Narilka redacts her reading in 2024

Happy 2024 Everyone!

My Rating System
- Absolutely horrible, don't bother

- Meh, I finished the book somehow but would not recommend it

- An entertaining read

- Highly enjoyable, I would probably recommend this book

- Excellent! The book may not be perfect but it was perfect for me. Possibly a new favorite.

A star is given for a book that falls between those categories.

Currently Reading


Listening To

Books Read in 2024
1. Beware of Chicken 3 by Casualfarmer
2. Dragon Heist by Alexander C. Kane
3. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
4. Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt
5. System Collapse by Martha Wells
6. The Wim Hof Method by Wim Hof
7. The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
8. Yule Be Sorry by Kim M. Watt
9. The Phantom of the Lop Ear by Andrew Seiple
10. Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
11. The Wisdom of the Council by Sara Landon
12. A Manor of Life and Death by Kim M. Watt
13. The Case of the Felonious Faire by Drew Hayes
14. Mort by Terry Pratchett
15. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
16. Sourcery by Terry Pratchett
17. The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell
18. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
19. An End to All Tails by Andrew Seiple
20. Game of Scones by Kim M Watt
21. Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

Fun Stats
Books Read: 21
Total Pages Read: 4088
Audio Book Hours: 85h 58m
Rereads: 5
TBR Challenge: 5/12

2024 Series Stats
In progress: 19
Up to date: 14
On Hold: 5
Completed: 1
Abandoned: 2

Mount TBR
Start 2024: 217
End 2024: ?

TBR Challenge

A new year, a new list - happy 2024! It's a brand new primary list with all the carry overs from last year under the secondary list. Aiming for 12 read.

5/12

Primary
1. Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt Read Jan 24
2. Dragon Heist by Alexander Kane Read Jan 12
3. The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castelle Read Apr 2
4. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
5. To Die Fur by Dixie Lyle
6. The Wim Hof Method by Wim Hof Read Feb 3
7. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
8. Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews
9. A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home by Sue Halpern
10. Nala's World by Dean Nicholson
11. Scythe by Neil Shusterman
12. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Secondary
1. Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix
2. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
3. Foreigner by C. J. Cherryh
4. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
5. A Cat Named Darwin by William Jordan
6. Someone Like Me by MR Carey
7. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
8. Thud! by Terry Pratchett
9. You Are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza
10. Swordheart by T. Kingfisher Read Feb 22
11. Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines
12. My Life in a Cat House by Gwenn Cooper

My Personal Incomplete Series Challenge
Keeping my never-ending series list going for yet another year.

Series Stats Summary
In progress: 19
Up to date: 14
On Hold: 5
Completed: 1
Abandoned: 2

In Progress
Discworld: Rincewind - 6/8
Discworld: City Watch - 6/8
Discworld: Tiffany Aching - 3/5
Discworld: Overall - 33/41
Temeraire - 2/9
Joe Ledger* - 6/10
World of the Five Gods - 2/3
Space Team* - 4/11
Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot Mysteries - 1/4
Awaken Online: Tarot* - 1/3
Of Cats and Dragons* - 1/5
Hunter - 1/3
Nathaniel Cade* - 2/3
Spells, Swords and Stealth* - 3/5
Gobbelino London, PI - 3/7
Blasphemy Online - 1/3
Valkerye Collections - 1/2
Beaufort Scales Mysteries - 4/8
Dungeon Crawler Carl* - 2/6

Up to date and waiting
The Band - 2/2 - #3 expected 2025
The Brackenford Cycle - 4/4 - #5 TBD
5-minute Sherlock* - 3/3 - #4 TBD
The Witchlands - 4/4 - #5 TBD
World of the Others - 3/3 - #4 TBD
Mystwick* - 2/2 - #3 TBD
The Locked Tomb - 3/3 - #4 expected 2025
Aurelia Ryder - 1/1 - #2 TBD
Innkeeper Chronicles - 5/5 - #6 TBD
The Wizard's Butler* - 1/1 - #2 TBD
Kate Daniels Wilmington Years - 2/2 - #3 TBD
The Dresden Files - 17/17 - #18 TBD
Beware of Chicken* - 3/3 - #4 TBD
Murderbot - 7/7 - #8 TBD

Temporarily On Hold While I Try to Reduce my TBR
The Folk of the Air* - 1/3
Awaken Online* - 4/6
The Siege - 1/3
Spellslinger - 1/6
The Darkwater Legacy* - 1/2

Completed in 2024
Threadbare Pt 2* - 3/3

Abandoned in 2024
Lighthouse Library Mysteries - 2/4
The Burning - 1/2

*Indicates series on audio

Nice start! You are so organized.

