What I read in 2024

On New Years, 2019 a friend of mine posted a list of the books they had read in 2018. I thought it was a great idea so I've been posting such a list myself ever since, first on Facebook, now on my blog. I find it a very useful exercise in self-reflection - though I am sure it is really just another example of my narcissism. 😏

If anyone else makes such lists, I'd love to see them. Feel free to share the lists, or links to your lists, in the comments.😀 You can find my previous years here: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Looking over this year's list (see below), these trends stood out:

# of Rereads: 21 (I've marked rereads below with an *)

# of YA reads: 11
# Military History reads: 2

# non-military History reads: 3

# of fantasy/horror works: 35
# by or about Tolkien or Inklings: 3

# of D&D or other RPG related reads: 11

# related to Lovecraft or the Mythos: 2
# Forgotten Realms: 5  
# of Marine reads: 2
# Frigate Navy period reads: 1

# Thieves' World & related: 3
# Matter of Britain/France works: 4

# of holiday reads: 8 

# historical fiction reads: 5

# World War II reads: 2 

# Folklore or Mythology reads: 3

# Books about writers and writing: 2

The most obvious difference this year was significantly fewer books were read. That's fine with me, it's not a competition. i could pump the numbers by reading a bunch of short books, but the numbers are meaningless so why bother? Well, not quite meaningless, I do count, but only to consider how my reading habits change from one year to the next. 

In this case, I know there are fewer books because I did a ton of reading that wasn't books. I reread the summaries or logs if you will of all of my old play-by-email roleplaying games, starting with Mercs. I reread them as i reedited them and added images planning to release them on a new blog, but so far I only have the Mercs summaries up. But I read them all, and since each chapter is 100-300 pages of text, each was like a novel. A LOT of fun for me, rereading them. But It didn't feel "right" including them in my count for the year.

Similarly, I don't include the reading I do for work here, mostly. I read a LOT for work, it is the nature of the beats, and one reason I love my job. But it tends to be piecemeal and scatter-shot. I read chapter in this book followed by a chapter in another. I only include work reading here when I read a work from beginning to end straight through. 

I can't call this a satisfying year, some of the books I found surprisingly excellent - Spelljammer: Memory's Wake and The Dead of Winter but I was often a bit disappointed in the new books I read, like the Century trilogy. 

2025 is shaping up to be a bad year, here's hoping I can get some good reading in to hide from it!

What I read in 2024:

#1. Tasting History by Max Miller

#2. The Dark Is Rising: Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper*

#3. The Odyssey by Homer, trans. by Emily Wilson 

#4. The Dark Is Rising: Greenwitch by Susan Cooper*

#5. The Birth of the Royal Marines, 1664-1802 by Britt Zerbe

#6. The Dark Is Rising: The Grey King by Susan Cooper*

#7. Gotrek & Felix: Trollslayer by William King

#8. The Dark Is Rising: Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper*

#9. Brother Wulf by Joseph Delaney

#10. Wulf's Bane by Joseph Delaney

#11. The Last Spook by Joseph Delaney

#12. Wulf's War by Joseph Delaney

#13. Gotrek & Felix: Skavenslayer by William King

#13. Gotrek & Felix: Daemonslayer by William King

#14. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded edition by: J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter & Christopher Tolkien 

#15. Hammer of the Gods: The Thule Society and the Birth of Nazism by David Luhrssen

#16. Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 1: Doomworld

#17. Trek To Kraggen-Cor, Silver Call Series, by Dennis L. McKiernan

#18. The Black Company, Chronicles of The Black Company, by Glen Cook*

#19. Shadows Linger, Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

#20. After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien, Martin H. Greenberg, Jane Yolen (eds.)

#21. The White Rose, Chronicles of the Black Company, by Glen Cook

#22. The Silver Spike: Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

#23. Elfshadow by Elaine Cunningham*

#24. The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy edited by Leonard S. Marcus

#25. Spelljammer: Memory's Wake by Django Wexler

#26. Elfsong by Elaine Cunningham*

#27. Silver Shadows by Elaine Cunningham*

#28. The Dream Spheres by Elaine Cunningham*

#29. Beyond Sanctuary by Janet Morris*

#30. The Best of the Realms Book III: The Stories of Elaine Cunningham by Elaine Cunningham*

#31. Smedley by Jeff McComsey

#32. Beyond the Veil by Janet Morris*

#33. Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris*

#34. The Express Diaries by Nick Marsh*

#35. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny*

#36. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova*

#37. The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth*

#38. Fall of Giants: the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett

#39. Winter of the World: the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett

#40. Edge of Eternity: the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett

#41. Kringle by Tony Abbott*

#42. The Story of the Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas

#43. The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures by Sarah Clegg

#44. The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger

#45. Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien*

#46. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, read by Jim Dale*

#47. Life on a Mediaeval Barony: A Picture of a Typical Feudal Community in the Thirteenth Century by William Stearns Davis*

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.