First book of 2020 complete, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Sequel to the last book I read but this time humans infected super smarts into octopuses and gave them an ocean planet to evolve on. He could have easily just reused the same formula from the first book and I'd have liked it just the same but this time there were more narratives and better thought out chapter layout with sections for past and present instead of jumping back and forth between chapters. I also liked the epilogue where it went from 3rd person to 1st person.

I've downed my first book of the year. All Quiet on the Western Front. This will probably go down as one of the most honest and gruesome war books I've read and will ever read. I found it to be a very detailed and straight to the point type of book, immediately letting you the war was not some General's fantasy, but a soldier's nightmare. I also found that it really sums up why the folk of that time were "The Lost Generation" Overall I did quite enjoy it, but found myself not enjoying nearly as much as other books of the era, still quite good, but just missing something I have no words four.

EDIT: Just remembered @Jackho you recommended in last year's thread for me to get To Have and Have Another. I bought it at the end of 2019. I've yet to try anything from it, but I do look forward to it!

I'm in!

I'm going to set myself a goal of 30 books, as I read about 20 last year and I think it shouldn't be too hard to improve on that.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading this year!

Went to a clinic today to pick up medication for my father and stopped at a thrift store after and found a wonderful little item for either fifty cents or a dollar. I started searching the books and saw a few interesting titles, but nothing worth buying until I spotted her hiding among reference books; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I'm not sure who in the area read this, let alone donated it, but thank you to them!

I was perusing the offerings for free Kindle unlimited books and read one that seemed interesting, Welcome to the Occupied States of America (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron. It was... Not great. Definitely a YA novel. But Kindle bamboozled me into paying for the audiobook even though i swear the listing said read and listen for free so I let it play while I drove and luckily it was a short book. The thing that most annoyed me was the afterward by the author jerking himself off for writing a different kind of book without a cliche ending. It was even narrated as part of the audio book (which typically they don't continue the narration to the author stuff at the end). Oh and he had to be sure to congratulate himself for writing the main character as a girl in a wheelchair or something. It just felt like performative self congratulations and soured the whole book for me that wasn't soured by, ironically, annoying YA cliches.

But Kindle at least has The Hobbit and the full Lord of the Rings series for free. I never actually read them all and after so much sci fi I guess I'm feeling like high fantasy. Plus the audio is actually free like it said.

you have paid your dues, now read sumptin gewd

Haven't touched to the book since high school. I could get through some parts but the rest escaped me.

Finished reading a graphic novel: Die Drei Fragezeichen und das Ritual der Schlangen (The three investigators and the ritual of the snakes; lame translation of the title done by me).

Interesting take to read a story of our (well, mine anyway) favorite investigators in the form of a graphic novel. I think the characters where drawn nicely and it's a pretty cool plot as well. I enjoyed reading it and maybe will check out other graphic novels of "The Three Questionmarks" as well.

Here's one I've had on my shelf for ages that I finally got around to.

2. I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Presented as the autobiography of the Emperor Claudius, and detailing the reign of the Julio-Claudiuan dynasty from the assassination of Julius Caesar to the crowning of Claudius himself, Robert Graves is able to take an already fascinating period of history and not simply retell the story but embelish it in a way which makes it all the more enthralling.

At first I thought I wasn't going to get along with it, as the first few chapters which detail the period before Claudius' birth are very dry, but this actually turns out to be one of the biggest strengths of the book. Claudius' personality comes across not only in what he does, but also in how he writes about it. The early chapters are presented as being there to provide the necessary historical context, and as such read like a straightforward historical account, while the later sections covering events Claudius experienced and still feels deeply about show far more emotion in how he recounts them.

While Claudius himself is a fascinating character, it's Graves' portrayal of his grandmother Livia that really steals the show. Her machiavellian scheming and simple cruelty make her a thoroughly detestable villain, but its the rare glimpses of humanity behind the woman who really rules Rome that make her an all time great.

If you've any interest at all in the kind of political scheming popularised in recent years by the likes of A Game of Thrones you owe it to yourself to read this, as it rightly remains the gold standard to which all the imitators aspire.

