The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings

[masterthes]

Even though it took 9 days to finish, I still really enjoyed Warbreaker. Finishing up the year with My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Vol. 1 by Emil Ferris

[masterthes]

2022 is done. 117 books for the year. Read The Wheel of Time (thus my low number this year). Listened to my first audiobooks (A Life in Parts and Siren Queen), and I had no less than 3 star ratings this year. Here are some awards for the year:



Favorite graphic novel: if it wasn't a reread, I would have put down the first omnibus of Sandman for my choice, but My Favorite Thing is Monsters ended up on top. For a while, it was The Last Ronin, but I know Monsters will stick with me more. I hope the second part comes out next year

Favorite author: Brandon Sanderson. I think this was the year Sanderson finally clicked for me. I wasn't the biggest fan last year of Mistborn Era 1 (with the exception of the first book), but this year with his contributions to Wheel of Time, and falling in love with Warbreaker at the end of the year, I think I finally get it.

Most disappointed: this entry goes out to my favorite author from last year, Adrian Tchaikovsky. After the overwhelming success of Guns of the Dawn last year, I was super disappointed with Cage of Souls. I thought it moved way too slow, but he recovered nicely with Ogres and Dogs of War

Favorite protagonists: Durfel from Warlord Chronicles and Siri from Warbreaker

Favorite antagonist: Lancelot from Warlord Chronicles

My favorites of the year: The Maleficent Seven, He Who Fights with Monsters 1, Warbreaker, A Life in Parts, and The Story of Marvel Studios 

[axeman90210]

Wrapped up Salem's Lot on my flight home today and started in on It. Very much looking forward to revisiting this one.

[Cool Chris]

2022 is done. 117 books for the year. Read The Wheel of Time (thus my low number this year).

Seriously, I was thinking... ONLY 117 books?

[Sacul]

This was the year in which I got into manga, and it was a good choice. My favorite works, some which haven't been fully published here, have been:

• Tsutomu Nihei BLAME!, an hyper-futuristic story set in a megastructure, about a guy that has to find humans with a certain gene. It has almost no dialogue, but plenty of intense action scenes, and some amazing artwork. One of my favorite reads in a long while.
• Naoki Urasawa 20th Century Boys, about a group of friends that have to delve deep into their childhood memories in order to save the world from destruction. Gets better and better with each volume, excellent so far.
• Junji Ito Cat Diary: Yon & Mu, a short collection of stories centered about the adventures the author had with his cats. Only Ito can turn such beautiful creatures into something unsettling.
• Katsuhiro Otomo Akira, quite the classic and for a good reason - it just holds up so well after all these years. If you loved the movie, you'll love this.
• Tsutomu Nihei Knights of Sidonia, another work from the author of BLAME!, this one set in the same universe but quite some time before the events of that one. Very unique world and speculative biology stuff, can't wait to finish it.
• Shuzo Oshimi Blood on the Tracks, what begins like a regular slice of life quickly turns into a very disturbing psychological horror drama. It also has a very unique artstyle that suits the tense atmosphere.
• Inio Asano Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, the author's first sci-fi story, about a group of high school girls that try to lead a normal life while in the middle of a slow war with a gigantic alien spaceship.
• Inio Asano City of Light, a collection of short and related stories centered around a rich neighborhood where some disturbing things happen.
• Junji Ito Sensor, his most Lovecraftian work (that I've read at least), and while I loved the artwork a lot, I felt the story lacked a powerful ending. Still a cool read tho.
• Inio Asano Reiraku, one of the darkest, most depressing things I've read in a while. Sadly I felt it lacked a proper resolution, but I guess it fits the theme anyway.

[masterthes]

2022 is done. 117 books for the year. Read The Wheel of Time (thus my low number this year).

Seriously, I was thinking... ONLY 117 books?

2020, I read 174 books (but that was due to the pandemic)
2021, I read 172 books

My first reads of the year will be The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of the T. Rex and How it Shook Our World by David K. Randall and Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers

[SchecterShredder]

Read Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski (author of The Witcher) over the Christmas holidays. Very good book,  and i highly recommend.

Re-reading french Harry Potter 2. I had a different french book on tap from the library,  but after 50 pages i just couldn't get into it.

[Kwyjibo]

Just finished The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith, enjoyable read but the solution wasn't really convincing imo.

And now on to Into The Narrowdark by Tad Williams.

[masterthes]

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

[masterthes]

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

This was awesome, and I will definitely be continuing in February. Now, listening to Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons and Dragons by Ben Riggs, and reading Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

[hefdaddy42]

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

I hit 47 books in 2022.

[Evermind]

The House of Always by Jenn Lyons

[hefdaddy42]

On Track...Opeth by Jordan Blum

[Sacul]

Some manga updates:

Tsutomu Nihei Knigths of Sidonia Vol. 3
Very unique world and interesting story so far, about the last remains of humanity living in a giant spaceship and fighting these space creatures that have destroyed the entire solar system. Started like a standard sci-fi thing, but it's slowly showing that there's more to it than it seems at first.

Tatsuki Fujimoto Chainsaw Man Vol. 1
Finally bought into the hype to see what the fuzz is all about, and so far it's been very enjoyable and fun. Main character is a wanker tho and I hope there's some character development there. Looking forward to the rest.

Naoki Urasawa 20th Century Boys Vol. 7
Damn, what a dense and long-ass story, it keeps adding layers and layers as it goes . But it's pretty good and quite well-written, even if there are a bit too many coincidences for my liking.