Happy New Year and happy new thread! Those are ambitious reading goals.

Happy New Year! Looking forward to your reading notes!

Happy New Year and Happy New Reading Thread. Have a fantastic 2024.

>5 Bookmarque: I love the image! Thank you Bookmarque :)

>6 Karlstar: haha we'll see how well I can stick to the plan!

>7 MrsLee: >8 pgmcc: :D

Great plans! Great stats! Have a great reading year!

>1 Narilka: I've heard a lot of nice things about Kim M. Watt, but I haven't tried anything yet. Maybe this year...

I finished Beware of Chicken 3 today. Man I love this series. What a great start to the new year. Now the long wait for BOC 4 to release on audio. I'm going to attempt a review for it later this afternoon. I think. Maybe. Not sure what I'll start as my next audio book yet.

I'm starting Baking Bad as my first regular book of the new year. Hopefully it's as fun as Gobbelino.

Vague Plans for 2024
• Read 12 from my TBR as listed in post #3 above
• With the announcement of Stormlight 5 releasing in December I'm finally planning to read this series! They are all door stoppers so we will see lol
• A friend in my book club is interested in reading the Discworld books and I've agreed to go along for the journey. Expect many rereads from me on that this year. Not sure if we'll finish it or just go part way. Regardless it should be fun :) If we actually finish then this is probably a two year journey.
• Read Alecto the Ninth assuming it releases this year
• Finish catching up on Murderbot
• Actually finish some series :D

For anyone new to my thread... I subsist on a fairly steady diet of SF/F with the occasional non-fiction or mystery thrown in for variety. I typically have two books going at once, an audio and either a print or kindle book. Those will be updated regularly in post 1 as I finish/start new things. Last year I started adding thoughts as I read that I put in spoiler tags which makes it look like a thread full of redactions (thanks fuzzi lol), hence the funny title I started using for my reading log. Those tend to be very spoilery and will talk about plot points or whatever happens to be on my mind at the time so if it's something you don't potentially want spoiled click at your own risk.

Wishing you a great one!

Happy New Year and Happy New Thread!
You know I'll be dropping in all year.

Happy reading! I am in awe of your planning.

Happy New Year! I hope it brings you many great books. Hope you enjoy Baking Bad!

>3 Narilka: FOREIGNER! FOREIGNER! FOREIGNER!

And if you want another suggestion, Foreigner!

Happy New Year! I hope you'll have a wonder reading year.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone :)

Baking Bad through Ch 2. The murder happens almost immediately. Pretty funny that the local Woman's Club brings a bunch of baked goods to the crime scene. Oy, that poor inspector.

For audio I decided to keep it dragon themed and started Dragon Heist. It's an interesting set up so far. Apparently dragons have returned to the world and made themselves the nominal rulers of sorts. Not that we've seen too much of that by through Ch 2. It seems that we're setting up for our main human lead, a woman named Birdie who is a washed up actor, to be bonded or paired with a runt of a dragon who has appeared near her father's store in some sort of... territorial dispute with other dragons? It's hard to say and just the speculation of the other characters since the dragon's haven't spoken yet. Also it's pretty funny that the dad thought he scared off the dragons instead of them just leaving on their own lol

Wishing you a great reading year in 2024.

Dragon Heist through ch 5 They've bonded and the dragon can talk now which makes things easier. We're forming a party to go on a quest!

It is unexpectedly hilarious to have a dragon say "Roll Tide!" at the end of a fight/spar to hire their "warrior" hahaha The story is set in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and part of the bonding gives the dragon access to human language via Birdie's mind so it makes sense. Doesn't make it any less funny :D

>20 Narilka: I've just finished reading the prequel to Baking bad, What happened in London. No spoilers, but I thought it was actually better than BB. I love DI Adams!

Happy New Year!

>5 Bookmarque: Well, that's delightful :)

Happy reading in 2024, Narilka!

>21 Meredy:, >24 ronincats:, >25 libraryperilous: Thanks again for the well wishes :)

>23 Sakerfalcon: Yeah, I'm struggling a little with Baking Bad. I'm through Ch 14. I like the characters and set up but am missing something that makes me want to keep reading. I'm hoping it's just the first book finding its narrative feet. I'm planning to read book 2 regardless. My friend who wants to read the Discworld wants to start today and I'm debating pausing this for that.

