Books Read 2024

[YellowKing]

Pyramids - Terry Pratchett

This is the seventh Discworld book I've read and I still can't say I'm anywhere near a fan of the series. However, I started to see inklings of humor in this book that appealed to me in a way the humor of the previous books didn't.

I just started Book 8 (Guards! Guards!) and so far that one is hitting the sweet spot. So maybe I've finally turned a corner with these and I'm warming up to them. We'll see.

[Scuzz]

I started Pratchett with Guards Guards. I haven’t found any of his other works to be as balanced in story, characters and humor.

[Scuzz]

Golden Fool by Robin Hobb

This is the second book in the Tawny Man Trilogy and the eighth book in the Realm of the Elderings Series. This book continues the story of FitzChivaly Farseer, royal bastard of Buckkeep. I think if someone who didn't know the characters picked this up and read it they would call it very slow with very little going on, but as someone who loves the main character I actually found it a quick read. Hoob's loves to have Fitz analyze everything in his mind as he tries to figure out who is doing what to whom. But the plot does advance, we do get to new places and friendships and relationships change.

[ImLawBoy]

I re-read an old classic for the first time in decades - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I grabbed it on a family trip to the library to try to cajole my kids into reading it, but decided I'd give it a go first. I was a bit shocked by just how little I remember of it. Sure, I knew most of the major notes, but it was worth re-reading to get back so many lost memories. I'll have to get books 2 and 3 on our next trip (I already own 4 and 5).

[Hipolito]

Here in the Dark by Alexis Soloski (audiobook): The protagonist is Vivian, a New York theater critic who is alcoholic, misanthropic, nihilistic, all the icks. She's haunted by the early death of her mother and a psychotic break she suffered in college which ended her acting career. She only feels alive during the few hours while she's watching a play, even if it's a bad one that she's about to eviscerate in the press. At all other times, she seeks solace by isolating herself in her unkempt apartment, hanging out with her partying pal Justine, drinking, abusing prescription drugs, and sleeping with men she barely knows. She is prone to fainting and dissociating, and has to tell herself "these are your hands, these are your fingers," to snap out of it. Her shabby living and coping skills are stressed even further when she gets entwined in a missing persons case.

Although the audiobook narrator does a good job, and I like the funny scene when Vivian spends Christmas with her editor's mixed-faith family, this book is generally not enjoyable. What could be an intriguing story is weighed down by Vivian's ceaseless cynicism and world-weariness. She even describes a wall as "painted a suicidal taupe." The finale is rather cool and introspective, though, making the book somewhat worth the read.

I wonder whether my negativity toward this book is due to latent sexism on my part. The story is essentially detective noir, with a protagonist struggling to solve a mystery while drowning in their own misery and vices. The only difference is that the "detective" is now female. 4 out of 8 Chunky bars.

[YellowKing]

Finished High Mage by Terry Mancour, which is Book 5 of the Spellmonger series.

This, to me, is one of the most underrated fantasy series out there. You hardly ever see it on any best of fantasy lists, and I don't really understand why.

The biggest criticisms I've seen of it point to the main character, Minalan, being a womanizing prick, and- yes, that's true in the early books. He's a flawed hero, but that's what makes him so interesting. And he does grow and mature over the course of the books, so those early criticisms just don't hold a lot of water as the series progresses.

It's got an absolutely wonderful and complex magic system, and the world building is top-notch. And while it's not comedic fantasy, the story is told from Minalan's perspective which is often wry, sarcastic, and very witty.

I highly recommend the audiobooks, as John Lee does an absolutely masterful job of bringing Minalan's cynical persona to life.

[Jaymann]

I'm working on another fantasy series atm, but color me intrigued.

[Isgrimnur]

The Sword of Shannara

[Hipolito]

Finished High Mage by Terry Mancour, which is Book 5 of the Spellmonger series.

I'm intrigued, too. Thanks for sharing. I've added book 1 to my wishlist.

17 books, tho. That's a commit! And unfortunately the audiobooks aren't on libro.fm.

[YellowKing]

17 books, tho. That's a commit! And unfortunately the audiobooks aren't on libro.fm.

Yeah, it's a massive series. I just started Book 6, but the buddy of mine that got me into these has read all 17 (so far) and raves about them constantly. Apparently Mancour's writing gets better and better as the series progresses.

One thing that I find really unusual about it (and one reason it's such a sprawling series), is that the author has no qualms about devoting an entire book to one tiny bit of world building. As an example, there is one book that is just about a single castle being built. But down the road, when that castle becomes important, you have an entire novel's worth of history about it. He does this over and over, slowly layering detail that may seem irrelevant while you're reading it but that will pay dividends at some point down the road. If you have the patience to immerse yourself into that sort of "slow burn," it's really rewarding.

[Zarathud]

I am on book 14 of Spellmonger. Definitely underrated gem, full of great lines. When Giant hawks arrive at a castle, and the lord looks at his walls suddenly realizing they’re no longer tall enough. There are usually 2-6 or more lines like that in each book with similar observations which just take the piss out of fantasy tropes and make the read worthwhile.

The books take a long approach, building up stuff that he comes back to later. Sometimes with different characters. Or characters whose motivations have changed, which makes things more interesting.

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Changes by Jim Butcher. Speaking of long series, this is book 12 of the Dresden Files, following Chicago based wizard PI Harry Dresden as he fights for good and maybe trying to get some every once in a while. As the book title suggests, this book seems to represent a bit of a turning point for Harry. Not only does he learn he has a daughter, but he learns that she's been kidnapped by higher ups in the Red Court of vampires. He'll do anything to save her, and that causes him to make some bargains that he'd rather not. As with most of the books, this one rips along nicely as it loads impossible scenario upon impossible scenario for Harry to try to wriggle out of. This was the 6th book in a set of 6 I got bundled, so I'm out of Dresden Files to read for now, but I'll probably get back into them at some point.

