Books we read in 2024

[Akiva]

Provenance, by Anne Leckie

Read this book. And Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy. She’s superb.

[Stan]

Provenance, by Anne Leckie

Read this book. And Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy. She’s superb.

I've read all her novels. She's the best at intertwining the personal and the epic.
It sounds like you have Translation State to look forward to. It delves more into aliens.

I've been listening to the Singing Hills series by Nghi Vo. They're ~3 hours each and very well written so a nice way to relax while driving. They're about about a monk who goes around collecting stories and getting into adventures. The first is the Hugo winning Empress of Salt and Fortune.

[Mike]

I've been listening to the Singing Hills series by Nghi Vo. They're ~3 hours each and very well written so a nice way to relax while driving. They're about about a monk who goes around collecting stories and getting into adventures. The first is the Hugo winning Empress of Salt and Fortune.

I read The Empress of Salt and Fortune a while back and LOVED it. My complaint was that I wanted more. I had no idea it was a series. That's awesome.

[Kyle]

A House with Good Bones- T. Kingfisher. A fun cozy horror novel! That sounds weird, but it really works. The plot is simple- a 30-something woman moves back in with her mother when she's between jobs. Weird stuff happens. The daughter and mother get along great. The little town they live in is somewhat charming. Not much happens until the end, but that's okay too. It's cozy! It's comfortable! The characters are incredibly relatable and likeable! It's a short read, but I really enjoyed it. Recommend, even if you're not into horror.

[Mike]

A House with Good Bones- T. Kingfisher. A fun cozy horror novel! That sounds weird, but it really works. The plot is simple- a 30-something woman moves back in with her mother when she's between jobs. Weird stuff happens. The daughter and mother get along great. The little town they live in is somewhat charming. Not much happens until the end, but that's okay too. It's cozy! It's comfortable! The characters are incredibly relatable and likeable! It's a short read, but I really enjoyed it. Recommend, even if you're not into horror.

Yes! So good.

[DMDarcs]

John Dies at the End - David Wong/Jason Pargin (depending on which printing you get). I have not really anyway to describe this book. I guess it's horror/comedy/sci-fi? At no point time did I have any idea wherre this was headed. Well, maybe only at one point in the final chapter, but the author was really leading you down the path for the big twist at the end as it was dawning on him, so I suppose that's perfectly fine. But I was literally unsure of everything afterwards, and I didn't expect a full on chapter afterwards as an epilogue. I guess it was made into a movie at some point in time? I'll have to look it up. There are more books in the series. I've heard Pargin speek on multiple podcasts, most of which were associated with former Cracked writers (Daily Zeitgeist, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating, I think maybe You Don't Even Like This Show). I always though he spoke very well, and his writing was very casual yet super entrancing. It gets 5 out of 5 soy sauces.

[Mike]

Electric Kingdom -- David Arnold
Post apocalyptic time loop. Really well done. What we see in this book is mostly just a person living through one loop of events, so it's not a bunch of complicated repeating events and time knots.The characters are easy to get attached to. The relationships are well done. The sci-fi elements are subtle and in the background for most of the book.

It's just solid. I recommend.

[Kyle]

The Book of Doors- Gareth Brown. WOW. One of my favorite reads of the year. An adult fantasy thriller that was just refreshing and exciting. The novel focuses on our protagonist, who is gifted "The Book of Doors," on which the first page is inscribed with "Any door is every door." She recognizes that using the book, she can open any door to open through any other door. The permutations of this run much deeper than you think. Peril is afoot, however, when she realizes that there are many other of these wonderous books, each with their own unique abilities. Exciting troubles ensue. This book was so wonderfully written and so smartly plotted. It really is a breath-taking puzzlebox that unfolds on itself in the most satisfying of ways. I adore this book. High recommend.

