Once again, hello book-loving GOGgers and welcome to a new year filled with other lives and worlds to experience, as well as depictions, analyses and commentaries about the one we happen to find ourselves in.

This is the place to list all the books you read in 2024, with as many and as few comments as you want about each. Asking for or offering book recommendations, exchanging impressions about books and having other discussions about books is also welcome.
If you want your list post to be linked to here, make sure to put "include me" in it at least until I'll add it here. After it's added, you may remove those words if you wish.
You may, of course, organize your "central" post as you wish, but if I may make a recommendation, it would be nice if on top of the full list of the books you read this year, for each title there would also be links to your reviews or commentaries posted either in this thread or elsewhere, ratings using whichever system you prefer, and if possible also dates.
In addition, if you want me to also include here a link to your profile on a book-related site, like Goodreads, LibraryThing or The StoryGraph, or even a personal site, or section of a site, dedicated to books, make sure to put "include link" in your list post at least until I'll add it here. Again, after it's added, you may remove those words if you wish. If you want multiple such links to be included, make sure to put "include" before each. If you add any such links without the word "include" first, I'll assume you don't want them added to the OP.
If I missed anything or you have any other questions or suggestions, feel free to PM me. And you may also want to do that if you edit your list post in order to add links to other profiles after I already added a link to the post here, so I won't miss the change.

Readers:

andysheets1975
Cavalary (Goodreads, The StoryGraph)
chevkoch
ciemnogrodzianin
InkPanther
Lifthrasil
matterbandit
Microfish_1
seba_86 (Goodreads)
Timboli

Previous years:
2023 (11 readers, 96 posts)
2022 (9 readers, 121 posts)
2021 (13 readers, 214 posts)
2020 (15 readers, 335 posts)
2019 (14 readers, 177 posts)
2018 (16 readers, 226 posts)
2017 (no centralized list, 107 posts)
2016 (no centralized list, 309 posts)
2015 (no centralized list, 155 posts)
2014 (no centralized list, 208 posts)

And since I mentioned those previous threads, I also want to once again thank the previous managers: ciemnogrodzianin (2018-2021, also bringing the format of the centralized lists from the games threads to the books ones), catpower1980 (2017), madth3 (2015, 2016) and IShoot4lolz (2014).

Good on you again mate, thanks .... "include me" again please.

What I Read In 2022 - (this also contains links for what I read in 2019, 2020, 2021)
What I Read In 2023

A list of short stories I have been reading, some interspersed through the following, and previous years.

2023
92 - VAL McDERMID [44] - 1989 - PCF - 28-DEC-23 --> 04-JAN-24 (Kobo)