3. Finished The Hobbit this week.

I enjoyed it and the audio was great. I'm not usually into older novels as I find antiquated language hard to ignore and get lost in the story. Tolkein has an approachable writing style that holds up for modern readers.

Began fellowship of the ring.

That's something!

Got my first two items of the year and month.

1) Random online and print articles

The pretty much revolved around Palmetto Tree cuttings by an energy company with little intention of planting any in return, gaming industry rules overseas, hot picks of the year, design trends along with a few posts on online selling drama.

2) The Writer's Roadmap: Paving The Way To Your Ideal Writing Life by Leigh Shulman

A quick read to help you get on track with any and all writing endeavors. Of course the frame work that's laid out can also be applied to other mediums such as illustration, painting, photography, etc. Already have plans to get back to work on my graphic novel idea.

Searching for some potential reads at my local library and thanks to the announcement, I just may give The Witcher novels a try; of course the decision is pending at the moment.

4. Finished The Fellowship of the Ring last night.

I liked it but oddly I think I liked The Hobbit better? Ended abruptly (was it originally all one large volume? I'm sadly lacking in general knowledge of the books history or about Tolkien.)

I've begun The Two Towers.

Yes, Lord of the Rings is a novel published in 3 parts because the publisher pushed Tolkein to do it like that. It's not a trilogy, it's meant to be read as a single book.

It's a very different beast to The Hobbit and you're not alone in finding the transition jarring, it's a very common reaction. The Hobbit is a children's book while Lord of the Rings isn't, so it's very different structurally and tonally. Leans closer to The Silmarillion than it does The Hobbit.

BOOK 1 - Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

A collection of short stories. I haven't seen many of those mentioned in this and last year's thread, though I haven't been very thorough on reading through them.

Be aware, I've tried to steer clear of any concrete story spoilers in this, but if you're thinking about reading it and want to go into it blind, I'd suggest you don't read the whole post and just skip to the last paragraph.

Generally, the short stories are very good. They interest me to varying to degrees, which I suppose is to be expected, as they cover a variety of genres and subjects. I find myself very attracted to King's way of storytelling. I'm not completely able to articulate what I like about it. I think it's the general contemplativeness of it and it has a certain outlook. I'm very attracted to concepts of infinity, time and existentialism. I'm definitely not asking for any book recommendations by saying this at all, no sir, nuh uh, no books I'd like, please. I think King is just very good at characters and especially characters expressing fear. I think he really does a good job of illustrating that stuff to the audience. The way people react to scares, terrifying situations, all that stuff. He's able to give very personal narration even in the third person to the point where I completely forgot a story I'd read had even been in third person. He's fond of stream-of-thought inner voice kind of stuff, but I don't think it's too gimmicky. Works for the short stories it's in, at least. Great at pacing, too. I'm not a very experienced reader so my opinions will probably change as I grow, since I haven't got a big enough pool of experience to compare King's works to, but that's what I'm able to give you for now.

Of the stories, I think the least interesting to me was The Wedding Gig. A story of jazz and mobsters which, I guess, had some interesting characters and I liked the narrator's lamentations, but the subject matter just wasn't very interesting to me, and I couldn't see much point to it.

There were two divergences from the standard - the two sci-fi stories, The Jaunt and Beachworld, of which Beachworld was definitely the more fantastic and over-the-top one. Both had things to offer, but I'd say I preferred The Jaunt as Beachworld was a bit too cliched and pulpy.

There were also two poems: Paranoid: a Chant and For Owen. Both were pretty interesting, but I preferred For Owen since it had more meaning. They were nice breaks in the pattern.

Of the contemplative pieces, I really liked Mrs Todd's Shortcut. Very quiet atmosphere and an intriguing concept executed in a way that didn't lack suspense, awe or, in a way, pure primal fear. The Reach was a great finisher to the book and a very entertaining and, I think, heartfelt story.

Now, for the scares. There definitely were a lot. The Mist, the first short story, gets me, if only for the sense of hopelessness, my absolute weak spot. It's got its action-packed moments and some sillier stuff, too, some pretty striking scary imagery. It's a bit heavy on description in the first part, it feels kinda dragged out, too much mundanity. The Raft was pretty psychological and unsettling for many reasons. Not sure how I feel about the way the girls are portrayed in it, but what can ya do? The Monkey I found very, very interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the unwinding history of the monkey and the idea of it is so freaky. This story definitely carries a very dark tone. The two Milkman stories creeped the hell out of me, especially the second, but I don't think I fully comprehended them, so I'll have to go back and reread them soon. Nona had a lot of interesting looks into a psyche and some disturbing moments and imagery for sure.

