2024 Reading Challenge
- Thread starter Selaws
- Start date
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
Currently finishing up Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (hoped to finish it before the end of the year but oops). Honestly, I need a break from BS after this. Dude needs to edit his books own like 200 pages minimum. I'll probably get to Stormlight 3 at some point in the year but taking a breather from him.
Next on my plate is probably John Banville's "The Sea," as it's fairly short and can hopefully knock it and the rest of Words of Radiance out by the end of January.
After that I might get back to the Witcher series. I think I'm on book 3 or 4? Would love to make a dent in that series this year and get close to finishing it.
Next on my plate is probably John Banville's "The Sea," as it's fairly short and can hopefully knock it and the rest of Words of Radiance out by the end of January.
After that I might get back to the Witcher series. I think I'm on book 3 or 4? Would love to make a dent in that series this year and get close to finishing it.
ayayrawn
Well-Known Member
I read the first Stormlight years ago and thought it was okay, but yeah, waaaay too much bloat. Doubt I'll ever read the rest knowing they're all 3-400 pages too long for what actually happens in them.
The world and lore is really cool but the characters are all super annoying.
To be fair, the first book is basically a prequel (which is insane in itself for a thousand page book) and has way too much set-up with little pay off. I'm told the third book is pretty much when things pop off.
My frustration is that BS keeps re-hashing the same character flaws. Like, we get it, Kaladin is honor-bound, just imply it and stop giving us a ten-page internal monologue about it every Kaladin chapter!
I found that he likes to write in what I call "action sandwiches:" he'll have a really high octane start to a "part" (e.g. Book 1, Book 2, etc within the book), go on for like 200 pages without anything of import, then a high octane finish to the "part." It's super frustrating.
There's also like...really dumb things that the protagonists keep letting happen. Without spoiling book 2, Kaladin keeps doing truly mindblowingly stupid shit and somehow not getting found out or put in worse situations than he gets in.
I think ultimately my hesitation to read book 3 anytime soon is because instead of one book I could tackle like 2-3 in the Witcher series.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Maybe I need to give Killing Comendatore a chance; the reviews at the time were so muted, though. And I remember a passage from it making it into the list of worst sex writing of the year...though that particular slam started me thinking maybe you can make pretty much any sex writing look laughably bad out of context.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I try not to yuck people's yums (though I have a very yum-yucking review for Way of Kings on goodreads), but it shouldn't take three books to get to the story (I dropped WoK at 900 pages when a friend said in 200 pages I'd get to a very exciting final 100 pages). I think there's a big problem with literalism in readers/audiences these days where we don't accept the fantasical unless it's rooted in some recognizable or describable reality (this is also the fault of storytellers/publishers/studios as they hedge their bets for fear of alienating anyone).
I think an intriguing world involves many implied details just beyond one's sightline, and Sanderson is all about blasting a spotlight on every single detail, which is exhausting. I had a similar problem trying to read Priory of the Orange Tree: instead of implying big family trees the author lists every member and you're left wondering what will and will not actually be on the Final Exam.
I'm very much in agreement with you re: length. It's like when someone tells me "x" show gets good in the third season or whatever.
I think the Stormlight Archive books just have too much internal monologue bullshit in them. You could trim the fat in each chapter and probably get 200-300 pages out of the books and make them much more engrossing reads. As an example, the same internal struggles Kaladin was going through in page 30 he's going through in page 1300. It's ridiculous and adds superfluous length when you do this over and over again. It's made worse when BS will randomly breeze through some training montage or randomly jump ahead into someone's skillset (looking at you, Shallan). It's just really imbalanced.
I do think these are fun worlds to exist in and there's merit to them, but I'm probably splitting my Book 3 read into chunks and reading something else between them because fatigue with this type of writing is real.
ayayrawn
Well-Known Member
1. The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
One of the most enraging books I've ever read. However horrific and unjust you think the history of the last 100 years is, the reality is somehow much worse. If you wonder how we could've arrived at the genocide currently happening in Gaza (cheerlead by the president) this is essential. Whole audiobook on Youtube.
