Books to Read in 2024

01 Jan 2024 1 Comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

It is a little after midnight on New Year’s Day as I’m starting to write this post. I have been cramming books onto my 2024 to-be-read list in a mad rush, like there is some sort of rule that once the ball drops in Times Square, I won’t be allowed to add any more for the year. I mean, that’s not true at all, but part of me feels like I have to have a plan for the year finalized by January 1. Well, here is my (once again) very unrealistic list of 113 books I plan to read for 2024:

How did I come up with this list? There are several considerations that go into this (paid links below):

What else goes into my choices? Well, I am trying not to start any new series. But on the list above, I also have several new series… what can I say? I am inconsistent. To be fair, some of the series on here are ones where I read the first book many, many years ago but was unable to finish the series (because it hadn’t all been published yet or because I got distracted by other books).

In that vein, I’m going to continue on my read-through of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I’m also going to read Dune #4-6, which I had put aside after reading #1-3 in 2022 (paid links).

As the year goes on, I’ll add even more books to this list, perpetuating my never-ending pile and pushing more of these off to 2025. I need more hours in the day.

Of all these books, which ones are up first for the year? Well right now, I’m already reading the first of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series in audiobook format. I’m also about a third of the way through Not Like Us by Doc Honour, a writing critique partner (paid links). After that, here is what I have planned:

Let me go back to the numbers now. I have 113 books on my list for 2024. Even given that some are shorter novellas or graphic novels, that still comes out to about 9.5 books per month, or more than 2 books per week. And some of these books aren’t short, so what is realistically going to happen?

I usually end up reading somewhere between 40 and 50 books each year. I tend to read several books at once, so one goal I’m making for this year is to try to minimize how often I start a new book without finishing others. I feel like I’ll be more engaged in a book if I’m not splitting my attention between several of them. (However, I will still have an audiobook going while reading something in print).

Off to do some reading now…

How do you choose which books you’re going to read? What books are you most excited about reading in 2024? Let me know in the comments (above)!

2023 Wrap-Up and Best Reads

29 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The year has almost come to an end and it’s time to look back at my reading for the year. This is one of my favorite types of posts to write, so let’s get to it! Here is my graphic of all the books I have finished so far in 2023, for a total of 46!

While I had set an unrealistic goal to read 100 books for the year back in this post, 50 is a more reasonable amount for me. As I’m writing this post, I have a few more days remaining in the month, with two more books that I should definitely be able to finish. I may grab a couple of graphic novels or a shorter novel and binge read to see if I can hit 50 by the end of the year.

How did my 2023 reading break down in terms of genre and formats?

  • 20 books were stand-alone fiction novels.
  • 18 were audiobooks.
  • I had one DNF (did-not-finish) book that actually doesn’t appear on this list.
  • 2 were non-fiction, and one of those I hope to finish in the next few days is as well.
  • 2 novels were not in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and 1 was on the border of genre.
  • I finished (or kept up with) the books in 8 different series.
  • I started to read 5 new series.
  • 3 were graphic novels.

Here are my favorite books from the year with some comments and links to full reviews below:

Rule Of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
  • Fairy Tale by Stephen King was a wonderful stand-alone fantasy novel (paid link). You can find my review here.
  • I finished listening to The Witcher series (audiobooks) this year with The Lady of the Lake (paid link). While I’ve read that the ending is controversial, I thought it was appropriate to the series. You can read my review here.
  • The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip is an older book and was also a type of fairy tale story (paid link). You can find my review here.
  • In my ongoing read of Leigh Bardugo’s books, my favorites were the Six of Crows duology which I just reviewed here and here, as well as the next two books, Rule of Wolves and King of Scars, which I will be reviewing soon (paid links).
  • I also read Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series, and while I thought that the ending fell a bit flat, the second book, The Last Graduate, was a harrowing read (paid link). My review is here.
  • Babel was a long stand-alone novel but its themes have inspired conversations about real-world events since I read it (paid link). This is a tragic story but was very well-done, and I highly recommend reading it. You can find my review here.
  • Elder Race is a novella that combined science fiction and fantasy into one story and was a nice introduction to this author’s work (paid link). I haven’t had a chance to review it here yet.
  • The two non-genre novels that I read, Where the Crawdads Sing and Horse were both very good, so if you’re looking for a break from sci-fi/fantasy, these are solid reading choices (paid links). My reviews are here and here.
  • Shannon Chakraborty won my reading heart with her Daevabad trilogy which I reviewed here, here, and here (paid links). So when she released the first book in a new series, I had to pick it up immediately. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi was such a fun adventure story, and I’ll be writing a full review soon. You could also read this as a stand-alone story.
  • The last book on this list is a dieselpunk adventure comic/graphic novel which I just finished this week. Skies of Fire (#1-4) was produced as a Kickstarter and I really enjoyed reading this. I’ll have a review up soon.

