Books Read 2022

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake in hardback. This is book one of the Gormenghast trilogy, published in the 1940s and 1950s. My wife gave me the illustrated trilogy in one volume with sketches by the author (who apparently had some renown as an illustrator for children's books. It was on a list of literary fantasy that was recommended by Marlon James.

I didn't really know what to expect going into this, and I'm not sure how I feel coming out of it. The book starts with the birth of the titular Titus Groan, who is in line to be the 77th Earl of Gormenghast, a massive, sprawling castle in the shadow of Gormenghast Mountain. This will put him in line to rule over this bizarre, decaying castle and apparently the region around it, but the full scope is never really discussed. The current Earl, Lord Sepulchrave, is elderly and slowly going mad. His wife the Countess is an extremely large woman with a giant herd of white cats and is constantly surrounded by birds who come at her whistling. Sepulchrave's spindly first servant Mr. Flay is in mortal conflict with the gargantuan chef, Swelter. Then there is Steerpike, a young commoner with grand goals who starts in the kitchen under Swelter but quickly works his way up in the world.

As mentioned, I didn't really know what to expect with this book, but I did anticipate a more traditional fantasy story with epic quests, bold adventurers, and probably some magic thrown in there. That's not in there at all. It really focuses on the bizarre characters who inhabit the castle and its immediate surroundings, with a focus on the absurdity of the daily rituals that must be followed in excruciating detail. None of the characters are terribly pleasant, save maybe the Earl's teenage daughter Fuschia. A large portion of the plot revolves around Steerpike's scheming and rising influence, but he's hardly heroic and isn't someone to really root for.

The writing itself is dense and florid. Peake is a long way from Hemingway, but that's part of the attraction of this book, I think. Peake paints extremely vivid pictures of the castle and its surroundings without devolving into the tedious descriptions of, say, Umberto Eco droning on about doors in The Name of the Rose. Still, that made it a slow read for me and I'm going to take a break before heading back for book two.

[Carpet_pissr]

Crap, I’ve been catching up on this thread and just saw a post mentioning that the Kingkiller Chronicle by Rothfuss is not finished?!

Dammit, I just started getting into the first book recently! Should I stop reading?

[Jaymann]

Crap, I’ve been catching up on this thread and just saw a post mentioning that the Kingkiller Chronicle by Rothfuss is not finished?!

Dammit, I just started getting into the first book recently! Should I stop reading?

I would keep going, as the two books are great. But with a 12 year gap after the second one that may be finis.

[Scuzz]

Crap, I’ve been catching up on this thread and just saw a post mentioning that the Kingkiller Chronicle by Rothfuss is not finished?!

Dammit, I just started getting into the first book recently! Should I stop reading?

I consider the first a great book and the second a great disappointment. And while Rothfuss talks about completing the story he is pretty much all talk as of this moment.

[Scuzz]

Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson

This is book 7 of 10 in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. In this book we return to an empire that we have previously seen built. But things have changed and plans for dismantling it are in progress. There is a lot of stuff going on in this book, as with all the books in the series. There is probably too much going on to be honest. Erikson loves adding characters. That is a weakness (who can remember all the names and plot lines?) and a strength (it is the characters you care about that keep you reading the books).

The final 150 pages or so of this book wrap up the lives of many characters, while others continue on and come together.

I wouldn't rank this as among the best books in the series so far but the payoff is enough to make me look forward to the next book. And you need that, especially when you are talking books of this length.

[hitbyambulance]

Crap, I’ve been catching up on this thread and just saw a post mentioning that the Kingkiller Chronicle by Rothfuss is not finished?!

Dammit, I just started getting into the first book recently! Should I stop reading?

I would keep going, as the two books are great. But with a 12 year gap after the second one that may be finis.

i didn't get the hype on this one. should have never bothered.

[YellowKing]

Finished MOSQUITO MAN by Jeremy Bates. It's a horror novel about.....a mosquito man.

Jeremy Bates is a guilty pleasure. He writes novels based on "world's scariest places" or "world's scariest legends" in which a group of fairly shallow characters find themselves involved in the aforementioned scary place or scary legend. Reading one of his books is exactly like turning on a random generic horror movie on Netflix, being mildly entertained for 90 minutes, then promptly forgetting all about it.

Despite that, I just love his books. They're quick reads, and they never try to be anything more than what they are. They definitely satisfy the portion of my brain that just wants to go into "beach read" mode and not think too hard.

[Hipolito]

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett: The goofy antics and verbal exchanges remind me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (though I like that novel much more). I appreciate the humor and some of the existential angst. But I don't understand what's so great about this play. Maybe I'd enjoy a performance of it.