Dragon Heist is the exact opposite experience. This is so much fun and laugh out loud funny. Party way through Ch 13 The gathering of the crew is almost complete. Birdie has literally just bumped into the archer lol That process of making a mage was pretty horrifying though nothing bad truly happens. I get why Chianti was in a panic. And Jim in pants, my brain just can't handle it lol Roll Tide!

So my job and my mom's health both went sideways at the same time. My capacity for reading has been seriously limited. I finished up Dragon Heist. It was highly enjoyable and a lot of fun. There is an opening for more in this world should the author ever want to return though the story stands well on it's own.

I'm almost finished with The Color of Magic. I noticed something about story 3 for the first time It's poking fun at the Pern books. I hadn't read Dragonriders before my initial read of this one so didn't get it back then. While it is entertaining, I don't think I'll want to reread this one again.

>27 Narilka: I'm so sorry to hear about your mom and your job. And yes, I suspect some of the Discworld books don't fare as well the second time around.

>27 Narilka: I am sorry to hear that you have difficult things to handle!

>27 Narilka: I enjoyed The Color of Magic for the send ups of so many popular series that preceded it, but I didn't like-like it as I came to like-like the later books. But The Luggage

>27 Narilka: Sorry to hear about your challenges. I think your touchstone for Dragon Heist may be the wrong one?

>27 Narilka: I hope both your mother's health and your job situation improve post haste.

>27 Narilka: Hope that things get better for you and your mom very soon.

Thanks everyone. Neither the job stuff nor mom's health were a surprise. Just terrible timing. Us kids are preparing ourselves that mom may not make it through 2024 and are getting things in line. If she improves then we're well ready for anything in the future too :)

>30 quondame: I think the Luggage may be my favorite thing about the book. That and how Death at the end realizes instead of getting frustrated at Rincewind's escapes just relaxes and knows it's only a waiting game while watching Fate sweat. Yeah, kinda morbid now that I've typed it out but the idea of a chilled-out Death is amusing.

I'm on the fence about going back to finish Baking Bad next or moving on to The Light Fantastic. I'm leaning towards the latter as something familiar may be easier right now.

>35 Narilka: hang in there, friend. (((hugs)))

Been there, in 2022, with my dad.

I did end up going with The Light Fantastic. General Rincewind question - is there any indication of his age in the series? I ask because early on in this one (pg 14 in my copy) he keeps mentioning a life changing event at 15, which was the whole accidentally learning that one spell and it got me wondering. Perhaps I should internet search.

I have no idea! Let us know what you dredge up. I think I stopped listening to the Rincewind books after this one and switched to The Witches instead.

>37 Narilka: I don't know. I think he was the youngest of the professors? Which could put him in his 50s! But that might have been later in the series. In my head I placed him as a lat thirties kind of guy, or early 40s.

>39 MrsLee: I'd placed him in his late 30s too :)

I found the answer! Our guess was pretty close. According to the Discworld wiki "Rincewind's age is indeterminate, although the first two books describe him as being young. He opened the Octavo at the age of fifteen, and the spell was in his head for sixteen years, which means that in The Colour of Magic he's thirty-one years old."

Source: https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Rincewind

It goes on to explain how his age is rather complicated but that's good enough for what I was curious about given I'm at the start of the series.

>39 MrsLee: I don't think Rincewind was a professor at all - I remember him being a much failed student and sort of pegged him at 28 at the start of LF. I think they sort of let Rincewind be assistant Librarian as a result of experiences, but not whatever formally inducting him would have been.

>41 quondame: Was he an assistant to the orangutan librarian?

>42 clamairy: Yes. He's mentioned as being in the library in some of the books following Sourcery which marks the transformation of the librarian.

>41 quondame: Yes, I think you are right. It's been a long time since I've read them.

The Light Fantastic I am enjoying this one a lot more than the first :)

I'm on page 71 which is 29% and love Rincewind's horoscope lol

"Today is a good time for making friends. A good deed may have unforeseen consequences. Don't upset any druids. Your lucky food id small cucumber. People pointing knives at you are probably up to no good. PS, we really mean it about druids."

Or how about the book explaining to Rincewind they chose him because he runs away and it makes him a survivor and it took him a moment to get it?? Classic Pratchett :D

If it continues like this I'll be bumping my rating up after finishing.

It's been so long since I read Pratchett. I love the witches. Also, Tiffany Aching, but those I have to listen to because of the dialect.

Got back from a trip to take care of some stuff for mom. It went well.

