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.

Susy wrote: "Nice start Randy! "

Kristin wrote: "Great job, Randy! I'll be updating after work but wanted to thank you for your participation. How's the book?"

I like it a lot. I read her The Haunting of Hill House a year or two ago and really enjoyed it, so I jumped into the group read of this book with the Literary Horror group.

Kristin wrote: "Randy, what is your goal for the readathon?"

I don't have one, but I'm trying to make a lot of progress on all my books while also getting my daughter to her basketball practices and trying to complete a video project.

Read 0.75 hours of Middlesex Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Completed 0.75 hour, a total of 8.0 hours.

Read 30 minutes of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Completed 0.5 hour, a total of 7.25 hours.

Read one hour of March Violets by Philip Kerr.

Completed 1 hour, a total of 6.75 hours.

Read one hour of The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall and 15 minutes of Old Man's War by John Scalzi.

Completed 1.25 hours, a total of 5.75 hours.

Read 0.25 minutes of Old Man's War by John Scalzi.

Completed 0.25 hours, a total of 4.5 hours.

I read 45 minutes of To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis and 30 minutes of Old Man's War by John Scalzi.

Completed 1.25 hours, a total of 4.25 hours.

I read an hour and 15 minutes of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and about 45 minutes of Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance.

Completed 2 hours, a total of 3 hours.

I got up around 6 am and after getting my coffee I read a chapter of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson before taking my daughter to school.

Completed 1 hour, a total of 1 hour.

I'm only about halfway through this section but wanted to share my thought so far. I really enjoy the author's writing style. The book is much more interesting than I thought it would be.

I finished a few books while I was traveling with my daughter's basketball team:


Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: Pulp Fiction


Night Passage by Robert B. Parker
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: The Mystery, Crime and Thriller Group


Armor by John Steakley
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: SciFi and Heroic Fantasy


We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: The Sword and Laser

That brings me up to 28 for the year so far! I'm not sure if I will finish any more this month, but I have a lot in the works for next month.

I'm in. I've had this one on my shelf for a while and I needed an excuse to read it.

I'm glad you are both enjoying the book! This was one of my favorite reads of last year. The plot is really well done and when I finished it was fun to look back and see what a journey the author took me on. And you're right, the sense of humor was great as was Dresden the lion.

#24 completed:


Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: none, although I read this short, classic book in preparation to read the book shown below (which was inspired somewhat by this book).

Now starting:


To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Goodreads book club: Science Fiction Aficionados

#23 completed:


The Eyes of the Overworld by Jack Vance
Rating: 4 stars (really more like 3.5)
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: Beyond Reality (as part of the Tales of the Dying Earth read)

Now moving on to the 3rd book in the Dying Earth series (which I probably won't finish until next month):


Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance

#22 completed:


Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: Action/Adventure Aficionados

Eileen wrote: "I'd like to nominate A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle , the first book of the Sherlock Holmes series. Since it's been said that Holmes has been blessed with acut..."

I'll second this. Or third it.

#21 completed:


I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: Pulp Fiction

APRIL BOOKS I AM READING:

APRIL GROUP READS:

I have seven I am going to try to finish this month! (I am going on a trip to Virginia with my daughter's basketball team so hopefully the lengthy plane flight will allow me some undisturbed reading time.)

I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane
Goodreads book club: Pulp Fiction

Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean
Goodreads book club: Action/Adventure Aficionados

The Eyes of the Overworld by Jack Vance
Goodreads book club: Beyond Reality (as part of the Tales of the Dying Earth collection)

Armor by John Steakley
Goodreads book club: SciFi and Heroic Fantasy

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
Goodreads book club: The Sword and Laser

Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze
Goodreads book club: Pulp Fiction

Night Passage by Robert B. Parker
Goodreads book club: The Mystery, Crime and Thriller Group

NON-GROUP READ BOOKS I AM WORKING ON:
Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016 edited by Rich Horton
The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville

I decided to put aside The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe because I just don't have time for it right now, but I hope to pick it up again in the next few months.

March end of the month update:

I finished three more at the end of March to give me 20 for the year so far!


The Asphalt Jungle by W.R. Burnett
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: Pulp Fiction


Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Rating: 1 star
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: The Evolution of Science Fiction


A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Goodreads book club: Read A Song of Ice and Fire in 2016 (obviously I'm a little tardy)