2025 Reading Challenge discussion

60 in 2024!

For the last few years I have set my reading "goal" at 52 books for the year. And, for the last few years, I have exceeded that total. So this year I'm going to bump it up to 60.

Why 60? Why not push myself and go for an all-time best? Well, this isn't weightlifting. I want to focus on the quality of my reads, and not the quantity. I've been doing much better at increasing the quality of my reads over the last few years and I think having an enriching reading experience is far superior to just trying to finish books to hit a number.

Below I'm going to post my projections for books that I think I will be reading in the upcoming year. As usual, I break books down into the following categories and try to have at least one of each going at the same time:

- General Fiction/Classics
- Non-Fiction
- Mystery/Crime/Thriller
- Science-Fiction
- Fantasy
- Horror/Weird
- Short Stories

That's right, I read multiple books at the same time, usually 8-9 at once, sometimes more. This has cured the dreaded "reading slump" for me, since I don't get bogged down in one book. (I also have gotten more aggressive about quitting books that I don't like, rather than try to trudge through them out of some misguided sense of duty.)

Below, I will summarize the books I plan to read in my various categories in 2024, with the caveat that I reserve the right to change my plans if something more interesting comes along.

I will also mention that although I may read audiobooks and graphic novels, but I don't count them toward my total books read for the year. I also don't count individual short stories as a "book" although I will count a short story collection or anthology. There's no minimum word count here; basically, it has to have been published as a "book" for me to count it, not just a story in a larger collection.

People often seem to get a kick out of how I rate books so I'll repeat my rating system again here for those who might be interested:

5 stars - an all-time favorite
4 stars - I really liked it
3 stars - THIS IS MY "BASELINE" RATING - a good book but just didn't move the needle much
2 stars - So-so, it dragged or made me roll my eyes
1 star - foul piece of excrement - anything I give up on is an automatic 1-star rating

I should mention that I rate books solely on personal reading enjoyment. So while I read a few classics every year, it is possible (and quite likely) that I may recognize the artistry of a book and the contribution it made to literature, but I might still not like it much. That doesn't mean I think Ender's Game is "better" than Wuthering Heights, it just means I enjoyed one more than the other. That's what we're doing here, right? Having fun?

Wanna see what I read in 2023? Click here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Bring on 2024! Motto: it can't be worse than the last few years! (Can it?)

EXPECTED NON-FICTION READS IN 2024:

Right now I'm reading


A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

and I am enjoying it so far, although not as much as my top three Non-Fiction reads from last year.

I also hope to read:


Basin and Range by John McPhee


Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose


My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell


Coach Wooden One-on-One by John Wooden and Jay Carty


Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller


Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea by Michael J. Tougias


The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A.J. Baime

Of course, I might not get to all of those. And it's always possible that another book sneaks in, for a group read perhaps. But right now these are the next Non-Fiction reads I have planned.

EXPECTED FANTASY READS IN 2024:

I am reading the fourth and final installment in the Books of Babel series:


The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft

Other Fantasy books I hope to read in 2024 include:


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik


Delirium's Mistress by Tanith Lee


Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin


The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis


Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

As usual, the order could change if I slip in another book for a group read or whatever.

EXPECTED HORROR READS IN 2024:

I am currently reading the massive paperback of


The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

and, like all the other Anne Rice books I've read, it really could be called "gothic paramormal romance" rather than "horror" but I'll let that slide for now. I do like it, but the Anne Rice formula is getting tiresome.

After I finish that one, I'll be moving on to:


Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist


Night Shift by Stephen King


The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson


Weaveworld by Clive Barker


Foundations of Fear edited by David G. Hartwell

EXPECTED GENERAL FICTION/CLASSICS READS IN 2024:

I am currently reading


Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov

which is about the author's time in a Siberian prison camp in the 40s and 50s. The stories aren't really "stories" - I wouldn't publish one in an anthology for example, unless it was about prison camps or something. Rather, they are vignettes that show the dehumanization of the camps over time; how prisoners are methodically stripped of their souls one bit at a time. There is a second part to the work - Sketches of the Criminal World: Further Kolyma Stories - and I will read it as well, but probably not in 2024. That might be just a little too depressing.

