2024 on Goodreads

Just for me to make a summary of last year!

˖ ࣪ ⟡˚ 2024 in review ˚⟡ ࣪ ˖

⭒ monthly reading wrap up

❄️ january
- favorite book: A Court of Mist and Fury
- amount of books read: 3

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥

⊹˚. ♡.

❤ 2024 Review ❤

☆Goals
⦁Read 50 Books this year (Minimum of 30!)
⦁Listen to at least 1 audio book.
⦁Read 3 Nonfiction titles.
⦁Read a book out of my comfort zone.
⦁Write reviews
⦁Clean up my TBR








⭐

The astonishingly glitchy GR is making it difficult to read the reviews of GR Friends. I seem to have had a few friends disappear entirely off my feed, and this is very frustrating. I try and keep up by periodically backtracking and looking up my friends list and seeing what they have been reading. This is not easy as the point of being a book reader is the obvious, reading books! The idea of Goodreads, I would have thought, was to assist the reader by making it easier to connect with other like minded readers.
Enough of the moaning!

55 books this year. https://www.goodreads.com/readingchal...

My fiction of the year. Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka. A 2010 novel that I thought was magnificent in the audio telling and the concept.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have to add Death of A River Guide by Richard Flanagan as a joint fiction of the year. An incredible book.

The surprise of the year was Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark. I did know that this was considered an important novel in Australian literary circles but was surprised that it was actually as good as it was. Historical fiction that makes the reader learn!


Fiction honourable mentions. How good just about everything by Kurt Vonnegut Jr is. I have 2 more to finish reading him out and will do so in the coming months. The man was an extraordinary storyteller who could turn his hand to the mainstream or weird, and his observational ability of the human condition makes him one of the great writers of the 20th century.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I read all of Tasmanian author Robbie Arnot's works. A very good storyteller.
N by John Scott, an alternate history of WW2 Australia, was thought-provoking.


Nonfiction honourable mentions. Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food by Chris van Tulleken was an excellent audio and should be read by us that eat, in other words everyone.
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild was a horrific read on mankinds's never ending inhumanity to each other.
Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History by Kyle Harper was a must-read by anyone interested in the subject.

Fun book of the year was What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker by David McKie. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

2024 was a proud year for me and my reading, as it was by far the most prolific reading year of my life. I also wound up reading a few books which now stand as some of my very favorites. For fun, here is a ranked ascending list of everything I read, starting with some DNF's.

N/A (Almost done): A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891 - 1924 by Orlando Figes

I'm more than halfway through this behemoth but can't honestly say I have read the whole thing yet. It's super detailed and sometimes it can be tough to follow all the different political faction splits and governing bodies, but I'm learning a ton and generally have not been bored at all. I expect this will be a 4 star read by the end.

I have read far enough to say: Lenin seemed like the worst guy. Don't invite him to parties.

N/A (DNF): Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul by Taran N Khan

I was excited for the subject matter and for the concept, as history expressed by walking through a city is in line with my preferences, but the writing was overly-dependent on vague emotional romanticizing without enough objective information about the cultural history or interesting characters (the people she meets) to keep me hooked. The people she meets are spoken of as if they are perfect brave souls who represent the beating heart of the city and it becomes far too biased in that direction. This was a let-down.

N/A (DNF): Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J Bass

I got to about 250 pages in when I needed to pivot to something else, and by no fault of this excellent account of the lesser-known Tokyo Trials and their aftermath. I learned a lot, but it's a very difficult read (the atrocities...) and after several hundred pages I felt like the information was having diminishing returns (or maybe my brain just wanted to read something else, which just happens sometimes). I'd love to come back to this.

15. Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery

Quite disappointing. I love turtles and tortoises and thought this was going to be a fascinating dive into their world. Instead, we follow a turtle rescue team and the author's day-to-day working with them to save some turtles. There are some fun parts to read but the anthropomorphizing of the turtles borders on ridiculous and this is coming from a person who has a tendency to do the same thing because of how awesome animals are. There is very little science in here. There was no clear unifying theme to the book and I found myself wondering why I read it.

