generally and our penal system specifically. Adjei-Brenyah liberally uses footnotes both to describe the fighters and their crimes and also to provide real-world statistics and context about the US prison system. Well worth reading for both entertainment and thought.

[Hipolito]

Finished Chain-gang All-stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.

This sounds great! I listened to an audiobook sample ... mmm, I think I'll go with the regular book version.

[msteelers]

I have a couple of books I've finished recently:

Living On Air by Joe Cipriano - I started a book club for voice actors, and this was the book we chose to read for August. The author is a big name in our industry as he was the voice doing the promos for most of the major networks. For a long time it was pretty much Joe and Don LaFontaine doing all of the network promos. The book goes through Joe's early career on the radio, which was a lot of fun to listen to for someone like me who loved radio growing up and spent a decade working on air. And the story of how he got his big break I found to be really interesting. His radio career was stagnant. He had one shift a week on Kiss FM in LA in the late 80's, but happened to be filling in for the normal DJ one week for the afternoon drivetime. A marketing executive for the new Fox network was looking for a young and edgy voice to be the voice of their comedy promos, heard Joe on the air, and the rest was history. I enjoyed this book a lot, but not sure if others outside of the radio/VO industry would care at all.

And There Was Light by Jon Meacham - A biography on Abraham Lincoln. I thought this was going to draw parallels to modern times with how divided we are as a country, but it didn't do that at all and was a straightforward biography. It took me a long time to work through this simply because of how long it was and trying to work other books into the mix, but it's a good book for anyone looking to learn a little more about Lincoln's life. I also read "A. Lincoln: A Biography" by Ronald C. White back in the day. I think the book by White is far more thorough, but this new one by Meacham is an easier read.

Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger - I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting. I listened to most of it on a car ride from Florida to North Carolina. It's narrated by Arnold, which likely is why I enjoyed it so much. He starts off by talking about how he's recording at home and you might hear his pig and other animals run in and out of the studio. He kept the narration casual, and told a captivating story. Even my Mom enjoyed the parts she heard.

I'm currently listening to The Sales Acceleration Formula by Mark Roberge, who built the Hubspot sales team. I'm applying to a new position with my company to build a new Account Management team, and my boss has specifically name dropped this book before. I'll have this finished by Monday in time for my interview, then likely switch back to Same as Ever by Morgan Housel. I heard good things about that one, and enjoyed the first 30-60 minutes before switching books.

[Isgrimnur]

Joe Cipriano

The voice of Candy Crush Saga

[Hipolito]

Living On Air by Joe Cipriano - I started a book club for voice actors

Well that's something I didn't know about you!

[msteelers]

Joe Cipriano

The voice of Candy Crush Saga

Wait, really? I never played but just looked up the voice cast. Cipriano wasn’t listed on the article I saw, but the rest of the cast was stacked. I didn’t realize that game was pulling in top talent like that.

[msteelers]

Living On Air by Joe Cipriano - I started a book club for voice actors

Well that's something I didn't know about you!

I don’t do much with it anymore. I mainly did some audiobooks and a few commercials, but don’t really have time to pursue it much lately. Audiobooks were a lot of fun to record, but take forever.

[Isgrimnur]

[msteelers]

Nice, thanks for sharing!

Joe’s actually going to be joining our book club next month to talk about the book. Or at least he said he would. Should be fun!

[Isgrimnur]

“Mercenary's Star (The Gray Death Legion Saga, Book Two) by William H. Keith”

[Scuzz]

Glory Season by David Brin

Let me start by saying that this is the 9th book by Brin that I have read, so I enjoy what he writes. But I just couldn't get into this one. I finished it, I DNF very few books. In a brief afterward Brin explains what he was trying to do with this book and so I will start there. He wanted to explore cloning and it's possible uses and he wanted to explore a society controlled by women rather than by men. He actually feared at the time (1996) that the book would be seen as a pro-feminist book, but I think it is obvious that he is just trying to explore something different with his world building.

