So it has become a tradition that at the beginning of every year, I look back at everything that I read over the past year and record my thoughts. I had a pretty good reading year in 2024. I read through a few books that I didn’t plan on reading, but I think I am very grateful for having read anyway.
Reading (like) the Dickens
First off, I’ll say that the book that I enjoyed the most was an unexpected read: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It’s probably the oldest book I’ve read in a very long time, but having been familiar with many, many adaptations of the story, it was enlightening to go back to the source material and understand why a lot of the directorial choices were made from as early as the 1930s. I’ve seen a lot of the adaptations and I still come away with the feeling that the best adaptation is George C. Scott’s version. But I read that book rather late in the year.
Gods, Emperors, and Kings
I started my year with God Emperor of Dune, part of the Dune series, which I enjoyed very much despite it being a very strange story. It departs from the more grounded first three books in the series. I don’t remember if I actually finished that book first of the year, because I believe I paused part way through after a trip to Half Price books where I brought home Stephen King’s Carrie. During the early part of the year, I did read through Carrie and thought it was an okay book. Nothing more, nothing less. It was the first fiction book I finished reading on paper by Stephen King. My other Stephen King experiences include his book, called On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and the audiobook version of The Shining. Beyond that, I haven’t actually read through an entire Stephen King book before this year. I do hope to finish reading the first book in the Dark Tower series and I am planning to go back to Bag of Bones which I started way back in high school when I borrowed the book from a friend and never finished. Carrie was definitely not a favorite for the year but it was not a bad thing to read. I still have not seen the adaptations because they haven’t really interested me. What interested me about the Carrie book was that it was short. By the time I finished it, It felt like a bigger book than it was.
So I Downloaded this Reading App…
Something I have learned about myself is I have a tendency to read about 25% of a book before moving on to another book. The way I read books sounds like I have ADHD or something, but as far as I know I don’t. However, through downloading the storygraph app on my phone, I started keeping better track of my reading, since you can catalogue and rate everything you’ve read while also tracking your page count or completion percentage. Statistics in the so pointed out that a lot of the times I pick up a book, I will read about a quarter of the book and then move on to a different book, read about a quarter of that one, move on to another, so on and so on. This may seem aggravating to some people, but that’s just how I tend to read. It was an act of discipline for me to finish God Emperor of Dune because of this tendency, even if it’s my runner up for favorite book in 2024.
A Book (or Two) of Audio
When it comes to audiobooks, I was able to finish a Clash of Kings by George RR Martin which is part of the Game of Thrones universe (as people know it) or “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, as book fans know it. I can’t remember for sure if I finished it last year 2024 or if I finished it before the beginning of the year, but it was satisfying to be done with as it is a very long audiobook. However, it should be noted that I am currently in the audiobook for the sequel, A Storm of Swords, which is more than 40 hours in length. I was able to pick up a copy of Fire and blood also by George RR Martin this year and probably won’t be reading through the whole thing cover to cover because it is more like a reference book of the history of the Targaryen dynasty before the events of the game of A game of thrones than a novel. George RR Martin is a very talented writer, but one that I can’t take a whole lot of at once. So, being that the audiobook I’m currently working on is as long as it is, I don’t know that I will have it finished by the end of 2025.
Man of (Audio Only) Steel
Another audiobook I listened through was called Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Peña. I am a big fan of DC superheroes and other superheroes generally, but Superman is my favorite. I picked up this one with a spare audiobook credit on audible because I remember seeing the cover and the covers of other books in the DC icons series and was curious about it. Dawnbreaker is a rather short book compared to others that I have read this year and especially other audiobooks in my audible library. The story focuses on Clark Kent during his time in high School much like the Smallville television show did back in the early 2000s. I could imagine all of the actors from the Smallville television show acting out the parts as I was listening along, even if it wasn’t meant to be part of the Smallville universe. I’m not planning to talk a lot about individual comic books that I read in this post, but I have read a lot more comic books in 2024 than any other time in my life. I will however talk about graphic novels that I have read if I can remember all of the ones that I read through this year. Superman: Dawnbreaker, however, is an actual and honest to goodness novel with no pictures in it except the one on the cover. Was it good? Sure. Was it super? Not quite.