[Kyle]

Seven Empty Houses- by Samanta Schweblin (Author), Megan McDowell (Translator). This is a very short collection of seven short stories. I won't get into all of them, because, for the most part, they just didn't resonate with me. Most of the stories were snippets of a particular scene that ended ambiguously with a world of interpretation that you could read into them a thousand different ways. They left me feeling apathetic. However, there is a single story, that takes up over half of the collection written from the perspective of an elderly woman with rapidly progressing dementia. That story was wonderful, and I'd recommend the book just for that story. Maybe others will find more meaning in the other stories, but they weren't for me.

[Kyle]

What Feasts at Night- T Kingfisher. Kingfisher is becoming one of my new favorite authors. They wrote A House with Good Bones, which I thought was great, and then I discovered that I had previously read What Moves the Dead, which was an amazing retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. What Feasts at Night is a sequel of sorts to What Moves the Dead, involving our same non-binary former soldier of the Galacian army. Vaguely set in the early 1900s, this short novel involves our protagonist trying to figure out if there is a night hag stealing the breath from people in a remote village. What I love about this story and the previous one is that it is all steeped in the dread and trappings of an HP Lovecraft story, but is well written and strikes a fantastic balance between horror and humor. I love this character and I love Kingfisher's writing style. Hopefully there will be more stories in this series. High recommend.

[Akiva]

Anne Leckie, Translation State

Wonderful book. Wonderful writer. I need to read her fantasy book.

Leckie is so good at conveying alien states of mind. It's weird to get used to, but well worth it.

[Mike]

Leviathan Wakes -- James S.A. Corey
Looked interesting, so I picked it up. Great book! And I did not know this was actually book 1 of The Expanse until after I finished the story and the end credits told me. If you're not familiar, it's a hard sci-fi story in an extensively inhabited solar system in a universe that does not yet have faster than light travel.

The book starts in media res with pirates taking over a space vessel and then having things go sideways, but the reader is left with a mystery and with a glimpse of something resembling a Cthuluan horror. But I was left unsure of what I read, so maybe it wasn't.

Then it goes on with some great characters, some incredible interplanetary politics, and a plot that wouldn't let me tear myself away. Highly recommend.

[Mike]

Cinder -- Marissa Meyer
A dystopian sci-fi reimagining of Cinderella where our protagonist is a teenaged cyborg mechanic living under the thumb of her cruel stepmother. It's really good. It is aimed at teenage girls, and our heroine, Cinder, is a fully three dimensional badass living in a harsh world that doesn't pull any punches. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It is also part one of a quadrology, with later books tackling Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White all set in this same universe and evolving timeline, apparently.

Don't misunderstand though. It is clearly a young adult novel, and sometimes the coincidences are a bit too coincidental, and the line between good and evil is a little too clear, and stuff like that, and so many of the "surprises" are very predictable. But the story pulled me in so hard that I acknowledged all of those things as they happened and willingly suspended my disbelief, because... fairy tale.

[Phoebe]

Leviathan Wakes -- James S.A. Corey
Looked interesting, so I picked it up. Great book! And I did not know this was actually book 1 of The Expanse until after I finished the story and the end credits told me.

I love the Expanse - I didn't know it was based on a book series but I would love to read this. Part of the reason I liked the show was some great actors, but it also put a unique spin on space sci-fi that suggests the book would be very interesting.

[Kyle]

Leech- Hiron Ennis. I love gothic horror and this is the most gothicyist horror I've ever read. And to boot? The single greatest character arc I think I've ever read in a novel. The story is set in a shattered, post-apocalyptic word that is vaguely an early 1900s-like technology and setting. This first-person narrative is told from the perspective of our hive-minded protagonist who is a doctor that works for "The Institute" where there are hundreds of doctors around the continent, but they're all the same person, but not quite. It's very cool how the character thinks, acts, and narrates the story. Our particular doctor is showing up to replace a doctor that died in a large, decrepit manor to care for a ruthless baron who has been trying to extend his life for decades, even though he should have died many, many years ago. Then bad stuff happens. I don't want to give anything away, so that's all I'll say about the plot. This book is fantastic, bizarre, and unlike anything I've ever read. I loved it. LOVED IT. And did I tell you that it has the single greatest character arc I've ever read? My only knock on it was that, because I listened to the audio book, it was a little difficult to discern at times between what the character was thinking and what she was saying. But it's a minor quibble. The narrator also hit it out of the park. Everything about this novel is great.

