You set off on thrilling quests, followed cryptic trails of secrets, and explored the shadows of the human psyche. The narratives flowed at a comfortable, engaging tempo.
That quote is the summary from my end of year wrap-up on the StoryGraph and it's pretty much a fair representation of my reading for the year.
I read a total of 102 books with 30,602 pages which is one less book than 2023 but 2,710 pages more overall (about a month extra). I've continued doing day-to-day tracking with The StoryGraph which tells me I've read every day for 724 days now. It may have only been a page or 1% of a book, but it's been steady. That steady pace really shows on the graph of 'books read' below; there's much less variance.
It's the second year in a row that I've read more than a hundred books, although my target has remained firmly at 52, one book per week. Twenty-nine of the books were roleplaying games.
My Goodreads account is still live, mainly as my Kindle is linked to it, but only shows 86 books as it's awkward adding small press books.
Most read (non-RPG) authors were Adrian Tchaikovsky (no surprise there as he is so prolific and good at what he does), Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Aliette de Bodard and Len Deighton.
I enjoyed revisiting Len Deighton's Game, Set and Match trilogy as part of my preparation for Revelation. That also drove a block of non-fiction reading and a great way to engage with my eldest who went to the city looking at the Cold War and World War 2 as part of his Modern History A-Level. I finally, after many years of intent, read some more books by Emily St. John Mandel, and didn't regret it. I was delighted when I discovered that two of the stories were very much interlinked very subtly (Sea of Tranquility and The Glass Hotel).
It was with some sadness I read Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The City of Mist, a collection of short stories which will be his last published work as he has passed away, but the tales themselves were delightful. David Mcloskey's Damascus Station and Moscow X brought some new spy fiction with bite. Aliette de Bodard's science fiction novellas remain a delight - my favourite for the year was A Fire Born of Exile. Alastair Reynolds brought his Prefect Dreyfuss stories to a great conclusion in Machine Vendetta. Adrian Tchaikovsky's Saturation Point was his story that I enjoyed most of the multiple books that I read; very cleverly done hostile environment based story.
The book that haunted me most from the year was Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. Set in modern day Ireland, it depicts a slow slide into fascism and civil war which is absolutely chilling and goes some way to answer the questions people often ask about 'Why didn't you do something?' or 'Why didn't you leave?' when they see a country falling apart.
The book that I found hardest to put down was Murder Road by Simone St James. Bought on impulse, it hooked me and I tore through it. The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B Miller was equally engaging; set around Monte Cassino during the allied assault in the Second World War, it was another impulse purchase which delighted.
I went through a lot of non-fiction this year, again mainly when driving. Two books about the Troubles - Say Nothing (Patrick Radden Keefe) and Killing Thatcher (Rory Carroll) - reminded me just how bad things were. Checkmate in Berlin (by Giles Milton) was a fascinating tale of the occupation of Berlin and the path to the segregation of the city. Empireland (Sathnam Sanghera) and Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge) made me look hard at myself and the way I see the world. Sort Your Brain Out (Dr Jack Lewis and Adrian Webster) was a fascinating look at how your brain works and influences your behaviour that built nicely on work I've been doing professionally in the safety space. I still try and pick books that I think I'd be unlikely to read normally for the car, as I find that I can work my way through them more easily when listening. Often I'll pick up and skim the books afterwards.
Overall, a great year of reading, and I'm already digging in for the next year!
2 January 2025
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