The Books I couldn’t Finish (yet)…
I made some serious progress in several other books that I am sure to finish in 2025 with just a little bit of effort. The gargantuan task of reading through the Silmarillion is one that I have decided to take head on throughout the year and read about half the book through 2024 and only have about 60 pages left where I am now. For those who haven’t read the Silmarillion, everyone should understand that 10 pages in the Silmarillion feels like 50 pages in a regular novel. There is so much to absorb. The story moves so fast through so many characters and so many complex names that it is hard to keep up. It can be boring because of how deep the lore is and the emphasis on character is Left behind in favor of telling a very long complex bible-like story.
If I had a Nickel every time I read a book called Sword of Destiny, I would have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice
I began to read the next book in The Witcher series called “Sword of Destiny,” this year as well. I made quick progress through the first quarter of that book. As I mentioned before, I tend to read through about a quarter of a book at a time. Sword of Destiny’s first quarter went by very quickly as I was reading that first 25%, so I anticipate the remaining 75 will go by just as quickly and I will finish by the end of this year or long before it.
Let’s Try This a Second (Breakfast) Time…
I decided to restart the Lord of the Rings series independent of my choice to read through the Silmarillion. I am more than half way through Fellowship of the Ring already and I have found it much easier to read this time around, especially having read all of the Lord of the Rings before as well as The Hobbit and now most of the Silmarillion. I am a lot more used to the writing style of JRR Tolkien and can anticipate his style and follow his narrative structure with greater ease than I could in the past. The first time I read through Fellowship of the Ring, I was in high school and not all of the movies had been out yet. Now, having seen all of the movies in their theatrical and extended editions several times over, it can be hard to read the book without forcing the images of the movies onto the experience. As a reader. I hope to finish Fellowship of the Ring in the early part of 2025, especially as I find reading the books to be much more enjoyable than the first time through. What I first considered to be a complex writing style, I now find quite simple after having consumed as much of the Silmarillion as I have.
Types and Shadows
While at my previous job in 2024, I did take the opportunity to do some reading during slow times at work. I read through a hefty portion of Orson Scott Card’s Shadow of the Hegemon. I do not generally like Orson Scott Card’s writing style, but he is still a very good storyteller, in the grand scheme of things. He does not use a lot of imagery or character description. He lacks a lot of the visual and sensory input that many of my favorite authors provide. However, Card always delivers on brilliant character development, complex plots and intriguing drama throughout his books. Even though I usually want a lot more tactile elements in what I am reading, I found Shadow of the Hegemon to drive forward with a lot of momentum that I haven’t experienced from his other books. This is not to say that I like it more than Ender’s Game or Speaker for the Dead or even Ender’s Shadow. It may be that by the time I finish, I’ll prefer it to Ender’s Shadow, but as things sit, it is an intriguing diversion that doesn’t seem to have much of a goal in mind for itself.
STUNNING Graphics
When it comes to graphic novels, I decided to pick up DC’s Batman: Hush. With art by Jim Lee and a story by one of my favorite comic book writers, Jeph Loeb, I knew I was in for something special. I stopped about a quarter of the way through (yes, it really does happen that often for me) when I got distracted by the books I ended up finishing near the end of the year. Seeing as I haven’t finished it yet, I’m eager to do so, as Batman comics are always a good time.
The Name is Bond Bond (James James Bond Bond)
I was able to finish two James Bond books during 2024. I started Moonraker back in 2022 or 2023 and wasn’t very motivated to finish until this year. It’s not that good of a book. When I did finally went back to finish it, I had a renewed sense of interest in Diamonds are Forever, which is—I must say with great emphasis—a far better book than Moonraker, and much better than Live and let Die as well. I won’t say it’s better than Casino Royale (which is the first of the James Bond books). Rating them all so far, Casino Royale is the best and Diamonds are Forever is a second after a small gap of quality. Moonraker is hardly worth mentioning. I would actually call it my least favorite book of the year because it seemed to be boring, despite how adventurous and exciting it tried to be. The romantic interest was not as engaging as Vesper in Casino Royale or Tiffany Case in Diamonds are Forever and the actual villain reveal of Moonraker was disappointing, boring and uncreative for a 2024 audience. Perhaps in the short time after world war II, having the villain reveal himself to be a Nazi might have had more shock value, but today it feels like a cliché. He felt like more of a caricature than anything. In 2025, I may end up reading through the next book, the 5th in the James Bond series, From Russia, with Love. For those unfamiliar with the release order of the books, Dr. No. comes in at number 6 and coincides with the production of the first James Bond movie, also titled Dr. No. I am reading through the series as they were released by the author Ian Fleming.
