Books Read 2025

[Isgrimnur]

1. The Elfstones of Shannara

[YellowKing]

In Progress
Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow
Grant - Ron Chernow (Audiobook)
The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson
The Name of This Band is R.E.M.: A Biography - Peter Ames Carlin
The Power Broker - Robert A. Caro

Read
Shadowplay - Terry Mancour & Emily Burch Harris
Mister Magic - Kiersten White
Road of the Patriarch - R.A. Salvatore
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
Experimental Film - Emma Giles
Hawkmaiden - Terry Mancour

[Hipolito]

Finished

1. Sourcery (Discworld #5) by Terry Pratchett (5/8)

Rating system:
6 to 8 = The New York Review of Books
4 to 5 = Kirkus Reviews
0 to 3 = Goodreads


Reading

1. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
2. Mass Effect: Foundation
3. On Call by Anthony Fauci, MD
4. Spellmonger, book 2: Warmage by Terry Mancour
5. The Vegetarian by Han King

Before: 2019 (5) | 2020 (19) | 2021 (33) | 2022 (24) | 2023 (22) | 2024 (23)

[disarm]

2024 was another big year with 33 books completed, including a 1600-page history of the atomic bomb that had been sitting in my collection for years before finally deciding to tackle it last year.

I've made a very focused effort to read for at least 15 minutes every day over the last 18 months. The result is a reading streak currently sitting at 229 consecutive days. Before the start of that run, I've only missed eleven days since September 1st, 2023, and it's been 76 weeks since I've gone an entire week without picking up a book. I just finished my last book of 2023 last night and am starting fresh for the new year!


In Progress

Eleven Numbers - Lee Child



Completed

The Bright Sword - Lev Grossman

[Baroquen]

Getting ready to read Sanderson's Wind and Truth, but reading through recaps of the previous books because it's been awhile.

Read 16 books last year - the most for me since 2012, though some were 'easy' (YA, non-fiction, etc.). Hoping to best that this year. We'll see.

[Jolor]

Finished
Voyage of the Damned - Frances White
The Great When: A Long London Novel - Alan Moore
Drowned Country - Emily Tesh
Orbital - Samantha Harvey
Queens of Noise - Leigh Harlen
Commander in Cheat (How Golf Explains Trump) - Rick Reilly
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne

Reading
The Weaver and the Witch Queen - Genevieve Gornichec

TBR
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - Jesse Q. Sutanto

[Scuzz]

I finished 20 books last year, pretty much my average over the last few years. I usually read a few chunkers that keep the number down.

Currently reading World Remade by G.J. Meyer.

[Holman]

*Reserved*

[ImLawBoy]

I finished 28 books in 2024, up from 23 in 2023. Of those, 7 were YA titles (same as 2023), but I counterbalanced those with some hefty tomes like King: A Life and Against the Day. I'm starting 2025 the same way I started 2024 - with a Gormenghast book and a non-fiction read.

Books Finished
The War That Saved My Life - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (paper)
1776 - David McCullough (Kindle)
Titus Alone - Mervyn Peake (paper)
The Wendigo - Algernon Blackwood (Kindle)

Currently Reading
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert (paper)
Ghost Story - Jim Butcher (Kindle)

2024 - 28 books read

[El Guapo]

Reading:

Fire & Blood by George RR Martin


Completed

Son of Hamas - A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices, by Mosab Hassan Yousef (audio book)

[Zarathud]

Completed:
Spellmonger series through book 17

[Jeff V]

Completed

The Origin and Evolution of Earth by Professor Robert Hazen
The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Other Mistress by Shanora Williams

Reading
The Rise of Athens by Anthony Everitt

[jztemple2]

In Progress
Soldier Sahibs: The Men Who Made the North-west Frontier by Charles Allen

Completed
Stoddert's War: Naval Operations During the Quasi War With France 1798-1801 by Michael A. Palmer
Propeller Twilight: The Last Generation of British Piston Engine Fighters by Tony Buttler

[YellowKing]

Shadowplay - Terry Mancour & Emily Burch Harris

This is one of two young adult spin-off trilogies of the Spellmonger series. I decided after Book 7 to read the entire Spellmonger series in chronological order, rather than publication order, so I had to go back a bit and pick up on this one which takes place right after Book 2 of the main series.

Honestly I did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. Usually when I see "YA" it's a bit of a turn off as I expect it to be a bit juvenile and basic, but if I didn't know going in that this was classified as young adult fantasy I'd not have known.

