Okay, one of my goals this year is the elusive and often sought, but seldom conquered, The Count of Monte Cristo.

I bought it 2 years ago, made it 70 pages in, got distracted by 30 other books, and you know the story.

This year, I'm completing the hunt!

What's your reading vector this year?

Remember, star the posts that make you interested to read!

Happy New (Reading) Year, Texags!

Whatcha got?

Didn't read as much as planned in 2023, so I'll be finishing out Sanderson's Cosmere to start 2024.

I haven't picked my official 2024 series yet, but I'll probably make it a short one.

For various reason I had to pause finishing the Mistborn trilogy. About a 100 paged left so will be the first book completed in 2024. Going to wait until I read the other Cosmere books. I'll get to them, but going to detour first. On my next up list is:

Murderbot Series
Hyperion
Project Hail Mary
Fairy Tale - S King
The Three Body Problem
Never Let Me Go - Ishiguro
Black Company series
(Not in any certain order)

My biggest dilemma is do I switch to an E-reader? I've been a huge proponent for physical copies through the years but as I've gotten older, eyes have gotten worse, and travel often that a Kindle or similar is finally sounding appealing. Need to decide before I purchase my next round of books.

I got TMNT the Last Ronin for Xmas so that'll be the first book I read. New Stormlight Archive book this year means I'll go back and reread the series. Not sure what else I'll read in 2024

I held out for a long time on getting a kindle but after having one for a few years, I love it. The paper white models have a beautiful screen and really do look great. No glare outside and now have ability to adjust the quality of the light and dim it for reading at night.

I still love physical books so I always have 2 books going at the same time, one physical and one on the kindle. I probably do about 70% of my reading on the kindle just because I can carry it with me everywhere.

How old are you that your eyes are causing you to think about making the change? I'm 50-55 (class year is a giveaway), but I'm having the same problem. Paper books motivate me to read for a reason I can't explain. Ebooks just seem to take forever and you can't physically see your progress as the book gets more tattered.

Philo B 93 said:

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How old are you that your eyes are causing you to think about making the change? I'm 50-55 (class year is a giveaway), but I'm having the same problem. Paper books motivate me to read for a reason I can't explain. Ebooks just seem to take forever and you can't physically see your progress as the book gets more tattered.

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I turned 50 this last year. Some of the print on paperbacks are far too small to read for long periods of time. Plus I don't like bright lights so that works against me as well. As far as pace, I've heard quite the opposite. Most people I've talked to who have converted all say they read books much faster on the Kindle vs paper. But they can't explain why. Looking at the Kindle Paperwhite Signature.

Appreciate the input.

Been there before on a paperback. Haha

Just finished Bret Easton Ellis' White, his first longform nonfiction/criticism. Solid 3/5; his points on both artistry and an appreciation of it declining are spot on, but the political bits quickly get tired. Still, his prose is good, though you can tell when he just copied things from his podcast without anyone editing them enough. Imo, he's the best living American writer when he wants to be, and he realized this for his latest, The Shards, that was first released as a podcast serial and then in print about a year ago.

Have four things in the works rn: Thomas Bernhard's Woodcutters, the new Francis Ford Coppola bio/history by Sam Wasson, The Glass Bees by Ernst Junger, and Chaos by Tom O'Neill (new evidence/considerations in The Manson murders). All good to great so far; just need to turn off notifications and/or get in bed without being exhausted to make progress on each of them.

That's an amazing lineup!

The Marksman said:

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That's an amazing lineup!

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Thanks.

A few friends have suggested Dickens and said the same as you. How much was slogging through before you had enough momentum to keep going? I've been told it's largely character driven like Les Mis and War and Peace and both of those took three tries and multiple years.

AGC said:

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The Marksman said:

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That's an amazing lineup!

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Thanks.

A few friends have suggested Dickens and said the same as you. How much was slogging through before you had enough momentum to keep going? I've been told it's largely character driven like Les Mis and War and Peace and both of those took three tries and multiple years.

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I'm a huge Dickens fan, so it's not a chore at all for me to read his novels. A Tale of Two Cities is, in my opinion, pretty plot driven with a good bit of action, so it's definitely an easier read than the books you mentioned. It's also much shorter than those two. For what it's worth, I would say A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens' easiest to read novels, along with A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. Hope that helps some.

Great reminder that I want to reread Less Than Zero.

I still have my copy of The Once and Future King from high school.

Might do the same this year. As good as it is, I think he exceeded it with American Psycho, Glamorama, and The Shards (lots of gay sex in this one, fair warning).