One of the back-of-the-book quotes, by Norman Mailer, is "It is possible that consciously or unconsciously Beckett is restating the moral and sexual basis of Christianity which was lost with Christ. ..." Pretty interesting but I have no idea how he arrived at that!

3 out of 8 turnips.

[Scuzz]

A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin

These are the first two books of the Earthsea series. I went into them knowing very little except that the series is considered iconic and that many authors have been inspired by it. These are short stories, the longest being around 170 pages. But they are highly decriptive and the characters are well fleshed out.

A Wizard of Earthsea starts slowly but builds as you get to know the character. The story itself really takes shape about 2/3 thru. It is easy to see how this story led to other wizard school stories, although I see less of Harry Potter in it and more of the Name of the Wind.

The Tombs of Atuan is perhaps a better story. More character driven. LeGuin really gives you and location and story that read like something from a Poe story, who might have influenced LeGuin. I liked how she started elsewhere and then returned to our wizard at a time when we couldn't be sure but suspected he was going to be involved.

I would recommend both.

[Scuzz]

Starplex by Robert J Sawyer

The author of the book states in the introduction (the book was written in 1996) that he had a "desire to do at least one "Star Trek done right" book", and this is it. The book is about a Commonwealth of Planets research vessel called Starplex. It's mission is basically that of the USS Enterprise, except that this ship has no military presence on board. It is full of technical explanations (that may or may not make sense, but I am willing to accept them all) and science explanations for everything that happens. The vessel is crewed by members of three different space races, and two from earth.

This is a fast paced space adventure and I liked it.

[Holman]

A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin

These are the first two books of the Earthsea series. I went into them knowing very little except that the series is considered iconic and that many authors have been inspired by it. These are short stories, the longest being around 170 pages. But they are highly decriptive and the characters are well fleshed out.

A Wizard of Earthsea starts slowly but builds as you get to know the character. The story itself really takes shape about 2/3 thru. It is easy to see how this story led to other wizard school stories, although I see less of Harry Potter in it and more of the Name of the Wind.

The Tombs of Atuan is perhaps a better story. More character driven. LeGuin really gives you and location and story that read like something from a Poe story, who might have influenced LeGuin. I liked how she started elsewhere and then returned to our wizard at a time when we couldn't be sure but suspected he was going to be involved.

I would recommend both.

+1

Harry Potter is just a boarding school story. The Name of the Wind is much more a wizard's education in the tradition of Le Guin.

One interesting thing is that you're halfway (or more?) through AWoE before the narrator happens to point out that everyone you've met (including the protagonist) has very dark skin. That's quite a thing for a fantasy novel published in 1968, and it makes you aware of other subtleties.

[hitbyambulance]

One interesting thing is that you're halfway (or more?) through AWoE before the narrator happens to point out that everyone you've met (including the protagonist) has very dark skin. That's quite a thing for a fantasy novel published in 1968, and it makes you aware of other subtleties.

Samuel Delaney does the same thing in Tales of Nevèrÿon (well, that and the slaves have lighter skin)

[Scuzz]

The attacking nation in the first Earthsea book turns out in the second book to be blonde and blue eyed. By the third book they are learning to be civil.

[Isgrimnur]

Definitely fantasy, then.

[Rumpy]

And there's a trilogy by R.F Kuang, where the beginning is set at a martial arts academy. But it becomes so much more around the halfway mark. Was quite impressed with The Poppy War (#1) and picked up the two other books. It's a fantasy based around real historical events, re-imagined as fantasy, if you like.

[A nonny mouse]

And there's a trilogy by R.F Kuang, where the beginning is set at a martial arts academy. But it becomes so much more around the halfway mark. Was quite impressed with The Poppy War (#1) and picked up the two other books. It's a fantasy based around real historical events, re-imagined as fantasy, if you like.

Oooh! I read the trilogy a few months ago. Really great books. I didnt think they were predictable so really enjoyed all the new info. Plus it was great reading a fantasy series from a different cultural perpective.

[coopasonic]

After reading basically nothing all year... really for the past couple years, I read the entire Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson, 3 books and 3 novellas, with one more to come next year. It's light YA sci fi, but it was a really fun read, somewhat reminiscent of Ender's Game. Most importantly it had me excited to read again.

[Rumpy]

And there's a trilogy by R.F Kuang, where the beginning is set at a martial arts academy. But it becomes so much more around the halfway mark. Was quite impressed with The Poppy War (#1) and picked up the two other books. It's a fantasy based around real historical events, re-imagined as fantasy, if you like.