While traveling I finished Baking Bad. It was cute and shows promise by the end. I actually don't like the dragons as much as I thought I would. Their part is what is cutesy and a tad of bit of a turn off. Also one of the main characters is quite a ditz and solved the whole thing by accident! I'm not entirely opposed to that though, sometimes I bumble through things too. I'm still going to read book two and see if this was just the series finding it's narrative legs as I do think it smoothed out in the end.

I also finished System Collapse. It had a slow start and then it hits that one point where everything happens all at once with a race to the finish. I'm glad the REDACTED thing got explained mid-way through as it was starting to get annoying hah I'm sad I'm caught up on Murderbot. I'll have to go check the author's website and see if there's news for the next installment yet.

I didn't take The Light Fantastic with me as it's a physical book, opting for the ease of my Kindle. Which means I started The Wim Hof Method after finishing Murderbot. It's a fast read so far so I'll likely finish that and then return to Rincewind.

>47 Narilka: Ha, yes. The redacted bit was getting to me, too. She writes them relatively quickly, but she might be working on the sequel to Witch King.

>48 clamairy: Witch King was quite good, and its sequel would be nice to have... But I would prefer another Murderbot instead! I am also sad that I don't have any new Murderbot books to read (I could always do a reread, of course...).

>47 Narilka: I had the same issue with you about the dragons and their klutziness in Baking Bad. It didn't help that they were always accompanied by Miriam who was also a klutz. It was just too much. I hope for more of DI Adams in future books because she is awesome.

>50 Sakerfalcon: If that doesn't change in book 2 then it's probably where I'll exit the series. I'll let you know soon as I'm planning to read it sometime in Feb.

>50 Sakerfalcon: The author seems fond of slapstick, which doesn't translate well to books, I think. I also put down Baking Bad, but may give the DI Adams shorter piece a whirl.

>52 Marissa_Doyle: What happened in London is excellent, I highly recommend it and it could be read as a stand-alone.

>53 Sakerfalcon: Hmm, What Happened in London is the one my library doesn't have!

I read Baking Bad on a flight a couple of years ago. It was fun but I felt the dragons were underutilized. I decided not to continue the series.

>54 quondame: Arrghhh!!!

>55 libraryperilous: Authors should learn that you can never go wrong by using more dragon!

I finished up The Wim Hof Method. Full disclosure: I'm not unbiased going into this book. I've been practicing his breathing technique off and on for over two years now and enjoying the benefits when I stick with it. When I saw the book go on sale I grabbed it figuring I'd like to read about the whole method. The method itself is really simple - you can find plenty of YouTube videos about it. I'm glad I read the book though as it gave me the motivation I need to push through my aversion to cold. I've been adding a shot of cold water at the end of my shower for three days now and doing OK lol Up to 7 seconds! Wish me luck everyone :)

Now it's back to finishing up The Light Fantastic.

The Light Fantastic Around 73% the group is back in the city and things are ramping up. Rincewind's conversation with Death was interesting - Death watching the death-of-the-mind. Very interesting commentary on society that still seems relevant in ways all these years later.

Loved Cohen's new teeth lol

Finished The Light Fantastic. It was an enjoyable read. I like the first half more than the second, it was outright hilarious. Absolutely love both Cohen and the Luggage. I'm glad I'm revisiting the series.

Next up, Yule Be Sorry.

Yule Be Sorry I'm a couple pages into Ch 7 and liking this one more than the first. I was definitely won over when Alice was frustrated with Miriam and her ditziness lol Its nice when the other characters feel my frustration lol

I like seeing more about dragon culture. I felt for poor Mortimer and having his hopes for the greater good semi-crushed and yet Beaufort bringing up some good points around individuality and how to get them to work together. Not too far off from humans in that respect.

Speculation, it seems that the dragons are being set up for probably those guys to steal the toys and sell on eBay. Seems pretty convoluted though without any sort of motivation yet. We will see!

I finished Yule Be Sorry. I liked it a lot more than the first book. Watt weaves a slightly more complicated story in this one, adding parallel timelines to see what different characters are doing at the same time. She wraps it all up well and gives us an exciting and action filled ending. I'm hoping DI Adams takes Collins' offer to transfer up to that area seriously. Seems to be the way things are leaning anyway.

Up next, Equal Rites.

>61 Narilka: I have this on my kindle; glad to hear that it's stronger than the first book.

Equal Rites around 25%. I can't believe the last time I read this was in 2009. It's been a while! Granny's take on magic is pure awesome. Headology!

Ugh, Esk trying to be the eagle. She's lucky Granny got to her in time.

