7 Yrs♥$✓#
ThomasE
7 Yrs♥$✓#
This is my 2024 reading retrospective - that nobody asked for and yet, here it is.
I already started writing this a while ago and today Goodreads published its year in review thingy. I'm taking this as a sign to post my wrap up, even though I might still finish 1, 2 or 3 books in December.
I've read (or listened to) 41 (as of 2024-12-16) books/audio books/manga in 2024. That's way more than I had expected to finish this year and sounds like a huge increase to last year's 15. But this stat is drastically "blown up" by manga - which are naturally faster to finish than books - and audio books - I've got a 1h commute to work (per direction), so the average audio is just driving to and back from work on 6/7 business days.
What I've read:
21 W40k books
13 manga volumes (4/13 Goodnight Punpun, 8/17 Blood on the tracks, 1 Uzumaki)
5 Battletech books
2 other books (Philosopher's Stone, The Way of Kings)
How I've consumed them:
19 audio book
13 manga volumes
9 book
Tier ranking:
(I'm combining the manga volumes per series)
(approximately top to bottom within a tier means best to worst for the respective tier) - so as an example: the worst book I've read is Titanticus, the best is The Way of Kings.
If you've noticed that a lot of the lower ranked books are audio books - that's "on purpose". I wanted to read more promising W40k books in the classical way and listen to the books I'm not very excited about. Still, three of these even managed to become favorites of mine.
My top 10:
10. The last church
9. Blood on the Tracks
8. False Gods
7. Horus Rising
6. Spear of the Emperor
5. Uzumaki
4. Fifteen Hours
3. Goodnight Punpun
2. The Devastation of Baal
1. The Way of Kings
"Size matters" award (longest book):
Audio book: The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson) - 45h29m
Book: several of these books apparently have exactly 416 pages, according to Goodreads. I'm calling bs and leave this one out.
"Size is irrelevant" award (shortest book):
Audio book: Perdition's Flame - 1h19m
Book: Honour Guard (Gaunt's Ghosts #4) - 288 pages
The best story award:
The Way of Kings - Do I need to say anything about this book? It's been rated by > 500.000 users on Goodreads and holds an incredibly high rating there. This book's story is definitely the strongest.
The worst story award:
Cadia stands - So much potential. There's so much here to tell and it's one of the single most important events in the whole W40k universe but ... I faintly remember hearing that this story is told better in other W40k books. So maybe one day I'm going to read a worthy Cadia stands/falls novel.
The one I'm wrong about (biggest discrepancy to other people's opinion) award:
Titanicus - I can see why other people love this (it's a highly rated book on Goodreads): the cool titan lore and lots of "mech" fights but it wasn't for me. Too much action, too little substance.
WTF - Most unexpected award:
Fifteen Hours. A new, inexperienced Imperial guard regiment is, through some clerical error, transported into the wrong battle front. They are now facing a battle that has been going on for a long time and is, despite the Imperium's propaganda, likely either already lost or at best a slaughterhouse for the Imperial guard. When the protagonist arrives he's almost instantaneously on his own and because the new recruits never make it past the first 15 hours on this front (hence the title), his veteran comrades don't see use in helping him in any way, they don't even want to hand him equipment. The book has a strong WW1 atmosphere to it because of trench warfare, the desperation of the soldiers and the long lasting "frozen-in-place" battle fronts.
Most and least popular book:
According to Goodreads 13,638,378 users have shelved Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and only 66 users have done so with The Astra Militarum Audio Collection.
Random notes:
manga:
I've gotten somewhat into manga this year. Before 2024 I had never even held a manga in my hands. Some time this summer I randomly went into the rabbit hole and watched a ridiculous amount of YouTube videos on manga, mostly tier ranks/best 10 manga videos. And then I started with the manga that interested me the most.
I read Uzumaki which I can wholeheartedly recommend. It's a single volume with great drawings, really interesting narrative and it's super weird. Also it's easy to recommend because you just need to get a single volume.
Goodnight Punpun is weird, fascinating, depressing and I can't put it down once I've started, It's one of my favorite reads this year. There are some panels that will stay with me for a long time. I've finished the first 4 volumes out of 13.
