Read in 2024:

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Fairy Tale - Stephen King
The Shining - SK

Not sure what's next. Likely take on something easy to reset before diving into A Little Life, which I've had on the shelf since 2020…seems like a heavy book and I've never been ready to take the plunge.

Anyone read it?

On Deck:

A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
Supermarket - Bobby Hall
Dune Series
A Song of Fire and Ice - George RR Martin
Demon Box - Ken Kesey
The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
Life of Pi - Yan Martel
Talisman - SK

For Dune, see the previous comments about where to stop for guidance on how deep to go. It all depends on how much you enjoy the original content versus the son's work.

And on ASOIAF from GRR Martin, understand that he will probably never finish the story. The last book he published was in 2011; he's been working on the latest book since, but in the interim has published several other books and had some other projects he worked on. I don't know how dedicated he is to ending the saga. The story is great; I was hooked from early on and read them voraciously, then watched the HBO series, which turned to junk when the show-runners ran out of pre-written material.

Quote:

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I just hope there is a plan in place for someone to finish his works. As callous as that sounds.

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This. ASOIAF is one of the greatest literary undertakings of all time and absolutely deserves to be finished after GRRM passes.

I think anyone getting into these books needs to know up front that there may never be a resolution to the story. If GRRM doesn't finish it, hopefully as you and Marksman said, there is someone capable of doing the end of the story justice. It is just too well written to not have a conclusion.

I was elated when I found out the Expeditionary Force series had a suitable conclusion, read the fifteen books and was satisfied, then avidly read book 16 when it came out. If Alanson doesn't write any more of them, it's okay; if he does, it's a bonus for his fans. Similarly, when Red Rising book 6 came out, I thought it was going to be the conclusion of the story. As the book went on, it slowly dawned on me that there were too many loose ends to wrap up. Fortunately, Brown is working on book 7, which he said would conclude that story line.

Yeah, Dune seems a little intimidating. From everything I've read, it sounds like there's some work that goes into truly appreciating and understanding the universe.

ASOIAF has been sitting on my shelf since like 2018 and I haven't touched it bc I knew the story wasn't finished. But, at this point, it seems like it's never going to happen, so I figured I might as well take the plunge. Really excited to get into it.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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Yeah, Dune seems a little intimidating. From everything I've read, it sounds like there's some work that goes into truly appreciating and understanding the universe.

ASOIAF has been sitting on my shelf since like 2018 and I haven't touched it bc I knew the story wasn't finished. But, at this point, it seems like it's never going to happen, so I figured I might as well take the plunge. Really excited to get into it.

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Disagree with Dune. Has great and easy to understand world building. If that is what is holding you back you're unnecessarily missing out. It gets more complicated with the extended series, but as many said just read the first two books and you'll be good.

StinkyPinky said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Yeah, Dune seems a little intimidating. From everything I've read, it sounds like there's some work that goes into truly appreciating and understanding the universe.

ASOIAF has been sitting on my shelf since like 2018 and I haven't touched it bc I knew the story wasn't finished. But, at this point, it seems like it's never going to happen, so I figured I might as well take the plunge. Really excited to get into it.

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Disagree with Dune. Has great and easy to understand world building. If that is what is holding you back you're unnecessarily missing out. It gets more complicated with the extended series, but as many said just read the first two books and you'll be good.

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Agree with Stinky Pinky here. I'm not the biggest sci fi reader and I found the first two Dune books fairly easy to follow. I will say I watched the movie before I read the books so that probably helped me visualize everything a little more in my head as I was reading.

For reference I read the first two books and stopped there.

Just finished "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara. Do not recommend.

Saw your post after I hit send on mine above. It was on my shelf for a long time, too. It was beautifully written, but not what I expected or wanted. Please hold off if you're not in a good place mentally. There is a lot I liked about it, and a lot I hated. I gave it 3 out of 5 on Goodreads, but would've ranked it 2.5 if they had half stars. Lots of people loved it, though.