Boy the wizards at Unseen University are in for a trip lol

I finished The Phantom of the Lop Ear. It's a fun entry into the Threadbareverse though definitely relies on you having read the Small Medium series to understand all that is happening across the various story lines. It's making me debate going back and finishing off the Blasphemy Online series as the final Threadbare book has a dragon on the cover and I think that's where it ties in.

Next on audio is The Case of the Felonious Faire. I listened to the first chapter this morning. The author has a fondness for funny alliteration, which I'd written the sentence down to share.

I finished Equal Rites. I had forgotten that ending. Overall it was entertaining and insightful as I typically expect from Pratchett. No woman wizards because of lore! hah

Granny having a sort of romance with the Archchancellor made me laugh. I don't remember her going back to UU and participating in her role as a Chair though.

I couldn't tell if Esk still had magic at the end. The staff had lost it's runes as it was used to save her so did it lose the magic too?

Next up is Swordheart.

The Case of the Felonious Faire I'm in ch 8 and already having fun. Hayes had a blast writing Sherman's dialogue and I love Scott Aiello's narration of the series. The case is set in a Renaissance Faire and of course they're going in costume and cosplaying it up while they investigate lol Sherman's convoluted sentence structure blends in perfectly.

>65 Narilka: Nice! Swordheart was a very entertaining and wholesome read, I thought. Let's see what you think of it :)

Just wrapped up another trip for my mom. Her health seems stable and we moved her into assisted living for the time being. It was an exhausting several days dealing with it all but we accomplished a lot and I'm feeling pretty positive about it. The plan is to move her near one of us kids which means we still have a lot of work to do but I think we're past the first phase.

In book news, I finished Swordheart. It was laugh out loud funny and an absolutely delightful read. I hope to get more thoughts written down later. I also finished The Wisdom of the Council which is a spirituality book that borders fairly close to religion so I'm not going to say much other than I'm glad I read it and it gave me a lot to ponder.

I started A Manor of Life and Death on the flight home. So far, so good. It's hitting somewhere in between books 1 and 2 for enjoyment level at the moment though I think the style for these books is a slow start that winds up. Everyone's at a spa retreat and there's been a death. I'm assuming it's a murder but the characters aren't sure yet. Even with a little silly slapstick comedy in a yoga class, it feels slow to me. I'm thinking perhaps I don't enjoy written slapstick comedy.

>68 Narilka: glad things are better with your mom. Both of my parents needed some assistance but we were able to do it by living close by.

>68 Narilka: Glad you are in a good place for the moment. Rest and catch up with yourself while you can, before the next phase.

>69 fuzzi: Yeah, neither of us kids are close which has added an extra complication hence why we want to get her moved. Just need her to have a few months of stability so we can sort it all out. It was more good news today though! Wrapping in spoilers to make it easier to skip over for anyone not interested. Apparently paperwork started back in December for a "home health aid" came through and they're going to be checking on mom in the assisted living facility 3 days a week. At least one of those days will be an in person visit. This is excellent news as it will help hold the facility accountable during her stay and should improve her treatment. Sadly, having someone physically there makes all the difference though we all wish, in general, it would be otherwise and that we could just count on people to give the care require regardless. I mean that for everyone not just my mom as I know others are suffering too and it makes me sad.

>70 MrsLee: Definitely! I could use 3-4 days of sleep to catch up :D We've already started to divide and conquer on the next phase. I expect it to get active again end of Apr/early May.

>68 Narilka: I'm glad you've accomplished the first phase and that things are looking up for your mom.

>68 Narilka: & >71 Narilka: I guess that is about the best news you could hope for, considering the circumstances. I hope all continues to go well. How does your mom like the facility she's in?

>71 Narilka: That sounds like promising news. I hope the aid will help.

>73 clamairy: Oh she hates it lol I don't blame her. However if she can hang in for 2-3 months... I think it will work out just long enough.

A Manor of Life and Death Through Ch 11 I still can't decide if I think the bird watchers are just that or if they're trying to photograph Folk. We don't get much time with them, which probably means they're not relevant.

I also have no idea who the murderer is. Was it the woman who found him who was acting too perfectly? Or the obvious rival?

It's fun that Thompson has joined the party.

I finished. All I have to say is "Meow. Meow meow meow." hehehe

Yeah, that cracked me up. The author really knows how to wind up these endings. Weirdly the slapstick comedy of the yoga class at the beginning did not work for me but all of the chaos of the ending did. I'm not sure the difference. Is it a style thing?

