dang, you're ambitious - not just for reading it once, but for re-reading - it's been many years since my first run through
Books. For the literati among us.
- Thread starter FootyLovin
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There is a podcast that did one episode a month - 100 pages each - over the course of a year. 99% Invisible. Breaking it up is a good way to reread, and it was fun to listen to the recaps. It also nicely filled some times when I didn't have a book going and was waiting for one to come available at the library. I could pick up the Power Broker for a couple of chapters and then start a new book once I received it.
Ah smart! And thanks for the recommendation for the podcast.
Hers is my list for the outgoing year.
2024
Number Go Up - Faux
Going Infinite - Michael Lewis
The Swerve - Greenblatt
The Ascent of Money - Ferguson
Kissinger - Iassacson
SPQR - Beard
Misery - King
Holly - King
‘Salem’s Lot - King
Path Between Two Seas - McCollough
Among the Thugs - Bill Buford
Demon of Unrest - Larsen
Matrix - Groff
Black Jacobins - CLR James
1177 BC - Cline
Stalin - Montefiore
The Outsider - King
Autocracy Inc. - Applebaum
A Brief History of Timekeeping - Orzel
The Road to Little Dribbling - Bryson
Mr. Mercedes - King
You Like it Darker - King (1st 3 ch)
Milton Friedman - Jennifer Burns
Thinking Fast & Slow - Kahneman
Finders Keepers - King
Power Broker (reread) - Caro
End of Watch - King
2024
Number Go Up - Faux
Going Infinite - Michael Lewis
The Swerve - Greenblatt
The Ascent of Money - Ferguson
Kissinger - Iassacson
SPQR - Beard
Misery - King
Holly - King
‘Salem’s Lot - King
Path Between Two Seas - McCollough
Among the Thugs - Bill Buford
Demon of Unrest - Larsen
Matrix - Groff
Black Jacobins - CLR James
1177 BC - Cline
Stalin - Montefiore
The Outsider - King
Autocracy Inc. - Applebaum
A Brief History of Timekeeping - Orzel
The Road to Little Dribbling - Bryson
Mr. Mercedes - King
You Like it Darker - King (1st 3 ch)
Milton Friedman - Jennifer Burns
Thinking Fast & Slow - Kahneman
Finders Keepers - King
Power Broker (reread) - Caro
End of Watch - King
RunningWise
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Nice list. For King, after I finished the Dark Tower series I’ve had a hard time going back… although the Outsider was spectacular I still think 11/12/63 might be the best of his King books. Check out his work under Richard Bachman for some great reads.
The Women, by Kristin Hannah. Historical fiction about women serving in the Vietnam War. Really good read.
24 for 2024
The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson
Dust (Silo #3) by Hugh Howey
Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Dead Lions (Slough House #2) by Mick Herron
He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith - Walter J. Ciszek
The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) - Michael Connelly
Rogue Protocol (The MurderBot Diaries #3) - Martha Wells
Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World - Steven Johnson
Real Tigers (Slough House, #3) - Mick Herron
The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, #4) - Michael Connelly
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard
Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4) - Martha Wells
Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture #2) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Ionian Mission (Aubrey/Maturin #8) - Patrick O'Brian
Network Effect - (Murderbot #5) - Martha Wells
Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
Entrances and Exits - Michael Richards
The Steerswoman - Rosemary Kirstein
Spook Street (Slough House #4)- Mick Herron
Abaddon's Gate (Expanse #3) - James S.A. Corey
Still working on Abaddon's Gate but will finish before 12/31.
Top picks: Murderbot series, Ghost Map (cholera epidemic and birth of epidemiology). I also was surprised how much I enjoyed Entrances and Exits, and suggest you consider the audiobook which he narrates. He Leadeth Me, if you might find interest in a the memoir of a US Jesuit priest who was a missionary in temporarily free Poland, was arrested when Russia invaded at the start of WW2, and spends spends nearly 25 years imprisoned, first in Lubyanka, then a Siberian prison work camp.
Low picks: I don't know what made me pick up Dark Matter. I have come to find multiverse fiction shallow and indulgent, and this one is dumber than usual, but it's very popular so there you go.
Notes: Final Architecture is creative space opera; Slough House, Aubrey/Maturin and Harry Bosch are worthwhile series, but The Ionian Mission is the worst Aubrey/Maturin, and borderline unreadable; The River of Doubt has a solid story well told at its core but is 20% too long; Hammet is better than Chandler but The Big Sleep is an engrossing, if jumbled mess; on the fence whether to continue the Steerswoman series.
My ongoing list of books read since 1982 broke 1,000.
The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson
Dust (Silo #3) by Hugh Howey
Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Dead Lions (Slough House #2) by Mick Herron
He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith - Walter J. Ciszek
The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) - Michael Connelly
Rogue Protocol (The MurderBot Diaries #3) - Martha Wells
Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World - Steven Johnson
Real Tigers (Slough House, #3) - Mick Herron
The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, #4) - Michael Connelly
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey - Candice Millard
Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4) - Martha Wells
Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture #2) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Ionian Mission (Aubrey/Maturin #8) - Patrick O'Brian
Network Effect - (Murderbot #5) - Martha Wells
Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3) - Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
Entrances and Exits - Michael Richards
The Steerswoman - Rosemary Kirstein
Spook Street (Slough House #4)- Mick Herron
Abaddon's Gate (Expanse #3) - James S.A. Corey
Still working on Abaddon's Gate but will finish before 12/31.