The main character in the book is a 16ish year old natural born girl whose time has come to either accept a role in her clone dominated clan or to go out into the world and try to find her own place. She, along with her twin, chooses the latter. At about this same time the world is being visited by an alien, a human male whose job is to explore the culture of this world. This world was founded by a women ran group who were trying to start over after problems on earth. Brin is pretty vague with much of this history and so you never quite know what has happened in the past or how far in earth's future this story might be set. The alien has also arrived to notify the rulers of this world that iceships will be coming from earth bringing with them tens of thousands of earth refugees, something the women rulers of the planet do not want.

What ensues is political double dealing, conspiracy and eventually war between the planets factions, with our protagonist caught in the middle.

I liked the main character but the way she is used by Brin as the reluctant hero who seems to find problems wherever she goes is a little too much for me. I guess I also had problems relating to basically a teenage girl in a coming of age story in a world that was culturally somewhat confusing, even after Brin spent the first 100 pages trying to explain it to us.

If the above sounds interesting to you then you may like it better than me, but I can't recommend it.

[Skinypupy]

“Dragons of Fate”, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

The second book in their new Dragonlance series, and one that I was coming into with significant skepticism. The first book ended up decent after a horrible start, and I’m happy to report this one is lots of fun. A deep knowledge of the original Chronicles is a must, as it does all sorts of crazy twisting and turning of those events. To the point of completely changing the entire outcome of the original Dragon War and altering the fabric of time. It ends on a cliffhanger than I’m very curious how they unravel. It’s neat to spend time with characters we only previously knew from songs and legends (I.e. Huma) along with all the players we know and love. The weakest link is the new character who kicks all of this off (Destina), but this book thankfully focuses far less on her.

This is a fun one for longtime fans, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t.

[Jeff V]

I went to the library's annual book sale the other day. They have a bunch of CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks on CD that I might have normally been interested in, except now I have nothing to play them on!

I picked up a couple of Clive Cussler books that never made it (to my library, at least) in audio form and I don't think Scott Brick is reprising the old catalog since Mr. Cussler's demise Also got a few books from the adult section I thought the kids would like.

[Scuzz]

I went to the library's annual book sale the other day. They have a bunch of CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks on CD that I might have normally been interested in, except now I have nothing to play them on!

I picked up a couple of Clive Cussler books that never made it (to my library, at least) in audio form and I don't think Scott Brick is reprising the old catalog since Mr. Cussler's demise Also got a few books from the adult section I thought the kids would like.

Our library has not returned to their annual used book sale since the pandemic. I am guessing maybe the mall that let them use space for a weak isn’t doing it now. That is where I used to get my Cussler fix.

[YellowKing]

I love the library book sales. I did make it to the one this year and picked up a couple of the Kingsbridge series by Ken Follett. Pillars of the Earth is one of my favorite books of all time, but I never read the complete series.

My wife was rolling her eyes and complaining about "how long I would take" and "how many books I would end up bringing home." I dragged her along anyway. I walked out with two books, she walked out with ten.

[Pyperkub]

I read the first Pillars of the Earth and that was enough for me. It didn't overstay its welcome, but at over 1000 pages, it was close.

And wow. There are 5 books in the series now??? All of them over 750 pages? 4 over 900 pages?

Wow.more power to you.

[YellowKing]

The Books of Blood Volume 6 - Clive Barker - Finally finished these off. As with any anthology, some were hit, some were miss. But Barker is undoubtedly one of the most unique voices in horror fiction.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification - Jeri Taylor - I picked up a bunch of Star Trek books for cheap a few months back, so I've been knocking them out here and there. They're fun, quick little reads and because the characters and actors are so familiar, they tend to play out like an episode in your mind. I have no real interest in picking up any more after the dozen or so I grabbed, but I'll eventually finish these off.

The Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks - Because I recently picked up most of the Shannara books I was missing, I jumped back into this series which is a sequel to the original trilogy taking place hundreds of years later. It's an enjoyable book, but after having read so much modern fantasy it does come across now as a bit quaint and "young reader"-esque. I'll continue the series as I get time but they're not high priority.

Poirot Investigates - Agatha Christie - A collection of Poirot stories. I'm not a huge mystery fan, but I do enjoy the occasional Agatha Christie novel or Poirot short story.