One of the most enraging books I've ever read. However horrific and unjust you think the history of the last 100 years is, the reality is somehow much worse. If you wonder how we could've arrived at the genocide currently happening in Gaza (cheerlead by the president) this is essential. Whole audiobook on Youtube.
TrainFan73
Frothy
1. What You Need to Be Warm - Neil Gaiman
Bought for the toddler and I don’t normally talk about her books or list them regarding my reading and I stop posting last year because life got all sideways and I take forever to read the 15 books I am reading at once anyhow….
This one though…. I’m a Gaiman fan. Anyhow, this book. To call attention to wars and displaced folks at winter in his role as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, he took to socials and asked to know what folks needed to be warm. He took the replies and made a poem out of it, a scarf and a movie as well. Then he gave the poem to the UNHCR and they hired 13 artists to illustrate it. Anyhow, it’s quite something and well worth the ten minutes or so it will take to read the forward poem and artist notes.
Bought for the toddler and I don’t normally talk about her books or list them regarding my reading and I stop posting last year because life got all sideways and I take forever to read the 15 books I am reading at once anyhow….
This one though…. I’m a Gaiman fan. Anyhow, this book. To call attention to wars and displaced folks at winter in his role as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, he took to socials and asked to know what folks needed to be warm. He took the replies and made a poem out of it, a scarf and a movie as well. Then he gave the poem to the UNHCR and they hired 13 artists to illustrate it. Anyhow, it’s quite something and well worth the ten minutes or so it will take to read the forward poem and artist notes.
TrainFan73
Frothy
2. The Mysteries by Bill Watterson & John Kascht
Watterson’s wit is as sharp as ever but only prevalent in the art with his coartist here. A fable about environmentalism. The art is quite stunning.
Watterson’s wit is as sharp as ever but only prevalent in the art with his coartist here. A fable about environmentalism. The art is quite stunning.
wmeugene
Well-Known Member
Jumping in with the hope I can keep the pace up…
1: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
Excellent book for anyone remotely connected to any type of service industry (as a lawyer, I’d count myself in that grouping) and inspiration to my favorite episode of TV in 2023, The Bear’s “Forks”
1: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
Excellent book for anyone remotely connected to any type of service industry (as a lawyer, I’d count myself in that grouping) and inspiration to my favorite episode of TV in 2023, The Bear’s “Forks”
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 1
Hip Hop Family Tree - The Omnibus by Ed Piskor
I've been looking forward to spending time with this since it arrived a month or two ago! A large portion of it was a re-read, but quite some time has passed since I read the early volumes, so it was great to revisit. This series is an absolute master class in comics journalism and hip hop history. Piskor deftly weaves dozens of narratives into a cohesive easy to read and endlessly entertaining comic adventure. This is no surface level hip hop history either, Piskor digs DEEP. It's incredibly evident throughout that he is a true hip hop head. While this led to some other very cool opportunities for Ed (like streamlining the entire X-Men canon into six oversized issues), I really hope he finds the time to return to this project one day and pick up where he's left off here. This is must-read material, for sure!
Hip Hop Family Tree - The Omnibus by Ed Piskor
I've been looking forward to spending time with this since it arrived a month or two ago! A large portion of it was a re-read, but quite some time has passed since I read the early volumes, so it was great to revisit. This series is an absolute master class in comics journalism and hip hop history. Piskor deftly weaves dozens of narratives into a cohesive easy to read and endlessly entertaining comic adventure. This is no surface level hip hop history either, Piskor digs DEEP. It's incredibly evident throughout that he is a true hip hop head. While this led to some other very cool opportunities for Ed (like streamlining the entire X-Men canon into six oversized issues), I really hope he finds the time to return to this project one day and pick up where he's left off here. This is must-read material, for sure!
WhiteDahlias
Active Member
I lowered my goal for this year, I made it to 52 books last year, but my last one ended up being one of those Amazon short stories I listened to on 2x speed on New Years Eve just to get it done (I can't remember the name of the story but it was by Carmen Maria Machado... it was pretty good). I didn't have a great mental health year last year and I decided to put a bit less pressure on myself this year to keep up. This year I set it to 40 in hopes I won't focus so much on powering through things and actually try some of the books I have put off. I have a whole stack of things I started last year and didn't finish too so I'll probably prioritize some of those in the early months of this year.
