#2024 in books

[salvadorbonaparte]

My reading wrap-up for 2024. I'll post a short review shortly!

[morganwriteblr]

My 2024 in books 📚

20 books total and I beat my reading challenge in just the last 3 months of the year by reading 19 in that time.

"But some of these are short stories!" I hear you cry. Yes, they are. No, I don't care.

My reading goal for 2025 is 50 books!

[gcantread]

Vengeance is not a wooden cup that empties. It is a jeweled chalice which endlessly spills over.

2024 in books: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

[happy-mokka]

2024 in books

Previous: #1 + feedback #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8

#9 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

by James McBride

English

My first by this author.

I have absolutely no idea what it's about, but all the praise on the cover made me curious.

I desperately need something uplifting giving me back my belief in what's good in this place...

[8nychta]

my 2024 reads

[bibliophileiz]

2, 3, and 20!

2. Did I reread anything?

Yep! The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison on my own, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Life of Pi by Yann Martel (audiobook) for a class. I was in high school or college when I read those before, and I think I have more empathy for the kids in TBE and Ruth in NLMG than I did then. Also I think Martel's take on zoos and religion has held up well.

I also listened to a bunch of Harry Potter audiobooks on CD while driving this summer after a friend who was moving gave me a crate of them. Given the sort of person JK Rowling has revealed herself to be the last few years, I was listening especially for how empathy works in the books. I have so many thoughts about them now but I'll save them for another post.

3. Top 5 Books

Ok so I have a hard time comparing fiction and NF so I'm just gonna do five of each:

Fiction The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Briar Club by Kate Quinn You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

Nonfiction The Devil's Element by Dan Egan Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein The Secret History of Bigfoot by John O'Connor The Queens of Animation by Natalia Holt World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukamatathil

20 What did I anticipate and did it meet expectations?

The two books I most anticipated were The Briar Club by Kate Quinn, which was fantastic, and The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, which was disappointing. I've restarted it several times as recently as this morning, and after 70 plus pages officially gave up. There are two many characters (generally flat) and not enough plot, and the writing is all over the place. Moreno-Garcia is fantastic--I love Mexican Gothic--but this is not her best.

Thanks for the ask! I could talk about books all day!

[ijustkindalikebooks]

favourite books of 2024 January -> March.

[shallicomparetheetolagrenouille]

2024 in books - May

The nostalgia!! Oh, it was such a comfort to read this - well, not for the content, but for the feeling of going back to something I loved in simpler times.

I realized I had to reread the Inheritance Cycle when Durza was mentioned at the beginning of this and I thought, "who?" So I actually reread the books in the Cycle and The Fork, the Witch and the Worm and it was a blast! I loved it, especially because I had forgotten a lot of what happens in Brisingr and Inheritance (being the ones I reread less often) and enjoyed revisiting the fictional places and meeting again the characters that meant so much to me in my teenage years and very early twenties. I giggled so much, especially when I knew that an event was about to happen or a character was about to show up (Glaedr, my love! And Thorn, my baby!). I don't think I have ever had so much fun with a reread!

Having read a lot more since then, in various genres, a lot of the narrative choices and language used felt simplistic and childish and narrow-minded, but considering the age of the author at the time of writing the novels, I could look past that and just enjoy the story and the feeling of adventure and exploration that I associate to the fantasy genre.

When I actually managed to get to Murtagh, I was ready to enjoy a continuation of that same experience and find out a bit more about two interesting characters from the Cycle: we didn't know anything about Thorn, aside from him having a musical mind and having been made to grow faster through magic, whereas Murtagh at least had more of a voice and we had a bit more of an idea of him.