Just finished Holly by SK. Decent entry in the SK bibliography. Always enjoyed Holly Gibney involved stories of which this is the 6th I think. Yes it is a little preachy in the COVID aspects which King claims it is not (just grounded in real world events of the time period it is set). But it did not distract me much.

About to start American Prometheus which I also got for xmas.

I also received Lights Out: Pride Delusion and the Fall of General Electric from my aunt. Her ex husband was a major player there during their heydey.


I picked up 4 books of authors/series I've read before and so far I am 0/2:

I tried and failed to read The Maze by Nelson Demille. I loved previous John Corey novels but this was painful. 100 pages in and its about nothing but how clever John Corey is and how much he doesn't care.

I also started and did not finish The Girl in the Eagle's Talons. Sorry it is not up to Stieg Larsson or even
David Lagercrantz quality or style.

The others are the John Grisham A time for Mercy sequel I intend to give a try and Dan Brown's latest Prof Langdon story Origin.

Enjoy American Prometheus!

I can't recommend e-books enough. I've had a Kindle for 15 years and have nearly stopped reading printed books completely. As mentioned, the ability to look up words you aren't familiar with is a great asset. You no longer need to reach for the dictionary to truly understand what the author intended. Text size is variable as well, so as I've gotten older, the text has gotten bigger. You don't have to use a light to read, and the screen brightness is adjustable.
Also stated is the opportunity to get the next book in a series as soon as you finish a book. There are many classics available either for free or for 99 cents. Many authors have had their entire works compiled into one volume, such as Doyle, Burroughs, Verne, Twain, Stephenson and many others.
One other advantage is the availability of the Kindle app on other devices. I have it on my laptop, phone, Ipad and have a Kindle as well. Sometimes I'll have the same book on a couple of devices, and sometimes each one will have a different book for variety.

lurker76 said:

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I can't recommend e-books enough. I've had a Kindle for 15 years and have nearly stopped reading printed books completely. As mentioned, the ability to look up words you aren't familiar with is a great asset. You no longer need to reach for the dictionary to truly understand what the author intended. Text size is variable as well, so as I've gotten older, the text has gotten bigger. You don't have to use a light to read, and the screen brightness is adjustable.
Also stated is the opportunity to get the next book in a series as soon as you finish a book. There are many classics available either for free or for 99 cents. Many authors have had their entire works compiled into one volume, such as Doyle, Burroughs, Verne, Twain, Stephenson and many others.
One other advantage is the availability of the Kindle app on other devices. I have it on my laptop, phone, Ipad and have a Kindle as well. Sometimes I'll have the same book on a couple of devices, and sometimes each one will have a different book for variety.

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Awesome, thanks. I'm definitely going to go that route. The feedback from people I've talked with has been overwhelming that they were skeptical at first to abandon books, but glad they did and would do it a 100 times over. As is typical, now I ask myself "why did it take me so long?".

Abandoning physical copies is an easy choice when craftsmanship and cover design have decayed/plummeted.

Just finished Project Hail Mary. Loved it.

I'm about halfway through The Wager. Maybe it's because I went from a book primarily set in a spaceship to a book set in a wooden ship, but this one has not been as interesting for me so far.

It's way up there for me as well. I think it's had such staying power, because like most great novels, he first begins with characters and a setting, or settings, and then themes organically develop from the inherent conflicts between characters, between character(s) and settings, etc. But anyway, yeah he let that novel breathe as well as nearly any other in existence. Really sucks that he wrecked himself because of lackluster sales - making him give the film industry a try, Hollywood's bland conservatism (which seemingly is the default, it's a company town after all), and his insane wife - though he was partially at fault for unraveling her.

That's a great explanation for why it's so good, I couldn't quite put it in words, but you did!

Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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Finished listening to 1984 earlier this week.

Moved onto volume 1 of The Gulag Archipelago and am a few hours in. Evidently I don't enjoy happiness.

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Dunno, I thought all of the arrest stories were very creative and got several morbid laughs out of it. After that though, it's downhill.

You should check out some of Vladimir Sorokin's stuff. Just my opinion, but his prose is much better than that of Solzhenitsyn.

Capybara said:

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You should check out some of Vladimir Sorokin's stuff. Just my opinion, but his prose is much better than that of Solzhenitsyn.

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Sadly I'm two hundred pages into volume two and reticent to interrupt my current list to finish it. I will gladly add sorokin to my list though.

I'm nearly done with Memoirs of a Geisha.

Just finished Tale of Two Cities around Christmas. Excellent book. Bleak House by Dickens is a superior book. Not sure why, but Bleak House doesn't get mentioned like some of his other great works.

Next, I think I'm reading one of Aubrey-Maturin books. I don't remember the name. It's about the 6th or 7th book in series.