Some shoutouts that I'm not sure where else to put:

The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands was very compelling and entertaining, very weird fictiony.

Word Processor of the Gods was an interesting look at family dysfunction.

Overall, a well-constructed collection, with lots of variety but some unity of tone, generally well written, where every story adds its own experience to the sum. They're not all at the same level of memorability, but they do all have something to offer. In my opinion, a very nice book and good for all sorts of things. Definitely an 8/10 at least.

3) Random online articles.

Reading articles on trouble shooting and whatnot followed briskly by some articles with startling news revolving around Barnes and Noble; yeah, I'm late to the game. I'm loosing my local B&N, literally down the road from my neighborhood, some time in February and it is going to be replaced by an Aldi's store. Saw the article on my local paper's site, then read some more on it on The New Yorker site along with the Good Ereaders site before wandering off and reading some pieces on ereaders. Need less to say, my Kindle Keyboard seems to be obsolete or at least unpopular.

For the time being, I'm still waiting to get started reading the witcher books but some bandwagon folk have me in 18th place waiting.

If you want to count them you can. I had a few that were included but wound up submitting them as one as I didn't feel like typing all the names.

Goddamn this just keeps slipping my mind. If anyone else has books for January get 'em in, and the first monthly update should be up tomorrow.

@Absurd-Ditties @Atlas @Boss @DistractedDuck @Ganon-Dorf @Haggard @Joltopus @Kiwi @Little-Rena @Malachy @MercyfulDeath @Peaceblossom @Peregrinus @Phobotech @Quisty @RainyG @TheReviewTricker @TopazAzul @Yomuchan @ZJ

This is 100% my shit. Will check it out for sure.

Thank ya kindly. Yes, it was ironic. I was worried I might not have made it clear enough as I often don't, and looks like I was right. Thanks for taking the chance, though, I'm quite interested in Joe Hill now. I know there's a Netflix adaptation of In The Tall Grass but I either didn't realize it was Joe and Stephen or I forgot it.

That's interesting to know. I think it's pretty marvellous how he intertwines the characters and the horrors. I mean the horror is usually (in the little I've read) somehow related to the core of the character's personality and they're either overcoming it, running from it or integrating with it. This is true in The Shining, definitely The Monkey, Gramma, Nona, a bunch of the stories in Skeleton Crew. It's a little bit of a trope, I guess, but it adds so much meaning and genuine horror to the story, as the characters are, of course, showing very strong emotion.

In the foreword of the book, though, he talked a little about Word Processor Of The Gods. He said something along the lines of it usually starting as an I-guy discovering something and then developing from there. Maybe that was just for short stories. I do think it's an interesting subject and I thank you for engaging me, fellow litfamember.

Here's my first for February, and maybe my last since I think I've got fucking coronavirus with how much I've had to stop to unblock my nose while finishing it today.

3. Star Wars: Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn

The second entry in Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, the first attempt at a sequel series to the Star Wars films, addresses almost all the problems I had with the first but doesn't avoid introducing some new ones of its own.

On the whole it's very good. Zahn has a good grasp of the characters and they always feel close enough to their film counterparts that it's easy to imagine their words coming out of the actors' mouths. His original characters continue to shine, and even those I didn't care for much in the first novel like Imperial agent turned reluctant ally Mara Jade feel more fleshed out than their one-note counterparts from the earlier book. The action is varied and exciting, takes advantage of the medium by planet hopping through a parade of interesting settings and set pieces that (at the time) would have been difficult to pull off on film and, unlike the first novel, actually finds interesting things for all of the main characters to do.

