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.

I finished #23 for the year:


The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

I finished my 22nd book of the year:


The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Kara wrote: "Not a full review, but this is my mini review:

This is one of my all-time favorites. Five unabashed stars, and I reread it every other year or so.

I love both the film and the book but in differe..."

Me too Kara. I think it's a beautiful book. I read the illustrated version this time and if you haven't read that one I highly recommend it.

By the way, Gaiman has often said that he hopes someday to write a sequel to this book entitled "Wall." I hope he gets around to it someday.

Short Story Recommendation:

I found this gem in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven:


Mika Model by Paolo Bacigalupi

Read it for free here: http://www.slate.com/articles/technol...

It touches on some of the themes in the Blade Runner movies, with a slightly different angle.

Blagica wrote: "Look at you go! I am so behind this year. I always enjoy seeing what you read you are doing fantastic keep it up."

Thank you Blagica!

I recently finished three more which brings me to 21 for the year so far:


Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Neil Gaiman And Charles Vess' Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Axeman by Ray Celestin
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading:


In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes


Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett


The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven edited by Jonathan Strahan

Dee ~ Proudest Nanna Of Newborn Millie ~ wrote: "I can't believe that May is nearly here!"

I can't believe it's 2019

SarahKat wrote: "I think Tristran's idiocy and the fact that everyone thinks he's worth helping is satire on the whole fairytale "I'm doing it for love" excuse. It's frustrating but also amusing."

Amen on the amusing part.

Congratulations Megan!

I finished number 18:


Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

I really enjoyed the way the book started, like a fairy tale for grown-ups. I read this a few years back but I had forgotten that it starts in the "real" world. And Tristan Thorn is certainly nothing at all like author Neil Gaiman.

Rich wrote: "RJ wrote: "Starting the illustrated edition today! (Better late than never...)"

Hope you're liking it! Also, your avatar is the bomb. I just re-watched that TZ episode recently - one of my favorites."

Thank you! And yes I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I read the non-illustrated version several years ago and I think the illustrated version is exactly the same except with illustrations of course.

I finished two more which brings me to 17 for the year:


Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


The Terror by Dan Simmons


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

Starting the illustrated edition today! (Better late than never...)

I finished two more which gives me 15 for the year so far:


Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Beast in View by Margaret Millar
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading:


The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham


Neil Gaiman And Charles Vess' Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess

I finished #13 for the year:


The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading:


Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Winter wrote: "The Hunt for Red October is book four in a series so I'm counting Mary Poppins as your nomination :) "

It makes no difference to me which nomination is upheld but The Hunt for Red October is the FIRST in the Jack Ryan series in publication order.

I've been choosing my reading selections based on group reads for this group and others. However, I think I am going to "retire" from group reads because I changed jobs and just don't seem to be able to finish books as quickly as I used to. Anyway, I have many, many series that I need to continue reading, so I'm going to start focusing on reading some of those.

I finished reading my 12th book of 2019:


The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Lord of the Flies by William Golding

I finished The Adventure of the Retired Colourman. It had a uniqueness to the story that made it stand out, in terms of the final culprit.

The last few stories in the collection weren't particularly inspirational to me. I wonder if I was just tired of Holmes or if Doyle was tired of writing the stories. They weren't quite "stuck in a rut" like some of the mid-series stories seemed to get, but they just felt kind of tired.

Anyway, I'm completely done with the Holmes series, so now I can use that huge leather volume as a doorstop or something. I'm glad I read the whole thing, but I'm also glad to be moving on.

Thanks Ashley and Scott for sticking it out to the end!