I also just started reading Solanin by Inio Asano, and Junji Ito's Fragments of Horror.

[masterthes]

Taking a bit of a break from SFF and reading The Rich Are Different by Susan Howatch

[Kwyjibo]

After reading both "First Law" trilogies by Joe Abercrombrie, which I really enjoyed, I decided to read the stand-alone novels, starting with Best Served Cold.

[Evermind]

After reading both "First Law" trilogies by Joe Abercrombrie, which I really enjoyed, I decided to read the stand-alone novels, starting with Best Served Cold.

That's my favourite Abercrombie book, have fun! Wait, it's Abercrombie so I guess no fun. Be miserable!

[Kwyjibo]

So far it's shaping up fine, by which I mean everything's bleak. 

[chknptpie]

I'm on a reread/first audiobook of favorite series' since I finished all of The Witcher and need a break from Wheel of Time.
Red Rising Series - all caught up and can't wait for book 6 this year
Stormlight Archive - noticed so many connections after reading first era Mistborn and Elantris.
Throne of Glass Series - its interesting to see how this author went from relatively YA to fantasy smut. Not that I mind lol
King Killer Chronicles - perfect masterpiece that I can't wait to see the next book... if it ever gets finished.

[masterthes]

Rereading The Blade Itself in preparation to binging the entire trilogy. Doubt I'll read all three by the end of the month, but I should be able to finish the second book by then

[hefdaddy42]

The Lord of the Rings: Illustrated by the Author by J.R.R. Tolkien

[Evermind]

The House of Always by Jenn Lyons

I don't know if it's just that I had high hopes after the previous book in that series, The Memory of Souls, but this one was... not as good.

It felt like it was written in a rush or on autopilot as there are repeated phrases throughout the book that didn't appear in previous three books. Every character probably made a moue at least once (where the hell did that come from?). One character fanned herself on every occasion. How many times any of the main characters screamed "Run!"? I've lost count. Slap that Benny Hill theme song over those chapters and at least it would be funny.

The premise of the plot was very promising, but the rest didn't quite live up to the hype. Easily my least favourite book out of four so far. I've got the last book ordered though, still willing to see how the whole thing ends.

Onto another book with "house" in the title, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

[Sacul]

Onto another book with "house" in the title, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Oh boy, dunno if it will be your thing, but that book was absolutely mental when I read it. Love it.

[MetalJunkie]

The Lord of the Rings: Illustrated by the Author by J.R.R. Tolkien

I just finished reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the first time. Now I'm listening to Andy Serkis narrate The Hobbit while I grind away in WoW. I'll be moving on to The Silmarillion soon.

I'm absolutely in love with all things Tolkien right now.

[hefdaddy42]

The Lord of the Rings: Illustrated by the Author by J.R.R. Tolkien

I just finished reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the first time. Now I'm listening to Andy Serkis narrate The Hobbit while I grind away in WoW. I'll be moving on to The Silmarillion soon.

I'm absolutely in love with all things Tolkien right now.

[SchecterShredder]

In anticipation of season 2 of Reacher, I figured I give this one another read.

[masterthes]

Before finishing The First Law trilogy, going for a bit of a palate cleanser with Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (and yes, I recognize the irony of taking a break from grimdark by reading horror/thriller)

[Kwyjibo]

After reading both "First Law" trilogies by Joe Abercrombrie, which I really enjoyed, I decided to read the stand-alone novels, starting with Best Served Cold.

That's my favourite Abercrombie book, have fun! Wait, it's Abercrombie so I guess no fun. Be miserable!

Finished it, really good book but I think both trilogies are better, maybe because they have a grander scope.

And the actions of that Shenkt character were so intentionally written to be misleading to have the big surprise at the end. Felt a little bit like cheating. 

[Kwyjibo]

And now for something completely different: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

[Evermind]

After reading both "First Law" trilogies by Joe Abercrombrie, which I really enjoyed, I decided to read the stand-alone novels, starting with Best Served Cold.

That's my favourite Abercrombie book, have fun! Wait, it's Abercrombie so I guess no fun. Be miserable!

Finished it, really good book but I think both trilogies are better, maybe because they have a grander scope.

They do have a grander scope, and that's exactly why I liked this book more than both trilogies.

[Tomislav95]

After reading both "First Law" trilogies by Joe Abercrombrie, which I really enjoyed, I decided to read the stand-alone novels, starting with Best Served Cold.

That's my favourite Abercrombie book, have fun! Wait, it's Abercrombie so I guess no fun. Be miserable!

Finished it, really good book but I think both trilogies are better, maybe because they have a grander scope.

They do have a grander scope, and that's exactly why I liked this book more than both trilogies.

Every character in that trilogy is just awful and awesome at the same time

I'm in reading slump right now even though the book I started is quite good - The book thief by Mark Zusak.

[hefdaddy42]

And now for something completely different: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

I simply LOVE this book.

[Kwyjibo]

And now for something completely different: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

I simply LOVE this book.

Me too, it's a re-read.

[hefdaddy42]

And now for something completely different: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

I simply LOVE this book.

Me too, it's a re-read.

I have read it multiple times myself.

[masterthes]

Before finishing The First Law trilogy, going for a bit of a palate cleanser with Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (and yes, I recognize the irony of taking a break from grimdark by reading horror/thriller)

This was okay, but definitely didn't deserve the Goodreads award for Best horror (then again, except for Gwendy's Final Task, I didn't read any of the other nominees). Anyway, heading into February with The Last Argument of Kings, and getting my history on with Greater Gotham by Mike Wallace