The biggest problem I have with it is actually the thing I was most positive about in the first book Thrawn himself is a superb villain on a conceptual level, a military genius without any special powers is a far more interesting foe for our heroes than just another even stronger evil wizard or angry man with a red lightsaber. The problem is we're constantly told how smart Thrawn is, but Zahn struggles to actually show it. Thrawn's brilliant strategies seem to boil down to being psychic. We're not shown him doing anything genuinely surprising or clever, he just always knows what his opponent is going to do next and counters it. I don't know, it's not terrible, but I just wish he was more of a Space Hannibal and less an endless string of "You've activated my trap card!".

Still really enjoying the series and will definitely be reading the conclusion.

Nearly done with my first book (Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World). I'll pull a much shorter book for February so that I can still make one book a month, sans January.

january 

1. what are they saying about the theological method by j j mueller

i read this bceause it was free and pretty short. it was some sort of book about christianity from the 80s. talking about the history of different peoples interpretations and shit or something like that. it was kinda interesting.honestly started it in december but finished it this month along with starting some other things. seriously considering resurrecting and starting from the bookmark point in a few books i have that i literally havent read in almost a year, longer back than when i read half of stoner then got tired/basically quit. maybe ill do a few this year that are me picking up from last year. would be pretty funny and pathetic, but we'll see. i have some library books i really need to start reading too...

Starting out the year at a good clip. I very nearly finished The Two Towers last night but by 11pm I got pretty tired and put it down at 86%. Probably will finish tonight or tomorrow. But I suppose I'll just count it as my first for February.

2020 List

January

1: Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

2: Welcome to the Occupied States of America (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

3: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

4: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Total: 4

Goal: 4/20

January:

1. The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish - Katya Apekina

"What, you guys think I start with characters? That's so fucking stupid. I start with a fat fucking line of coke like any respectable writer."

Sitting here for jury duty, knocked out my first book of the year which I kept trying to finish all throughout 2019.

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink.

I still don't know why my phone rotates pictures.

Really insightful book by a researcher who made a ton of experiments that exploited how easily manipulated we are to overindulge. How food products and the food industry capitalize on our psychological tendencies, and what we can do to be more mindful about it.

Its a really interesting read, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone that's struggled with weightloss and poor diet habits. It could shed the light on a potential blindspot you may have had the whole time.

LITFAM UPDATE: BELATED BEGINNINGS OPEN HORIZON EDITION

I'd say that's a pretty alright start to the year. Remember that now's the time to really put the effort in and make time for reading; if you set the habit in place now you'll be reaping the rewards for the rest of the year.

@SevenSeize got in touch via carrier pigeon to set a 25 book goal. Also @Malachy gets the rare 4/20 blaze it award.

Top Readers:

1. @Malachy
2. @TopazAzul
3. @Absurd-Ditties & @Peaceblossom

All mistakes can probably be blamed on the pigeon, I think Mal slipped it a dube on the way back out.

@Absurd-Ditties @Atlas @Boss @DistractedDuck @Ganon-Dorf @Haggard @Joltopus @Kiwi @Little-Rena @Malachy @MercyfulDeath @Peaceblossom @Peregrinus @Phobotech @Quisty @RainyG @SevenSeize @TheReviewTricker @TopazAzul @Yomuchan @ZJ

@TheReviewTrickster @Peaceblossom you might get some mileage out of Stephen King's On Writing, one of the better books I read last year. It's part biography and then a detailed breakdown of his process as a writer, it's geared toward advising aspiring writers but even if you're just a reader I think it should be some interesting insight into the workings of his novels.

He uses the metaphor of uncovering a fossil. When he gets an idea it's like being told where a fossil is located, when he sits down to write he's just slowly uncovering the fossil, neither knowing nor controlling what shape it'll take. Misery was one of the few times he planned out a story in advance, but it didn't go to plan. Once he actually started writing the story he found Paul Sheldon more resourceful than he'd anticipated, the story naturally went a different direction and he generally hasn't bothered to plan them out since.

He also writes every day (including Christmas), which should be no surprise given his output.

===

Also, I am indeed going for 20 as my goal to begin with, since I hadn't said that yet. My book last month was Disney by Rees Quinn, a short biography. It was a solid informative text but the writing was a bit overly wikipedia-esque, delivering the facts without much personality.

As a bonus I read Strange Planet by Nathan Pyle, a print version of the webcomic. Here's a few of my favs: one two three four and five:

I have managed to get through a single page. New languages are hard.