You Like It Darker - Stephen King - I've been a huge Stephen King fan all my life, and have religiously read everything he's ever written, so this one was inevitable. I really enjoyed this collection. King has been trending more into crime thrillers with supernatural elements rather than purely supernatural stuff in his later years (see the Bill Hodges trilogy), but that shift has been a welcome surprise. He's quite good at those, and there is one standout novella in this collection that proves it. Coupled with some other strong pure horror stories, I was really pleased with this anthology.

[msteelers]

I used to read a ton of Stephen King back in the day, but haven't read much fiction at all in the last 10-15 years. The last King story I read was 11/22/63, assuming this list is accurate. Which it might not be since You Like It Darker doesn't look like it's included.

Still, there's an awful lot of content I have missed out on. And there's really an extra Dark Tower story thrown in there? What the hell!?

[Scuzz]

I read the first Pillars of the Earth and that was enough for me. It didn't overstay its welcome, but at over 1000 pages, it was close.

And wow. There are 5 books in the series now??? All of them over 750 pages? 4 over 900 pages?

Wow.more power to you.

I did read Pillars and enjoyed it, but like you I had no interest in continuing that story. I did try to read his trilogy that starts about 1900 and followed several families. The first book was okay, the second kinda meh and I put down the third book about page 50 with JFK in the bathtub with his black secretary.

[Isgrimnur]

Abandoned:
Surviving the Fog
by Stan Morris

1 of 4

Have you ever been to summer camp? What would you do if almost all of the adults left “for a few hours” and did not return? What would you do if cell phones did no work and your parents never showed up to take you home? What would you do if your camp was surrounded by a mysterious dangerous brown fog? How would you survive the winter? How would you get more to eat? How would you deal with outsiders?

Warning: sexual situations, cursing, brief violence

When the single mother who's husband hasn't returned starts falling for the brooding teenager, I punched out.

[Jeff V]

I love the library book sales. I did make it to the one this year and picked up a couple of the Kingsbridge series by Ken Follett. Pillars of the Earth is one of my favorite books of all time, but I never read the complete series.

My wife was rolling her eyes and complaining about "how long I would take" and "how many books I would end up bringing home." I dragged her along anyway. I walked out with two books, she walked out with ten.

There used to be a used book sale in Skokie benefitting Braindeis University. I would buy dozens of books there, people would line up for the event like they used to do for concert tickets. People would come from neighboring states. This was back when I was doing a lot of history writing and working at The Wargamer. I still have many of those books.

[Rumpy]

The Pillars series (or Kingsbridge series) are pretty fun reads, but I felt his newer ones chronologically speaking don't really work for me. The series generally focuses on Kingsbridge and its growth over centuries. But as society begins to move away to other continents, the less is spent in actual Kingsbridge. I haven't read the newest, but in A Column of Fire, Kingsbridge felt like a footnote to a bigger story with not much time spent in it, therein feeling more like a spinoff set in the same world.

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Turn Coat by Jim Butcher. This is book 11 in the Dresden Files, chronicling the adventures of Harry Dresden, Chicago-based wizard detective for hire. In this book, his unexpected client is his long-time nemesis from the White Council of Wizards, enforcer Donald Morgan. It seems Morgan was caught with a bloody knife standing over the corpse of one of the elders of the White Council, so he's on the lam and seeking help to clear his name from the one wizard everyone knows wouldn't help him - Harry Dresden. Of course, Harry can't resist a good underdog case for the potentially wrongly accused, so he helps out. After some time with friendly werewolves, sex vampires, a skinwalker, and concussive grenades, Harry manages to both find out what happened and somehow survive. On to the next adventure!

[Carpet_pissr]

I read the first Pillars of the Earth and that was enough for me. It didn't overstay its welcome, but at over 1000 pages, it was close.

And wow. There are 5 books in the series now??? All of them over 750 pages? 4 over 900 pages?

Wow.more power to you.

I did read Pillars and enjoyed it, but like you I had no interest in continuing that story. I did try to read his trilogy that starts about 1900 and followed several families. The first book was okay, the second kinda meh and I put down the third book about page 50 with JFK in the bathtub with his black secretary.

I'm determined to finish this one day. I have started a few times over the years, but never made it past MAYBE 15% before.