It should also be noted that the chapter near the end of the book in which the author admits that she just learned about what a trans person was five minutes ago and yet now needs to annoyingly and authoritatively lecture the reader on what a trans person is in 2024 was a bizarre move. There is plenty of excellent material to read about that subject and I whole-heartedly welcome trans stories and perspectives, but not in a short book about turtles out of nowhere from someone who admits to barely knowing anything about the matter.

14. Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History by James A Benn

A fascinating topic (I'm a tea drinker) but this was too dry and boring for me. There is solid research in here and some cool facts around tea's role in the culture over the different eras but it was too much “this happened then this happened” instead of telling a grabbing story.

13. Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic by Michael Axworthy

A very solid account of the 1979 revolution and its aftermath. It was difficult to maintain all of this information after having read it, but I enjoyed the way the author weaved between what unfolded from the ground up and what unfolded from the top down. It felt like a neutral account without feeling like a boring account.

12. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

Perhaps it was the translation that kept this one from being as interesting as I'd hoped, but this was still a fine read. Turgenev's characters seem like caricatures, but that is seemingly the point. Bazarov is the cartoonish social revolutionary who's likeness transforms Russian society in the decades to come and Turgenev writing this in 1862 (just after serf emancipation) is very impressive. It's amusing at times and there was enough in the story progression to keep me reading, but I wasn't bowled over.

11. What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

As a huge fan of birds, owls, and Ackerman, this was high on my list when I heard it was coming out. Lots of really cool stuff about owls in here, of course, especially that when they sleep, sometimes they wake themselves up by the sound of their hoots while dreaming. Incredible. I did feel like Ackerman is better when she is writing about a wide range of birds and jumping around - it's not as lively a read when it's just focused on one subject for 300 pages, even if that subject is owls. So while I enjoyed this, her previous books were better reads for me.

10. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

An enjoyable romp with imagination, dark humor, and a little bit of heart. The main character wondering how anyone could have ever worn clunky and uncomfortable knight's armor as a fly buzzes around in his helmet was probably the funniest moment for me, and the relationship between Hank and Sandy was a treat. I felt it went on too long for me once we have established the concept, so the middle was more of a slog, but that was hardly a dealbreaker.

9. The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention by Guy Deutscher

This would be a little higher if it were not a re-read. As a linguistics nerd, I just felt like going through this again for all the little fun facts about various languages and the author's grand theory around how we went from what he calls the “Me Tarzan” era of language to the complex sentences of today.

One of my favorite obscure facts about English: at some point due to the influence of late Latin / Old French, Middle English swapped “s” out for “r” in words which surrounded the “s” with vowels. This is why we have “rural” vs “rustic” or “justice” vs “juror”.

8. The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S Wood

This was really good. It was fascinating to get a look into the day-to-day life of the colonies – the shifting culture and standards of daily life, the building up of settlers and movement, and the clear story of how conditions led to the Revolution. One of the most interesting things was learning about how shockingly fast it took for the Revolutionaries to have the very ideals they envisioned thrown away by the Federalists. To paint this more clearly, when Jefferson ran for the Presidency in 1800, he ran in opposition to the Federalists to restore the ideals of Republicanism founded only 20 years earlier. Getting the day-to-day of that was awesome. Indeed, many of the founders considered the Revolution completely squandered, with America being unrecognizable to what they had hoped for, in their own lifetimes.

The author also points out how insane it was to the rest of the world that George Washington led the Revolutionary Army to victory and promptly retired. Revolutionary leaders achieving power and victory and immediately relinquishing was utterly unprecedented, and reading more about Washington's personality and mannerisms explains his decision well.

The only knock I have is that, while the author tells things in a pretty neutral way, there really isn't much negative about any of the towering figures of this era and it would have been nice to see some more of their missteps.

7. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr by Martin Luther King Jr

See my review for this one, but it was great. Always nice when you read about someone who is instantly recognizable as an intellectual hero.