[Kyle]

Camp Damascus- Chuck Tingle. You may know Chuck Tingle as the author of meme-books such as My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass, Pounded by President Bigfoot and Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Book 'Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt"'". But they've also written some actual books that aren't jokes and this is one of them. This is a horror book that revolves around the titular Camp Damascus, which is a gay conversion camp. It is also the most successful conversion camp in the world with a near 100% success rate. The secret to such astounding results is where the horror comes in. I don't want to really give anything away, because I enjoyed this book for what it was- a very well, written horror book. And what elevates it above the other horror that I read is that it's about a subject that you simply don't see in the horror genre. The characters are well-developed and compelling- and the plot takes turns that I didn't expect, in a very good way. Given the meme-books, I was surprised that Tingle's writing can sometimes be a little too stilted or formal, but it's a very minor quibble. If you're into horror, I highly recommend it.

[Kyle]

Pines- Blake Crouch. Several years ago there was a tv series called Wayward Pines. Maybe it starred David Boreanaz? Or at least someone like him. It was about a secret service agent who goes to the rural, idyllic town of Wayward Pines on an investigation, and then realizes he can't leave. Like- he drives down the only road out only to find that it leads back in. So I watched the first two episodes of this and enjoyed it but never kept with it; I can't remember why. Well this is the first book in the Wayward Pines trilogy that the show was based on. Everything I described from the show is what happens in the very beginning of this book. And now I realized I should have kept watching, because holy shit do things get weird real fast after that. (Although I think the show was cancelled after one season, but I don't remember for sure.) I'm going to level with you- a lot of this book is just dumb, but in the funnest way possible. And there's a middle third of the book that is just a lone survival story- but again in a fun way. And then the end happens and you're looking around yourself after experiencing it, like you just heard your dead grandma blast a huge fart in your ear, and you're like, "Holy shit! Did anyone else hear that? What the fuck was that? But, it was awesome right? Right?" Again, really dumb but in the greatest way possible. If you're looking for a fun, escapist romp- then I highly recommend this book. I really had a good time with it and will be reading the rest of the trilogy.

EDIT: It was Matt Dillon, not David Boreanaz. But I'm pretty sure Matt Dillon is now known as an Old Boreanaz. So who can blame me.

[Kyle]

One by One- Frieda McFadden. Not much to see here, but enjoyable brainless entertainment. This is a stock, summer-read murder mystery about three couples whose van breaks down on their way to a remote resort. As they wander lost in the woods, they begin to get picked off one by one. There's nothing unique, but some times this kind of by-the-book mystery is still a fun, short read. Were there too many "twists"? Sure. Were some of them way too contrived and unnecessary? Sure. But it's basically what you would expect. Fun enough and well written. I'm not regretting that I read it.

[Mike]

Cassandra in Reverse -- Holly Smale
Beautiful! Cassandra has lost her job and her home and her boyfriend all in one horrible day. And then she jumps backwards in time and does it again. And then, through careful study she figure out she can jump backwards and reset time to any point in the last four months, on the day she first met her boyfriend.

What does she do with this extraordinary ability? You have to read it. It is a journey of self discovery and an exploration of autism. It's so very well crafted and incredibly satisfying.

Anything else I say will spoil it more than I already have. Read it.

[Mike]

Leech -- Hiron Ennis
Kyle just reviewed this and was so compelling I had to make it my next read. He's right on the money too. It's a far future tale in a post-post-apocalyptic earth, and our protagonist is a hive mind collective, and it works incredibly well. This world is very well developed--a type of future I've never seen explored before. It's absolutely crazy and incredible.