I do like how she threw that red herring in about it being a murder. I bought in entirely! And still the mystery was solved by the end. I was hoping that this book would prompt Adams to just transfer to the Toot Hansell office but not yet it seems. She's going to start running out of excuses soon.

I also have no idea what mythology a dandy is from. I need to go look that up.

Next up is Mort. Back to the Disc I go!

>75 Narilka: I hope it all goes smoothly for her sake and yours!

>71 Narilka: Good news on your Mom, I hope the next move goes smoothly.

>77 clamairy: & >78 Karlstar: Thanks!

I'm at 24% in to Mort. So much great philosophy and commentary about humanity from Death so far. Here are two of my current favorites...

THAT'S BECAUSE TIME IS ADJUSTABLE, said Death, when Mort pointed this out. IT'S NOT REALLY IMPORTANT.

"I always thought it was."

PEOPLE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT ONLY BECAUSE THEY INVENTED IT, said Death somberly.

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THAT'S MORTALS FOR YOU, Death continued. THEY'VE ONLY GOT A FEW YEARS IN THIS WORLD AND THEY SPEND THEM ALL IN MAKING THINGS COMPLICATED FOR THEMSELVES. FASCINATING.

Mort around 65% I wish I could give Death a hug when he talks about having no friends. Or just sit and chat with him.

Pratchett is amazing at writing from an other perspective. Death trying to understand humans is fascinating. Wish we spent more time with him.

I also find Mort's becoming more real than reality interesting.

I finished The Case of the Felonious Faire on audio a few days ago. I enjoyed it. So much fun with Sherman and Watson having a case at a Renaissance Faire! There is a definite hook for more to come so I'm glad the author is continuing with the series. I want to know more about this woman who is like Sherman and more about the shady experiments that created them both.

For my next audio book I started Dungeon Crawler Carl. I've had friends trying to get me to listen to this forever. I understand why. It's hilarious. The story wastes no time getting to things. Through ch 4 So the set up is pretty horrible but Carl was (inadvertently? purposefully?) saved by his cat, which I appreciated. Interesting blend of standard litrpg and some Hunger Games with the whole sponsors sending gifts thing. I'm still waiting for the cat to start talking though perhaps she needs a coupe levels and some int boosts?

Spoilers for through Ch 7. The item I was hoping for above happened. Magic cat biscuits! The snark and mixing in our world references in the game notifications are hilarious. And now that Princess Doughnut can talk and donned the crown making her part of a royal family that she'll have to kill later on to progress... lololol Carl the Royal Bodyguard indeed. And his magic toe ring lol Perhaps some day he'll even find pants!

The narrator is absolutely fantastic. I've already forgotten there is only one person doing all the voices they are so distinct.

If the humor and narration stay like this, this has potential to be a new favorite series.

I'm going to attempt some proper reviews today. New year and I'm already behind :)

1. Beware of Chicken 3 by Casualfarmer



Beware of Chicken 3 was a great way to start off my 2024 reading. I absolutely loved getting back together with these characters. It's time for the Dualing Peak tournament and several of Jin's disciples head off to participate in the fun while Jin and Meimei take care of things at the farm. Sort of.

The story is great for fans who like the kung fu tournament trope and yet still has that cozy feel. While we do get to visit with all of the characters, Tigger and Shao Lan have the most page time and character growth due to tournament events. It's amazing how far Tigger's character has come since book 1. The tournament was a lot of fun and I like the new friends the characters made along the way.

I've sometimes commented after watching a Marvel movie (or similar action movies) where a lot of cities are destroyed as the heroes fight it out with the villains that we never get to see the aftermath. Apparently I wasn't alone with this thought. I greatly appreciated the author taking the story there and how it was treated. More people with Jin's attitude would make the world a better place. There are some interesting long lasting consequences for Jin based on related events so I'm interested to see where this goes next.

Now the wait for #4 on audio begins.

Rating:

2. Dragon Heist by Alexander C. Kane



I never knew I needed a heist story that features a dragon who is passionate about Alabama football. Obviously Alexander C. Kane knew and he wrote Dragon Heist to fill the niche. Birdie Binkowitz is a washed up actress who finds herself living back home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, working at her father's general store and is rather bitter about where life has taken her. All that changes when a dragon appears in front of the store seeking help. He wants to pull a heist on another dragon clan and he's determined that Birdie is the one to help him form a team and get the job done.