6. The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny

I only read the Corwin cycle (1-5). This was the third or fourth read and the story and the twists get me nearly as well each time. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys fantasy since unfortunately people don't really know about Zelazny, even though the Gaimans and the Martins of the world consider him their greatest influence. Re-reading this, I did find that Zelazny includes a LOT of pure exposition. Much of this is likely because he released each book separately and felt the need to catch the reader up of all the information and story turns Corwin has accumulated and experienced thus far, but it can be pretty redundant hearing Corwin tell Random what happened to him when we just read it two chapters ago. I also thought the language was a little cringey sometimes, since the royal family seems to speak in a hybrid of “yo dude what's up” and “thou shalt go there not, faretheewell”.

But make no mistake, I absolutely love this story and Zelazny packs so much awesomeness in here. I can't wait until this is a TV show (at least if it's done justice) because these books are tailor-made for an incredible fantasy series.

5. The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts

See my review for this one as well. Part travelogue and part history. Enthralling and it ends with a really nice emotional note.

4. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

One hell of a book. The positives here are that it, like East of Eden, feels epic, and you're there every step of the way. Augustus McRae is one of the best characters I've ever read and he absolutely drives the book. If Augustus were less interesting, the entire story would suffer. Anybody who comes onscreen yelling, “You pigs git!” has got to be worth reading about and boy was he ever. This story has a big cast of characters and a theme of not being able to accept love or recognition. It takes about 200 pages for the boys to even leave for Montana and I almost felt like I didn't want them to go yet because there was so much tension and entertaining dynamics in Lonesome Dove. I also thought Lorena was an exceptional character, also carrying a lot of the book in her limited but always-good scenes. I loved Deets as well - whenever we got inside of his head it was beautiful. McMurtry does a very good job of hitting on the strange dynamics of this group and keeping us rooting for them to get to Montana. McMurtry's writing style is not flowery but not boring, and even though the book is long, he is straight-forward and everything serves a character or the overall story (or both).

Some of the negatives: Sorry for the cursing but it's warranted here. Fuck me if that wasn't the most traumatic and awful violence I've ever read. I never want to read it again. The violence is the only reason I could not recommend this book to a bunch of people I know. Outside of the violence, there is also a lot of suffering. The western plains are a brutal affair and not much good happens to any of the characters, to be honest.

Something else: Roscoe and Janey's brutal demise was a huge bummer. I was coming to really like them and hoped for them to be together as a super oddball couple. I would have liked to see more of them before their deaths.

I also felt that Lorena's story "ended" abruptly and was disappointing, since up until that point her story had been built up beautifully. We did get to see her finally find her place of acceptance and love, but even that became a dark and possibly temporary affair and I felt like I wanted some resolution for her that I didn't get.

3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

An epic feel from the beginning that never lets go. One reads of multiple generations of a family and follows Adam from infancy to his hospital bed, with a surrounding cast of unique and destined-to-fail characters and plenty of thought-provoking wisdom. I felt like I was there. It's tough to find literature like this anymore.

2. The Master and Margharita by Mikhail Bulgakov

I tried reading this a few years ago, as it's one of my wife's favorites. Couldn't get into it. Apparently, it's because I was reading a translation that is widely known to be unsatisfactory, so I read the Burgin-O'Connor translation.

This was sooooo good. Non-stop fun, craziness, suspense, subtle (it had to be) social commentary, and really memorable characters and scenes. This is everything a book should be. It felt absolutely wild to read and I plan on re-reading next year when the mood strikes again, especially after my wife kindly explained some of those subtle commentaries to me that I will pick up on when I re-read. One of my favorites.

1. Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich

I wanted to write a review of this after I read it but barely thought words would do it justice. This is one of the most affecting books I've read in my life. Alexievich's style of talking to everyday people and making history about them, chronicling what she calls “domestic socialism”, speaks to my sensibilities in a major way. This is exactly the kind of history that I love and which I believe needs to be prioritized. Some of these stories are (predictably) heartbreaking. What was so fascinating about these accounts is how different the perspectives were: we talk to people who are thriving in Putin's new hyper-capitalist oligarchy who feel free and finally able to succeed and be who they want in the world, people who long for Stalin because leaders like him were necessary to build the greatest idea in the history of the world, people who recounted the all-encompassing and unspeakable misery and horror of Stalinist life. We learn about how people got by in a totalitarian regime, about how the kitchen was everything for Soviet families.