1. Someone Who Will Love You in all Your Damaged Glory - Raphael Bob-Waksberg
My first finished book of the year was a short story collection by the creator of Bojack Horseman. I think if you get along with the kind of absurd/dark humor of the show you will enjoy this. I really like how he can take such wacky situations and still make the story all about the characters and their flaws. I think my favorites were the one about the couple planning their (increasingly ridiculous) wedding, and the story about the band who gets super powers. I listened to this one as an audiobook which was fun because it has several narrators and a lot of them are familiar (Stephanie Beatriz and Kimiko Glen both read a few of them). I'd say you need the right kind of humor to appreciate these but I enjoyed it a lot and it was a good start to my year.
1. Someone Who Will Love You in all Your Damaged Glory - Raphael Bob-Waksberg
My first finished book of the year was a short story collection by the creator of Bojack Horseman. I think if you get along with the kind of absurd/dark humor of the show you will enjoy this. I really like how he can take such wacky situations and still make the story all about the characters and their flaws. I think my favorites were the one about the couple planning their (increasingly ridiculous) wedding, and the story about the band who gets super powers. I listened to this one as an audiobook which was fun because it has several narrators and a lot of them are familiar (Stephanie Beatriz and Kimiko Glen both read a few of them). I'd say you need the right kind of humor to appreciate these but I enjoyed it a lot and it was a good start to my year.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
Off to a nice start for 2024. Winter weather tends to mean a lot of reading on the weekends.
#1 Cory Doctorow - The Lost Cause
I like the "ideas" behind Cory's books, but often the books themselves leaves me cold. This is one of those books. If it was not the first book of the year, I would have stopped reading it.
#2 Ted Allbeury - The Lantern Network
Allbeury was a spy novelist in the 70s. He was up there with Le Carre and Deighton but has pretty much been forgotten. His wrote in a similar economical style as early Le Carre. An easy read from the days when books were typically about 200-250 pages and you didn't need a ton of "world building"
#3 Rob Harvilla - 60 Songs the Explain the 90s
Just started this. Spoiler, he talks about way more than 60 songs. So far it seems fun, more superficial than I had hoped.
#1 Cory Doctorow - The Lost Cause
I like the "ideas" behind Cory's books, but often the books themselves leaves me cold. This is one of those books. If it was not the first book of the year, I would have stopped reading it.
#2 Ted Allbeury - The Lantern Network
Allbeury was a spy novelist in the 70s. He was up there with Le Carre and Deighton but has pretty much been forgotten. His wrote in a similar economical style as early Le Carre. An easy read from the days when books were typically about 200-250 pages and you didn't need a ton of "world building"
#3 Rob Harvilla - 60 Songs the Explain the 90s
Just started this. Spoiler, he talks about way more than 60 songs. So far it seems fun, more superficial than I had hoped.
WhiteDahlias
Active Member
Book 2: The Bandit Queens - Parini Shroff
This was a bit more plot-focused than the books I typically ready (I'm usually more a character development and vibes kinda girl), but um... this was great. I think the end got a little ridiculous, but I think it really worked for what the author was going for (and would make an excellent dark comedy film). I like how it explored female friendship/relationships and class relationships in India. If you don't mind a little murder, I'd definitely recommend this!
I have a nonfiction audiobook out from the library so I'm working on that and I think I'm going to pick up a book I started last year and had to put down and forgot to finish so the next little while is going to be nonfiction heavy for me but I'm already feeling better about reading this year than I did last year.
This was a bit more plot-focused than the books I typically ready (I'm usually more a character development and vibes kinda girl), but um... this was great. I think the end got a little ridiculous, but I think it really worked for what the author was going for (and would make an excellent dark comedy film). I like how it explored female friendship/relationships and class relationships in India. If you don't mind a little murder, I'd definitely recommend this!