Other General Fiction and Classic books I hope to read in 2024:


Swann's Way by Marcel Proust


Roughing It by Mark Twain
(yeah, I know, this might not be strictly "fiction" since it is based on Twain's travels, so let's just call it a "classic")


The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett


Memed, My Hawk by Yaşar Kemal


These Thousand Hills by A.B. Guthrie Jr.


The Fish That Climbed a Tree by Kevin Ansbro


Ghostwritten by David Mitchell

There may be a few more since I like to insert group reads when I can. Also, I am not sure if the calendar will permit me to get to the last couple of books on my list, but if not they will remain in the batting order and I will get to them in early 2025, assuming we all survive the 2024 Presidential Elections, God help us.

RJ, it's so nice to see your plan for 2024! Here's to a year of literary feats! May your reading adventures in 2024 be filled with joy, enlightenment, and countless moments of pure magic. Best of luck on your quest to conquer those bookshelves! Pom-Poms in hand!

As always, your goals and plans for the new year are amazing, RJ!
I can't wait to follow along your reading journey in 2024.

Best of luck with the new goal. May it be a fantastic year with lots of great books, and new favorites!

Blagica wrote: "RJ, it's so nice to see your plan for 2024! Here's to a year of literary feats! May your reading adventures in 2024 be filled with joy, enlightenment, and countless moments of pure magic. Best of l..."

Lisa wrote: "As always, your goals and plans for the new year are amazing, RJ!
I can't wait to follow along your reading journey in 2024.

Best of luck with the new goal. May it be a fantastic year with lots ..."

Aww, thank you Blagica and Lisa! Best wishes to you both in 2024!

EXPECTED MYSTERY/CRIME READS IN 2024:

My current read is

[bookclock:The Big Clock|166912]
The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing
which is considered a classic of the genre. It was filmed three times, including as the terrific Kevin Costner film No Way Out in 1987.

Other Mystery/Crime books I hope to read in 2024 include:


The Cool Cottontail by John Dudley Ball


Moonraker by Ian Fleming


Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane


Gone Fishin' by Walter Mosley


A Killer Is Loose by Gil Brewer


The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler


The Getaway by Jim Thompson


The Lion by Nelson DeMille


The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson


The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré


A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine


Deception Point by Dan Brown

EXPECTED SCIENCE FICTION READS IN 2024:

Last year was a great comeback year for Science Fiction for me. Will the momentum stay high in 2024? We will soon find out.

I'm currently reading these two books


This Immortal by Roger Zelazny

and


Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

Other Science Fiction books I plan to read in 2024 include:


Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein


Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley


To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer


Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline


Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

EXPECTED SHORT STORY COLLECTION/ANTHOLOGY READS IN 2024:

I have been reading more short stories in the last year or so. I always have a couple collections/anthologies going on at once (so I can switch between them and not get bored). Now, as a member of the Short Story Book Club here on Goodreads, I am also reading a weekly story from a current anthology, as well as trying to get caught up on a prior anthology read by the group.

So, right now I have four collections/anthologies I am reading, which are:


The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A edited by Ben Bova


The Art of the Short Story edited by Dana Gioia


Black Water: The Book of Fantastic Literature edited by Alberto Manguel

Other collections/anthologies I hope to read in 2024 (time permitting) include:


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II B edited by Ben Bova


The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor


Dubliners by James Joyce


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume III: The Nebula Winners edited by Arthur C. Clarke


The Complete Stories of Truman Capote by Truman Capote


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume IV edited by Terry Carr


Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx


Ethan Frome and Selected Stories by Edith Wharton

#1 in 2024:

I finished Zelazny's first novel, the Hugo Award-winner


This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading one of the greatest Science-Fiction cultural touchstones of the 1960s


Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

#2 in 2024:

I finished the classic thriller/mystery


The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the second book in the Virgil Tibbs series


The Cool Cottontail by John Dudley Ball

#3 in 2024:

I finished the popular science book


A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the Pulitzer Prize nominee


Basin and Range by John McPhee

#4 in 2024:

I finished my first 5-star read of the year, Steinbeck's classic short novel


Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#5 in 2024:

I also finished this volume of classic Science Fiction novellas - the first of two parts


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A edited by Ben Bova
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started the second part


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II B edited by Ben Bova

#6 in 2024:

I finished the second installment in the Virgil Tibbs series


The Cool Cottontail by John Dudley Ball
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the third James Bond book