We meet people who felt betrayed when the wall fell and crony capitalism replaced socialism, since they, detesting Stalin as they did, thought, “finally, now we can do socialism the right way, with benevolence and freedom of expression” and yet overnight everything their society had branded as evil was now the way of the world. Some people who were celebrated as heroes and given high-ranking official titles in the Soviet Union were now living in poverty as cabbies and branded as part of the immoral old system by most of the citizenry. We talk to people who elaborate on this change, lamenting that “we sold out socialism for bananas and cigarettes” and that (paraphrasing) “we used to talk about plays and literature at the dinner table, now it's nothing but business” . Money now ruled everything and if you didn't have any, you were a nobody.

We get so many illuminating perspectives from real people who saw everything completely change about their society that you don't really hear anywhere else. I got a real sense of how total the concept of socialism was and still is (for some) in Russia. For many, it was “The Party first, family second”, literally. “We have streets named after the milkmaids and the postal workers! What other place in the world has that?”

It was edifying to see the psyches on display of people who truly committed to the Big Idea and get those perspectives, but Alexievich also does not hold back on her interviews with the many many people who are forever living in debilitating trauma because of the sheer horror they went through in the Soviet Union.

For anyone who wants to learn about everyday people in Russia displaying a wide range of perspectives of how they view the old days and the new days, this is essential.

⋆˙⟡♡ 2024 reading goals ⋆˙⟡♡

• complete my reading goal (0/50)
• read more nonfiction (0/10)
• read more from my digital tbr (0/20)
• read more literary fiction

books i really want to read

╭┈◦•◦❥•◦ 2024 goodreads reading challenge

✧. ┊ goals:
: ̗̀➛ read 85 books
: ̗̀➛ try not to dnf
: ̗̀➛ join more buddy reads



ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

✧. ┊ january:
fav:fourth wing by rebecca yarros
lowest rated:heir of fire by sarah j. maas
number of books read: 9

✧. ┊ february:
fav:kingdom of ash by sarah j. maas
lowest rated:queen of shadows by sarah j. maas
number of books read: 6

✧. ┊ march:
fav:the crimson moth by kristen ciccarelli
lowest rated:shatter me by tahereh mafi
number of books read: 20

✧. ┊ april:
fav:the throne of broken gods by amber v. nicole
lowest rated:captive of the pirate king by rebecca f. kenney
number of books read: 14

°••☆••°2024 Years in Books°••☆••°

Reading Goal: 104
Books Read so far: 26

》Goals《
• Read 104 books
• Continue being active on goodreads
• Attempt to review every book I read
• Read 100 pages/day
• Read books of different genres
• Read books based on mood, don't feel compelled to read something when I don't want to
• Don't try to read series all in one go, more likely to fall into a reading slump
• Do not fall into a reading slump at all

☆2024 new releases☆
■ The Atlas of Us (09/01)
■ The Ever Queen (26/01)
■ If Only I Had Told Her (06/02)
■ The Prisoner's Throne (05/03)
■ The Primal of Blood and Bone (Spring 2024)
■ Born of Blood and Ash (07/05)
□ Reckless (02/07)
□ The Darkness Within Us (09/07)
□A Dawn with the Wolf Knight (01/08)
□ Wisteria (20/08)


24 books in 2024
1. If Only I Had Told Her ✅
2. The Ever Queen 
3. The Prisoner's Throne ✅
4. Reckless
5. Wisteria
6. The Atlas of Us
7. Throne of Glass (and the rest but they take up too much room) ✅
8. The Burning God ✅
9. Babel
10. Family of Liars ✅
11. Ruthless Vows ✅
12. A Light in the Flame
13. A Soul of Ash and Blood
14. Portrait of a Scotsman
15. This Cursed Light ✅
16. A Duet with the Siren Duke
17. Children of Fallen Gods
18. The Darkness Within Us
19. Spark of the Everflame
20. The Book of Azrael ✅
21. Serpent & Dove ✅
22. Empire of the Vampire
23. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the sea
24. The Library of Shadows ✅

