What are you reading in 2024?

[overgeeked]

Just finished Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic for the first time. I’ve tried to read this book four or five times over the years and just could not get into it. Finally managed to read it all the way through over the last few days. There were some funny bits and not funny bits. Lots of absurdity. Not much of an ending. It read more like four short stories or novellas stitched together than a novel.

I’m sure at some point I’ll read the next one. Just not sure when.

I think my reaction is mostly down to decades of hype. Literally nothing could ever live up to the hype surrounding these books. If I’d come in cold, without hearing how amazing they were for decades, I probably could have enjoyed it more.

 

[John Lloyd1]

Just finished Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic for the first time. I’ve tried to read this book four or five times over the years and just could not get into it. Finally managed to read it all the way through over the last few days. There were some funny bits and not funny bits. Lots of absurdity. Not much of an ending. It read more like four short stories or novellas stitched together than a novel.

I’m sure at some point I’ll read the next one. Just not sure when.

I think my reaction is mostly down to decades of hype. Literally nothing could ever live up to the hype surrounding these books. If I’d come in cold, without hearing how amazing they were for decades, I probably could have enjoyed it more.

In the first two he is finding his stride. In Equal Rites he does proper full length plots. Guards! Guards! is where he really hits the mark. Maybe try that one next.

 

[overgeeked]

In the first two he is finding his stride. In Equal Rites he does proper full length plots. Guards! Guards! is where he really hits the mark. Maybe try that one next.

Thanks. I’ve been told much the same before, which is why I tried reading Guards! Guards! about a year ago and bounced off it as well. I’ve read and loved a lot of comic fantasy, including Good Omens. For some reason Pratchett’s Discworld stuff just hasn’t clicked for me.

 

[John Lloyd1]

Thanks. I’ve been told much the same before, which is why I tried reading Guards! Guards! about a year ago and bounced off it as well. I’ve read and loved a lot of comic fantasy, including Good Omens. For some reason Pratchett’s Discworld stuff just hasn’t clicked for me.

I don't have any recommendations then. It has been so long since I've read Good Omens that I could not say what be like Good Omens, but not like Guards! Guards! Most of his work is closer to Guards! Guards!

 

[Pedantic]

Thanks. I’ve been told much the same before, which is why I tried reading Guards! Guards! about a year ago and bounced off it as well. I’ve read and loved a lot of comic fantasy, including Good Omens. For some reason Pratchett’s Discworld stuff just hasn’t clicked for me.

It might be best to simply skip around and see if any synopsis appeals to you (there is really no strong need to read Discworld books in any particular order), though I do agree that Guards! Guards! is really the best starting point, and if you don't like that, you probably won't care for any of them.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading Manly Wade Wellman's The Lost and The Lurking. Good stuff. It mentions more of John's past adventures, giving it a strong sense of continuity. Though I had to re-picture John the Balladeer, as I always pictured him with lighter hair, and this explicitly describes his hair as dark.

Now I'm reading Michelle Remembers, the ground zero for the Satanic Panic. Finally got a copy at a reasonable price.

In the first two he is finding his stride. In Equal Rites he does proper full length plots. Guards! Guards! is where he really hits the mark. Maybe try that one next.

The Night Watch sub-series is easily my favorite in Discworld.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Just finished Smuggler's Cove, which is great for people who like tiki bars and making exotic cocktails. It's like a college course -- although written very conversationally -- about rum, 20th century America, making cocktails and what goes into making home and professional tiki bars. A niche book but a great one if you care about this stuff. In terms of actual cocktails, though, I'd probably say Sippin' Safari is probably a little better, since these recipes are from the best tiki bar in America and use at least some ingredients (including many of them homemade) that ordinary people won't have or have the fridge space to justify making for themselves.

Now onto my reread of Wee Free Men in my great Pratchett re-read. The witch books are possibly my favorite strain of Discworld novels and the Tiffany Aching books come out strong, right out of the gate, as Pratchett at this point knew what ideas he wanted to focus on in witch stories.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Just finished Smuggler's Cove, which is great for people who like tiki bars and making exotic cocktails. It's like a college course -- although written very conversationally -- about rum, 20th century America, making cocktails and what goes into making home and professional tiki bars. A niche book but a great one if you care about this stuff. In terms of actual cocktails, though, I'd probably say Sippin' Safari is probably a little better, since these recipes are from the best tiki bar in America and use at least some ingredients (including many of them homemade) that ordinary people won't have or have the fridge space to justify making for themselves.

Yeah, as much as you get some really nice cocktails by adding fancy homemade syrups, it takes work, and you're often just making one for just that cocktail. Like, how many cocktails are going to use chamomile-infused simple syrup (I know of about two)?

Now onto my reread of Wee Free Men in my great Pratchett re-read. The witch books are possibly my favorite strain of Discworld novels and the Tiffany Aching books come out strong, right out of the gate, as Pratchett at this point knew what ideas he wanted to focus on in witch stories.

The Tiffany Aching books are really good. Filled with the humor and truth that is the hallmark of Discworld at its finest.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, as much as you get some really nice cocktails by adding fancy homemade syrups, it takes work, and you're often just making one for just that cocktail. Like, how many cocktails are going to use chamomile-infused simple syrup (I know of about two)?

Martin Cate's confidence that we all have bottles of apricot liqueur around, ready to use in multiple recipes, is kind of amusing. Martin, I can't even consistently get even very common rum like Prusser's, and that's not in the least bit exotic.

The Tiffany Aching books are really good. Filled with the humor and truth that is the hallmark of Discworld at its finest.

His daughter also wrote a Tiffany Aching related book (not a novel) and I'm looking forward to picking that up once I've finished the novels.

 

[Pedantic]

Yeah, as much as you get some really nice cocktails by adding fancy homemade syrups, it takes work, and you're often just making one for just that cocktail. Like, how many cocktails are going to use chamomile-infused simple syrup (I know of about two)?

I've found if you go through the effort to set up a seltzer fountain in your house, you'll eventually make your way through any syrup or shrub or other flavoring concoction in homemade soda form.