It's the last day for the "Books Read 2024" thread!
I appreciate everything contributed here. Thank you for that, and all your efforts to broaden your fellow TexAggers libraries!
I have to read thousands of pages for my job, so I wonder how many pages/books I would have read if I counted them all along with what I pick up just because I want to. Nevertheless, I only post what I'm reading for non-work fun here. There's gold here if you can sift through it. I have read many books because of your reviews here! For years, I have kept a record of what I pick up for my own pleasure/edification/curiosity/knowledge, and thanks to yall, that list is longer, broader, deeper, and has been tons of fun!
Regardless, this thread is always one I go to when I have a hankering for something new!
I have a stack of books I buy at book stores or on Amazon that is 15 deep (I just counted). My stack of books I have completed while in the present place (today it is one year) I have stacked beside it, and it is as high as the books I'm still waiting to read. Some of the titles are ""Hillbilly's Elegy" (bought before the announcement), "The Terror" by Simmons, "A Little Life" by Yanagihara, "Assassin's Apprentice" by Hobbs, and "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Owens. There's more, but just a few so you can see all the places I'm lured but have yet to travel.
My status on what I started the thread with the COMC post.
Count of Monte Cristo: I'm still 350 pages in (shame-faced blush). I'm going to continue in the new year, so I'll have to give my full assessment after I can get through the last 900+ pages. Yes, I've been way too lackadaisical about getting through that one this year, and I've chronicled thus in my 1st attempt on a previous "Books Read" post. It really is an amazing book, but I just let my excitement (sometimes because of recommendations here!) get too distracting, leading me off very many wonderful and fulfilling rabbit trails of other excellent reads.
I am currently reading Book 2 of Larry Correia's Son of the Black Sword series, "House of Assassins". If you've read Correia before, you know he is a very interesting and fun writer. He writes for people, not for agendas, quotas, literary snobs, etc. Normal people love him for it, and it's why he is as successful as he is. Count me among his fandom.
I recommend to all here Corriea's "Dead Six" trilogy: very fast reads, great plots, compelling characters, and I read all three in just a few weeks, they were so much fun.
I also recommend The Monster Hunters International series (Correia, too), which has been mentioned here a few times. The author said that series was born from his memory of his13 year old self watching midnight monster movies on Saturday nights. He says he tried to capture the fun and excitement he felt at that young innocent age, and carry it forward for adults who hadn't lost that child-like pleasure. Count me among those have never lost the joy of good old fashioned monster cinema. The books are righteous fun!
"Project Hail Mary" and "Dungeon Crawler Carl" I stared on audio books because of what people here had said about them. I highly recommend both. The voice acting for both works is absolutely A+. If you have a long road trip in 2025, plug one of these in and see if you don't agree. Hours of adventure, laughter, and plain old satisfying entertainment right there. I can't say how many times I have arrived home, only to sit in my truck another 5-10 minutes because of the wonderful presentations these books put forth on the audio platforms!
Thank you for contributing, reading, for your humor and advice. We all have wider literary visions because of this thread's contributions. I look forward to seeing you all again in 2025, with more books and books and books, so many that our book-cups overflow!
Happy New year, TexAgs "Books Read" readers and commenters! May your new year be filled with even better book treasures discovered and shared with us all!
I'll see you in 2025, book{s} in hand!
