What are you reading in 2024?

[Reynard]

I started Console Wars, which has been on my radar for a while. I was a PC gamer from the early 80s on, so I never really connected with the Nintendo/SEGA war, but I love books about the history of and drama in game development (Blood Sweat and Pixels is one of my favorite books).

 

[prabe]

Still on something like my rhythm, so the last three books: One by One by Ruth Ware, a pretty conventional thriller novel by someone who's probably read too much Dame Agatha, lots of cheating going on, here; Icarus by Deon Meyer, a police procedural set in South Africa, lots of local slang and Afrikaans thrown in but understandable, a central plot apparently inspired by real life things, obviously part of a series but decently standalone; The Curator by Owen King, cluttered and busy and borderline disjointed, pretty clearly a short story entombed in a 500-page novel, one of the blurbs should have warned me off.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Getting a Kobo changed my life (I use a Kindle now, because it gets even deeper discounts, but same thing). I donated all those boxes of books and am never going back. I still buy physical books for graphic novels and comics, most of which I done to our school library, and I occasionally buy a physical book for gaming just because of the art, but that's it.

I save a small fortune, have a lot more space and a lot less clutter, and I'm not killing nearly as many trees.

I love my Kindle, and use it for most new book purchases, with a few exceptions. For a lot of the older Appendix N and adjacent readings, I still prefer to read the old print versions, with their lovely old book smell and glorious covers.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Currently catching up on something I should have done decades ago, and reading the Chronicles of Amber. Darn it's good!

 

[overgeeked]

Another Mushoku Tensei done and dusted, Vol 23 this time. The series ends with Vol 26, so I’m nearing the end. Still more pawns moving into position, a few surprises, and some plot threads from way back being tied up. In the next three volumes I’m expecting a big fight, a big twist, a big reveal, and some version of over-powered isekai harem protagonist happy ending. I think I’ve said it before, but if the author can stick the landing, this will easily be one of my top 10 fantasy series.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished McKinley's The Blue Sword. Enjoyed the heck out of it. The story felt very much like Dune meets The Wind and the Lion.

Now I'm re-reading Terry Brooks The Sword of Shannara. Its 700 pages are way beyond my usual reading length these days.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Now I'm re-reading Terry Brooks The Sword of Shannara. Its 700 pages are way beyond my usual reading length these days.

Pretty sure I'll never re-read anything by Brooks but if I did it would be that one, at least it was self-contained. Given the time it was printed in I'm still vaguely surprised it wasn't published as a duology or even trilogy. 700 pages was an absolute behemoth for a paperback in those day. Maybe the idea was to look like Tolkein but bigger and therefore better? Or did it just not have any good break points to divide the story into multiple volumes?

Certainly helped start the trend of fantasy paperbacks bricks, regardless of why.

 

[Nellisir]

Finished Heavy Time. I really do like Cherryh but suspect this might be a harder read for many people. It's slow for a lot, and the protags are both ancillary to the real events and pivotal. Kinda like the spark in powder room.

Reading this 30 years after I first read it helped. Politics and unions.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Finished Heavy Time. I really do like Cherryh but suspect this might be a harder read for many people. It's slow for a lot, and the protags are both ancillary to the real events and pivotal. Kinda like the spark in powder room.

Reading this 30 years after I first read it helped. Politics and unions.

It's not her most thrilling read, granted. Still, I have soft spot for "belter" stories even if this one is more depressing (and probably realistic) than most.

Are you going on to re-read Hellburner, which was pretty much a direct sequel?

If I'm remembering my timelines right, I wonder if her current Alliance series is going to wind up crossing paths with some elements of HT/Hellburner. Alliance might be a little too early yet, though. Should probably re-read both books while I'm waiting for the new one just on case, it's been a very long time now.

 

[Zaukrie]

The Witch King ..... About twenty percent thru. Really liking it so far.