2024
01 - DAVID BALDACCI [43] - DELIVER US FROM EVIL - PCF - 06-JAN-24 --> 07-JAN-24 (Kobo)
02 - J. ROBERT KENNEDY [58] - SINS OF THE CHILD - PCF - 08-JAN-24 --> 09-JAN-24 (Paperwhite)
03 - KATHY REICHS [16] - BONES ARE FOREVER - PCF - 09-JAN-24 --> 11-JAN-24 (Kobo)
04 - LEE CHILD [4] - NO MIDDLE NAME - PCF - 18-APR-22 --> reading (Kobo) Short Stories
.. (3) Second Son - 11-JAN-24 --> 12-JAN-24
05 - M.J. ROSE [1] - IN SESSION - PCF - 12-JAN-24 --> 12-JAN-24 (Kobo) Short Stories
.. (1) Extenuating Circumstances (Cotton Malone) - 12-JAN-24 --> 12-JAN-24 (M.J. ROSE & Steve Berry)
.. (2) Decisions, Decisions (John Rain) - 12-JAN-24 --> 12-JAN-24 (M.J. ROSE & Barry Eisler)
.. (3) Knowing You’re Alive (Jack Reacher) - 12-JAN-24 --> 12-JAN-24 (M.J. ROSE & Lee Child)
06 - LEE CHILD [18] - A WANTED MAN - PCF - 13-JAN-24 --> 17-JAN-24 (Kobo)
07 - ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH [36] - THE COLOURS OF ALL THE CATTLE - PCF - 18-JAN-24 --> 21-JAN-24 (Paperwhite)
08 - JAMES PATTERSON [9] - THE 5TH HORSEMAN - PCF - 22-JAN-24 --> 24-JAN-24 (Kobo)
09 - MICHAEL CONNELLY [7] - BLOOD WORK - PCF - 25-JAN-24 --> 27-JAN-24 (Kobo)
10 - PATRICIA CORNWELL [4] - CRUEL AND UNUSUAL - PCF - 27-JAN-24 --> 30-JAN-24 (Kobo)
11 - ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY [10] - THE SCARAB PATH - PCF - 30-JAN-24 --> 04-FEB-24 (Kobo)
12 - ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH [37] - UNUSUAL USES FOR OLIVE OIL - TRA - 04-FEB-24 --> 07-FEB-24
... Brad Thor Collectors' Edition #1 (Omnibus) - (3) - BRAD THOR - 27-OCT-23 --> 09-FEB-24
13 - BRAD THOR [5] - STATE OF THE UNION - PCF - 07-FEB-24 --> 09-FEB-24 (Kobo)
14 - ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY [11] - THE SEA WATCH - PCF - 09-FEB-24 --> 16-FEB-24 (Kobo)
15 - J. ROBERT KENNEDY [59] - RED EAGLE - PCF - 17-FEB-24 --> 01-MAR-24 (Paperwhite)
16 - ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY [12] - HEIRS OF THE BLADE - PCF - 03-MAR-24 --> 24-MAR-24 (Kobo)
17 - MICHAEL CONNELLY [8] - ANGELS FLIGHT - PCF - 26-MAR-24 --> 30-MAR-24 (Kobo)
18 - KATHY REICHS [17] - Bones In Her Pocket - PCF - 31-MAR-24 --> 31-MAR-24 (Paperwhite) Novella
... Roy Grace: Books 1–10 (Omnibus) - (1) - PETER JAMES - 05-APR-24 -->
19 - PETER JAMES [2] - DEAD SIMPLE - PCF - 05-APR-24 --> 14-APR-24 (Kobo)
20 - ANDREW GRANT [5] - EVEN - PCF - 14-APR-24 --> 19-APR-24 (Paperwhite)
21 - DAVID LUDDINGTON [11] - THE KING OF SCANLON'S ROCK - PCF - 21-APR-24 --> reading (Paperwhite)
... Roy Grace: Books 1–10 (Omnibus) - (2) - PETER JAMES - 05-APR-24 -->
22 - PETER JAMES [3] - LOOKING GOOD DEAD - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
23 - ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY [13] - THE AIR WAR - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
24 - DAVID BALDACCI [44] - ONE SUMMER - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
25 - J. ROBERT KENNEDY [60] - THE CUBAN INCIDENT - PCF - not yet --> (Paperwhite)
26 - PATRICIA CORNWELL [5] - THE BODY FARM - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
27 - LEE CHILD [19] - NEVER GO BACK - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
28 - ANDREW GRANT [6] - DIE TWICE - PCF - not yet --> (Paperwhite)
29 - MICHAEL CONNELLY [9] - VOID MOON - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
30 - ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY [14] - WAR MASTER'S GATE - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
31 - BRANDON SANDERSON [5] - SKYWARD - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
32 - ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH [38] - TO THE LAND OF LONG LOST FRIENDS - PCF - not yet --> (Paperwhite)
33 - TERRY BROOKS [45] - MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE -- SOLD! - Pb - not yet -->
34 - ANDY WEIR [1] - THE MARTIAN - PCF - not yet --> (Paperwhite)
35 - KATHY REICHS [18] - BONES OF THE LOST - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
36 - DAVID BALDACCI [45] - THE SIXTH MAN - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)
37 - ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH [39] - YOUR INNER HEDGEHOG - PCF - not yet --> (Kobo)

I hope to read multiple books this year, been wanting to get that done.

Shogun, James Clavell
★★★★★ , 03.03.2024 [reread]

Nor Crystal Tears, Alan Dean Foster
★★★☆☆ , 08.03.2024

Rezerwat dla naukowców, Kir Bułyczow
★★★☆☆ , 25.03.2024


---
My scale:
★☆☆☆☆ nope
★★☆☆☆ meh
★★★☆☆ okay
★★★★☆ good
★★★★★ great

The Best of John W. Campbell, edited by Lester Del Rey
The Ginger Star, by Leigh Brackett
The Providence Rider, by Robert McCammon

Include me, please.
And thank you for the thread!

Include me please and thank you!

January 2024:
* Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin 8/10
* Melissa Yi - The Italian School for Assassins 6/10
* Marie Brennan - Dancing the Warrior (part 1 of the Doppelganger Omnibus) Post 12
* Marie Brennan - Warrior (part two of the Doppelganger Omnibus)
* Marie Brennan Witch (Part 3 of the Doppelganger Omnibus)

Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin. I loved this book! Or, at least until it took a dark turn in the last 2 or 4 chapters. Thant was very disappointing. It went from a 10/10 to an 8/10 or 7/10.
I do love the MC's resiliency and stick-to-it-tiveness. More details about the aerial training would have been nice tho.