Blood on the Tracks is fascinating and very intense and - my god - do I want to know what that mother did to her son for him to be this deeply traumatized. But I'm going to drop the series regardless because the volumes are very expensive for the 1h it takes you to read them. I can't see myself re-reading this and to be spending this crazy amount of money on Blood on the Tracks seems almost irresponsible.
Battletech:
I listened to a bunch of audio books from the Battletech universe that I read as a teenager > 20 years ago (and again since then). I think "objectively" they are just solid books but with my nostalgia I enjoyed them quite a bit. One thing to note: The Blood of Kerensky audio books claim to be unabridged and they are heavily heavily abridged - which is evident by the 9h length for all THREE books (in case you don't know: an "average" book is equal to 8-13h of audio book).
Humble bundle:
There were (at least) 2 humble bundles on W40k ebooks in 2024 and I've bought them both. So I got around 50 ebooks through that. I'm happy that I have already made a dent into that backlog (4 titles read).
What's planned for 2025:
Nothing unexpected. I want to continue reading W40k, especially the next Horus Heresy books. I'm very much looking forward to be reading The First Heretic hopefully sometime early in 2025, also the next Gaunt's Ghosts books. Also I'd like to read more titles from my W40k backlog.
I want to continue reading Goodnight Punpun and eventually finish all 13 volumes in 2025.
Quite likely I'm going to continue the Stormlight Archive. I've already gotten the second title as an audio book.
If there's time left, which I'm not sure there will be, I'd like to try some Vampire Hunter D books.
For Goodreads' Reading Challenge 2025: Last year I've read 15 books, this year I've read 9 books, 13 manga volumes and listened to 19 audio books. I think my Reading Challenge goal for 2025 should be 30 books as I'm probably not going to consume quite as many manga but still a lot of audio books.
I already started writing this a while ago and today Goodreads published its year in review thingy. I'm taking this as a sign to post my wrap up, even though I might still finish 1, 2 or 3 books in December.
I've read (or listened to) 41 (as of 2024-12-16) books/audio books/manga in 2024. That's way more than I had expected to finish this year and sounds like a huge increase to last year's 15. But this stat is drastically "blown up" by manga - which are naturally faster to finish than books - and audio books - I've got a 1h commute to work (per direction), so the average audio is just driving to and back from work on 6/7 business days.
What I've read:
21 W40k books
13 manga volumes (4/13 Goodnight Punpun, 8/17 Blood on the tracks, 1 Uzumaki)
5 Battletech books
2 other books (Philosopher's Stone, The Way of Kings)
How I've consumed them:
19 audio book
13 manga volumes
9 book
Tier ranking:
(I'm combining the manga volumes per series)
(approximately top to bottom within a tier means best to worst for the respective tier) - so as an example: the worst book I've read is Titanticus, the best is The Way of Kings.
The worst of the bunch:
Cadian Honour (audio book)
Cadia Stands
Dead Sky, Black Sun
Titanicus
Just okay:
Fabius Bile: Primogenitor (audio book)
Helsreach (audio book)
Lethal Heritage (audio book)
Blood Legacy (audio book)
Lost Destiny (audio book)
Heir to the Dragon (audio book)
Ciaphas Cain: Death or Glory (audio book)
Good:
Galaxy in Flames
The Infinite and The Divine (audio book)
The Astra Militarum Audio Collection (audio book)
Wolves on the Border (audio book)
Perdition's Flame (audio book)
The Lords of Silence
Sons of the Emperor (audio book)
Blood of the Emperor (audio book)
Honour Guard
Great times:
Horus Rising
False Gods
Blood on the Tracks
The last church (audio book)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (audio book)
Favorites:
The Way of Kings (audio books)
The Devastation of Baal (audio book)
Goodnight Punpun
Fifteen Hours (audio book)
Uzumaki
Spear of the Emperor
If you've noticed that a lot of the lower ranked books are audio books - that's "on purpose". I wanted to read more promising W40k books in the classical way and listen to the books I'm not very excited about. Still, three of these even managed to become favorites of mine.
My top 10:
10. The last church
9. Blood on the Tracks
8. False Gods
7. Horus Rising
6. Spear of the Emperor
5. Uzumaki
4. Fifteen Hours
3. Goodnight Punpun
2. The Devastation of Baal
1. The Way of Kings
"Size matters" award (longest book):
Audio book: The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson) - 45h29m
Book: several of these books apparently have exactly 416 pages, according to Goodreads. I'm calling bs and leave this one out.