Thanks, Kyle!

[Kyle]

The Fury- Alex Michaelides. Michaelides has a thing. He takes Greek tragedies and makes them into murder mysteries. This is his third. And I liked it. It's extremely well written with an unpredictable twisty, curvy plot. It's set in a locale (a greek island) that's basically a character in and of itself, and the characters are all very well developed. And yet? And YET? I think I'm getting tired of the formula. I feel confident that if this was the first of his books I'd read, it would be my favorite. The protagonist is extremely engaging and compelling and the story quite good. But it felt just a bit too gimmicky for me. Don't get me wrong- I really liked it and recommend it, but I can see that I'm going to tire of this.

[Mike]

Cassandra in Reverse -- Holly Smale

Oh dang! I forgot the best part! Everytime I listened, I'd see the book cover on my phone or see the title and author on my car screen. And even though I knew it was almost certainly wrong, I decided the author's name rhymed and pronounced it Holly Smolly every time. Out loud. It never failed to make me smile.

Of course the book finally ended, and the closing credits informed me that Smale is pronounced exactly like it looks. It rhymes with whale and mail.

*sigh*

It was fun while it lasted.

[Eliahad]

The Fury- Alex Michaelides. PLACE HOLDER SO I DON’T FORGET TO POST A REVIEW WHEN I GET BACK FROM MY CRUISE

Absolutely misread this as The Furry.

[Kyle]

The Ninth House- Leigh Barduga. I started this book before my cruise and got about 45 minutes into it- then didn't get a chance to continue it for ten days. And honestly, when I came back I almost decided not to continue. From what I heard, this is about a freshman who goes to Yale and discovers that the secret societies there (including Skull and Bones) practice actual magic. The idea seemed cliched to me, like an older YA book ripping off Hogwarts, and I didn't know if I wanted to commit to another 15 hours of it. But I'm so glad I did! The premise is exactly as I described, but it's handled in such a great, unique way. The characters in this book are fantastically deep and complicated and the story arcs through the course of the novel are just so well plotted. The writing is superb and not overly flowery (which I can't stand) and the story drives forward at a breakneck speed. This is NOT a YA book and tackles very heavy and difficult topics, but does it expertly. I really loved this book and highly recommend it.

[Akiva]

Stanley Karnow, "Vietnam"

I don't know much about the Vietnam War, so I thought I'd read one of the most famous histories of the war. It seems to be well researched and balanced, and the writing is very good. I'll have to read some other histories to see how it compares.

[Kyle]

FantasticLand- Mike Bockoven. Holy crap. Do yourself a favor and read this book. A little context on the weird trip I had to find it. I was listening to the acknowledgments of Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones. And in it, he started by thanking Mike Bockover for writing this book which he (Jones) hasn't stopped thinking about since he read it in 2017. That was endorsement enough for me. Knowing nothing about the book, I got it on Audible and had it in my cue forever. I finally listened to it, and what a joy. Did you like the oral history format of World War Z? Did you listen to the audio book version of it, which was even superior to the text? That's the format of this book. The narrative focuses on a hurricane that hits Florida and, in particular, floods a Disneyland-type theme park situated there. Due to extenuating circumstances that make sense through the telling of the book, the park workers stay behind during the hurricane to secure the premises. But they're stranded for several weeks before help arrives-- again, it seems contrived, but the book goes to great lengths to justify this in a satisfactory manner. Now we have several hundred 20-somethings alone in the park with limited resources and anxiety for their safety that grows by the day. And then shit goes all Lord of the Flies. The entire book is a series of interviews with different park workers that survived the ordeal. It gets dark. Real dark. But for a horror book (much like World War Z), it doesn't delve in the gore and jump scare horror. Instead, it's all about the psychological terror that starts, grows, and then becomes the real monster of the book. This novel is so good. That's all I'll say. I loved this. Read it, or if you can- listen to it in audiobook format. It was "fantastic."