Oooh! I read the trilogy a few months ago. Really great books. I didnt think they were predictable so really enjoyed all the new info. Plus it was great reading a fantasy series from a different cultural perpective.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It felt really fresh and imaginative. And the main character is really quite badass without resorting to a lot of tired tropes. Got lots of respect for the author in doing what she did. Makes me want to read her other more recent book, Babel.

[Holman]

Finished Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake in hardback. This is book one of the Gormenghast trilogy, published in the 1940s and 1950s. My wife gave me the illustrated trilogy in one volume with sketches by the author (who apparently had some renown as an illustrator for children's books. It was on a list of literary fantasy that was recommended by Marlon James.
[...]

If you're a fan of Michael Moorcock, the novel Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen is his homage to Mervyn Peake.

It's set in a weird-fantasy version of Elizabethan England, with the city of London represented by a sprawling city-sized castle a la Gormenghast. (Versions of London abound in Moorcock.) There are character analogues to Elizabeth, Walter Raleigh, Shakespeare, and various other period figures.

Oh, and the plot turns on the Virgin Queen's quest of finally experiencing orgasm.

[Scuzz]

I may have read that shortly after it came out. It sure sounds like a book I read.

Looking it up I am sure that I read that. I never could remember exactly what it was. But it all took place in Albion.

[Jolor]

And there's a trilogy by R.F Kuang, where the beginning is set at a martial arts academy. But it becomes so much more around the halfway mark. Was quite impressed with The Poppy War (#1) and picked up the two other books. It's a fantasy based around real historical events, re-imagined as fantasy, if you like.

Oooh! I read the trilogy a few months ago. Really great books. I didnt think they were predictable so really enjoyed all the new info. Plus it was great reading a fantasy series from a different cultural perpective.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It felt really fresh and imaginative. And the main character is really quite badass without resorting to a lot of tired tropes. Got lots of respect for the author in doing what she did. Makes me want to read her other more recent book, Babel.

I enjoyed The Poppy War trilogy but, Babel? Babel is a masterpiece.

[Blackhawk]

The Eye of the World (1990)
By Robert Jordan

The Great Hunt (1990)
By Robert Jordan

The Dragon Reborn (1990)
By Robert Jordan

The Shadow Rising (1992)
By Robert Jordan

The Fires of Heaven (1993)
By Robert Jordan

Lord of Chaos (1994)
By Robert Jordan

A Crown of Swords (1996)
By Robert Jordan

The Path of Daggers (1998)
By Robert Jordan

I'm a little over halfway through Winter's Heart.

I'd read them as they were released, then decided to stop and wait until it was finished sometime around '94. I'm finally getting back to it. I started from scratch, as it's way too complex to remember all of the plot threads 28 years later. I'd heard that the 'middle books' were excessively long without much happening. Given that I'm in the tail end of that, I can certainly see where it comes from. It doesn't bother me all that much, as I enjoy Jordan's prose enough to stay entertained, but I will say that I've never read anything that involved so many people getting ready to do things for so long without actually doing the things!

The writing quirks aren't as bad as the reputation would suggest. There's only one character who routinely tugs her braid, it isn't all that frequent, and it's presented as an over quirk (it's what she does when she's holding her temper.) The skirt smoothing is a little more prevalent, but not something I would likely have noticed if it hadn't become a meme. Likewise the bosoms (thanks for bringing that to my attention, Odin - no woman can appear without her bosom being described. And, oddly, a lot of men have shapely calves. And despite almost zero actual sex taking place on-camera, he apparently has a spanking fetish.) But every author has his quirks, and those aren't all that obnoxious. I will say, though, that any description of gender is his weakest point. He takes 'Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" to extremes. No women understand men. No men understand women (except the one man isn't there.) Men are all children. Women are all manipulative and stern and have to manage the child-men for their own good. That part gets a bit thick.

Despite that, I'm really enjoying his setting, his world building, his prose, the plot, and the events. The story is great, and I'm never wishing for the series to be over, despite being ~420 chapters and ~2.6 million words in. I'm always looking forward to the Next Thing That Happens. Eventually.

[Rumpy]

And there's a trilogy by R.F Kuang, where the beginning is set at a martial arts academy. But it becomes so much more around the halfway mark. Was quite impressed with The Poppy War (#1) and picked up the two other books. It's a fantasy based around real historical events, re-imagined as fantasy, if you like.

Oooh! I read the trilogy a few months ago. Really great books. I didnt think they were predictable so really enjoyed all the new info. Plus it was great reading a fantasy series from a different cultural perpective.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It felt really fresh and imaginative. And the main character is really quite badass without resorting to a lot of tired tropes. Got lots of respect for the author in doing what she did. Makes me want to read her other more recent book, Babel.