Series I want to finish/get up to date with
> The Last Finestra (2/2) ✅
> The Ever Seas (2/3)
> The Stolen Heir (2/2) ✅
> The Powerless Trilogy (2/3)
> Belladonna (2/3)
> The Poppy War (3/3) ✅
> We Were Liars (2/2) ✅
> Letters of Enchantment (2/2) ✅
> Blood and Ash (4/6)
> Flesh and Fire (1/4)
> Red Queen (2/6)
> A League of Extraordinary Women (2/4)
> Married to Magic (3/5)
> The War of Lost Hearts (1/4)
> The Shadows Between Us (1/2)
> Dangerous Damsels (1/3)
> Entangled with Fae (2/5)


Series I want to read
> Throne of Glass (4/8) [Going to treat it as if it's new]
> Kindred's Curse (0/4)
> Gods and Monsters (1/2)
> Serpent & Dove (1/3)
> The Scarlet Veil (1/2)
> Empire of the Vampire (0/2)
> The Library Trilogy (0/3)
> Crescent City (0/3)
> The Atlas Six (0/3)
> Sisters of the Salt (0/2)
> All the Stars and Teeth (1/2)
> Lightlark (1/2)

Books I want to re-read:
♡ If He Had Been With Me
♡ The Stolen Heir
♡ A Study in Drowning
♡ Letters to the Lost
♡ Throne of Glass ✅
♡ Red Queen & Glass Sword
♡ Powerless ✅️
♡ The Shadows Between Us

Total pages read in 2024: 7,375

°°•♧•°°•♧•°°
January
Total Books: 8
Average Rating: 4.0
Favourite Book(s): The Unmaking of June Farrow
Least Favourite Book(s): Lightlark
DNF's: 0

■ This Cursed light ⭐⭐⭐⭐
■ The Book of Azrael ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
■ Ruthless Vows ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
■ Lightlark ⭐⭐⭐
■ All the Stars and Teeth ⭐⭐⭐.5
■ The Unmaking of June Farrow ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
■ Sorcery of Thorns ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
■ Throne of Glass (rr)

Total Pages: 3,696


°°•♧•°°•♧•°°
February
Total Books: 8
Average Rating: 4.19
Favourite Book(s): If You Could See the Sun
Least Favourite Book(s): The Library of Shadows, If Only I Had Told Her
DNF's: 0

■ The Scarlet Veil ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
■ Family of Liars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
■ If You Could See the Sun ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
■ The Library of Shadows ⭐⭐⭐.5
■ The Drowning Faith ⭐⭐⭐⭐
■ The Burning God ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
■ If Only I Had Told Her ⭐⭐⭐.5
■ Serpent & Dove ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Total Pages: 3,223


°°•♧•°°•♧•°°
March
Total Books:
Average Rating:
Favourite Book(s):
Least Favourite Book(s):
DNF's:

■ The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐
■ Crown of Midnight
■ This Time It's Real
■ I Hope This Doesn't Find You
■ The Prisoner's Throne
■ These Violent Delights
■ The Dead Romantics

ꕤ ꕤ Reading Tracker - 2024 ꕤ ꕤ

Goals
1) Read 312 books
Only really going to be possible due to reading manga and long commutes.
2)DNF books more often
Got better at it last year but need to keep the same energy going.
3)Read 115 non manga/graphic novel books (6/115)
I know I'm never going to really stop reading less manga/graphic novels . Instead, this type of goal is more achievable.
4)Keep the spreadsheet up to date
Failed at this last year. Hopefully I'll get better this year since I'm more familiar with the format this year.
5) Listen to 15 audiobooks until the end (1/15)
Probably going to be more but the goal is to finish them without switching to the physical book halfway.


