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 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

#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

#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

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

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

#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

Congratulations Diane, and thank you to all those who submitted an entry. It was very difficult to pick only one this year!

Sunny wrote: "2023 in Review..."

How many books did you read? 76

Did you reach your goal? Yes, my goal was 52

Which book was your favorite?


Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Which book was your least favorite?


Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
I only made it about 6 pages before throwing giving up.

Which book had your favorite cover?

I didn't really have a favorite cover.

How many yearly challenges did you participate in?

Only the Goodreads Reading Challenge

How many monthly challenges did you participate in?
How many quarterly challenges did you participate in?

None - I don't really do challenges. I have found that I enjoy reading a lot more by focusing on the quality of my reads, and not the quantity.

What other group activities did you participate in?

I participated in some group reads for this group and other groups.

Did you read any new-to-you authors this year? Name one you enjoyed.

Here's a whole bunch of good ones that I read for the first time in 2023:

Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky
Willa Cather
Mikhail Bulgakov
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Alexandre Dumas
Joseph Heller
Becky Chambers
James Crumley
Stephen Baxter
Italo Calvino
James Hadley Chase
Ivan Turgenev
Sylvia Plath
David Brin
James M. McPherson
Sébastien Japrisot
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Vladimir Nabokov
Timothy Zahn
Michael Shaara
Henry James
Kevin Ansbro
John Williams
James Tiptree Jr.
Daniel James Brown
Joe R. Lansdale
Eudora Welty
John Brunner

What was the biggest surprise for you?


Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
This is an award-winning collection of short stories written by Alice Sheldon. She wrote Science-Fiction that focused on women's issues under the pen name James Tiptree Jr. I was amazed by how interesting and fresh her perspectives were, even 50-or-so years later. Highly recommended.

And, if anyone is interested, below is a link to my review of 2023 on Goodreads which is not a real book of course, but an annual posting where Goodreads members share their thoughts on their reading experience for the year:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

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

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 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

Here is my review of 2023 on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS/ANTHOLOGIES IN 2023:

I've always like short stories and I read quite a few each year. I don't track individual short stories though. This will be about the collections or anthologies I've finished this year.

My reading has evolved over the years to where I usually have two collections/anthologies in process at the same time, and I switch back and forth between the two until they're completed, so I don't get sick of one of them. Of course, at times I read a short story collection/anthology as a group read, or as part of one of my other categories.

My Best Short Story Collection/Anthology Read of 2023 is A TIE (and they were BOTH Science Fiction stories!)


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964 edited by Robert Silverberg


Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.

...and that's it! I've been plugging away for over a year now on The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe which has sucked up a lot of my time in this category. However, I should be finishing Poe and another anthology (The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A edited by Ben Bova) early in 2024, so my entries next year should be a little more robust in quantity anyway.

I did finish some short story collections that I included in other categories. Here they are, for sake of completeness:
Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Robert E. Howard - 4 stars - Fantasy
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories by Truman Capote - 4 stars - General Fiction/Classics
The Road to Amber by Roger Zelazny - 3 stars - Fantasy
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr - 3 stars - Mystery/Crime

SCIENCE FICTION IN 2023:

After several years of frustration, it was actually a very good year for Science Fiction in 2023! Was that because I focused more on reading award-winners and authors that I liked? Was it because I finally decided to stop reading John Scalzi? Whatever the reason, I'm glad it happened. I grew up reading Science Fiction and it pained me to not be getting much enjoyment from this genre.

My Science Fiction Read of 2023 is a TIE


Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky


Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

both of which were 5-star reads and both were new authors to me.

4-Star Reads:
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

3-Star Reads:
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

2-Star Reads:
Triplanetary by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Sundiver by David Brin

1-Star Reads:
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi

Books that I listed elsewhere but could be considered Science Fiction:
The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov - 4 stars - General Fiction/Classics
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells - 4 stars - Horror (could also be considered General Fiction/Classics of course)
In the Shadow of Time by Kevin Ansbro - 4 stars - General Fiction

MYSTERY/CRIME READS IN 2023:

As usual, I read a lot of Mystery/Crime books in 2023. Unfortunately, the quality of the books fell off a bit in the second half of the year. I did take some steps to remove some authors who I don't plan to re-visit, but I think otherwise the fall-off was just a statistical anomaly. I look forward to some better reads in 2024!

My Mystery/Crime Read of 2023 goes to:


The Cartel by Don Winslow
the second book in Winslow's Cartel Trilogy, which was my only 5-star Mystery/Crime read of the year.

4-Star Reads:
The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley
Vanish in an Instant by Margaret Millar
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes
The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald
The Burglar by David Goodis
Father and Son by Larry Brown

3-Star Reads:
A Simple Plan by Scott Smith
To Die In California by Newton Thornburg
Tiger by the Tail by James Hadley Chase
The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips
Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong
Greenmantle by John Buchan
The 10:30 From Marseille by Sébastien Japrisot
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr

2-Star Reads:
Triple by Ken Follett
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers
Dead Man's Blues by Ray Celestin

1-Star Reads:
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

I've finished my reading for 2023! I mean, I'm still reading of course, but I won't finish any other books until the calendar flips over to 2024.

Please feel free to join me on my 2024 discussion page: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'll finish this thread up with summaries of my 2023 reads in the genres of Mystery/Crime, Science Fiction, and short stories below.

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!

Yesterday I also finished, but did not particularly enjoy, the second Continental Op novel


The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the book that was the basis for the 1987 Kevin Costner film No Way Out as well as two other older film versions


The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing

#76 in 2023:

Yesterday I also finished, but did not particularly enjoy, the second Continental Op novel


The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the book that was the basis for the 1987 Kevin Costner film No Way Out as well as two other older film versions


The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing

I also finished another classic Science Fiction novel, the 1969 Hugo Award winner:


Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started the very non-Science Fiction classic novel (despite the fact that it is the first volume in a series named "In Search of Lost Time")


Swann's Way by Marcel Proust