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.

oshizu wrote: "@RJ
Horror is not typically my jam, but I've added The Terror to my TBRs with much fear and trepidation. :)"

I get ya. Horror is not my favorite genre either although I'm trying to explore it a little more with an open mind. But The Terror is actually more of a historical novel, quite well researched and written in fact, with some horror elements. I liked it a lot. I hope you do too.

I'm out for this one, sorry. I have some other stuff I'm reading. I'll get back to Discworld in a few months.

I've finished one 5-star book so far this year:


The Terror by Dan Simmons

I'd be happy to be part of the buddy read for World Without End. I actually started reading it and I'm about halfway done but I'm not a fast reader so I probably won't finish it until March sometime.

I finished three books this week which brings me to 9 for the year:


Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Mort by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading:


The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden


A Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley


Apex by Ramez Naam

I just finished it yesterday. I didn't like it as much as Equal Rites, but I thought it was better than The Light Fantastic. The character of Mort didn't do much for me, neither did the Princess, the other wizard, or Ysabell. I was unclear on (view spoiler)[when and why Mort went from being in love with the Princess to being in love with Ysabell, (hide spoiler)] so that whole thing rang false for me.

My favorite character was probably Albert, especially after we got to know (view spoiler)[ who he really was, even though I saw that surprise coming from a mile away (hide spoiler)] and I also enjoyed getting to know Death a little better (it's weird to be typing those words).

The best part of the book was seeing some different areas of Discworld, especially the Pyramids which I assume will be heavily involved in the seventh book in the series which is called Pyramids. It was also a kick to see a guest appearance by (view spoiler)[Rincewind. (hide spoiler)]

I'm out for the next Discworld book because I'm going to be catching up on some different fantasy series. Have fun!

I finished my sixth book of the year:


The Innocents Abroad: Or the New Pilgrim's Progress by Mark Twain
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho

I finished my fifth book of the year:


Fire Watch by Connie Willis
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...#

and I started reading:


The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2019 Edition edited by Rich Horton

I finished my fourth book of the year:


Best Horror of the Year Volume 10 edited by Ellen Datlow
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

In general, I have a hard time listening to prose-oriented books in an audio format. I think I am just more of a visual person and I need to see the words. I'm OK with non-fiction books in audio, although I usually need to listen to each chapter more than once to pick everything up. Oh well, my mother said I never was a very good listener.

I'm almost a quarter of the way through this one. It's very good, maybe not quite as good as Equal Rites so far, but I am enjoying it. It was funny to see the reference to Granny Weatherwax when Mort visited the wizard's house.

I finished my third book of the year, and my first 5-star review:


The Terror by Dan Simmons
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

It was working on the app. One of the few things that does.

Blagica wrote: "This is my favorite quote of all time! I hope it brings you luck with your reading in 2020!
"

Thank you Blagica!

I finished my first two books of 2020:


Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Mort by Terry Pratchett


A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

Gary wrote: "Love Granny. Love Granny trying to fly her broom. I read this recently, I am about to dive into book 7 soon."

Yes, that was classic. Granny is awesome. I think we all know a Granny Weatherwax.

Tomorrow is the beginning of 2020! I'll be starting off with these books as active reads, although some of them are almost complete:


Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames


Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming


The Terror by Dan Simmons


Best Horror of the Year Volume 10 edited by Ellen Datlow


Fire Watch by Connie Willis


Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer


The Innocents Abroad: Or the New Pilgrim's Progress by Mark Twain


World Without End by Ken Follett


Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling by Jeb Blount

Let's make it a great 2020!

I'll be starting this one on Thursday most likely. I'm looking forward to it. Death had some interesting and funny moments in the first three books.

HOPEFULLY THE BOOK IS NOT ALL IN CAPS!

Here's my Top 10 books of 2019:

1.
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow

2.
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes

3.
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

4.
The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Jr.

5.
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

6.
Beast in View by Margaret Millar

7.
The Hour of the Dragon AKA Conan the Conqueror by Robert E. Howard (I read this novel as part of the collection The Bloody Crown of Conan but the other two stories in the collection didn't hold up as well as this one did)

8.
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes

9.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

10.
Stardust: Being a Romance within the Realms of Faerie by Neil Gaiman with illustrations by Charles Vess

NEW AUTHORS IN 2020

In 2019 I read 52 books, and 27 of those were written by authors who I had never read before. It's too early to tell how many new authors I will read in 2020, although I expect the number might be lower because of my focus on trying to catch up on series.

Here are some of the authors I hope to read for the first time in 2020:

Yaa Gyasi - Homegoing
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar - The Time Regulation Institute
Stephen E. Ambrose - Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Alfred Lansing - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Antonio Garrido - Asking Questions The Sandler Way
Flannery O'Connor - The Complete Stories
Ken Liu - The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

Hopefully I will find some new favorites in this group!