The Wheel Turns
The Wheel of Time series has been a giant roadblock in the way of me feeling like I have read enough fantasy books to truly call myself a fantasy fan. I have so far only finished the first book in the fourteen book series; The Eye of the World. Even though the next book, The Great Hunt is still a very long epic fantasy story, It is one of the many that I read about 25% of and had to take a break due to my interest moving into another book. I will say that I do recognize right away that this is a better story with better writing than The Eye of the World. As I am writing this, I have the next four books after it staring me in the face, but I’m not sure how quickly I’m going to read through them. The paperback editions that I purchased are from Amazon, and they were made in connection with the Amazon and Sony TV series on Prime video. The quality of these paperbacks is low, to say the least. They are difficult to read. I feel like I have to break the spines just to see the words near the center of the pages. I would be very interested to find the original ’90s style fantasy art cover versions of the paperbacks, or if I had the money, purchase the full box set of all of the books. Having a more readable collection would motivate me to read the series with greater urgency.
Looking at 2025 Reading Plans
I have one friend who is very motivated for me to finish the first six Dune novel. Since I read God Emperor of Dune this year, I am four books into the series making the next Heretics of Dune. I don’t know that I will finish Heretics in 2025, but it seems like a good goal to set for myself, considering that it usually doesn’t take me too long to get all the way through a Dune book when I’m truly motivated. Dune is one of the few book series that can keep me reading beyond my 25% threshold. I can also say I listened through the entire dune audiobook this year after Dune part 2 came out in theaters.
Looking forward to my 2025 reading plans: I also want to put Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson near the very top of the list, as certain events in my life are motivating me to work harder on this series than I have in the past with more individual agency. I have been slowly working through this book for several years and even promised roommates from back in college that I would read this book, and that was more than a decade ago now. I do enjoy the book very much and would like to finish the first Mistborn trilogy before I dive into the Stormlight Archive, but I imagine I will start the Stormlight Archive in earnest before that can be accomplished. The Stormlight Archive is another very long epic fantasy series like The Wheel of Time and will take me several years to get through. Considering how I flip through different books and can’t stick to one at a time without tremendous effort, I hope to make 2025 an even bigger reading year for myself. As I get older, I feel more certain that I should spend more time reading books instead of watching TV shows, movies, listening to music or playing video games. Don’t get me wrong, I still like a lot of video games and part of the reason I want to get back to the Sword of Destiny is that I have been playing through Witcher 3 (The video game) and want to continue to compare the adaptational choices of the television show and the video game compared to the book series.
So, What are you Reading?
If you plan to read something in 2025 let me know. I would be interested in hearing what it is people are reading. I am continuing to work on a short fiction series, an ongoing short fiction series that I plan to release through Amazon’s Kindle Vella platform. Some life events have slowed my progress on this and other writing projects, but I would appreciate the input and participation of any of my friends or family that would be willing to pick the series up. When the first set of episodes is up, I plan to work harder on finishing the manuscript for the next book after Withered Kingdom in my main fantasy series.
I hope many of you can pick up books that you haven’t been able to read in the past either because of interest or time. I also hope many of you who don’t consider yourselves readers will make the choice to read more in 2025. Even if you only finish one book and even if it is only a young adult or a middle grade book, you may find the satisfaction of reading a book in the modern age of screens and flickering lights far more satisfying than you may have in the past. That’s what I’ve found, and I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels that way. Reading is therapeutic, and with the way life is going, and I think most of us need a little ink-and-paper therapy.
Thanks for reading this post. My fantasy novel, Withered Kingdom is available now on Amazon in all three big formats: paperback, hardcover and ebook. I may get around to finding a way to produce an audiobook at some point, but I might need more sales to get to that point first. You’d be doing an independent author a huge favor just to look it up. Don’t have a lot of cash to spare right now? The ebook is an excellent budget-friendly option.
The Phyronian Chronicle 