[Kyle]

Being Henry- Henry Winkler. Henry Winkler. The Fonz. This autobiography was an absolute delight. Full of insecurity and self-effacing humor, Winkler tells his life story. From the incredible hardship of growing up dyslexic in strict German family that only ridiculed him as "stupid," to the heights of becoming the most famous celebrity in the world, to... not being able to get a job. Not only is Winkler's life story fascinating, but he's just so affable and charming in the way he tells it. And here's what I love best- he LOVES to name drop. Unabashedly so. Even when he's talking about some serious and debilitating hardships he's had to suffer, he still tells it in such an earnest, compassionate way. Don't get me wrong- I already loved Henry Winkler before I read this. But this book really made me realize how amazing he is. High recommend.

[Kyle]

Have I Told You This Already?- Lauren Graham. Lauren Graham is an actor that you probably know as Lorelai from Gilmore Girls. I've never seen Gilmore Girls, but I know Graham from various roles over the years and always found her to be very likeable and relatable. This book is a collection of essays (her second, apparently) that discusses her experiences breaking into show business and her treatment as an aging female actor in Hollywood. Let me begin by saying that her writing is just as charming and affable as I always found her as an actor. She's also extremely funny. What I truly appreciated about this book was that, while written in a light, casual voice, it doesn't pull its punches when she talks about how sexist showbusiness is. The only drawback I had was that I didn't feel like I really learned anything or read anything that's going to stick with me. Still, it was very enjoyable- so if you're looking for a lighthearted break from other material, I'd recommend you check this out.

[Kyle]

Less- Andrew Sean Greer. What an awesome, unexpected Joy this book was. I only got it because I was looking for something different and the blurb said, "Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Price for fiction!" and described the plot- a gay, 50-year-old author finds out his ex is getting married; so to avoid having to go to the wedding, he accepts every invitation sent to him for a trip around the world for book panels, awards, and other such stuff. And that's a factually accurate synopsis. As our titular protagonist, Arthur Less, goes on his various appointments, he constantly laments his failures and navel-gazes about how mediocre and disappointing he is. And while that sounds pretentious, it's not. The book is brilliantly written without being wordy or alienating. And much to my shame, it took me halfway through the book to realize this is a modern retelling of The Odyssey- even though the author hits you over the head with it repeatedly (Arthur Less, sounds like Odysseus; he also only writes novels that are modern retellings of Greek myths). It was a beautifully plotted and satisfying story. I highly recommend this book.

[Kyle]

The Death of Jane Lawrence- Caitlin Starling. So this is basically two books that kind of didn't work with each other. The first is pretty standard gothic horror: turn of the century woman marries a doctor and has to move into his remote, dilapidated manor house. When she gets there, she realizes something's not right. Specifically-- ghosts. So that set up is 60% of the book and as I'm reading it I thought, "This is fine. Well written, but pretty standard gothic horror fare. Nothing special." Then, as our titular hero dabbles in magic, the entire last 40% of the book is one long, seven-day ritual. Seriously. It is a beautifully written fever dream that questions time, reality and purpose. And it's so artfully done. And it's SO MUCH BETTER than the first 60% of the book. So this is where I'm torn on the book. I really got bored in the first half, but I absolutely adored the insanity of the last half. That being said, I recognize that the first half of the book is necessary to set the stage for the last part. I don't know. I really enjoyed it, but I'm still conflicted. However- I still recommend it.

[Kyle]

One of Us is Lying- Karen M. McManus. If the Breakfast Club were in an otherwise standard, twisty, murder mystery- that's this book. It was fun! It was well written! I'll probably remember a lot of it, but when I look back in five years, I won't be telling anyone that they should check this out. It was just a really good, well-written murder mystery. Was it easy to figure out the twists and the guilty party? Kind of. But while that usually bothers me, it didn't in this case probably because it was a fun, teens-fighting-stereotypes setting. If you have any inclination to read mysteries, I'd recommend this light, easy read.