Lastly, did I read the books that I had planned to read on my post from the beginning of 2023? The answer to this is always, NO, but where did I go off track? Here are some thoughts on that:

  • I had meant to read more of the Sandman series of graphic novels, but only got through one more in 2023.
  • I also had meant to continue my read-through of The Wheel of Time, but only read book #4 in 2023.
  • I didn’t get to read any more of the Dune books, but there was also a natural end-point after Dune Messiah.
  • There were several series on my list that I’ve been meaning to finish for several years. I still didn’t make any progress on these.
  • I didn’t read any classics in 2023, even though I had a few on my list.

Here is a visual of some of those books that I didn’t get to, but still plan to read soon:

That’s my recap of my reading year for 2023! How did you do in your own goals? What were your favorite books for the year? Let me know in the comments (above).

10 Authors I Haven’t Read Yet

20 Nov 2023 2 Comments

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I had the idea for this post from another book blog that I follow and I thought it would be an interesting topic in regard to my own reading. My goal in creating this list was to think of ten authors that I am dying to read, but haven’t had time to get to yet. I started with a longer list and then pared it down to just these ten:

  1. Iain M. Banks – I have read the blurb for the first book in this author’s Culture series (paid link) and I honestly can’t tell what it’s about other than something with a sprawling intergalactic story which is something I generally love. This is a series with 9 books so far.
  1. Pierce Brown – this author is best known for the Red Rising Saga (paid link) which started out as a trilogy and has now grown to six books. Caste warfare on a dystopian Mars????? Yes, please!
  1. P. Djeli Clark is an author that I was not terribly aware of until I listened to him talk in a writing class sponsored by Orbit Books. He spoke about scene structure and sounds like an author who writes diverse and compelling stories (paid link).
  1. James S. A. Corey is a pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck who are best known for The Expanse series (paid link). This science fiction epic was the basis for the television series on Amazon Prime of the same name which is currently in my queue to finish. I plan to read the books once I’ve finished the show.
  1. Diana Gabaldon is best known for writing the Outlander series of historical time-travel romance novels (paid link). I watched the first season of the television show and loved it (but then got distracted – I don’t stick with tv very well). My mother is a huge fan of both the books and the show and if I don’t read this series soon she’ll probably disown me. It currently sits at nine books and is supposed to be complete with the tenth volume.
  1. Ann Leckie wrote the Imperial Radch trilogy of science fiction novels (paid link) that won the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards and was also recommended to me by friends. I picked up the first book but haven’t had the time to start it yet. So many books, so little time…
  1. Sarah J. Maas – I’m torn on this one because I’ve heard mixed reviews of her writing. I first heard of her Throne of Glass series, and now the author’s more recent series (A Court of Thorns and Roses) (paid links) has been added to the list of banned books in some conservative parts of the country – which makes it crucial to read it, right?!?! These are fantasy romance with faeries and probably some magic and swords. As long as the writing isn’t too painful, I’ll probably at least have fun with these.
  1. Seanan McGuire has written a ton of books. Her series include the October Daye, Wayward Children, and Alchemical Journeys books (paid links). The good news is that I’m planning to read Every Heart a Doorway for a book club discussion in the next few months. This series involves children and portals.
  1. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has written several stand-alone novels. Many appear to have a more gothic flavor to them, which is something that I have not read a lot of. I don’t know if I’d like these, but she has received awards and acclaim, so I’m open to taking a look. I already picked up Gods of Jade and Shadow a few years ago and haven’t had time to read it (paid link).
  1. V.E. Schwab is the last author on my list. She has written the Shades of Magic trilogy which explores parallel Londons in a threatened multiverse. Her more recent book, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue looks like a stand-alone novel about a woman who wins immortality but, in exchange, is forgotten by everyone she meets (paid links).