It tells the story of Gatina, a young girl who is a fledgling thief being trained by her family of thieves who work in the shadows to influence politics. I've always loved thieves and rogues in fantasy series, so this was right up my alley. Gatina is a great character with a bit of a rebellious streak, torn between the strict rules of her family's profession and doing what is morally right. I'm really looking forward to seeing how her story intersects with the Spellmonger's.

[Zarathud]

Having finished the 17 book main series (for now), the characters in Spellmonger are all overpowered but they seem to earn their successes. I've been impressed how the characters face plausible challenges while the world is seeded with story hooks, and then seem to slowly change over time while developing their core principles.

[YellowKing]

Mister Magic - Kiersten White - I'm a big fan of the horror sub-sub-genre of "weird kid's TV shows" which is why I picked this one up. Val is a former child star of a weird children's show that everyone remembers watching but has seemingly been erased from the internet. When she's invited back for a reunion, weirdness ensues.

I really wanted to like this one, but it was frustratingly vague. The protagonist spends most of the book not remembering what happened as a child, and there are very few answers. Even when the answers are somewhat revealed, it was all a bit too abstract for me. The author reveals in the afterword the symbolism and how the book applies to her own upbringing, and while I can appreciate that aspect, it still left me mostly "meh."

Road of the Patriarch - R.A. Salvatore - The final entry in The Sellswords trilogy and book 16 of the Legend of Drizzt. This trilogy is basically a buddy road trip between two well-known Drizzt villains, Jarlaxle the Drow and Artemis Entreri the human assassin. I must admit while I didn't care for these all that much compared to the Drizzt-focused novels, the final book started to grow on me just a bit thanks to the crude yet entertaining dwarf Athrogate. Still, I'm ready to get back to the adventures of the core Drizzt group in the next series, The Hunters' Blade trilogy.

[Jaymann]

The Blackest Heart by Brian Lee Durfee



This is the second volume of The Five Warrior Angels trilogy, and it's another thick tome, weighing in at 942 pages. The story continues and it's grim, it's dark, and it's tragic. The five legendary weapons/relics (plus a wildcard) have been located, but it is still unclear how they will be deployed. Even the Mary Sue character turns out not to be invincible. It's begging me to continue, but I plan to take a break with some lighter fare. 7/8 friendly assassins.

[Scuzz]

The World Remade by G.J. Meyer.

This is a companion book to Meyer's A World Undone, which is a history of World War One. This book tells the story of America during the war, what led to American involvement and the effects it had on the country. Meyer does an excellent job of setting the political table, and it is obvious he isn't a fan of Woodrow Wilson. Meyer also gets into the creation and continued use of the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act 1918.

Some 30+ people, white men, were lynched or murdered during the war by mobs for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As the war wound down and after there were murders of blacks in several race riots, and battles between mods and so called communists resulted in the deaths of many people. Wilson often in his speeches spoke against "hyphenated Americans", yet he encouraged their exclusion and arrests.

One aspect of Meyer's writing that I really like is that after several chapters in his books he has what he calls "Background" chapters. These chapters take a specific person, event or idea and expand on it beyond what he has done in the regular text. Sometimes these cover things mentioned previously, but often they are forshadowing what is coming next.

This is the third book of Meyer's I have read and I recommend him to others looking for an informative and interesting read.

[El Guapo]

Son of Hamas - A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices, by Mosab Hassan Yousef (audio book)

This is an autobiography by the son of one of the founders of Hamas. He turned on Hamas and worked with Israeli security to stop attacks during the second intifada, and eventually converted to Christianity and moved to the United States. It basically tells the story of his youth through the move to the United States. His father was in the political wing of Hamas and (per this recounting) was not involved with terrorism - he knocks his father somewhat for tolerating the terrorism of Hamas, although he otherwise speaks of his father in pretty glowing and reverential terms.

It was interesting, and I enjoyed it - good to get a recounting from a primary source. But at the same time he was kind of at the heart of Hamas and kind of not - his description of his father is something of a community and spiritual leader, but not someone who was at the heart of Hamas's terrorism. There's also a lot of description of his personal Christian beliefs, which are relevant in that it was part of his motivation for turning of Hamas, but that wasn't terribly interesting to me personally. Anyway, good and glad I read (listened to) it.

[Pyperkub]

Finished Sebastien de Castell's Greatcoats series - a really fun fantasy swashbuckling romp. In the afterward he said he set out to write a fantasy swashbuckler in the vein of Dumas, and it works.