[Kyle]

Also- I've got three books that I've already purchased that I'm going to finish, then I'm going to stop for a while (although one of the books is over 65 hours and another is over 24 hours). I want to start listening to music again. I might get bored with that pretty quickly and go back to listening to books, but I want to give it an earnest try for about a month.

[Kyle]

Replay- Ken Grimwood. Classic sci-fi books are classic for a reason. I'd never heard of this book, originally published in 1986, but was intrigued by the premise and blurb on the library app that said it was a sci-fi classic. The premise was simple, but not something that seems incredibly unique today- our protagonist dies of a heart attack in middle age and wakes up at the age of 18 with full knowledge of his previous life. Basically he knows the future. He "replays" his life, only to die of a massive heart attack at the same age again in his second life. Then he replays again. What makes this book so excellent isn't just the excellent writing, it's that this is a very detailed examination of the existential crisis of finding purpose in living. Do you acts have consequences if you'll die and the things you did never happened? If you marry someone new and have kids that you raise for 30 years, but then replay and they are never born, what does that do to your conscience and sanity? The whole point is to examine what it means to be human. And it's done in such a wonderful, satisfying way. I very much loved this book and it's a high, high recommend from me.

[Kyle]

The Black Girl Survives in This One- Edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell. This is a horror short story anthology written exclusively by black authors. Recognizing that black girls are often token characters, sacrificial lambs without depth, or usually both- the editors wanted to get a collection of horror stories where the main character is a black girl who actually makes it to the end of the story. I thought this was a clever and intriguing premise, which is why I checked out the book. The stories are good, and I'm a sucker for horror written by minority/diverse writers- it often provides a unique perspective and voice that is almost always ignored in mainstream horror (both books and movies). I found the stories good, the writing, for the most part, was also good. But as I got about half-way through the collection, I realized that the premise of the collection is flawed. What often makes horror terrifying is the stakes are life or death. There's real peril- sometimes from an immediate and violent threat, and sometimes from a slow dread that builds throughout the story. The problem here is that no matter what awful or dreadful things were happening, I always knew... that the black girl survives in this one. And so instead of wondering if the worst situation would result, I just kept guessing at how they were going to get out of their predicament. It really undercut the horror knowing that the protagonist was going to be fine at the end of it. That said, it was an interesting idea and I agree with what the editors were trying to do- give proper black female representation in horror. But when I knew the end, it left me feeling disappointed.

[Kyle]

Across the Universe- Beth Revis. So there's the generational starship travelling 300 years to the nearest habitable/terraformable planet. On board are 100 frozen experts to help terraform the planet, and several thousand people to keep the ship going through the long journey- many of them being born and dying of old age all while in space. Our hero is a seventeen year old girl who's woken up early- 49 years before they reach planetfall. There's a murder mystery and the next generational leader, who just happens to be the same age as our hero. Of course they band together to try to figure out the mystery of the murders and, of course, the mystery behind the ship itself. This is all fine, but there were a few too many contrivances to keep the plot moving forward. For example- someone is mysteriously thawing out the cryo-people and having them drown in their own fluids. But at no point does anyone set up a camera or actually post a handful of guards in the cryo-area to stop it or see who is responsible. I actually liked the story and the characters- I thought it was extremely well written. But I feel like this book suffered from "first YA author syndrome," which is where a publisher says, "Hey, you're an unproven commodity, so we're going to make you cut your book in half and then we'll see if it sells." The result of this is that you have characters who feel like they're unnecessarily rushed through their character arcs, and aren't allowed to breath and get fleshed out. That being said, there are two more books in the series and it was considered successful, so I'm thinking of continuing it in hopes that the author was given more freedom to explore characters and themes in the subsequent parts of the trilogy.