RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s Comments

RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Note: RJ - Slayer of Trolls is not currently a member of this group.

SHORT STORIES IN 2022:

I enjoy short stories and this category usually treats me well. 2022 was no exception and I was able to finish some quality collections and anthologies.

Short Story Collections and Anthologies I finished in 2022 include:


The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson
Rating: 3 stars


The Great God Pan and Other Horror Stories by Arthur Machen
Rating: 4 stars


Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Rating: 4 stars


I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down: Collected Stories by William Gay
Rating: 4 stars


Wittgenstein's Lolita and The Iceman by William Gay
Rating: 3 stars


Green Tea and Other Weird Stories by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Rating: 4 stars


The Third Man / The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene
Rating: 4 stars


The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Rating: 4 stars

After careful consideration, my SHORT STORY COLLECTION/ANTHOLOGY READ OF 2022 is a tie between:


The Great God Pan and Other Horror Stories by Arthur Machen
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

HORROR IN 2023:

Hoping to get this genre back on track in 2023 after a slightly down year in 2022, I will again build my reading around Stephen King and Clive Barker, with some other authors and group reads thrown in.

Horror books I hope to finish in 2023 include:


Intensity by Dean Koontz


The Damnation Game by Clive Barker


The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon


The Witching Hour by Anne Rice


Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist


Night Shift by Stephen King


The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

HORROR IN 2022:

After an uptick in Horror reading the last couple years, this year was only so-so, although some of the best Horror reads I finished will actually be found in the Short Stories entry below.

Horror reads in 2022 include:


Gone South by Robert McCammon
Rating: 3 stars


The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
Rating: 4 stars


The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
Rating: 3 stars


Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
Rating: 3 stars


Rage by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman
Rating: 3 stars

My HORROR READ OF 2022 is:


The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

SCIENCE FICTION IN 2023:

Was there a slight uptick in my Science-Fiction reading in 2022, and can that trend continue in 2023? Let's hope so. Some of the previous years have been fairly bleak for this genre. I'll be focusing on continuing with series and authors I've been following and hopefully, like last year, I'll find time to add in some group reads as well.

Science-Fiction books I hope to complete in 2023 include:


The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers


Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky


The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter


Sundiver by David Brin


Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card


Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi


Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams


Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler


A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge


Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

SCIENCE FICTION IN 2022:

The last few years in Science-Fiction my reading has been fairly bleak despite the fact that I used to find some great reads in the genre. Fortunately, things were a little better in 2022, and I even started a couple of new series in addition to continuing with series I was already reading.

My Science-Fiction reads in 2022 included:


The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Rating: 3 stars


The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Rating: 2 stars


I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 3 stars


Martians, Go Home by Fredric Brown
Rating: 3 stars


Wasp by Eric Frank Russell
Rating: 2 stars


City by Clifford D. Simak
Rating: 3 stars


The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
Rating: 4 stars


The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt
Rating: 3 stars


Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
Rating: 3 stars

My SCIENCE-FICTION READ OF 2022 is:


The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

FANTASY IN 2023

The Fantasy genre includes some of my earliest reads and some of my all-time favorites. This year I will continue with series I have been reading and slip in a couple stand-alone stories as well.

Fantasy books I hope to finish in 2023 include:


The Road to Amber by Roger Zelazny


The Princess Bride by William Goldman


Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard


Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett


The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik


Delirium's Mistress by Tanith Lee

FANTASY in 2022:

The Fantasy genre was one of the first to captivate me as a youngster, and it continues to treat me well these days. Right now I am focused on trying to continue and finish off some series that I have been reading, although I do find time to add some new series or stand-alone reads through group reads.

My fantasy reads in 2022 included:


The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft
Rating: 4 stars


Delusion's Master by Tanith Lee
Rating: 3 stars


The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: 4 stars


The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 3 stars


Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Rating: 3 stars


Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
Rating: 4 stars

My FANTASY READ of 2022 could have gone to The Farthest Shore or to Dragonsong, but instead it went to


The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

MYSTERY/CRIME/SUSPENSE IN 2023:

I read more in this genre than any other. In general, I'm continuing series that I already started or following authors that I like but I do read new series/authors occasionally, usually along with group reads.

Mystery/Crime/Suspense books I hope to read in 2023 include:


The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr


To Die in California by Newton Thornburg


The Quiet American by Graham Greene


The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley


The Cartel by Don Winslow


Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong


Vanish in an Instant by Margaret Millar


Dead Man's Blues by Ray Celestin


The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes


The Burglar by David Goodis


Greenmantle by John Buchan


The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald


Triple by Ken Follett


Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers


The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett


The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy

MYSTERY/CRIME/SUSPENSE IN 2022

My favorite genre! I read quite a few Mystery/Crime/Suspense books in 2022 and enjoyed most of them. For the most part I focused on continuing with series I have been reading and authors I am following, but I did find time to slip in some new series and authors, thanks to various group reads.