Falcio is the first Cantor of the Greatcoats. Trained in the fighting arts and the laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom, and impaled their King’s head on a spike.

Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters. All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission.

But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn…

[YellowKing]

Finished Sebastien de Castell's Greatcoats series- a really fun fantasy swashbuckling romp.

Ooh, this sounds right up my alley. I'll check them out as soon as I get some of these other fantasy series off my plate.

[Pyperkub]

Finished Sebastien de Castell's Greatcoats series- a really fun fantasy swashbuckling romp.

Ooh, this sounds right up my alley. I'll check them out as soon as I get some of these other fantasy series off my plate.

He's a fun writer, there's lots of fun banter, political intrigues, a bit of magic (not by them, but done to them), an interesting world, and of course, lots of heroic derring-do.

[YellowKing]

Experimental Film - Emma Giles - I picked this one up because I love the "cursed film" sub-genre of horror, and this book is about a woman investigating some lost films of a female director that portrayed the frightening story of "Lady Midsummer." Supernatural hijinks ensue - or are they all in her head?

I liked this one quite a bit because the main character has a son with autism and it gets really deep into her feelings - and often resentment- of caring for a child with special needs. At times you love her and at times you hate her, and I liked that complexity. While it lost me for a bit in the middle, it came back with a good ending and saved itself. I feel like this would make for a really cool television episode or even feature film in the right hands.

Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett - Well, having now read supposedly one of the "best" books in the Discworld series, I can definitely say Terry Pratchett just isn't for me. This book certainly had some of the better humor I've seen thus far in the series, but I still felt it was just "fine."
I think it's an age issue. I feel like I would have absolutely loved these books in high school, but as an older guy who reads a lot of gritty dark fantasy it now comes off as a bit juvenile and at times corny. I'm probably going to take a break from these for a bit and catch up on other things instead of spinning my wheels.

[Zarathud]

Terry Pratchett is the antidote to dark gritty fantasy. If you strongly prefer that genre and don’t have a soft spot for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, then you might not take to Discworld.

[Scuzz]

Yea, if you didn’t like Guards Guards then Pratchet is probably not for you.

[YellowKing]

I love Douglas Adams, I just feel like Terry Pratchett is the less funny, less clever version.

[Jolor]

Experimental Film - Emma Giles - I picked this one up because I love the "cursed film" sub-genre of horror...

Have you given 'Silver Nitrate' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia a read?

===
Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood.
Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.
Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.
As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán may find that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.
===

[YellowKing]

Have you given 'Silver Nitrate' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia a read?

Not yet but I actually already own it. I do have it on the short list of upcoming reads, but wanted to space it out a bit vs reading another cursed film book back to back. Looking forward to it.

[Pyperkub]

If you want a lot of humor in your fantasy, How to become the Dark Lord and die trying is a lot of fun.

[Jolor]

If you want a lot of humor in your fantasy, How to become the Dark Lord and die trying is a lot of fun.

Yup. A duology with the second book coming this year.

[ImLawBoy]

Starting off the new year with a military themed twofer! Up first is The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. This is a YA novel I read with my daughter that takes place in England during WWII. It starts with Ada and her younger brother Jaime going out to rural England as children in London were being sent away in anticipation of German bombing. They were being raised by their horribly abusive Mam, who was particularly hard on Ada. Ada was born with a clubfoot that was never repaired, and Mam restricted her to their one-room apartment because she was so embarrassed by her daughter. When they get to the country, they are grudgingly taken in by Susan, who lives alone in the country house of her deceased best friend. As they spend time together they become more of a family than the kids' biological family ever was. This was really well written and I was struck by how the author didn't sugar coat the trauma that Ada went through - being in the country didn't magically change her overnight. Susan also had to deal with her emotions and mourning for her friend (who was likely more than a friend, reading between the lines), and the kids helped her with that - slowly.

The second book I read was 1776 by David McCullough. I don't read a ton of non-fiction, and military history is well outside my wheelhouse (I'm a poor excuse for the Michigan War Dad stereotype that falls on my fellow alumni), but I've had this floating around on my phone for a while and figured I'd give it a shot. As the title might suggest, it covers the US revolution in 1776, starting with the rebel siege of Boston and ending in early 1777 with Washington finally getting some momentum against the Redcoats in New Jersey. Washington is treated as a bit of a mythological figure for his leadership qualities, but the book doesn't fail to call him out for his strategic blunders. My biggest problem is that it ends while the war is still ongoing. Now I have to find the sequel so I know who wins!