[Bad Demographic]

I read a lot less than I used to - mostly because I play computer games a lot. But after my sister recommended the Murderbot Diaries a couple times, I gave them a try. Binge-read the entire series (I think there's a short story i missed). I need more Murderbot!

[disarm]

I read a lot less than I used to - mostly because I play computer games a lot. But after my sister recommended the Murderbot Diaries a couple times, I gave them a try. Binge-read the entire series (I think there's a short story i missed). I need more Murderbot!

I've read all but the most recent of the Murderbot series and have mixed opinions. There are parts that I think are great, but a lot of it just leaves me kind of 'blah.' I started reading them when a friend mentioned it's one of his favorite series, but I'm apparently missing something. It's not bad by any means, and I do plan to keep reading, but I just don't get the addiction that some people have.

[YellowKing]

I'm determined to finish this one day. I have started a few times over the years, but never made it past MAYBE 15% before.

Pillars of the Earth has a sentimental appeal for me. It was one of my grandmother's favorite books, and she's the one who first got me to read it. We were reading buddies; every time she was in town we'd hit all of the used bookstores and the library together. We'd hunt thrift stores for decently valuable books but cheap books we could flip at the paperback exchanges for store credit, a scheme which she absolutely delighted in.

It was probably the first non-horror/sci-fi/fantasy book I ever read, and it instilled in me a love for history and historical fiction. I don't expect the others in the series to be as great as it is, but hopefully they're at least entertaining.

I also really want to read Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles trilogy about King Arthur.

[Carpet_pissr]

I'm determined to finish this one day. I have started a few times over the years, but never made it past MAYBE 15% before.

Pillars of the Earth has a sentimental appeal for me. It was one of my grandmother's favorite books, and she's the one who first got me to read it. We were reading buddies; every time she was in town we'd hit all of the used bookstores and the library together. We'd hunt thrift stores for decently valuable books but cheap books we could flip at the paperback exchanges for store credit, a scheme which she absolutely delighted in.

It was probably the first non-horror/sci-fi/fantasy book I ever read, and it instilled in me a love for history and historical fiction. I don't expect the others in the series to be as great as it is, but hopefully they're at least entertaining.

I also really want to read Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles trilogy about King Arthur.

Have you seen the show and/or played the game? (Pillars of the Earth)

[Rumpy]

The game was pretty fun, and I found the story translated surprisingly well to a game.

[Scuzz]

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

This is the fourth book in Connelly's Mickey Haller series. Haller is a defense lawyer and the books play up his skill, with some interesting plots and characters. The books are from Haller's perspective as he works his way through a murder trial involving secrets and surprises.

These aren't classic literature but for a quick, fun read they fit the bill.

[YellowKing]

Have you seen the show and/or played the game? (Pillars of the Earth)

I did watch the show but never played the game. I'll probably grab it after the re-read.

[Jeff V]

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

This is the fourth book in Connelly's Mickey Haller series. Haller is a defense lawyer and the books play up his skill, with some interesting plots and characters. The books are from Haller's perspective as he works his way through a murder trial involving secrets and surprises.

These aren't classic literature but for a quick, fun read they fit the bill.

I like this series, and that's rather a spinoff of Bosch.

[Scuzz]

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

This is the fourth book in Connelly's Mickey Haller series. Haller is a defense lawyer and the books play up his skill, with some interesting plots and characters. The books are from Haller's perspective as he works his way through a murder trial involving secrets and surprises.

These aren't classic literature but for a quick, fun read they fit the bill.

I like this series, and that's rather a spinoff of Bosch.

The third book introduces Bosch in this series as Haller step brother IIRC. I do know that the Bosch series goes back farther than that.

[Rumpy]

Babel by R.F Kuang. An amazing read. This author is really going somewhere. There hasn't been anything I haven't liked that I've read from her.

[Scuzz]

Babel by R.F Kuang. An amazing read. This author is really going somewhere. There hasn't been anything I haven't liked that I've read from her.

I enjoyed the concepts and story she put forward in Babel, but there were bits and pieces I didn’t care for. I would recommend it though.

[Rumpy]

Yeah, I can understand that. I mean, there were parts of it that weren't my favourite, but it's still really well-written overall. But I do think it's difficult for a novel to be 100% all the way through.