As I imagine Jim the Dragon would say, this was right good fun ya'll! I haven't read a good heist story in a while and Dragon Heist fit the bill. It reminded me of a classic D&D-style gathering of the party to go on a quest. Add in fun, quirky characters, a genuinely heartwarming story, dragons and hefty dose of humor and you get a great mix that was also laugh out loud funny at times.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Khristine Hvam. She does a great job of bringing the story to life and has a nice singing voice.

The story is completely resolved and currently stands alone yet there's a nice hook left open for the author to write more some day. I hope he does. Roll Tide!

Rating:

Edit to fix the touchstone.

3. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett



Reread 2024: That was pretty much what I remembered from my first read through. I did notice this time that story 3 is poking fun at Pern. I didn't recognize that before because I hadn't read Dragonriders back then. My favorite thing is the Luggage! I'm glad I revisited but not sure I'll want to reread this one in the future. Original review below.

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The Colour of Magic is the first book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I have been reading and enjoying Discworld for many years now and this is the first time I've read the very first book. I understand why people recommend starting the series elsewhere and coming back to this one later. It reads as a series of four connected short stories instead of one cohesive novel. It is not a bad place to start your Discworld experience, it just isn't indicative of what the rest of the series will be like.

Things start off innocently enough. Rincewind, the Disc's most incompetent wizard, becomes an involuntary tour guide to the Disc's first tourist, Twoflowers, and his luggage. Forced to flee Ankh-Morpork to escape a city wide fire, they begin a traveling adventure across the Disc. Twoflowers is determined to see as much of the Disc as he can and Rincewind is determined not to die along the way. Hilarity ensues.

It was great to finally read the beginning of the series. No, it is not Pratchett's strongest work, but it definitely shows the promise of what Discworld will become in future novels. Each story gets progressively better and they are all quite amusing. There are several jokes that require prior knowledge of classic fantasy tropes to fully understand the humor. The absurdity of chain mail bikinis, adding exclamation points to names so they seem exotic and gods using mortals as game pieces to name a few. I hear The Light Fantastic directly follows this one as a sort of duology, so I plan to pick it up later this year as this book ends in a literal cliffhanger.

Rating:

>84 Narilka: A heist story with dragons? This sounds delightful.

>85 Narilka: Not exactly a cliffhanger. As I recall the plunge is well underway at the end of The Color of Magic.

>87 quondame: Yes they've gone off the side of the Disc at the end. The "cliffhanger" is the unresolved knowing if they died or not.

Dungeon Crawler Carl is my new obsession. I find myself seeking out opportunities to listen to even a few minutes at a time :D

Through Ch 11 That first boss fight was pretty horrific even with the humor. Does anyone speak Spanish? I think she was asking for him to end it?

Through Ch 16 Princess Donut just talked goblins into making Carl some kind of motorcycle that should last him a while lol Charisma +1!

Through Ch 22 and a bit terrified for what the author has in store for those former nursing home residents. It's nice that the game is healing them in a way but I don't see them lasting long :( It's hitting a bit close to home with everything I've gone through with my mom these last several months.

Through ch 31 I like how the workings of the game world are revealed over time and feel natural to the story line. It's both sad and intriguing that most creatures encountered were once from a conquered planet. Or that's how I took the explanation.

Oh dear lol Nice boss kill. Got them on TV! Or, ah, this galaxy's version of TV. Just what Donut was hoping for. And now she has followers lol

I'm still concerned at how all the geriatrics are going to be wiped out. Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic and they actually survive to the 4th floor to pick a class.

If anyone is intrigued by my ravings, be sure to check this one out on audio. The narrator's performance is top notch.

I finished my Mort reread and enjoyed it. It's the best of the first four so far. I'm going straight on to Sourcery. Lovely little play on words with that title. Sorcerer...sourcery...source... I remember exactly none of the plot so this should be fun.

I finished Dungeon Crawler Carl today. That was pretty great :) I had a feeling that was a velociraptor that Donut tamed lol Or, well, not tamed but adopted? I guess I get to find out what class and race they pick at the start of book 2. Or class anyway since I think they keep cat and human. I do wonder what's up with that homeless woman. She's more than meets the eye. Plots within plots! I'm definitely continuing this series and will be sticking to audio as long as they keep this narrator.

>91 Narilka: I'm glad you enjoyed DCC! It's one of my favorite LitRPG series, and I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment. I have to admit I paid actual money for a Princess Donut Posse tshirt :) Mongo is hilarious and I love Donut's connection with him. He occasionally gets into trouble...