Monthly Books

January
Isekai Omotenashi Gohan Manga Series (4 volumes): 4⭐
A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 1: 3 ⭐
I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World & Became Unrivaled in The Real World, too Vol. 1: DNF
I Had That Same Dream Again: 4⭐
Sh*t My Dad Says: 3⭐ (debatable)
Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More, Vol. 1-2: 4⭐
Congratulations the Best is Over: 3.5⭐
Hungry Ghost: 3.5⭐
Have Coffee After School in Another World: 2.7⭐
ダメスキル: 1.5⭐
Ume's Recipes: 3⭐
Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger, Vol 1-2: 4⭐
Handheld Pies: 2.5⭐
Dungeon Meshi World Guide: 3⭐
Rooster Fighter Vol. 1: 2.5⭐
Mooncakes & Milk Bread: 4.5⭐
The Night Circus: 2.5⭐

2024 in Reading — And Otherwise2024 has been a challenging year on many levels that ended positively. On a global (rather than personal) level, the worst event was the election of Trump. I fear for friends and their children in the US. I fear for women in the US. As a queer man, I fear for the LGBTQ* community in the US (and worldwide). My thoughts and deeds are with you every day.On a personal level, I've tried to learn, to listen, and to be a better person. As of 31 December, I've been married to the best person I've ever met for 25 years. And I keep discovering just how unbelievably awesome she is even after all this time. I love you, C.Reading helped counteract the negative aspects of 2024 and enhanced the positive ones. Looking at my year in books, I'm especially amused by the stark contrasts: The great “[b:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 58784475 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636978687l/58784475.SY75.jpg 89167797]” by [a:Gabrielle Zevin 40593 Gabrielle Zevin https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1503541462p2/40593.jpg] was shelved by 2.5 million of my fellow readers, whereas “[b:Dashing All the Way 221764632 Dashing All the Way Chelsea Curto https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1732141858l/221764632.SY75.jpg 228758912]” by [a:Chelsea Curto 20681411 Chelsea Curto https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1656107823p2/20681411.jpg], a contemporary romance that I also greatly enjoyed was shelved by exactly zero people. I've successfully destroyed fond childhood memories by re-reading some classic comics like “Tintin”, which—in general—turned out to be full of colonialist attitudes, xenophobia, and other ideas that I simply didn't notice or understand as a child from Generation X. (And I've come to discover that I deeply respect Generation Z for much of their cultural beliefs. They take in stride what took me decades.)In contrast to that, “Saga” remains the “gold standard” for comics for me. The unwaveringly life-affirming, inclusive, progressive, and simply kind ideas expressed in that comic, and its success give me hope. I wish there were more novels like it. In short: Discover Saga yourselves — it's brilliant!Apart from these individual books, there have, again, been many surprises: I read very few fantasy novels and mostly didn't even enjoy those. Maybe the appeal of it has worn off? I'm going to find out in 2025! (For example by reading “[b:Drumindor 208141987 Drumindor (The Riyria Chronicles, #5) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1707559070l/208141987.SX50.jpg 59577640]” by [a:Michael J. Sullivan 2063919 Michael J. Sullivan https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433443335p2/2063919.jpg], whose style—writing and otherwise—and stories I've loved for many years.)Scrolling over my year in books on Goodreads (which, despite all its shortcomings and changes by Amazon, is still my favourite social media platform for reading), I cannot help but grin at the wild ride it has been — and I very much hope it will be another one in 2025.Happy New Year 2025!Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

Well that wraps up the 2024 reading year.
As usual, some made up categories, and my favourite book for each, then some statistics, and my list of 5 star books from 2024.
Thanks all those who read and comment on my reviews, keeps me motivated to keep writing them. Happy 2025 everyone.

So first to the “Best of the Year” books I have read:

Best Travel - Michel the Giant: An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie
Second in this esteemed category: A Carpet Ride to Khiva by Christopher Aslan Alexander

Best History - In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

Best Military - (although it is fiction) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Best Biography - The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw

Best Nautical - Swirly World : The Solo Voyages by Andrew Fagan

Best Mountaineering - The Ascent of Nanda Devi by H.W. Tilman

Best Desert - The Quest For Timbuctoo by Brian Gardner

Best Polar - The Epic of Captain Scott by Martin Lindsay

Best Published by The Travel Book Club - Coast of Coral and Pearl by Peter Lancaster Brown

Best New Zealand Authored - Ocean Notorious: Journeys to Lost and Lonely Places of the Deep South by Matt Vance

Best Non-fiction Short Story Collection - How To Send A Message - Deluxe Edition by Caimh McDonnell

Best Fiction - Flashman in the Great Game by George MacDonald Fraser
Second in this esteemed category: True Grit by Charles Portis

Best Science Fiction - The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham

Best digital read - The Gulmohar of Mehranpur by Amal Singh

Best science The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
And downer of the year:

Biggest Disappointment - The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers - obviously expectations were far too high for this!