Here are my 2022 Mystery/Crime/Suspense reads:


Get Carter by Ted Lewis
Rating: 4 stars


The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
Rating: 4 stars


Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Rating: 3 stars


The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald
Rating: 4 stars


I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich writing as William Irish
Rating: 4 stars


The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Rating: 3 starsThe Neon Rain


Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Rating: 2 stars


The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke
Rating: 3 stars


Vertigo by Boileau-Narcejac
Rating: 4 stars


Reversible Errors by Scott Turow
Rating: 3 stars


And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Rating: 4 stars


The Snow Was Dirty by Georges Simenon
Rating: 4 stars


Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver
Rating: 2 stars


Cool Hand Luke by Donn Pearce
Rating: 3 stars


Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Rating: 4 stars


Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake
Rating: 3 stars


My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Rating: 4 stars


The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly
Rating: 4 stars


The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell
Rating: 4 stars


A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
Rating: 3 stars


Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain
Rating: 4 stars

Since there were no 5-star reads this year, after careful consideration, my 2022 MYSTERY/CRIME/SUSPENSE BOOK OF 2022 is:


Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

NON-FICTION IN 2023:

Last year I didn't finish many Non-Fiction books, partially because two of the Non-Fiction books I was reading (the first two below) are big fat doorstops that aren't quick reads, although both are very good.

Here are some of the Non-Fiction books I hope to finish in 2023 not sure I'm going to get to them all):


Asimov's Chronology of the World by Isaac Asimov


Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson


Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand


The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown


A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson


Basin and Range by John McPhee


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

NON-FICTION IN 2022

I read fewer Non-Fiction books this year than the last couple of years, probably because two of the books I am still working on (Asimov's Chronology of the World by Isaac Asimov and Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson) are big fat doorstops that I won't finish until 2023.


Overboard!: A True Blue-Water Odyssey of Disaster and Survival by Michael J. Tougias
Rating: 3 stars


With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
Rating: 4 stars


They Call Me Coach by John Wooden as told to Jack Tobin
Rating: 3 stars


Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo
Rating: 3 stars


Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
Rating: 4 stars

My NON-FICTION BOOK OF 2022 IS:


With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This one could have gone to Travels With Charley, until I read up on the book and learned that Steinbeck made a lot of it up. So the honor goes to the very much not-made-up WWII memoirs of Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge that were the basis for some of the episodes of the HBO series The Pacific.

GENERAL FICTION/CLASSICS in 2023:

Last year I was able to, with the help of some group reads, read some classics that I have been wanting to read for a long time. Although it's too early to say what group reads might be part of my 2023 reads, here are some of the General Fiction/Classics reads that I hope to finish in 2023:


Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho


Nutcracker and Mouse King and the Tale of the Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann and Alexandre Dumas


Catch-22 by Joseph Heller


Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories by Truman Capote


If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino


On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev


Jazz by Toni Morrison


Martin Eden by Jack London


Andrea by John O'Hara


Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov


Vathek by William Beckford

GENERAL FICTION/CLASSICS in 2022:

As has been the case in the last few years, General Fiction/Classics has increased its share of my overall reads and many of my top-rated books have come from this category. Looking back, I'm very pleased with the number of classics I was able to finish this year as well as some very good contemporary novels also.

Remember: my ratings are based on personal enjoyment, not literary merit.

The General Fiction/Classics books I read in 2022 were:


The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Rating: 5 stars


Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Rating: 3 stars


The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Rating: 3 stars


Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
Rating: 4 stars


The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy
Rating: 4 stars


A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Rating: 3 stars


The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Rating: 4 stars


This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson
Rating: 4 stars


The Collector by John Fowles
Rating: 3 stars


The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Rating: 4 stars


Fair Land, Fair Land by A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Rating: 4 stars


Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Rating: 4 stars


All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Rating: 5 stars

My GENERAL FICTION/CLASSIC BOOK OF 2022 is:


The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And that's a wrap! 2022 is just about over and I don't think I will finish any more books this year, so it's time for the 2022 in Review posts.

I read 70 books this year which is quite a bit more than my goal of 52. I prefer to focus on quality rather than quantity, and I feel like I had some very good reads this year, although not as many 5 star reads as I hoped for.

In the next few posts I will sum up my reads for each of the following categories:
- General Fiction/Classics
- Non-Fiction
- Mystery/Crime/Thrillers
- Fantasy
- Science Fiction
- Horror
- Short Stories

If you want to check in on my 2023 thread, feel free to check in at the link below to see a preview of what I expect to be reading in 2023. See you next year!

2023 thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Lisa wrote: "Looking forward to seeing how his evolves through the year :) I'm always intrigued to see what you read throughout the year.

Best of luck with your challenge in 2023, Randy.
Happy New Year!"

Thank you Lisa! Happy New Year to you as well. :)

Like I have done for the last few years, I am setting my goal at 52 books read in 2023. As usual, I'm not really going to focus on the QUANTITY of books because I want to try to focus more on the QUALITY of my reads.

In the posts below over the next few days I will list some of my upcoming reads in the following genres/categories:
- General Fiction/Classics
- Non-Fiction
- Mystery/Crime/Thrillers
- Fantasy
- Science Fiction
- Horror
- Short Stories

In my 2022 thread, I'll be summarizing my reads for the year 2022. I will break down each of the categories above and name my favorite read in each, along with my favorite read of the year. I will also list the new (to me) authors I read for the first time this year.

If you see similarities in our tastes, feel free to send a friend request.

I finished a book that my daughter is giving away


The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

#70 in 2022

I finished a book that my daughter is giving away


The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

This is going to be a difficult choice once again...

I went over my goal of 52. I'm currently at 69 for the year and might finish a few more in the next 3 weeks. I've been trying to focus on quality reads rather than quantity and I've been overall satisfied in that category as well, although there haven't been as many 5 star reads this year as I would otherwise like.