The main themes of the book are dealing with trauma, grappling with one's identity and opening up towards others. Which meant that the interactions I had hoped to see at least a tiny bit of (with Arya and Fírnen, hopefully, or with a few elves in general, or even at a distance with Eragon and Saphira) never happened - only the very end of the book sees Murtagh's acceptance that he wants and needs 'a pack' like in Uvek's story, this first novel (because judging by all the open points and hints and subsequent interviews I watched there will surely be other books with him and Thorn as protagonists) was very much centered around his and Thorn's traumas and relationship and lessons to learn to live in the world as actual actors in it, not just as hermits watching things happen from afar.

And, to be honest, this was needed if there are other books in the works with them at the center: there were too many things that had to be explained about their past, both pre-meeting-Eragon, in Murtagh's case, and pre-Galbatorix's-death. So many new pieces of information were finally revealed about the Forsworn and life at court and how life under Galbatorix's control was - I have to say that so much of the past was kept nebulous (both to make it more threatening and mysterious and probably not to lengthen the Cycle further) that having a POV from that part of the world is a necessary correction for the series.

That said, had I not felt such affection and interest for the characters and the world, I would have skimmed a big portion of the middle part of the book.

The first half is engaging, even while facing the effects of trauma and war and torture: it is filled with movement and action and moments of reflection and love between Murtagh and Thorn, which make the confined feeling of just focusing on them for the whole time less heavy. Their minds are not those of an innocent teen and newly-hatched magical creature seeking to prove themselves and dabble a bit in vengeance, but rather those of veterans seeking a reason to rejoin the world without having to suffer more if possible, please and thank you.

The central part, instead, just lets all the despair and and new torture and hopelessness loose - it was hard to read and, to be quite honest, long. Since the author makes a point to make Murtagh say that he avoids remembering as much as possible, part of the need for mental and phisical torture was making him remember - and the flashbacks are the most interesting and moving part of that section, mind you, so cutting them woud not have improved it - but the overall feeling was of being trapped right alongside him and Thorn.

Luckily, I had hopes that this would follow the same scheme as the main Cycle and have either a happy ending or a bittersweet one, so I managed to work my way to the end, but even in the final section there were moments in which I hoped for a more streamlined plot. And I do not mean having shorter or fewer descriptions or less interaction among Murtagh, Thorn and Uvek - I mean that having obstacles before the final battle or before retrieving the thing or before finding the person is reasonable and expected and adds to the feeling of reality, but if they start being repetitive just to show me how difficult it is to get to that point, they become an obstacle to me, personally, the reader and I will not feel like pushing through because it will not feel like a rush towards the core of the adventure, but rather a slow drag through neverending sidequests.

That said, the resolution of the confict (both external, against Bachel and the maybe-literal-wingless-dragon-in-the-pit, and internal, against Morzan's influence on Murtagh's life and the effects of Galbatorix's torture on Thorn's mind) was satifying and the very end was sweet, though very open in a see-you-in-the-next-installment way.

The flashback of Tornac's final fight and sacrifice for Murtagh made me cry, I'll admit that.

I do hope that now that Murtagh accepted to be a part of the world again (and gained another kind of brother, he just keeps collecting them, just like Eragon did with him and Orik). we will see him and Thorn interact with other established characters.

I can't wait!!

[letthehatersbark]

The funniest one star review of Wicked I've seen so far

[dzknik]

fellas is it gay to cover my entire house with imagery of my muse, the centre of my life, the sun in my galaxy

[salvadorbonaparte]

2024 in Books

Every Book I read in 2024 very briefly reviewed. I'm ignoring re-reads.

