Books

Been reading For Whom The Belle Tolls (2024) by Jaysea Lynn. I am positively surprised by this book. Easily a five star book based on the first 25% I have read so far.

It's a story about Lily who dies and ends up in Afterlife as a soul, like everyone else does. As it turns out, Heaven, Hell, deities of Greek mythology, Valhalla, and all the religions you know and don't know, are real and they all co-exists in Afterlife. I quite like the humor and the rich and imaginative world the author has created.

25% if the way into "The Fall of Hyperion"

Just picked up a copy of 1984. Read it in high school, but it seemed like a good time to reread it.

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

I've found it hard to get past the first few chapters as I'm actually trying to implement the advice. Planning the day the night before and constantly asking the question "Am I doing the most important task to achieve my goals?" during productive hours has been life-changing in actually making progress towards my projects, but also rather stressful. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I procrastinate a lot by doing busywork- organization, cleaning, responding to lower priority inquiries, researching tangential things to the task at hand, etc. It's been a difficult habit to break

Just finishing up a re-read of The Dresden Files with Battle Ground. Damn, it's punchy.

Then I'll be on to some reading around the Cosmere ready to read Wind and Truth. Excited for that one!

So I put down "Death Mask" about half way through. It's not that I disliked it, but I found it getting a chore to read it. I might come back to it later.

I picked up Dennis E Taylor's "We are legion (we are Bob)" after, and just finished reading it. I read it almost in one session, so pretty good in my opinion. Besides this, I guess I was also due for a slight genre change.

If you count graphic novels, I'm currently making my way through Sandman.

Currently reading fiction:"The vanished man" by Jeffery Deaver.

Currently reading non fiction: "Homecoming" by John Bradshaw.

I am going to try and read 52 books this year. Let's see how it goes.

I'm re-reading my way through the early Essalieyan novels by Michelle West, to refresh before I read the latest book. It's definitely scratching my epic fantasy itch. I'm so glad she moved to Patreon and self-publishing instead of giving up on finishing the story!

Reading a Finnish historian's book based on his studies about slave trade in Eastern Europe, Finland and Karelia during the middle ages. No english title or translation, that I know of, but I'll try to translate it:

Korpela, Jukka. 2014. Idän orjakauppa keskiajalla - Ihmisryöstöt Suomesta ja Karjalasta. SKS, Helsinki.

Korpela, Jukka. 2014. Eastern slave trade in the middle ages - Abduction of people from Finland and Karelia. SKS, Helsinki.

I'm reading Mistborn finally, and I'm enjoying it. I made a new years promise to read the nook books I paid for and never touched, or got one chapter in and quit. They've just been sitting there for a decade. Next up is Hell: A Novel.

The Exiled Fleet by JS Dewes. Really fun scifi and I dove into The Exiled Fleet immediately after finishing the first book, The Last Watch.

Reading a couple things at the moment.

Wrapped up Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson a few weeks back. Before that I had been rereading Stormlight in it’s entirety now that I have nearly caught up with the Cosmere (outside of White Sand and the secret projects besides Sunlit).

I didn’t finish that reread and am smack in the middle of Oathbringer, which might be my favorite of the Stormlight novels.

Additionally just 10 minutes ago I finished Demon Copperhead, which was really quite fantastic in my eyes. I have family from Appalachia - my parents left the area in the late 90’s after moving to a city in the late 80’s. So it brought back a lot of memories of grandparent visits and trailer parks and gorgeous nature. And also all the burned out wrecked homes you can see if you ever drive around.

Finished earthsea except tales. Finished Livesuit by James sa Corey. Almost done with red rising by pierce brown now. Like them both a lot. Quite a welcome change of pace from leguin. I loved her stories but I listened to all of hainish and earthsea one after the other thing , so I’m ready for things with a bit more pace for a bit 😜

My fiancée told me to read Dracula, so that's what I'm reading now - between the 1st time she told me and now I've read the Green Mile and the Running Man, so I couldn't postpone it any longer.

I'm listening to At the Mountains of Madness after having finished the Fall of Hyperion, as a break from Hyperion Cantos.

For the last few years I have doing a 'big read' of something over the course of each year - War and Peace, In Search of Lost Time, Finnegans Wake and, in 2024, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There is some enduringly memorable material in each of those, and reading them has been quite an experience but I have decided to take a break from that format of reading and just have a year of SF in 2025 - catching up on some that I have long meant to read, starting with Dan Simmons' Hyperion. Just finished the Scholar's Tale so far and am thoroughly hooked.

Otherwise, I am most of the way through Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - which I believe was recommended in this community a while back - which is notable if for no other reason than it includes the first use of the term infangthief that I have encountered since reading 1066 And All That in my teens. And also a recent Doctor Who audionovel The Lord of Misrule by Paul Morris, which is an enjoyably nostalgic tale featuring some beloved characters (as read by Jon Culshaw), but overall nothing exceptional so far.

Currently in the middle of Tress of the Emerald Sea. Just finished Task Force Hammer.

Stormlight book 5 just came out and I finished it about 2 weeks ago.

Just bookmarking for recommendations. I should read more.

I recently finished Wind and Truth (Stormlight Archive #5) and was extremely pleased with the end of this era.

I am currently (re)reading A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E. Feist (Riftwar Saga #3). This series isn’t as good as I remembered from when I was in high school, but it’s reasonably entertaining on the whole.

Not sure what I’ll read after that. If anyone has a good fantasy / sci-fi recommendation let me know! Keep in mind, I’ve read all Sanderson has to offer :)

What to Believe?: Twelve Brief Lessons in Radical Theology by John D. Caputo. After I had finished Caputo's excellent primer "How to read Kierkegaard" I was interested in reading more of his works. He is an affable and clear writer. Great fun.

Just finished reading the Witcher Blood of the Elves & plan on reading The Stormlight Archive: Wind & Truth next

During the holidays with my family, my brother convinced me to give "He who fights with Monsters" by Shirtaloon a try. I'm currently about 30% deep into book one. It's my first time reading LitRPG and even though I'm not quite sure about the genre I'm enjoying this one quite a lot.

Been reading Bernoulli’s Fallacy, both fascinating and disturbing… Glad I got into it.

I finished The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight book 1). Massively enjoyed this one. Spent more time than I should have during the holidays reading it.

Now I'm reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It's a historical fiction novel set in occupied France during World War 2. I'm finding it ok so far. It's easy to read and the plot is fine, but I'm not very emotionally invested and don't love the writing style.

Edit: I want to clarify that the topics and themes visited in this book are very emotionally heavy. However, the writing feels like an emotional stiff arm to me. It's just so distant and impersonal, that it reduces the impact of the difficult topics.

Finished Chalice by Robin McKinley; the world-building's a little funky, and it's not my favorite book by her, but I still found it cozy and enjoyable. Now I'm sloooowly making my way through Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. It's enjoyable so far, I just haven't been reading much lately.

I’m just finishing up The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville and Keanu Reeves.