Some Statistics - Read 111 books this year, at a touch over 26,950 pages. This is one less book than last year, but around 4000 pages less, so some smaller books in there.

My average rating for books is a healthy 3.7 stars. (I remain pretty consistent in this over the years)

Longest book: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett at 1070 pages

My most popular review this year: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

Of the 110 Books I rated:
19 books 5 stars
49 books 4 stars
36 books 3 stars
6 books 2 stars
no 1 star books this year!

Given the 3.7 average rating, and the high proportion of 4 stared books, 4 stars for the year it seems is most appropriate, once again.



Links to my reviews of my five star reads of 2023.

Diary of a Slave by Rustam Khan-Urf
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Epic of Captain Scott by Martin Lindsay
The Opium Smugglers by Ion L. Idriess
Flashman in the Great Game by George MacDonald Fraser
A Carpet Ride to Khiva by Christopher Aslan Alexander
Dust on My Shoes by Peter Pinney
The Anzacs by Patsy Adam-Smith
Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux
Coast of Coral and Pearl by Peter Lancaster Brown
The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw
Cannibal Caravan by Charles Miller
The Land of Maybe: A Faroe Islands Year by Tim Ecott
Michel the Giant: An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie
True Grit by Charles Portis
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Tiger For Breakfast by Michel Peissel
Another Day of Life by Ryszard Kapuściński



Not really reading material, but this was my regularly edited reading list for the yearThe Room on the Roof - Ruskin BondAll Quiet on the Western FrontHeart of the Sea - PhilbrickMoby Dick - MelvilleCormac McCarthy - The CrossingHW Tilman x1Orwell - books v. cigarettesFreya Stark - Baghdad SketchesRosita ForbesEric Newby x1Buchan's Richard Hannay #3Dashiell Hammett - Continental OpFlashman #5Flashman #6Master and MargaritaRoddy Doyle x1 - SmileNicholas Jubber - Prester QuestOrhan Pamuk - My Name is RedGabriel Krause - Who they WasOcean Notorious - Matt VanceThe Kraken Awakes - WyndhamAnother HG Wells1x Joan DruettANZACsBurma SahibRe-reads: Do Androids Dream of Electric SheepCity of Djinns - DalrymplePillars of the Earth - Follettscience x2 - Longitude, The Sixth Extinction2x Penguin Orange, Cerise or brown - Africa Dances, Anzacs1x P60 - Florence Nightingale3x Idriess < 3 >2x Clune < 2 >2 on Circumnavigator books < 2 >12 TBC < 14 > 12 From Travel shelf < 14 >Read if desperate for a good book!Peter Pinney -Dirt on my ShoesSea People - Christina ThompsonErika Fatland - SovietstanCarried over from 20231x Hopkirk - The Great Game

December 28th, 2024. I read a total of 104 books for 2024. This year overall was better than most on a mental level. For a reading level, it was alright. I lost motivation in february and didn't get it back until June. But... I was pregnant for most of the year. Sooooo... yeah
I might try to do this again next year... but time is short and I'm busy.