February
Thomas K. Carpenter's <i>The Reluctant Assassin</i> 5/10

Thanks much, Cavalary; include me please.

--
The Black Obelisk by Erich Maria Remarque [read Dec '23 - Jan '24]

A story set in a small German town during the short time period of fragile rest between WWI and the next gobal one soon to follow. I mostly enjoyed this book as I generally like stories that depict simpler days and a slower pace of life. Melancholy, also funny. The challenges of navigating existence when your approach to life lies more on the pensive side of things.

I believe it is the third book by Remarque that I've now read. When I was much younger, I read All Quiet on the Western Front and Spark of Life.
--

Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity by Gary Cross [read Jan '24 - Feb '24]
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel [read Feb '24]
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman [read Feb '24 - Mar '24]
The Invincible by Stanisław Lem [read Mar '24]
Doom Guy: Life in First Person by John Romero [read Mar '24 - Apr '24]

* Click on ratings for the review

***** Jan 2024 *****
° (Spa) I. Asimov - The Caves of Steel / The Naked Sun (Robots, #1-2) _ _ _ _ ★★★★☆
° (Spa) M. Moorcock - The Vanishing Tower (Elric Saga) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ★★☆☆☆
° (Spa) M. Moorcock - The Bane of the Black Sword (Elric Saga) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ★☆☆☆☆
° (Spa) J. Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ★★★☆☆

***** Feb 2024 *****
° (Spa) J. L. Borges. - El libro de arena _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ★★★☆☆
° (Eng) G. Wolfe - Epiphany of the Long Sun (Book of the Long Sun, #3-4) _ _ _ _ _ ★☆☆☆☆

The Best of John W. Campbell. Stories from the 1930s chosen by Lester Del Rey, some written under Campbell's alias of Don Stuart.

I have mixed feelings about the book as a whole. Campbell was actually a better prose stylist than many sci-fi writers of the time, many of whom were glorified amateurs or young writers who'd get better with experience. When Campbell's on, he knew how to create a sense of atmosphere or sometimes had a clever way of describing things, although he still sometimes threw out clunkers like referring to someone's brain as a "thinking organ" or something.

Campbell was one of the first really big idea guys. Several of the stories in the book deal with issues that unfold over several thousand years, often something to do with humans being conquered by aliens, ruled by them over much time, then throwing them off thanks to unforeseen evolutions such as developing psychic powers the aliens lack. The earlier stories have a melancholic mood as Campbell seemed to think human civilization would reach a peak and then inevitably decline as they would have nothing left to strive for and then simply forget how they rose up in the first place, and then maybe die out meekly. Once he came up with the idea of people gaining telepathy and stuff, he seemed to get a bit more optimistic and built his stories around the humans' triumph. The aliens aren't demonized even when they're technically oppressing the people - they usually are benign but also a bit smug and manipulative in their superiority.

The downside of dealing with such large scales of time and space is that individual characters don't register strongly if at all. Even when Campbell zeroes in on particular people, it's clear that they're just small yet pivotal links in extremely long chains. And when they do talk, they sound like eggheads puzzling out something, going back and forth at length about fictitious technical challenges instead of doing things. You don't stick with someone as they work in the lab, attempting things and then re-attempting until they break through. You just hear them tell someone how the invisibility cloak or whatever works after the fact. Which was the point: Campbell's vision for sci-fi that he pushed as an editor was that it was supposed to be technical and involve long-winded explanations of The Science over "show don't tell" action. It's not my preference as a reader and it did wear me down a bit over the course of the book.

The notable exception is Who Goes There? which is probably his most famous story since it's the basis for The Thing movie. It's still very much concerned with How The Alien Works, but it also takes place in a contained setting with a few main characters (out of like 32 people in the compound). Still a bit dry in style and more about atmosphere than a rich plot, but very effective in how it creates a sense of paranoia. In some ways, the version of the monster here is more insidious than the one in the movie, although I do have an overall preference for the film since it does have a more involved plot.

Please include me

Currently reading:

Grey by Leonie Swann
Starts great

.
Finished:

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
So far it's an entertaining story about the friendship between two nerds. It has a bit of a slow start, but then becomes quite engaging.
And it stays engaging. But becomes in parts quite harsh. Very realistic, because everyone carries their own burdens which can become challenges for friendship. But you can't help but feel for the characters. And sometimes yell at them "Just TALK to each other?"
It also contains a very sad chapter. But that is life.
All in all the book is engaging, funny, sad and sweet. And very well written. With lots of 80-es/90-es computer games references.

For a nerd like me (and probably everyone in this forum) this book is a 9/10
My biggest gripe with the book is, that it ends too soon.. The ending is very open and I want to know how the story continues.