Have you read any of the authors on my list? Which one should I read first? What authors would be on your list? Let me know in the comments (above).

February Reading Wrap-Up

03 Mar 2023 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

February was a tough reading month for me. I was busy with travel and work obligations, so I didn’t finish reading as many books as I had hoped. Looking back at the details, I only finished these two books below:

Paid links help to support this blog.

The Lady of the Lake is the 7th (publication order) book in The Witcher Saga and concluded the main plot of the series. You can read my review of this book here. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip is a stand-alone novel that has a fairy-tale-like feel. I will be writing a full review of this one soon.

Despite only having finished these two books, I still managed a fair amount of reading. I just finished The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix today (technically in March). I’m also almost done with the second volume of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski.

The Wheel of Time has become a slog, but I’m persisting on my read-through. I remember having this same experience when I read these books for the first time. The first three books were exciting and well-paced, and then The Shadow Rising (book 4) just drags. I am making progress though and I’m hoping to get a review done soon.

The only other book I’m reading is Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee. This book is an advance copy that I received courtesy of Net Galley, but I have only just started this one.

For March, I’m going to finish The Shadow Rising, Season of Storms, and Perilous Times. After that, I’m not exactly sure what will be next, but you can see some of the options in the graphic below.

That’s it! What are you planning to read for March? Let me know in the comments (above).

January Reading Update

31 Jan 2023 2 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Since I set my reading goals pretty high for 2023, I thought it might be interesting to check in at the end of each month to see how I did. For January, I had hoped to read these 9 books (which was also a completely unrealistic goal for me):

Paid links help to support this blog.

So – how did I do? I finished reading and reviewed 4 of these:

As for the others, I have literally 49 minutes left in the audiobook for The Lady of the Lake, the final book in The Witcher Saga, so I should finish that one today. I’m really curious but also anxious and a little scared to see how the series ends because of lines like this:

Because a story where the decent ones die and the scoundrels live and carry on doing what they want is full of shit.

– Geralt of Rivia

I have also started volume 2 of The Sandman graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. I had expected this to be a faster read, but the second installment is significantly longer than the first one.

I also started The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, but I don’t expect to have time to finish that one until at least next week. I have to say that it was nice to jump back into The Wheel of Time and refresh my mind about where the story left off with all the characters.

I did not have time to start Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales or the audiobook of Season of Storms (a Witcher series prequel), but those will be my next reads as I start off February.

What else is on my list for Februrary? Nine more books!

I’m planning to get back to reading all of the Dune series written by Frank Herbert with God Emperor of Dune. I have two books on my list for book clubs: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (an author new to me).

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee is a new release that I obtained courtesy of NetGalley, while The Middling Affliction by Alex Shvartsman is a novel that I helped support via Kickstarter, written by a local author friend of mine. I have previously reviewed his earlier novel, Eridani’s Crown (review here).

I enjoyed the first book in Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series (A Deadly Education) so much that I need to finish that series with The Last Graduate and The Golden Enclaves. And lastly, I’m planning to read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo in audiobook format because I need to expand my knowledge of the Grishaverse.

Otherwise, my computer is limping along but takes about 10 minutes to start up. I should probably start shopping for a new system. And… I have just started a fitness challenge (week 1) and I have a fencing competition in Manhattan this weekend so I’m staying busy!