I enjoyed The Poppy War trilogy but, Babel? Babel is a masterpiece.

Good to know! Thanks! Now I definitely will have to read it I think she's a great new voice in fantasy.

[Jolor]

And there's a trilogy by R.F Kuang, where the beginning is set at a martial arts academy. But it becomes so much more around the halfway mark. Was quite impressed with The Poppy War (#1) and picked up the two other books. It's a fantasy based around real historical events, re-imagined as fantasy, if you like.

Oooh! I read the trilogy a few months ago. Really great books. I didnt think they were predictable so really enjoyed all the new info. Plus it was great reading a fantasy series from a different cultural perpective.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It felt really fresh and imaginative. And the main character is really quite badass without resorting to a lot of tired tropes. Got lots of respect for the author in doing what she did. Makes me want to read her other more recent book, Babel.

I enjoyed The Poppy War trilogy but, Babel? Babel is a masterpiece.

Good to know! Thanks! Now I definitely will have to read it I think she's a great new voice in fantasy.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Rumpy]

I read a lot and I'm always in search of new books. Ironically, I do have a Kindle, but I have been buying regular books of late. I've been hit with a medical condition that has made it very slow to read books, and I've tried going back to my Kindle, but trying to interact with the menus has been an effort in frustration due to the small type used in their menu and bar up top. Been considering a bigger Kindle like the Oasis, but the feel of the Kindle to my eyes doesn't feel right at the moment.

[Hipolito]

The Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes: Watching the show prompted me to start reading the comics. So far, I'm underwhelmed. While the art style is crazy, the show has done the story better so far. Reading this feels like a downgrade, although the tale of Death still brings tears to my eyes. I'll keep reading; there's only been one season of the show, and there are 9 more volumes of the comics to read. 4 out of 8 dreams.

[hitbyambulance]

first collection isn't the best and is probably the worst; keep going

[ImLawBoy]

Twofer!

Finished The Sandman Vol. 3 - Dream Country by Neil Gaiman (writer); Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran and Malcolm Jones III (Illustrators); Robbie Busch and Steve Oliff (coloring); Todd Klein (lettering) (paper). This is a short one - just four issues combined together. I stalled for a bit after the third issue, but finally decided to pick it back up and finish. Two of the issues make up the bonus episode of the Netflix series season one, but all four issues are a bit of stand alone items. They're all quite good.

I also finished Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay on Kindle. Three 13 year-old friends journey into the woods near where they live one night with some beer, but only two of them return. Josh and Luis have no idea what happened to Tommy - he just ran off and never came back. As the police investigate and pages from Tommy's journal mysteriously appear, the layers of the onion are peeled away. The boys had befriended an older kid/young adult named Arnold, but he's nowhere to be found. Tommy's father had disappeared when he and his younger sister were very young, only to resurface when he rammed his car into an overpass and died a few months later. It's just the kids and their mom trying to make their way, but now one of the kids has disappeared.

This was very disturbing. I don't know if it's because my kids are nearing the age of the boys in the book or what, but having to think about missing kids is personally troubling (and it turns our Tremblay has kids in that age range, which he says influenced him). At points there was a bit of a Clarice Starling/Buffalo Bill feel to the proceedings. The books skirts the boundaries of the supernatural without ever fully going there, but there's a creepiness throughout.

One thing that I found extremely effective was Tremblay's way with early teen dialogue. A lot of authors seem to have trouble writing for kids, but Tremblay did a remarkable job (apparently he actually listens to his kids).

Again, it's really creepy. The ending is also a bit ambiguous (although I don't mind that). Still, if you can get past the anxiety of potentially losing kids, I thought it was a great read.

[YellowKing]

I'm a big Paul Tremblay fan. I read a lot of horror, but he's the only horror author that has at least one or two moments (and often more) in every book that genuinely gives me chills.

[Jaymann]

The books skirts the boundaries of the supernatural without ever fully going there, but there's a creepiness throughout.

I wish Stephen King would learn how to do this.

[ImLawBoy]

The books skirts the boundaries of the supernatural without ever fully going there, but there's a creepiness throughout.

I wish Stephen King would learn how to do this.

Good news for you! Check out the first 2 books of the Gil Hodges trilogy. They also hint at the supernatural without going all the way. (The final book does go all the way.)

Weird that you think he doesn't know how to do this instead of choosing not to do it to frequently.

[Jaymann]

The books skirts the boundaries of the supernatural without ever fully going there, but there's a creepiness throughout.

I wish Stephen King would learn how to do this.