StinkyPinky said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Yeah, Dune seems a little intimidating. From everything I've read, it sounds like there's some work that goes into truly appreciating and understanding the universe.

ASOIAF has been sitting on my shelf since like 2018 and I haven't touched it bc I knew the story wasn't finished. But, at this point, it seems like it's never going to happen, so I figured I might as well take the plunge. Really excited to get into it.

---

Disagree with Dune. Has great and easy to understand world building. If that is what is holding you back you're unnecessarily missing out. It gets more complicated with the extended series, but as many said just read the first two books and you'll be good.

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Nailed it. I am in complete agreement!

The first two books are very approachable and on their own have a nice arc. I would say just start the first book and try to finish at least through the 1st half (book 1 has two parts). If that hasn't done it for you then move along. But if you like keep going and follow-up with book 2.

Book 3 and beyond definitely get a little weird and I didn't enjoy them as much. The Frank H stuff is still pretty good but personally I would avoid the latter Brian H stuff altogether.

Just curious…

2.5 bc the story was bad/it was boring…or 2.5 bc the subject matter was mentally taxing? Or am I way off?

Just curious bc I have it on my night stand to start in the next day or so

Very good to know about Dune. My brother-in-law and I are both thinking about starting it.

Luckily, my wife has made me promise to read the books currently on our shelf before I buy anything new, so it may be a while before I get there.

RED AG 98 said:

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StinkyPinky said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Yeah, Dune seems a little intimidating. From everything I've read, it sounds like there's some work that goes into truly appreciating and understanding the universe.

ASOIAF has been sitting on my shelf since like 2018 and I haven't touched it bc I knew the story wasn't finished. But, at this point, it seems like it's never going to happen, so I figured I might as well take the plunge. Really excited to get into it.

---

Disagree with Dune. Has great and easy to understand world building. If that is what is holding you back you're unnecessarily missing out. It gets more complicated with the extended series, but as many said just read the first two books and you'll be good.

---

Nailed it. I am in complete agreement!

The first two books are very approachable and on their own have a nice arc. I would say just start the first book and try to finish at least through the 1st half (book 1 has two parts). If that hasn't done it for you then move along. But if you like keep going and follow-up with book 2.

Book 3 and beyond definitely get a little weird and I didn't enjoy them as much. The Frank H stuff is still pretty good but personally I would avoid the latter Brian H stuff altogether.

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It seems like a lot of people like book 2, but it was one of my least favorites of the Dune series. I prefer 1,3,5,&6 much more than 2&4. Never read anything that the son wrote.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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Just curious…

2.5 bc the story was bad/it was boring…or 2.5 bc the subject matter was mentally taxing? Or am I way off?

Just curious bc I have it on my night stand to start in the next day or so

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My main issue is that I thought the story would be focused on the group of friends, the concept of found family, how they grew together, etc., but it was mainly about the suffering of one of the characters - and the tragedy of his life is so exaggeratedly over-the-top that it was unbelievable. I have other problems with it, but don't want to give away any spoilers. It wasn't boring, but it was definitely repetitious and could have been edited down maybe 25%.

frenchtoast said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Just curious…

2.5 bc the story was bad/it was boring…or 2.5 bc the subject matter was mentally taxing? Or am I way off?

Just curious bc I have it on my night stand to start in the next day or so

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My main issue is that I thought the story would be focused on the group of friends, the concept of found family, how they grew together, etc., but it was mainly about the suffering of one of the characters - and the tragedy of his life is so exaggeratedly over-the-top that it was unbelievable. I have other problems with it, but don't want to give away any spoilers. It wasn't boring, but it was definitely repetitious and could have been edited down maybe 25%.

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I haven't read it, but I think she basically wrote this as fujoshi torture porn (always honed in on gay men). Maybe the first time this has happened in a western published literary novel? Interesting, but not interesting enough to commit to its entire length, which is why I've stayed away.

