Stacie's 2024 Reading Log

[Stacie]

I'm sticking with 75 books as a goal, even though I missed it by a lot in 2023. It's still a nice solid number for me to shoot for.

[Elyse, Moderator]

Welcome back, Stacie! Looking forward to seeing what you read!

[Stacie]

1. Early Humans: Ice, Stone, and Survival ****

[Stacie]

2. System Collapse ****

3. Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World ***

[Stacie]

4. Holly **** This scared the bajeebuz out of me. Suspense gets me worse than horror does and, despite the action bouncing back and forth through the timeline like a pomeranian on speed, King manages to keep the tension tight and inevitable. The only reason it's not a five star for me is that I don't think it's one I'll read again.

[Juli, Moderator]

You're already 4 books into your goal! Woohoo!

[Stacie]

5. Certain Dark Things ***

[Elyse, Moderator]

I also gave Certain Dark Things 3 stars. It was too odd for me.

[Stacie]

Elyse wrote: "I also gave Certain Dark Things 3 stars. It was too odd for me."
I can see why people like it but, as much as I like vampires and alternate realities, nothing in the book outweighed my dislike of Noir. It wasn't a struggle to get through- it was one of those things where it seemed like the pages turned themselves- but I just didn't connect to the world or the characters.

[Elyse, Moderator]

Yes exactly. I love that SMG writes across many genres but they don't all work for me. lol

[Stacie]

6. Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet ***

[Karol]

Stacie, I had never heard of Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet. It sounds fascinating, so I've added it to my To Read list. Maybe it will be part of my "Read Your Shelves" challenge next year - if I don't get to it before then.

[Stacie]

7. Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art Even though this took me an entire month to get through, it was excellent! The only things keeping it from being a 5 star read were that sometimes it got a little too purple prosey (most of the time it was exactly the right amount of purple prosey for me, lol) and the author's narration kept lulling me to sleep
(There's nothing wrong with her voice, pronunciation, etc.- she just triggered my 'lullaby' reflex and after about 15-30 minutes I'd be floating away to dreamland, lol). Apparently there have been a bunch of new finds and published research since the early 90's (which is about the time I stopped actively reading about prehistory) so there was a lot that was new to me. ****

[Elyse, Moderator]

How you doing, Stacie?

[Stacie]

I'm a little behind in reading and a lot behind in logging. I've got 21 books to add to this thread and I'm kicking myself for letting it go so long... and am putting it off by reading, LOL!

[Stacie]

8. Mr. Lincoln: The Life of Abraham Lincoln ***

9. Billy Summers ** Ugh. Just, ugh.

10. Witch King ***** I loved this. The characters, the worldbuilding, the satisfying ending... chef's kiss!

11. The Cloud Roads *** Unique worldbuilding, but the visual descriptions are sometimes hard to follow and sometime plain inconsistent... but I still really wanted to know what happens to these characters :)

12. The Serpent Sea ****

13. The Siren Depths ****

14. The Edge of Worlds ****

15. Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal ****

16. The Chinese Zodiac in Cultures and Traditions ***

17. American Vampire, Vol. 1 *** It was ok, but I'm not in a particular rush to pick up the next volumes and I doubt I'll read it again.

18. The Fellowship of the Ring *****

19. The Two Towers *****

20. The Return of the King *****

21. Ancient Writing and the History of the Alphabet ** Only finished out of loyalty to the author. I have loved his other stuff, but this one just wasn't that interesting (plus it really needed the visuals).

22. Honeybloods : a sapphic vampire romance novella ***

23. The Real History of Dracula *** The content was interesting but I wasn't super impressed with the format (more of a podcast than a lecture).

24. Creation Stories of the Ancient World ***

25. Tiger Chair *** It's well written and an easy read, but I can't really decide what the point was and I haven't decided how I feel about that.

26. Underland: A Deep Time Journey **** This was really good, but with some weak parts. The good parts were fascinating and the weak parts were self-contained and skippable.

27. The Chimpansneeze *** I read this one to my great-niece and while we both thought it was kind of cute, it was nowhere near as good as his The Hiccupotamus

28. Service Model ***** This is excellent and has given me such a book hangover. I recommend the audiobook version (it turns out that the author is a great narrator, too) because there is one particular part that I think would be hard to follow in text but is hilarious in audio.



There! Notes may or may not be added at a later date ;)

[Stacie]

29. Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre ** This read like the novelization of something made for the Sy-Fy chanel. All of the characters were over-the-top caricatures, probably intended to make their 'decent' into savagery more dramatic... but it just felt clumsy and amateurish.

[Stacie]

30. Gallant **** A recommendation from a good friend of mine. The story is precisely what I thought it would be, but I loved the writing. I found myself rereading sections- particularly the ones from the Master of the House- because they were beautifully creepy.

[Elyse, Moderator]

Stacie wrote: "30. Gallant **** A recommendation from a good friend of mine. The story is precisely what I thought it would be, but I loved the writing. I found myself ..."

Oh gosh I still have to read this!

[Stacie]

31. The Impenetrable Forest: Gorilla Years in Uganda **** Very different from his other works (this one is a biography) but well written and engaging.

[Carol]

Stacie wrote: "8. Mr. Lincoln: The Life of Abraham Lincoln ***

9. Billy Summers ** Ug..."

You have read a lot of interesting looking books! I just added Neurodiversity and the Myth of Normal. Thanks for listing all your reads and keep it up.

[Stacie]

32. Serial Killers: Real and Imagined****

[Stacie]

33. The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology **

[Stacie]

34. Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization ****

35. Victorian Animals in Literature and Culture****

[Stacie]

36. The Origin of Civilization ***

[Stacie]

37. Watership Down

38. Catchers

39. Cell

40. George Orwell: The Man and the Mind behind 1984

[Andrea, Moderator]

I don't think I ever read Watership Down. I will have to add that to my list.