Good news for you! Check out the first 2 books of the Gil Hodges trilogy. They also hint at the supernatural without going all the way. (The final book does go all the way.)

Weird that you think he doesn't know how to do this instead of choosing not to do it to frequently.

I guess it was always that way in the ones I've read. Is Gil Hodges the baseball player?

[Scuzz]

The books skirts the boundaries of the supernatural without ever fully going there, but there's a creepiness throughout.

I wish Stephen King would learn how to do this.

Good news for you! Check out the first 2 books of the Gil Hodges trilogy. They also hint at the supernatural without going all the way. (The final book does go all the way.)

Weird that you think he doesn't know how to do this instead of choosing not to do it to frequently.

I guess it was always that way in the ones I've read. Is Gil Hodges the baseball player?

That was my first reaction as well.

[ImLawBoy]

D'oh! Bill Hodges trilogy.

[hitbyambulance]

Antonio Padilla - Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity : this is a current Seattle Public Library "Peak Pick" and as i thought this was going to go exclusively into 'interesting numbers' i decided to make it one of my quota of 'books published in the current year'. really it's more or less an excuse to delve into the history of contemporary physics for laypeople. _which i do not have a problem with_ but there are a lottt of books out there already that handle that. i most appreciated the chapters on Graham's Number and TREE(3), and the chapters on Infinity elucidated the 'higher infinities' with some decent explanation. i felt he spent far too long on the history of the cosmological constant, which turned out to be a way for the author to plug his own theory at the end. the author has a YouTube channel on mathematics and physics, but i am not familiar with it. there are pop culture references that are probably going to be dated very soon (Ed Sheerhan? Squid Game?) and there are some really questionable analogies (a few of which do nothing to illuminate the situation/problem) along with some annoying phrases that are overrepeated.

[Scuzz]

The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin

This is the third book in the Earthsea series, and I guess the last in the original trilogy. The book follows the main character from the first two books as he tries to find out why "magic" and knowledge seem to be disappearing from the West Reaches. Le Guin loves writing about the quest, I might like a little more about the characters. I do think the second book in the series is probably my favorite. This one opens up the world a bit and adds a character but really doesn't engage the reader as much as past books. I still have one more book in the series, Tehanu, and will give that a try in the future. I also have enough interest in Le Guin's writing to try one of her Hugo Award winners.

[hitbyambulance]

the anime adaptation "Tales from Earthsea" is probably the worst of all the original Studio Ghibli releases.. it feels like a rough draft rather than a finished product. ms. Le Guin did not like it either. she should have taken Miyazaki-san up on his first call!

background story:

https://www.ursulakleguin.com/adaptatio ... f-earthsea

https://www.tor.com/2018/11/02/we-could ... -earthsea/

[Scuzz]

the anime adaptation "Tales from Earthsea" is probably the worst of all the original Studio Ghibli releases.. it feels like a rough draft rather than a finished product. ms. Le Guin did not like it either. she should have taken Miyazaki-san up on his first call!

background story:

https://www.ursulakleguin.com/adaptatio ... f-earthsea

https://www.tor.com/2018/11/02/we-could ... -earthsea/

Just a quick look at story in the second of those kind of explained why Le Guin and any readers of the original material wouldn’t like it.

[Jeff V]

I had to abort on a book called "Stoicism". I cannot believe that this passed by an audiobook editor of every sort. While this is a favorite topic philosophically, I just can't abide by the reader pronouncing:

Stoic as Stoy-ic
Stoicism as Stoy-icism
Seneca as Sen-ee-ka
Descartes as Des-cart-es

At least he can pronounce Marcus Aurelius properly.

It doesn't help that at the start, the author enumerates a list of self-help authors (including Tim Ferris, who I love), and then regurgitates what they said as if it was actually stoicism (it is not).

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Fairy Tale by Stephen King in hardcover. King continues his late career renaissance with this tale of 17 year old Charlie Reade in far suburban Chicago who befriends Mr. Bowditch, a reclusive, curmudgeonly old man, and his ailing dog Radar. Turns out this man has a secret - the shed on his property covers up a portal to another world - a fairy tale world, if you will. If Charlie can take Radar to this magical land, he may be able to extend her life significantly. Of course, traveling into a magic world is not without peril . . . .

While not short by any stretch of the imagination (it clocks in around 600 pages), Fairy Tale moves along briskly. I've seen it said that this is more of a fantasy novel than a horror novel, but it's really both - there are plenty of monsters to be found. King seems to have fun putting elements of our world's fairy tales into his alternate world, but with little twists here and there. There's even some Cthulhu references. Recommended.