I have a nonfiction audiobook out from the library so I'm working on that and I think I'm going to pick up a book I started last year and had to put down and forgot to finish so the next little while is going to be nonfiction heavy for me but I'm already feeling better about reading this year than I did last year.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Book 1: Elmore Leonard - Pronto
Picked this one up because it's Leonard's introduction of Raylan Givens, the Stetson-wearing US Marshall who serves as the protagonist on the show Justified. The story concerns a bookie who flees Florida for Italy after a shooting implicates him as a witness against the mob; with money he's skimmed off his bosses he buys a villa and tries to lay low. Previous Leonard books share a similar structure: middle-aged guy gets in over his head, turns out to have been one step ahead of everyone from the jump. Leonard delightfully subverts his own conventions as you feel him siding less with the middle-aged criminal and more with the youthful marshal self-appointed to bring him back home for his own good.
Book 2: Colin Meloy - 33 1/3: The Replacements Let it Be
My first 33 1/3 and, I hate to say, a disappointment. In the foreword Meloy admits that when tasked with selecting an album to write about he composed a list of ten essential albums, all of which had cemented their place on his personal list by the time he was eighteen. The resulting book is less an exploration or analysis of Let it Be so much as a personal buildingsroman about the development of his musical taste. After reading this I'd argue that such a topic, like Cormac McCarthy said of dreams, "always is [interesting], to the party concerned;" I could also wax poetic about the streets I grew up on and the first album I bought with my own money but then I didn't end up writing the Mariner's Revenge Song so I guess my version isn't relevant. If not for a section centering the 'Mats in the final eight pages, it would feel like you could copy-paste a different band/album/tracklist into most passages without changing the content itself.
I'm not yet giving up on the 33 1/3 series, but it sounds like a real crap shoot that also depends on one's expectations (based on goodreads, people seem enraged by the Kid A installment). I'm not the deepest 'Mats fan and was hoping for something which would help them click; this was not it.
Curious to hear everyone/anyone's favs from the series, though.
Picked this one up because it's Leonard's introduction of Raylan Givens, the Stetson-wearing US Marshall who serves as the protagonist on the show Justified. The story concerns a bookie who flees Florida for Italy after a shooting implicates him as a witness against the mob; with money he's skimmed off his bosses he buys a villa and tries to lay low. Previous Leonard books share a similar structure: middle-aged guy gets in over his head, turns out to have been one step ahead of everyone from the jump. Leonard delightfully subverts his own conventions as you feel him siding less with the middle-aged criminal and more with the youthful marshal self-appointed to bring him back home for his own good.
Book 2: Colin Meloy - 33 1/3: The Replacements Let it Be
My first 33 1/3 and, I hate to say, a disappointment. In the foreword Meloy admits that when tasked with selecting an album to write about he composed a list of ten essential albums, all of which had cemented their place on his personal list by the time he was eighteen. The resulting book is less an exploration or analysis of Let it Be so much as a personal buildingsroman about the development of his musical taste. After reading this I'd argue that such a topic, like Cormac McCarthy said of dreams, "always is [interesting], to the party concerned;" I could also wax poetic about the streets I grew up on and the first album I bought with my own money but then I didn't end up writing the Mariner's Revenge Song so I guess my version isn't relevant. If not for a section centering the 'Mats in the final eight pages, it would feel like you could copy-paste a different band/album/tracklist into most passages without changing the content itself.
I'm not yet giving up on the 33 1/3 series, but it sounds like a real crap shoot that also depends on one's expectations (based on goodreads, people seem enraged by the Kid A installment). I'm not the deepest 'Mats fan and was hoping for something which would help them click; this was not it.
Curious to hear everyone/anyone's favs from the series, though.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
The series definitely varies WILDLY, but that's also part of what I like about it.
Lots of reviews absolutely hated the Prince one, and while I didn't think it was exceptional it was definitely not as bad as they made it out to be. Similarly The Pogues on got bashed a lot too for its odd blend of fiction and fact but I actually quite enjoyed it.
My favorites so far have been DJ Shadow, Drive-By Truckers and Janelle Monáe. I've also been very much enjoying the GENRE series from 33 1/3 so far as well.
Next in the queue for me is Nick Cave's Murder Ballads.
WhiteDahlias
Active Member
I've only read 2 of these so I don't have a great frame of reference, but I really liked the one for In The Aeroplane Over the Sea. The other one I tried was for Unknown Pleasures and I gave up on that one about halfway through because I couldn't click with the author at all.