[Scuzz]

Rick Atkinson has a series on the Revolutionary War that should get book two this year. He is a very good writer with several excellent history books. The first book in this series came out several years ago but for various reasons, health and publisher problems IIRC, the second book was finally announced last year.

[ImLawBoy]

Closing January with a bang, as I finished two more books.

First up is Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake. This is the final book of the Gormenghast trilogy (Book 1: Titus Groan, Book 2: Gormenghast). You could have given me a thousand guesses, and I would not have guessed where this book was going. The spoilered section below has some spoilers for the first two books and a little for this book in terms of setting ahead.

Spoiler:

Gormenghast ended with Titus abdicating and heading out on his own away from the world of his home and realm. When Title Alone starts, he's a long way from home and has entered a modern world with automobiles and planes and large cities with glass towers. He has no money or really any means of survival, but he's still not sure he wants to return from his home. To complicate matters, no one in this current world has ever heard of Gormenghast and the most popular theory is that Titus is mad.

While the setting is quite different, the world is still populated by the same types of odd characters. I think Peake wrote this toward the end of his life as he was succumbing to illness, and as a result it is much shorter than the first two volumes and apparently editors had to piece some of it together. I quite liked it, though, and thought it was a fascinating conclusion to the trilogy.

The second book is actually a novella from 1910 called The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. I was reading one of those click-baity lists about "10 horror novels that stand the test of time", and this one interested me for a couple of reasons. One, the subject of the Wendigo. Two, it's old enough to be public domain and I'm cheap. I picked it up off of the Gutenberg Project website and it was a quick read. It's the story of two Scotsmen on a moose hunting expedition in the wilds of Canada. They have two Canadians as their guide, and a First Nations man to run the main camp. As might be suspected from the title, the legendary Wendigo, an ancient and evil creature, makes an appearance, but I won't go into details there. While the book is a bit dated (have to grit through some of the racist stuff toward the beginning), the story does a nice job of building an ominous atmosphere. I like reading old horror on occasion to see how it holds up, and this was effective even for a modern reader.

[Hipolito]

Sourcery (Discworld #5) by Terry Pratchett (ebook): In the world of Discworld, the eighth son of an eighth son is always a wizard. Wizards are almost always celibate, but if a wizard manages to have an eighth son, that kid becomes not just a wizard but "a wizard squared. A source of magic. A sourcerer."

Which is cause for concern.

I initially had hope that I would like this book more than book #4 because I quite enjoyed the first third of it. The playful plot reminded me of how The Wheel of Time's male channelers were so overpowered and feared. And while many fantasy books have prophecies, this is the first one I've read that depicts how a prophecy is forged in the first place. It's pretty neat.

Unfortunately, in the second third, the story loses its grip when a couple of the characters go off on their own Indiana Jones-like adventure and meet Creosote the Seriph, the weird poet-king of the Al Khali wilderness. He is an inane character that seems to make everyone around him (and the author) prattle inanely.

The book gets back to business in the final act, but never quite regains its momentum. Which is a shame because the ending is rather good. 5 out of 8 oooks.

[YellowKing]

I went to the local library book sale today and was delighted to find a beat up copy of A Boy's Life by Robert McCammon. I had the same dog-eared version of this book when I was young, and it's still one of my favorite books of all time. However, my original copy had long since been tossed out. Grabbed it for $2 just to have for nostalgia's sake.

[YellowKing]

Finished Hawkmaiden - Terry Mancour

This is the first book in the Spellmonger Cadet series, the YA trilogy that ties into the larger Spellmonger universe. It tells the story of Dara, a young girl pursuing a quest to capture and train her own falcon. Since I had read ahead a bit past the Spellmonger timeline in which she was first introduced, it was cool for me to see her origin story.

Unlike the first book I read from the other YA trilogy (Legacy and Secrets), this one interweaves much more directly with the Spellmonger series (specifically Book 3, Magelord). It's quite interesting to see Terry Mancour writing outside of the perspective of Minalin the Spellmonger, as the primary books in the series (so far) have been from his perspective. He does a great job slipping into the minds of different characters, so it's quite amusing to see how Minalin is seen from the perspective of others.

I've enjoyed the first books in both of these spinoffs a great deal, and I'm very much looking forward to finishing both trilogies. They both wrap up chronologically just before Book 6 (Journeymage), so I'll be knocking them out before resuming the Spellmonger series proper with Book 8, Court Wizard.

[Isgrimnur]

Knife of Dreams (WoT 11)