Current: Conversations With Friends - About halfway done with this and not enjoying it. It's odd as I absolutely loved Normal People. However, I disliked Beautiful World Where Are You and now this novel.

Just Finished: Chain-Gang All-Stars - Really enjoyed this book. It's weird to call this book fun since it's a critique of the prison system and race in America but it was very entertaining. In fact, a friend of mine that was over last night for the Superbowl just asked to borrow it.

Previous 2024:
1. Beneath a Scarlet Sky - Based on a real Italian spy during WW2. Enjoyable read although parts of it seemed a bit cheesy to me which may not be a fair criticism as it's a true story.
2. Sea of Trainquility - Finally read the third novel in the somewhat trilogy. Enjoyed this one as well.

Stormlight #3: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Dawnshard in-progress

First book down in 2024 is finally finishing Oathbringer. I've been way slower over the last year, but these books are also massive. The one bad thing is that it can make me forget what I've read if I wait too long. There is also so much being thrown at you that it's hard to know what is happening sometimes even when I read regularly. Like Wheel of Time, you can't really google much either without a high chance of spoiling things, so it's a bit frustrating when I want to look something up to refresh my memory but can't. I may just need to try reading recaps of the books somewhere to help make things fresh in my mind again.

That said, I still really enjoyed this one. It's hard to remember which one has been my favorite so far, but this one may be in the running. Random thoughts:

Oof, the scene of Dalinar earning his shard blade was rough, but it's always interesting when characters aren't so perfect. It was nice to learn later that he didn't kill the boy though. That was a bit much for a character you want to like. But then when he went back to the Rift years later…..it was somewhat justified but still messed up.

Sad that we didn't get to see Ehlokar fully reach his potential, but at least he was on his way to doing so.

I didn't realize at first that Azure's hair changing colors was a hint that it was either Siri or Vivenna. I'm assuming it was Vivenna though based on her later mentioning that opening up too much to strangers went poorly for her once (along with her experience with Nightblood). Speaking of, it's fun seeing Nightblood again.

Lift has grown on me a lot (the short story of hers helped with that). Was surprised about Renarin and his spren. I don't think I had any clue about him but may have missed some obvious signs. He was one of the more intriguing characters to me anyway, so I'm interested to see how that plays out.

It makes me sad that we will likely never get a tv version of Stormlight because the battle in Thaylen City would be a great episode. Reminded me a bit of Minis Tirith/Battle of the Pelennor Fields in my mind.


And just to make sure I don't misstep, I'm including my planned reading order for the rest below

• Stormlight 4
• The Lost Metal
• Other short stories
• Stormlight 5 once it is released later this year

I am 10 books through Cradle by Will Wight. Dude wrote a more Chinese based anime in book form. Really easy to read, fun characters, a little shallow but a lot of fun

Has anyone started or read "The Year of the Locust" by Terry Hayes? He wrote "I am Pilgrim", one of my favorite novels.

I am 3/4 of the way through the audiobook and it is fascinating.

Just wanted general thoughts if anyone has finished it.

EDIT: Finished the audiobook, it is an even bigger story than "I am Pilgrim".

Very good / interesting premise. I had never heard of a denied access area spy, but that is what the protagonist is. I thought the narrator for "I am Pilgrim" Christopher Ragland was excellent. The narrator for this one was Ok, but not as good as Ragland.

Stormlight #3: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson
Stormlight #4: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson in-progress

Enjoyed Dawnshard. I've been really intrigued by a few of the Interludes included in the Stormlight books, and Dawnshard focused on one of the most interesting ones (imo). It also added what appears to be a significant "thing" to the story. It may be because I just started reading Sanderson last year (and that I've stretched some books out), but I'm still not 100% clear on all of the "gods" and shards. They reference humans/gods moving to different planets, so it's not always clear if some are from a prior series versus being new gods/shards that are just now being introduced. I read a tiny bit about the Cosmere before jumping into it, but I don't think I would get as much just from reading the books. I've also been avoiding reading more online for fear of spoilers, so maybe I'll get some clarity when I'm caught up on the books and can do some Googling about it.