.
Making it so by Patrick Stewart
Well, it's the auto biography of Captain Jean Luc Picard... or his actor. As Star Trek and Patrick Stewart fan a must read. And who knew that Patrick Stewart isn't only a great actor but also a skilled writer. He paints a vivid picture of his life and growing up under hard conditions. It's a great read if you're interested in history. A good 'slice of life ' story. So, if you've never heard of Captain Picard, this book is maybe a 7/10. Solid, but not ground breaking, because it is, of course, a very personal view of the last decades. However, if you are a fan, this book is a 10/10 and gives you the chance to get to know the best actor in the Star Trek cast on a quite personal level.

.
Der Pilz am Ende der Welt by Anna Löwenhaupt Tsing

A book about the Matsutake, a fungus, which grows on landfills and other dead or poisoned land. And is quite a tasty delicacy which often also serves as the first step of nature of reclaiming polluted areas. Scientifically a very interesting fungus. But unfortunately the book turned out to be not scientific at all. Instead the author tries to be 'holistic' in her report about the Matsutake. She tries to include social sciences in her book, but all that she really writes is an esoteric 'be like the Matsutake' drivel. Garnished with an unhealthy dose of 'I am morally superior to anyone else and so much smarter than all those scientists who actually believe in science.'
So, the kernel of scientific content is interesting. But it is spoiled by the writing and the attitude of the author. It's much more interesting to read the Wikipedia article about the Matsutake.

2/10, not recommended

Currently reading Marie Brennan's Doppelganger Omnibus I'm enjoying it overall. Parts are very funny. I'm in part 3 Witch

Part 3 continues the adventures of the Hunter Mirage, but also sees things from the Head's perspective.

In the prologue short story, Mirage is a temple dancer who joins the Hunters and is raised among them.
In book 1, Warrior, Mirage (one of the best Hunters of all time) accepts a commission and meets a long-lost family member--which throws all sorts of wrenches into the works.

Edit: finished part 3; 8/10. I really enjoyed it, but the plot could have been idk It just seemed a bit rushed at the end.

Hello everyone! I just want to start by saying that I'm not an avid reader, at all. It does not come naturally to me to pick up a book and start reading. It requires effort on my part. I'm looking at the backlog on my bookshelf and there's enough fuel there for a generous campfire. xD

It was not always this way, mind you. I used to bury my face in books just to escape when I was a young teenager. I don't know what happened along the way. Got my personal theories about that. I successfully failed at keeping my resolution for 2023. LOL! But, here I am determined to try again! :P Seeing some familiar faces in this thread has motivated me.

So, please include me too!

Currently reading my first book of the year: Compleat Cat by Cleveland Amory

Status: my bookmark lay at page 206 of 812.

I think I stumbled upon this thick volume at a thrift shop. To be honest, that white cat face on the front cover made me toss it into my shopping cart. It seems to be a three-books-in-one volume. Thought I'd begin my reading journey with something "light". Hoping to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy staring at the cover.

My impressions: [pending]

What's the next book I plan to tackle? [pending]

I read a lot more books when I was younger too, having been socialized by books (then TV, and - as soon as they emerged - by video games). For me, screen-centric media consumption might be the biggest reason why I came to be reading less and less offline over the years. I'm rediscovering the joy of it at the moment, and plan to get back to reading more analog material.

Got me a subscription to one of the few video game magazines still around, and been enjoying the tactile experience of handling and reading that. Reminds me of a slower pace of life, back in the 1980s and '90s, the heyday of game mags. With the amount of confusing chatter that's all around us these days, it feels good to direct my attention away from screens. Reading analog, i also feel more present, somewhat more in control of the moment. Seems healthy to me.

Then, I've become more aware of the beauty of books in general. There is a community book case in a mall here, where people can bring books they want to let go and take some that interest them for free. I go there now about once a week, and even if I do not find anything I want to take with me (or have no book of mine to leave behind), I take pleasure in just tidying the case up, organizing the books and getting rid of detritus.

Zero History by William Gibson

It took me forever to read through this book, as over the years I got severely tired of Gibson's prose.

The book follows a similar plot structure to its prequels, in that Hubertus Bigend hires a couple of characters to find someone who is producing a secret special something (this time around, clothes).

The protagonists are two characters from the last book, Hollis and Milgrim, and the chapters alternate the point of view between the two. Both a very well written, very distinctive from each other as well, though I find Milgrim an extremely boring character to follow, due to his unique way of seeing the world.

I will say that I rather liked the last third of the book, because, this time around, the main characters DO influence the plot and are not just carried around by the other characters. Also, the revelation about who is the misterious creator of the secret clothes brand is a great twist and a rather interesting callback to the first book in the series (Pattern Recognition)