Belated 2024 Reading

[a_cubed]

When i last posted about my reading last year (in APRIL!) I'd almost finished my 25th book of the year. I then didn't post anything about the further reading last year. This wasn't helped by getting a new phone as I remember what I've read (or DNF'd) by checking my ebook reader which handily records which files I open, though not how much I read of it.

1. An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka
2. Felix Castor 1: The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
3. Felix Castor 2: Vicious Circle by Mike Carey
4. Felix Castor 3: Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey
5. Felix Castor 4: Thicker than Water by Mike Carey
6. Felix Castor 5: The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
7. Felix Castor 6: The Ghost in Bone by Mike Carey
8. Murderbot Diaries 1: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
9. Murderbot Diaries 2: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
10. Murderbot Diaries 3: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
11. Murderbot Diaries 4: Exit Stragegy by Martha Wells
12. Murderbot Diaries 5: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
13. Murderbot Diaries 6: Network Effect by Martha Wells
14. Murderbot Diaries 7: System Collapse by Martha Wells
15. The Stranger Times 4: Relight My Fire by C. K. McDonnell
16. Mossa and Pleiti 1: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
17. Mossa and Pleiti 2: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
18. The Midsolar Murders 2: Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty
19. The Warden by Daniel M. Ford
20. Rogues of the Republic 1: The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
21. Rogues of the Republic 2: The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes
22. Rogues of the Republic 3: The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes
23. Kingdom of Grit 1: The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn
24. Kingdom of Grit 2: The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn
25. Kingdom of Grit 3: The Last Lies of Ardor Benn
26. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
27. A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
28. Wicked Problems by Max Gladstone
29. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
30. The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
31. Grief of Stone by Katherine Addison (also connected short Lora Selezh)
32. Melusine by Katherine Addison
33. The Virtu by Katherine Addison
34. The Mirador by Katherine Addison
35. Corambis by Katherine Addison
36. Witch King by Martha Wells
37. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
38. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
39. A Desoation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
40. Rose House by Arkady Martine
41. The Element of Fire by Martha Wells
42. Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
43. The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells
44. City of Bones by Martha Wells
45. The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
46. Finder by Suzanne Palmer
47. Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer
48. The Scavenger Door by Suzanne Palmer
49. Ghostdrift by Suzanne Palmer
50. Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman
51. Starter Villain by John Scalzi (also un-related novella The Dispatcher)
52. Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
53. Throne of The Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
54. The Prefect aka Aurora Rising by Alastair Reynolds (re-read) (also un-related Novella The Thousandth Night, connected to House of Suns)
55. Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds (also Open and Shut related short story)
56. Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds
57. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
58. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

DNF's:
Infinity Gate by Mike (M. R.) Carey
Forbidden Magic by Angus Wells
Any Other Name by Emma Newman (sequel to Between Two Thorns)
Jade City by Fonda Lee

Comments

[vivdunstan]

Interesting list. Thanks for sharing! You're vastly more into scifi than me :)

I am struck by the long runs of successive books on your list though, e.g. 7 Murderbot Diaries books seemingly read in sequence. Do you really binge read a series in a run like that? Just curious, because it's very different from me. I prefer to jump around. I shocked fellow IF community members in the reading thread on the IF forum when I said I'd read "Fellowship of the Ring" last year, but not the rest of LOTR. They were agog that I didn't read them in a run / one go. Whereas I'm flighty and prefer to jump about. I am planning a "Two Towers" reread this autumn or so.

[a_cubed]

I read pretty much only SF and fantasy.

The Murderbot should mostly have been marked re-read, actually. It was only the one new one (plus, many of them are novellas, just one or two full length novels). For series I really like, I will re-read the sequence when a new one comes out, and occasionally just re-read a sequence I like. I did this for the Alex Verus books from Benedict Jacka, re-reading the first 11 when the final volume came out. I just re-read the first of his new series followed by a first read of the second. It depends on how much I like the series, how connected it all is, and how much I can remember of the sequence. With new ones where I'm starting a series that's finished or at least has a number of books available before I start it, I'll often read the whole series if I like it.

The Finder Chronicles was like that. Suzanne Palmer will be our GoH for Hal-Con this April so I read up on her main series of books (I need to read the two shorter works Secret Life of Bots and Raiders of the Lost Bots, too). The Katherine Addision ones were actually two series (well, one series and a standalone novel with two books of a spinoff series). I only just made it through the earlier one of hers (originally published under a different name) which wasn't as good as the Goblin Emperor and the spin-off. but, they were compelling enough story-wise and world-building-wisefor me to keep going, though I wasn't that fond of the characters, which i read after her later-published ones.

So, yes, I generally do read series. I'd have read through Emma Newman's Split Worlds if I hadn't given up in book 2 (main character kept having her agency taken away way too much to be comfortable). I stopped with one book of Martha Wells Raksura books, which I didn't like that much. She'll be our guest for Hal-Con in 2026 and though I love her Murderbot books, I've so far found her fantasy so-so.

I have a feeling I missed something out. Yep, checking my library, I also read Wells' The Element of Fire, Death of the Necromancer and The Wizard Hunters. The first was fairly good, and the second was better (set centuries later), but while set in the same world, decades later and featuring the daughter of the main character from the second book, the next one (first of a trilogy) was a struggle to get through and I gave up on that series as well. I've gone back and added those in.

As previously noted, I recently stopped forcing myself to read through on things I'm not enjoying so much, hence DNF some books and DNF some series, but yes, if I like something I'm likely to keep going through a series, including re-reading a series when a new one comes out, and even try out other books/series by an author I'm enjoying something from.

[vivdunstan]

I DNF quite a lot. And will also often set a book aside to hopefully resume it later. If it's not grabbing me at the right time it can be that the book is fine, but I'm not in the mood for it then, or too ill etc. My "current reading" shelf on Goodreads and Storygraph is a bit scary as a result ;)

[a_cubed]

I used to read multiple pieces of fiction at a time. In particular I would read a hardback book at home but would always carry paperbacks to read on the move. Since most of my reading is ebooks on my phone these days, that's not a problem. Mine doesn't include the non-fiction reading I do for work, of course, though I read few books these days, mostly focussing on papers.

[vivdunstan]

I read almost entirely on my Kindle, but am too distractable/flighty to stick to just one fiction book at a time on there :) Means it takes me a bit longer to get through each book, but I do read *something* every day.