And just to make sure I don't misstep, I'm including my planned reading order for the rest below

• The Lost Metal
• Other short stories
• Stormlight 5 once it is released later this year

RED AG 98 said:

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StinkyPinky said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Yeah, Dune seems a little intimidating. From everything I've read, it sounds like there's some work that goes into truly appreciating and understanding the universe.

ASOIAF has been sitting on my shelf since like 2018 and I haven't touched it bc I knew the story wasn't finished. But, at this point, it seems like it's never going to happen, so I figured I might as well take the plunge. Really excited to get into it.

---

Disagree with Dune. Has great and easy to understand world building. If that is what is holding you back you're unnecessarily missing out. It gets more complicated with the extended series, but as many said just read the first two books and you'll be good.

---

Nailed it. I am in complete agreement!

The first two books are very approachable and on their own have a nice arc. I would say just start the first book and try to finish at least through the 1st half (book 1 has two parts). If that hasn't done it for you then move along. But if you like keep going and follow-up with book 2.

Book 3 and beyond definitely get a little weird and I didn't enjoy them as much. The Frank H stuff is still pretty good but personally I would avoid the latter Brian H stuff altogether.

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It took me a few hours of constantly flipping back to the glossary to understand the words being used, but once I had that down the book flew by.

Just read An Encyclopedia of Tolkien by David Day. It was a book about the history and mythology that inspired Tolkien's Middle Earth. I was really blown away by this book; it was amazing and I would recommend it to any big LOTR fans out there.

Almost finished the Alice Network - amazing book,

Struggling to finish Mistborn era 2. Warmed up finally to the Era 1 series after struggling for a bit as noted on here. Finished strong enough to move into Era 2 and has been downhill since. Just finished Shadows of Self and about to start Bands of Mourning. But considering taking a break and reading something else (Most likely Three Body Problem or Hyperion). But may just finish off the last two Era 2 books because ultimately I am excited to read Stormlight Archives. Tell me this finished off strong like Era 1!

Just finished:
Pine by Francine Toon
Set in the Scottish Highlands, it's a sort of modern gothic mystery with some supernatural thrown in for good measure. Definitely not my normal read but I ended up liking it. The first 75% is definitely character development heavy and the last quarter moves very quickly plot wise. Lots of witchy **** vibes, think selkies, faeries, ghosts, and the like.

The River Runs Red: Stories from Highland Perthshire's Dark past by Mark Bridgeman
A collection of historical true crime stories from Perthshire. It was okay. The variety was interesting but often light on the details. That's bound to happen though when most of the stories predate the 1900s.


Up next is: The Bookseller of Inverness by S. G. MacLean

Read so far:
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus
Waypoints: My Scottish Journey-Sam Heughan
Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other-Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by linguist Amanda Montell

One thing to note is book 4 of era 2 just came out recently, after the first 4 Stormlight books were released. I'm on Stormlight #4 right now and will read #4 for Mistborn era 2 after that. Others that have already read them might chime in, but I believe it may be recommended to read them in that order.

Completed YTD:

Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6)
I read the first five of these books in 2023 and absolutely loved them. This book was a step down in story and with the character. I did not like how Murderbot is evolving with this one. It's personality and evolution has been one of the things that drew readers in, but I felt like Murderbot turned into a pre-teen girl in the first half of this book and it was really damn annoying. Having said that, it seemed to even out as the book went on. Story was average and much less exciting than the first five books. Book 7 is left so I will absolutely finish it.

Supernova in the East IV

Other than that, this is the Year of Dresden for me. So far have read:
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)
Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7)

And currently reading Proven Guilty Book 8. Such gloriously fun books.

Planned for 2024:
My big fiction book goal for the year is to read either Shogun or The Count of Monte Cristo. Both are massive tomes. Will only have time for one of them...maybe.