Moonraker by Ian Fleming

#7 in 2024:

I finished an almost 6 month trek through the mammoth-sized


The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

#8 in 2024:

I finished the doorstop


The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

much of which I have already read in the collections A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories and Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories

#9 in 2024:

I finished the 1960s phenomenon


Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer

#10 in 2024:

I finished the third book in the James Bond series (my favorite so far)


Moonraker by Ian Fleming
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the second book in the Kensie and Gennaro series


Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

#11 in 2024:

I also finished and failed to appreciate the finer points of


Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

so go ahead and call me a Philistine, I deserve it

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "#11 in 2024:

I also finished and failed to appreciate the finer points of


Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Rating: 2 stars
Review: h..."

I could not cope with it either!

Dorothy wrote: "I could not cope with it either!"

Good to know I'm not the only one, Dorothy.

#12 in 2024:

I finished the Hugo Award-winning first installment in the Riverworld series


To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another Science Fiction classic


Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley

#13 in 2024:

I finished the Pulitzer-Finalist


Basin and Range by John McPhee
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose

#14 in 2024:

I finished the Science Fiction classic


Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

#15 and #16 in 2024:

I finished the second Kenzie & Gennaro mystery


Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and then I quickly finished the first McNally mystery


McNally's Secret by Lawrence Sanders
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

then I started reading the sixth Easy Rawlins book, which is a prequel to the series


Gone Fishin' by Walter Mosley

and I also started reading


Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

#17 in 2024:

I finished the sixth book in the Easy Rawlins series


Gone Fishin' by Walter Mosley
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started the pulp noir classic


A Killer Is Loose by Gil Brewer

#18 in 2024:

I finished the second book in the Xenogenesis series


Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the first book in the Space Trilogy


Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

#19 in 2024:

I finished Neil Gaiman's first solo novel (actually a novelization of a BBC TV series he was involved with)


Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Clockers by Richard Price

#20 in 2024 (I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal and it's still March!)

I finished the final installment in the steampunk fantasy series The Books of Babel (which would make a great Netflix series in the right hands, by the way)


The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the standalone fantasy novel


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

#21 in 2024:

I finished the pulp crime classic


A Killer Is Loose by Gil Brewer
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the fifth Philip Marlowe novel


The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler

#22 in 2024:

I finished the collection of mostly-autobiographical short stories about the author's time served in Siberian prison camps


Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading Mark Twain's semi-autobiographical collection of reminiscences about his time wandering around in the American West


Roughing It by Mark Twain

#23 in 2024:

I finished reading the Urban Fantasy novel


Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

#24 in 2024:

I finished the fifth Philip Marlowe book


The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

#25 in 2024:

I finished the foremost Swedish vampire novel


Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Night Shift by Stephen King

#26 in 2024:

I finished


The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Getaway by Jim Thompson

#27 in 2024:

I finished the Booker Award-winning historical novel set in 1960s rural India


The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter

#28 in 2024:

I finished this novel about crack dealers in New Jersey housing projects


Clockers by Richard Price
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#29 in 2024:

I finished the first book in the "Space Trilogy" but I won't be finishing the series


Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

#30 in 2024:

I finished another excellent noir crime novel by one of my favorite authors


The Getaway by Jim Thompson
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Lion by Nelson DeMille

#31 in 2024:

I finished the short story collection


The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another collection


Dubliners by James Joyce

#32 in 2024:

I finished Don Carpenter's oft-overlooked debut novel


Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

#33 in 2024:

I also finished the historical non-fiction book


Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

#34 in 2024:

I finished the short novel


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another short novel


The Day Of The Locust by Nathanael West

#35 in 2024:

I finished the fifth book in the John Corey series, a disappointing follow-up to The Lion's Game


The Lion by Nelson DeMille
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the third book in a hard-boiled detective series written by a noted Fantasy author


The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson originally published under the pseudonym Reed Stephens

#36 in 2024:

I finished this short novel about bitter disappointment and the American Dream


The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

#37 in 2024:

I finished the Fantasy re-telling of the Rumpelstiltskin story


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the fourth installment in the Flat Earth series


Delirium's Mistress by Tanith Lee

#38 in 2024:

I finished the terrific anthology of classic Science Fiction novellas


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II B edited by Ben Bova
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the next volume in the series


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume III: The Nebula Winners edited by Arthur C. Clarke