The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie (I definitely want to read the rest of the series but I haven't managed to get my hands on it yet)

Death's Country - R.M. Romero (I read this as an ARC, it's a journey to the underworld in free verse)

More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary - M.R. James (I love this guy's ghost stories)

100 Poets: A Little Anthology - John Carey (I read this as an ARC, would have liked more international voices)

Ariadne - Jennifer Saint (Very solid version of Ariadne's story highlighting the lack of agency under the patriarchy)

Cien Microcuentos Chilenos - Juan Armando Epple (Not gonna lie I barely understood anything)

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (I'm soooo not normal about this one)

The Murderbot Diaries 1-4 - Martha Wells (I'm really enjoying this series but I had to wait for months to get a library loan for the 5th one and now I forgot everything that happened)

Darius the Great is Not Okay & Darius the Great Deserves Better - Adib Khorram (Actually made me cry which tells you what kind of year I'm having)

The Jeeves Collection - P.G. Wodehouse (A 40h long anthology of Jeeves stories read by Stephen Fry what more can you want)

Von der Pampelmuse geküsst - Heinz Erhardt (Funny)

Die Jodelschule und andere dramatische Werke - Loriot (Funny)

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree (This was truly so cozy)

Poemas Portugueses - Ed. Maria de Fátima Mesquita-Sternal (Good collection of different works)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - James McBride (Highlight of the Year)

Quality Land - Marc-Uwe Kling (How is his satire so real??)

When Women Were Dragons - Kelly Barnhill (Highlight of the Year)

Gender Queer: A Memoir - Maia Kobabe (Very affirming to read)

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut (I'm so not normal about this that I'm considering getting a tattoo about it)

Andorra - Max Frisch (A play about antisemitism but in that very Max Frisch way)

Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman - Richard Feynman (I want to study this guy under a microscope but I also learned a lot about education and people skills)

Von Juden Lernen - Mirna Funk (Bad, unfortunately)

House of Leaves - Mark Z Danielewski (I've been reading this on and off for the better half of a decade and I have many thoughts none of them coherent)

Views - Marc-Uwe Kling (One of the most upsetting books I ever read and I mean that positively)

Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir (What the fuck is happening but also oh cool)

People Love Dead Jews - Dara Horn (the other really upsetting book I read this year but beautifully written)

It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror - Ed. Joe Vallese (An anthology so up my alley you'd think it's fake)

Camp Damascus - Chuck Tingle (More upsetting than scary but a really good read)

Stephen Fry in America - Stephen Fry (Very funny and insightful if you've just moved there)

You Like it Darker - Stephen King (I'm still thinking about some of the short stories)

Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut (Also not normal about this one)

The Song of Roland - Unknown, Trans. Glen Burgess (It sucks that this slaps so much because it's blatant propaganda)

Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum - Heinrich Böll (Worst year to read and watch this tbh but highly recommended)

Herzog Ernst - Unknown (Medieval Fantasy but like actually Medieval)

Willehalm - Wolfram von Eschenbach (Sorry I only partially read this because I got too busy with school)

Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle (Better still than Camp Damascus but again more upsetting than scary)

[mirandagoing4baroque]

2024 Reading Superlatives!

First Book: Fire, Burn

Most Recommendable: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Best Sequel: Those Beyond the Wall

Class Clown: Starter Villain

Most Likely to Reread: The Steerswoman

Biggest Surprise: Metal from Heaven

Best Debut: Godkiller

Cutest Couple: A Sorceress Comes To Call

Saddest I Didn’t Get To: Seven Veils of Salome

Most Anticipated 2025: When the Moon Hits Your Eye

Most Underrated: City in Glass

Most Depressing: Warm Hands of Ghosts

Best Dressed: The Last Hour Between Worlds

Last Book: The Stardust Grail

[gcantread]

Quiet mouth, bright mind.

2024 in books: Hild by Nicola Griffith

[happy-mokka]

2024 in books

Previous:

#1 + feedback, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9

#10 The cat who saved Books

by Sosuke Natsukawa

English

There's a cat and there's books. It didn't really need more fire me to pick this one from the shelf at the bookstore...

There's also a nice quote on the backside from the 'Observer':

"Grandpa used to say it all the time:

Books have tremendous power.

But what is that power really?

Enchanting."

I can wholeheartedly agree to that. Let's see if this one also lives up to that promise...

[radicalrocko234]

I don’t call myself a “bookworm” for nothing, guys!