[Hipolito]

Mort (Discworld #4) by Terry Pratchett (ebook): A callow and lackadaisical young man named Mort can't seem to find work. But what if Death himself were to arrive at the job fair?

I like this much more than book #3, and find this to be the best Discworld book so far. But it's not as good as I need it to be. The characters are neat but feel emotionally underdeveloped, and their relationships need more work. The story only really gets interesting when Princess Keli enters the picture, and she's a minor character. Though it's not a long book, it feels too long, and the ending doesn't feel earned. It may have a wicked scythe, but it still lacks that hook.

I'm a bit torn on whether to keep reading the books in publication order, or skip to book #8 (Guards! Guards!), which the fans seem to agree is the best starting book and maybe even the best book in the whole series. I like to watch the world unfold from book to book, though, so I'll probably proceed to book #5. 5 out of 8 hourglasses.

[YellowKing]

But it's not as good as I need it to be.

That might be the best summary of my Discworld experience I've ever read.

I will say I enjoyed a lot of aspects of Book 5. Didn't care for Book 6 at all and can't even remember what it was about. Book 7 is worthwhile for the offbeat Egyptian theme. I'm on Book 8 now.

[Hipolito]

But it's not as good as I need it to be.

That might be the best summary of my Discworld experience I've ever read.

I will say I enjoyed a lot of aspects of Book 5. Didn't care for Book 6 at all and can't even remember what it was about. Book 7 is worthwhile for the offbeat Egyptian theme. I'm on Book 8 now.

I'm 10% into book 5 and enjoying it quite a bit

[MCQueen2]

Book 5 has some solid moments, especially with the Egyptian theme. Hopefully, it keeps up the pace for you!

[El Guapo]

The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China by Jonathan Kaufman

Picked this up off of a Kindle sale. It's a history of two Jewish families from Baghdad (the Sassoons and the Kadoories) who both wound up relocating to Shanghai and building fortunes there in the late 19th / early 20th centuries, before World War II came along and messed things up a bit. Really interesting stuff that I knew very little about, and very well written. Would definitely recommend.

[Scuzz]

Timescape by Gregory Benford

In Timescape we follow the experiments of two groups of physicists, one group in 1998 and another in 1963. In 1998 the earth is facing an uncontrolled ecological disaster, the cause of which is known, but science doesn't have the time to un do what has been done. A group at Cambridge University develops a theory about contacting the past, using new tachyon discoveries, and then teaching the past how to save the future.

The book talks physics, the scientific culture, American culture and the possibility of paradoxes. Benford was himself a physicist and wrote this book in 1980. It did win the Nebula Award that year.

The book talks heavy science but you don't need to understand all of it to follow the plot, and Benford takes the time to humanize, and demonize his characters. It also features a satisfying ending. Well worth the read.

[YellowKing]

Horror Show - Greg Kihn - Yes, this was written by *that* Greg Kihn, of the Greg Kihn Band. This was a pretty fun if uneven novel about an aging horror director (very Roger Corman-esque) recounting the making of his most infamous film. It's full of campy supernatural events, an Elvira clone, and other fun throwbacks that horror fans would certainly recognize.

The Murder on the Links - Agatha Christie - Was finishing up a couple of Poirot books I got cheap. I confess I'm not smart enough to grasp these mysteries - by the end I'm just as confused as I was at the beginning.

Journeymage - Terry Mancour - I really enjoyed this sixth entry in the Spellmonger series. As usual, this was a small slice of life in the Spellmonger's adventures (an escort mission), but you know certain things that happened will pay big dividends later on. There were also some LOL moments in this one that I loved. Again, it's not comedic fantasy, but Minalan is such a haughty (but likeable) prick that some of his actions when dealing with nobility or enemy leaders is hysterical.

I also officially blew past my 2024 goal of 60 books. I was a bit skeptical going in that I'd be able to hit it, but audiobooks certainly helped. One of my resolutions for 2025 is to take a break from "challenges" such as this, so I won't be setting a goal for next year, just enjoying stuff as it comes along.

[hitbyambulance]

Thomas de Quincey - Confessions of an English Opium-Eater : de Quincey's memoir from 1820 detailing his descent into opium addiction. he is very even-handed about the 'pleasures' of opium, but doesn't hold back on the overwhelming 'pains'. de Quincey is recognized as one of the great stylists of the English language and this is very well written and compelling, but the long sentences and other prose period-isms will certainly deter the casual English reader. i read the original 'short' version (found as a Dover Thrift Edition in a LFL) rather than the later revisited and revised 'long edition'. as it turns out, the original was a far superior work in the eyes of most critics - by that time, he was so affected by his addiction that he no longer had the penetrating and vivid writing style he once had, and it was apparently a bloated mess, and couldn't keep his narratives and thoughts organized. but this one was so good, i am going to check out more of his writings, including the 'sequel' to this one, Suspiria de Profundis, which goes into detail about his opium dreams. (in this one he makes some reference to them, including one to the fever visions experienced by Giovanni Battista Piranisi, whose "Carceri d'invenzione" prints lately influenced Susanna Clarke's Piranisi)

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/thoma ... pium-eater
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/thoma ... -profundis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carceri_d%27invenzione

[hitbyambulance]

not yet read: not only is the new Haruki Murakami novel out, there is going to be a new English translation of _Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World_ (rearranged to its original title of _The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland) released next month (with previously edited content restored)