"Size is irrelevant" award (shortest book):
Audio book: Perdition's Flame - 1h19m
Book: Honour Guard (Gaunt's Ghosts #4) - 288 pages
The best story award:
The Way of Kings - Do I need to say anything about this book? It's been rated by > 500.000 users on Goodreads and holds an incredibly high rating there. This book's story is definitely the strongest.
The worst story award:
Cadia stands - So much potential. There's so much here to tell and it's one of the single most important events in the whole W40k universe but ... I faintly remember hearing that this story is told better in other W40k books. So maybe one day I'm going to read a worthy Cadia stands/falls novel.
The one I'm wrong about (biggest discrepancy to other people's opinion) award:
Titanicus - I can see why other people love this (it's a highly rated book on Goodreads): the cool titan lore and lots of "mech" fights but it wasn't for me. Too much action, too little substance.
WTF - Most unexpected award:
Fifteen Hours. A new, inexperienced Imperial guard regiment is, through some clerical error, transported into the wrong battle front. They are now facing a battle that has been going on for a long time and is, despite the Imperium's propaganda, likely either already lost or at best a slaughterhouse for the Imperial guard. When the protagonist arrives he's almost instantaneously on his own and because the new recruits never make it past the first 15 hours on this front (hence the title), his veteran comrades don't see use in helping him in any way, they don't even want to hand him equipment. The book has a strong WW1 atmosphere to it because of trench warfare, the desperation of the soldiers and the long lasting "frozen-in-place" battle fronts.
Most and least popular book:
According to Goodreads 13,638,378 users have shelved Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and only 66 users have done so with The Astra Militarum Audio Collection.
Random notes:
manga:
I've gotten somewhat into manga this year. Before 2024 I had never even held a manga in my hands. Some time this summer I randomly went into the rabbit hole and watched a ridiculous amount of YouTube videos on manga, mostly tier ranks/best 10 manga videos. And then I started with the manga that interested me the most.
I read Uzumaki which I can wholeheartedly recommend. It's a single volume with great drawings, really interesting narrative and it's super weird. Also it's easy to recommend because you just need to get a single volume.
Goodnight Punpun is weird, fascinating, depressing and I can't put it down once I've started, It's one of my favorite reads this year. There are some panels that will stay with me for a long time. I've finished the first 4 volumes out of 13.
Blood on the Tracks is fascinating and very intense and - my god - do I want to know what that mother did to her son for him to be this deeply traumatized. But I'm going to drop the series regardless because the volumes are very expensive for the 1h it takes you to read them. I can't see myself re-reading this and to be spending this crazy amount of money on Blood on the Tracks seems almost irresponsible.
Battletech:
I listened to a bunch of audio books from the Battletech universe that I read as a teenager > 20 years ago (and again since then). I think "objectively" they are just solid books but with my nostalgia I enjoyed them quite a bit. One thing to note: The Blood of Kerensky audio books claim to be unabridged and they are heavily heavily abridged - which is evident by the 9h length for all THREE books (in case you don't know: an "average" book is equal to 8-13h of audio book).
Humble bundle:
There were (at least) 2 humble bundles on W40k ebooks in 2024 and I've bought them both. So I got around 50 ebooks through that. I'm happy that I have already made a dent into that backlog (4 titles read).
What's planned for 2025:
Nothing unexpected. I want to continue reading W40k, especially the next Horus Heresy books. I'm very much looking forward to be reading The First Heretic hopefully sometime early in 2025, also the next Gaunt's Ghosts books. Also I'd like to read more titles from my W40k backlog.
I want to continue reading Goodnight Punpun and eventually finish all 13 volumes in 2025.
Quite likely I'm going to continue the Stormlight Archive. I've already gotten the second title as an audio book.
If there's time left, which I'm not sure there will be, I'd like to try some Vampire Hunter D books.
For Goodreads' Reading Challenge 2025: Last year I've read 15 books, this year I've read 9 books, 13 manga volumes and listened to 19 audio books. I think my Reading Challenge goal for 2025 should be 30 books as I'm probably not going to consume quite as many manga but still a lot of audio books.