My nonfiction goal for this year is America's Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It

YouBet said:

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Completed YTD:

Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6)
I read the first five of these books in 2023 and absolutely loved them. This book was a step down in story and with the character. I did not like how Murderbot is evolving with this one. It's personality and evolution has been one of the things that drew readers in, but I felt like Murderbot turned into a pre-teen girl in the first half of this book and it was really damn annoying. Having said that, it seemed to even out as the book went on. Story was average and much less exciting than the first five books. Book 7 is left so I will absolutely finish it.

Supernova in the East IV

Other than that, this is the Year of Dresden for me. So far have read:
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)
Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7)

And currently reading Proven Guilty Book 8. Such gloriously fun books.

Planned for 2024:
My big fiction book goal for the year is to read either Shogun or The Count of Monte Cristo. Both are massive tomes. Will only have time for one of them...maybe.

My nonfiction goal for this year is America's Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It

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Dan Carlin is the best. Once you are done with Supernova, try Blueprint for Armageddon if you haven't heard it yet. It's his WW1 series. It's fantastic.

Have not read Shogun myself but Count is the only "classic" I have read and enjoyed. Quite a bit actually. And I tried for years and years to get into the classics and have probably tried all the top 50 at least once. My knee jerk reaction would be that one.

I need to jump on the Dresden wagon already. I've had the first five or so books for at least five years at this point and still haven't touched them…

Eliminatus said:

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YouBet said:

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Completed YTD:

Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6)
I read the first five of these books in 2023 and absolutely loved them. This book was a step down in story and with the character. I did not like how Murderbot is evolving with this one. It's personality and evolution has been one of the things that drew readers in, but I felt like Murderbot turned into a pre-teen girl in the first half of this book and it was really damn annoying. Having said that, it seemed to even out as the book went on. Story was average and much less exciting than the first five books. Book 7 is left so I will absolutely finish it.

Supernova in the East IV

Other than that, this is the Year of Dresden for me. So far have read:
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)
Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7)

And currently reading Proven Guilty Book 8. Such gloriously fun books.

Planned for 2024:
My big fiction book goal for the year is to read either Shogun or The Count of Monte Cristo. Both are massive tomes. Will only have time for one of them...maybe.

My nonfiction goal for this year is America's Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It

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Dan Carlin is the best. Once you are done with Supernova, try Blueprint for Armageddon if you haven't heard it yet. It's his WW1 series. It's fantastic.

Have not read Shogun myself but Count is the only "classic" I have read and enjoyed. Quite a bit actually. And I tried for years and years to get into the classics and have probably tried all the top 50 at least once. My knee jerk reaction would be that one.

I need to jump on the Dresden wagon already. I've had the first five or so books for at least five years at this point and still haven't touched them…

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I actually started Blueprint once but got distracted and never went back. Was planning on that one next.

I'm not usually a classic literature fan, frankly. I may do Shogun simply because I want to see the new series sooner rather than later and I've been on a Japanese kick lately.

Dresden Files are just fun reads and they are pretty fast.

I forgot to mention earlier that I'm also desperately waiting on the final novel in Adrien's Undead Diary. Does anyone have any insight on that?

Proven Guilty is a personal favorite of mine. There are things that come to fruition in that book that are definitive parts of the entire series in my mind. So much so that going back to earlier books feels, in a way, empty for lacking those elements.

I could honestly talk Dresden Files all freaking day. The Dresden Files is a top 3 topic for which I nerd out to the extreme.

I need yall to sell me on The Count of Monte Cristo and committing to 1,400 pages….

cmk10 said:

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I need yall to sell me on The Count of Monte Cristo and committing to 1,400 pages….

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Just think of how many hot women you'll impress at the nerd bar!

And don't even get me started on Jeopardy! When they ask a COMC question once every 7 years, you'll be ready to blurt out the answer and impress everyone in earshot!

I think some egg head society sends you a medal if you read it, because no one reads long books anymore.

Only like 6 people globally read COMC every year, and those are not Americans. Probably homeschooled. I think there's a chart somewhere.

Really, it's like someone needs to convince you NOT to read it.