Top picks: Murderbot series, Ghost Map (cholera epidemic and birth of epidemiology). I also was surprised how much I enjoyed Entrances and Exits, and suggest you consider the audiobook which he narrates. He Leadeth Me, if you might find interest in a the memoir of a US Jesuit priest who was a missionary in temporarily free Poland, was arrested when Russia invaded at the start of WW2, and spends spends nearly 25 years imprisoned, first in Lubyanka, then a Siberian prison work camp.
Low picks: I don't know what made me pick up Dark Matter. I have come to find multiverse fiction shallow and indulgent, and this one is dumber than usual, but it's very popular so there you go.
Notes: Final Architecture is creative space opera; Slough House, Aubrey/Maturin and Harry Bosch are worthwhile series, but The Ionian Mission is the worst Aubrey/Maturin, and borderline unreadable; The River of Doubt has a solid story well told at its core but is 20% too long; Hammet is better than Chandler but The Big Sleep is an engrossing, if jumbled mess; on the fence whether to continue the Steerswoman series.
My ongoing list of books read since 1982 broke 1,000.
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I'm about halfway through Book No. 64 this year.
BEST 3:
1: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart.
2: The Spy Coast by Tess Garretsen
3: Holmes, Marple & Poe by James Patterson and Brian Sitts.
Worst 3:
1: The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes (WTF?)
2: Union Station by David Downing (Pure woke shyte.)
3: The Great Gatsby. (meh)
BEST 3:
1: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart.
2: The Spy Coast by Tess Garretsen
3: Holmes, Marple & Poe by James Patterson and Brian Sitts.
Worst 3:
1: The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes (WTF?)
2: Union Station by David Downing (Pure woke shyte.)
3: The Great Gatsby. (meh)
In 1984 I read 55 books, plus whatever I read for course work, so probably in the neighborhood of 64. My high since then is 48.
Sixty-four is impressive.
Plus I appreciate when someone dislikes the same classics as me. Gatsby is overrated, though I still like the Valley of Ashes reference for our stadium.
According to my Goodreads "Year in Books" roundup, 341 pages was the average per book I've read in 2024. Given that I have plenty of time to read and the genre I prefer (Mystery/Thriller) doesn't require deep thought I usually can get through a book in 5 or 6 days or less.
Really like these best of year recaps and will use them to add to my read list. On vacation now but will gather my tops when I return.
How do you find mystery/thriller books to read? There’s so many but my taste doesn’t line up with the reviews or ratings.
This is great stuff. I’ve only read two off this list: The Ghost Map and River of Doubt. I liked both of them very much.
Your list reminds me that I need to check and see if Steven Johnson has written anything since Ghost Map. As for River of Doubt, I highly recommend Candace Millard’s other books too.
You’ve also reminded me that while I posted my list, I haven’t commented much on what I liked or didn’t. So, I will do that below.
I especially enjoyed the two books on cyber currencies: Number Go Up (title of the year) and Going Infinite. Different, but both very good and very fair. It’s worth getting the Michael Lewis book just to read his depiction of Sam Bankman Fried’s video chat with Anna Wintour.
Path Between Two Seas is about the building of the Panama Canal, first the French failure and then the American success, and is terrific.
I hadn’t read any Stephen King for a long time and decided I needed to rectify that. I read Holly, then his latest, followed by the Outsider, and then the Bill Hodges trilogy. Those are somewhat out of order, as the trilogy precedes the other two. They are all lots of fun, and would likely address mgarbowski ’s need for some good thrillers.
Stalin by Montefiore is very interesting and chilling. The strength is in the research more than the writing. It’s a good prequel to Autocracy Inc., which is necessary reading to understand the nature of today’s global conflicts.
Black Jacobins was a disappointment. The Hatian Revolution is fascinating and undercovered by contemporary history literature. This book is considered by some to be a classic. Unfortunately, it turns out that’s because the author was an unapologetic communist and writes entirely from that perspective. He also lacks the ability to narrate in any kind of a structured or linear manner. So, I am still looking for a good book on that topic. Maybe I will have to write it myself.
FWIW, here is my 2024 top 10:
Novels
Novels
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
- The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
- The Book of Doors, by Gareth Brown
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
- The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
- The Women, by Kristin Hannah
- Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
- Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Return, by Hisham Matar
- The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain
Thank you Gene mgarbowski Gotham Gator for your tops picks. I've added from each of you to my 2025 list.
79 books last year
Good fiction (in order read)
Hell is a World Without You - Jason Kirk. A really good millennial coming of age novel.
Fire in the Hole and Raylan - Elmore Leonard. I find Leonard hit or miss but like all the Raylan Givens books. If you liked Justified they're worth reading.
Human Sacrifices - María Fernanda Ampuero. Horror-ish short stories
Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan. Read 3-9 in 2024, I think I have four to go.
The Idiot - Elif Batuman. Novel
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin
Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters
Bookshops & Bonedust - Travis Baldree
Open Throat - Henry Hoke
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar
Good fiction (in order read)
Hell is a World Without You - Jason Kirk. A really good millennial coming of age novel.
Fire in the Hole and Raylan - Elmore Leonard. I find Leonard hit or miss but like all the Raylan Givens books. If you liked Justified they're worth reading.
Human Sacrifices - María Fernanda Ampuero. Horror-ish short stories
Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan. Read 3-9 in 2024, I think I have four to go.
The Idiot - Elif Batuman. Novel
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin
Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters
Bookshops & Bonedust - Travis Baldree
Open Throat - Henry Hoke
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar
Five more. You're about halfway through what I considered the slog of books 7 to 11 or 12. Jordan had a plan but he nonetheless got a bit lost IMO. But he started pulling it together it really worked, and Sanderson did I think a superb job of finishing the series after Jordan passed, using RJ's extensive notes.