2 Yrs✓#
Rayman6
2 Yrs✓#
I read 12 books this year. 9 Stephen King books and 3 George Orwell books. 12 is in or around my average for most years.
1. Salem's Lot (1975) - I really enjoyed this book. It's probably my favourite piece of vampire fiction I've ever experienced. It's basically Dracula but in a rural American town and the main antagonist vampire (Count Barlow) is very successful in his vampiric endeavours.
2. It (1986) - Very famous story. Second longest book I read this year. I prefer this book to all adaptations.
3. Joyland (2013) - Nice coming of age story written under the hard case crime label so there is a little crime mystery sprinkled in there.
4. Carrie (1974) - I already had seen Brian De Palma's adaptation before I read this and the story is as tense and tragic as the film.
5. The Shining (1977) - The Shining is one of my top 5 films of all time so I naturally had some hefty expectations for this book. I finally was able to see the differences that everyone talks about. I love both the film and the book.
6. Animal Farm (1945) - Re-read. Iconic cautionary tale about revolutionaries becoming as corrupt as their overthrown tyrants.
7. 1984 (1949) - Re-read. I read this every year to compare the state of the world to Oceania in 1984.
8. Revival (2014) - I thought this was cosmic horror but I got more of a journey through someone's life with cosmic horror sprinkled in. Loved it.
9. Doctor Sleep (2013) - Sequel to the Shining. I found it incredibly entertaining and I'll probably watch the adaptation soon.
10. Burmese Days (1934) - George Orwell's first novel about the effects of British colonialism on Burma. While reading it I felt as if I could smell Burma the setting was so well described.
11. The Stand (1979) - Magnificent. Longest book I read this year. Wish it was longer. Post-apocalyptic perfection.
12. Misery (1987) - Really great psychological thriller that I finished really quickly. Can't wait to see the adaptation.
Either I'm too easily impressed or I just got very lucky with what books I read as I liked all of them this year. I'm currently reading Al Pacino's new autobiography. I'll probably then go on to read George Orwell's A Clergyman's Daughter and Stephen King's Pet Semetary.
1. Salem's Lot (1975) - I really enjoyed this book. It's probably my favourite piece of vampire fiction I've ever experienced. It's basically Dracula but in a rural American town and the main antagonist vampire (Count Barlow) is very successful in his vampiric endeavours.
2. It (1986) - Very famous story. Second longest book I read this year. I prefer this book to all adaptations.
3. Joyland (2013) - Nice coming of age story written under the hard case crime label so there is a little crime mystery sprinkled in there.
4. Carrie (1974) - I already had seen Brian De Palma's adaptation before I read this and the story is as tense and tragic as the film.
5. The Shining (1977) - The Shining is one of my top 5 films of all time so I naturally had some hefty expectations for this book. I finally was able to see the differences that everyone talks about. I love both the film and the book.
6. Animal Farm (1945) - Re-read. Iconic cautionary tale about revolutionaries becoming as corrupt as their overthrown tyrants.
7. 1984 (1949) - Re-read. I read this every year to compare the state of the world to Oceania in 1984.
8. Revival (2014) - I thought this was cosmic horror but I got more of a journey through someone's life with cosmic horror sprinkled in. Loved it.
9. Doctor Sleep (2013) - Sequel to the Shining. I found it incredibly entertaining and I'll probably watch the adaptation soon.
10. Burmese Days (1934) - George Orwell's first novel about the effects of British colonialism on Burma. While reading it I felt as if I could smell Burma the setting was so well described.
11. The Stand (1979) - Magnificent. Longest book I read this year. Wish it was longer. Post-apocalyptic perfection.
12. Misery (1987) - Really great psychological thriller that I finished really quickly. Can't wait to see the adaptation.
Either I'm too easily impressed or I just got very lucky with what books I read as I liked all of them this year. I'm currently reading Al Pacino's new autobiography. I'll probably then go on to read George Orwell's A Clergyman's Daughter and Stephen King's Pet Semetary.
5 Yrs♥✓#
Illusera
5 Yrs♥✓#
50 books this year with 14 being manga/graphic novels.
Favorite read - Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Biggest surprise - Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Biggest disappointment - Lucero by Maya Motayne
Favorite read - Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Biggest surprise - Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Biggest disappointment - Lucero by Maya Motayne