How are your reading goals going for 2023 so far? Have you read anything really good yet? Let me know in the comments (above).

An Update on Books and Reading Goals

21 Jul 2022 1 Comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I just realized that we are halfway through 2022, so I thought this might be a good time to stop and look back at how the year has been going.

First – reading goals! I had set an unrealistic goal to read 89 books this year, when I normally struggle to get through 50 in that time frame. As of today, I have finished 23 books, which puts me at 23% of that original goal, but not far off the mark for reaching 50 this year.

Here is a graphic of what I’ve read so far in 2022:

Paid links help to support this blog.

My plan to read one book from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series every month has gone astray, along with reading one Dune book every month. I have made it through half (3 of 6) of the Dune books by the original author, and only 3 of 14 of The Wheel of Time.

As always seems to happen, I have picked up books I didn’t originally have on my 2022 list, and then branched off into new series and authors. I think that for 2023 I will have to focus on finishing some series that I’ve started.

What am I reading now? Look – pretty covers! I am listening to the next book in The Witcher series – The Time of Contempt. On Kindle, I’m reading Lover Unbound, a book in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series which is sort of a guilty pleasure (sexy vampires, yeah), and In a Garden Burning Gold which I received courtesy of NetGalley for review.

After I finish those, next up are these options:

All of these are continuations in a series, except for The Water Dancer. I think I have a series problem!

Which should I read first? Let me know in the comments above. What other books and series have you read this year and enjoyed? Help me add to my ridiculous to-be-read list!

Find my book reviews here.

Reading Update – April 2022

19 Apr 2022 2 Comments

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sooo… my reading goals for 2022 are probably not very realistic, judging by my current progress. For my 2022 Goodreads reading challenge, I have set a goal to read 89 books. So far, I’ve finished 12 of them, putting me 14 books behind that pace.

Paid links help to support this blog.

This graphic above shows those I’ve read. I’m not sure how I can read at any faster pace unless I quit my job, sleep even less than I do, or figure out how to bend time and space. I’m already listening to audiobooks to help make use of my otherwise useless driving time. At the end of the day, it isn’t truly about the numbers. It’s about the enjoyment of reading. But I agonize over my list of books and how there are so many that I feel like I will never get to, thus the attempt to set reading goals.

So what am I currently reading? I have started on Children of Dune by Frank Herbert but haven’t made it very far on this one yet. I’m about halfway through The Witch’s Heart by Genivieve Gornichec which I bought on a whim, and I’m a short way into Light by John M. Harrison in audiobook format for an upcoming book club discussion.

I’m enjoying Children of Dune and The Witch’s Heart but I’m struggling to get into Light. I haven’t found the characters very compelling and the futuristic cyperpunk-type of world is difficult to understand.

Coming up, the next few books on my to-be-read list are In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power (thanks to NetGalley), The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time #4) by Robert Jordan, The Skull Throne (Demon Cycle #4) by Peter V. Brett, and Station Eleven (audiobook) by Emily St. John Mandel.

Hopefully I’ll get a review up by the end of the week for The Witch’s Heart. I have some travel planned and a 2-hour flight can help to create some uninterrupted reading time.

What are you reading? Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Let me know in the comments above.

March Reading and Writing Updates

07 Mar 2022 4 Comments

by Clare in Books, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Wow! Somehow it got to be March already! And of course I’m behind schedule from where I wanted to be on my reading, but I’m not surprised, given that I set a bit of an unrealistic goal.

Looking back at February, here is how it went: I managed to finish Magical Midlife Madness by K. F. Breene (review here) and All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (review here). I just finished Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert this past weekend (technically in March) and I have a review coming up on that book later this week. With some work-related projects and other obligations, I got bogged down and didn’t get through all the other books I wanted to.

Paid links help to support this blog.

The other books I’m currently reading are The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan and Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. With a long drive this weekend, I’m making solid progress on Harrow the Ninth because I’m listening to that as an audiobook. I also pulled out The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett (my physical non-e-book read) after I finished Magical Midlife Madness, but then decided I needed to catch up on The Dragon Reborn before starting it.