October 2024: Wow... I 100% forgot about this

Random thoughts about some of the 217 books I read in 2024:Author who never lets me down: [a:K.J. Charles 7123498 K.J. Charles https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418032373p2/7123498.jpg] - 5* for both [b:Death in the Spires 209563735 Death in the Spires K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1709747722l/209563735.SY75.jpg 215764805] and [b:The Duke at Hazard 208918808 The Duke at Hazard (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1716812575l/208918808.SY75.jpg 215054826]. I have 41 KJC titles on my GR bookshelves (includes novellas and shorts) and every one of them are 4* or 5*. Diminutive grumpy magicians, neurodiverse boardinghouse keepers, nonbinary aerialists, horny henchmen, reclusive waste-men, intellectual radical doms - they all find their HEAs/HFNs, usually with the most inappropriate possible partners.Favorite author recommended by my millennial daughter: [a:Hanif Abdurraqib 14133519 Hanif Abdurraqib https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1567950898p2/14133519.jpg]. In 2024 I read [b:There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension 181346634 There's Always This Year On Basketball and Ascension Hanif Abdurraqib https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1691597828l/181346634.SY75.jpg 89651527] and [b:Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest 41864516 Go Ahead in the Rain Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (American Music Series) Hanif Abdurraqib https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541340690l/41864516.SX50.jpg 65354601]. I know just a little about basketball and nothing at all about ATCQ, but Abdurraqib's books are always about so much more than their titles indicate. Five star book that I loved, bought my own after reading library copy, and will probably never read again: [b:In Memoriam 59948520 In Memoriam Alice Winn https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1670866445l/59948520.SX50.jpg 91373743]. British boarding school mates secretly pining for each other lose their innocence and most of their classmates in World War I. Novel I enjoyed the most and that also made me so glad I'm retired: [b:I Hope This Finds You Well 200987323 I Hope This Finds You Well Natalie Sue https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1729545169l/200987323.SY75.jpg 97838131]. Corporate bullshit, Human Resource nightmares, office politics and a rather inappropriate romance.2024 Goodreads Choice winner that I agree with the most: [b:The Wedding People 198902277 The Wedding People Alison Espach https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1721918653l/198902277.SY75.jpg 183467489]. Romance novel by way of lit-fic. High degree of difficulty, but Alison Espach sticks the landing. Goodreads Choice nominee whose appeal completely eludes me: [a:Freida McFadden 7244758 Freida McFadden https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1701487498p2/7244758.jpg]. 2* for [b:The Housemaid 60556912 The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) Freida McFadden https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646534743l/60556912.SY75.jpg 95443525] (and the second star is mostly due to peer pressure).Favorite romance novel: [b:You Should Be So Lucky 196774347 You Should Be So Lucky Cat Sebastian https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1706544152l/196774347.SY75.jpg 199054639]. Mid-century New York City, baseball, opposites attract, moving past acute grief and just the right number of cameos from the MCs of 2023's fave [b:We Could Be So Good 62365905 We Could Be So Good Cat Sebastian https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1674685755l/62365905.SX50.jpg 95573575].Novel I am obviously not cool enough to appreciate: [b:The Husbands 193781998 The Husbands Holly Gramazio https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1713373397l/193781998.SY75.jpg 196483457]. Made several “best of” lists but just made me sad. Needs a warning label for prospective romance readers. Magical Realism is my jam: [b:The Book of Love 157981682 The Book of Love Kelly Link https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1695356776l/157981682.SY75.jpg 93202872] and [b:When the World Tips Over 203820262 When the World Tips Over Jandy Nelson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1709850279l/203820262.SY75.jpg 42254506]. YA and formerly-YA authors FTW. Nonfiction book that made me despair of my country's future the most: [b:The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism 112975131 The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Tim Alberta https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1684205034l/112975131.SY75.jpg 135509243]. Read this insider's look at Evangelical Christian politics in May, when there was still some hope. Not sure I could get past the first chapter now. Nonfiction book that made me feel a little better: [b:How to Read a Book 62365896 How to Read a Book Monica Wood https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1668464017l/62365896.SX50.jpg 95204458]. This is assuming that bookstores continue to exist in the coming horrorscape. Favorite memoir: [b:An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s 196585876 An Unfinished Love Story A Personal History of the 1960s Doris Kearns Goodwin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1695416963l/196585876.SY75.jpg 198799915] (sentimental); [b:Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk 78130090 Rebel Girl My Life as a Feminist Punk Kathleen Hanna https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1691044450l/78130090.SY75.jpg 103344774] (non-sentimental)2025 book I am most looking forward to devour in one sitting: [b:Hemlock & Silver 217388302 Hemlock & Silver T. Kingfisher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1733949453l/217388302.SY75.jpg 223888430] by the singular [a:T. Kingfisher 7367300 T. Kingfisher https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1642281799p2/7367300.jpg].

using this as a placeholder for boycotted titles bc fuck SMP & fuck authors that aren't pro-palestine. no promo from me :)

jan 2024
1. read an SMP title