I haven’t given any writing updates recently. I hardly made any progress in February, but I’m expecting that to improve in March. Current projects include the first draft of a hard sci-fi stand alone novel with a working title of East of the Sun, continued work on a stand along sword and sorcery novel called Daughter of the Sun, and a rewrite of a short story involving dream magic. I don’t know why both novel projects involve the sun, but I think East of the Sun will get renamed at some point.

Also, if you haven’t seen it already, Brandon Sanderson sort of shamed all writers out there in regards to productivity last week. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out his video here. So clearly I need to up my writing game.

Are you reading as much as you had hoped this year? Are you a writer? Tell me about your projects in the comments above.

Reading Update – 6-ish Weeks In

21 Feb 2022 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I wanted to stop to check in on my reading progress, given that I set a rather ambitious reading goal for the year of 89 books. It felt like I wasn’t making any progress at all for much of January. But part of that was because I tend to read several books at once.

How do I sort out what I’m reading when I’m tackling multiple books at once? I actually don’t have a good system, but I’m trying to come up with one.

Paid links help to support this blog.

For this year, I’m trying to choose my books partly by how I’m reading them. So at any given time, I’m going to read one e-book on my Kindle, one e-book on my phone, one physical book, and one audiobook. This graphic above shows what I have already read for the year.

I’m also trying to be a little more intentional about my reading. What I mean by this is that I’m using Goodreads to create multiple shelves. I already have a 2022 books-to-read list (and a 2023 one, but that’s a separate problem). But now I’m dividing it out into monthly shelves as well. I’m hoping this will help keep me on track with longer series by seeing how long it will actually take me to get through those books. Look below to see what is on my February 2022 list:

So you can see from these books that I’m gradually working my way through several series. One goal I have is to read one book from The Wheel of Time every month, as well as one Dune book each month. That by itself will keep me busy! And then there’s this darn Demon Cycle (The Skull Throne) I really want to finish but have a hard time continuing.

I also have set this up to work with the different formats. I have The Wheel of Time as e-books on my Kindle and Dune is an e-book on my phone. Harrow the Ninth and Instinct are audiobooks, and Magical Midline Madness and The Skull Throne are physical books. If I finish up by the end of the month I’ll throw in another short book or start on my March list.

This plan still doesn’t get me to my goal of 89 books for the year, but that’s okay! I do have a lot of long books frontloaded in my plan for the year. I’ll have to add some shorter novels or graphic novels as I go. I also delete books from my list once I’ve read them so I feel like I’m checking them off.

How do you organize your reading? How is your reading year going? Let me know in the comments above.

Read some of my book reviews here.

Book Review – Neverwhere

17 Feb 2022 1 Comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

This was the second time that I read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. One of my book clubs had decided to read it and since it had been quite a while since I read it the first time, I picked it up again.

Paid links help to support this blog.

Here is the blurb:

Under the streets of London there’s a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.

Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: Neverwhere.

I found this to be an odd little book. Richard Mayhew is cast into a secret fantastical world beneath London after he stops to help an injured girl on the street. He encounters rat-speakers, a fierce bodyguard, and numerous other strange beings in his pursuit of the girl named Door. Trying to reclaim his former life, he is caught up in Door’s quest and the mystery surrounding the death of her family as they flee enemies with an ever-changing agenda. I enjoyed this book, but I felt like I never quite knew what was going on. It lacked tension until the end but was otherwise enjoyable to read.

I’m always torn on Gaiman’s books. I really didn’t like American Gods, but found this book readable and intriguing, despite its flaws. Many years ago I read some of the Sandman graphic novels, but I don’t remember them well. So, I’m going to try to read The Graveyard Book soon because that is one that’s been recommended to me a few times.

Have you read Neverwhere? Do you have other books by Neil Gaiman you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments above.

Find more of my reviews here.

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 415 other subscribers