This series struck me as a bit darker than a lot of RPG setting works. Some are set in a virtual world, where people don't actually get hurt, so this one has a more serious side but is well balanced with humour. I've heard good things about the narrator of the audiobooks - Travis Baldree narrates quite a lot of LitRPG books and has his own series too: Legends and Lattes.

>92 Darth-Heather: Occasionally?? Seems like trouble is Mongo's second name ;) This one is narrated by Jeff Hays. I listened to Baldree for the Beware of Chicken series. He's great. Jeff Hays makes it sound like a cast of thousands with just him doing all the voices. It's impressive.

>93 Narilka: oh, I don't know why I thought Baldree narrated the first one; I think he does narrate some of the later books though. I don't really listen to audiobooks (my commute to work is short) but my nephew fills me in on his opinions now that I've gotten him interested in this genre. Baldree does get good reviews on narrating several other series' that I like, such as Divine Apostasy, Primal Hunter, Cradle, and another top favorite - Shadeslinger.

wait until Mongo gets a girlfriend.... :D

I finished Sourcery. I liked it less on this reread than the first time. The jokes just weren't hitting right. I enjoyed the last 100 pages more than the first and enjoyed the ending. Loved the four horsemen having a good time in a pub lol

Next up is The Malevolent Seven.

I also finally started a new audio. I've decided to see how the Threadbare series finishes with An End to All Tails. I'm liking it so far. 3 chapters in and After doing some reintroduction to where the various factions are at, the story is nicely focused on Threadbare himself. I hope it stays like this.

I'll head back to Carl after this.

The Malevolent Seven Through ch 5 So we'll be following a group of anti-heroes. None of the characters seem like good people so far. I wonder if any of his fellow mages know that Cade uses infernal magic. Probably.

An End to All Tails half way through ch 6 That's a lot deeper knowledge of players with Thomasi experiencing the game influencing him. I admit I'm liking the player aspect a lot less at the moment. I think I"m starting to see where Blasphemy Online is going to fit in since there's one character mentioned so far.

The Malevolent Seven Almost finished Ch 8 Seems like this is a set up for Corrigan to save Cade? Get the others out and then Corrigan and Cade go? Or maybe not? Hard to tell since everyone is so unlikable so far and don't really seem like the team player types.

Finished 8 Glad I was mostly right. Not sure I'm sorry to see the others fried.

Through Ch 11 I was wondering what was going to happen to the kids during all this but didn't expect what happened :(

Through Ch 13 Many layers to the Cade onion. He's obviously well educated. I suspect it will be revealed he's a fallen Justiciar. He just knows too much.

The Malevolent Seven This is well paced and highly readable. Through Ch 23 This as taken an interesting turn now that a "fallen" angel has joined the party and they're all on a walk through hell to get off the ship lol

Though I get the sense that there's not much different between aurorals and infernals other than marketing. They basically seem to be the same just the infernals are more honest about it. It that kind of story lol

Glad Cade finally admitted he used to be a justicar.

Time to see what infernal lord or whatever wants to meet Cade before they continue on their quest.

>97 Narilka: That sounds good, I'm interested!

>100 Karlstar: I hope you like it if you try it :)

The Malevolent Seven I'm through Ch 32 Cade's old teacher was quite a piece of work. She both did a great job with him and broke him.

I really don't like the Celestials at all. At least I can respect the Infernals for being honest about what they are.

I was not expecting the double cross and I don't know why lol not like anythings been what it seems in this story yet.

Are the 7 monks even going to be monks as we think of them? Or even human?

Just started Ch 35 and I admit I'm disappointed the brothers are human. At least their servant wasn't hah

I also took "brothers" in the more religious meaning, like brother priests or monks, not the literal sense it seems they actually are - family.

Finished The Malevolent Seven. It was entertaining and a bit frustrating. The ending didn't provide the closure I was hoping for. I'm assuming that Cade chose to realign with the Pandoral plane given his comment about having a bug in his throat. Seems it would be better as a first book in a series. Since it's open ended it's easy enough for the author to come write more if he wants.

I started Wyrd Sisters as my next book. I love the nod to Shakespeare/Macbeth on the title page :D

(Starring Three Witches, also kings, daggers, crowns, storms, dwarfs, cats, ghosts, spectres, apes, bandits, demons, forests, heirs, jesters, tortures, trolls, turntables, general rejoicing and divers alarums.)

15% Granny accidentally heckling the play is hilarious lol And the fact that the audience loves it but she doesn't know makes it even better :)

>104 Narilka: That scene is my favorite! Such a great book.

>105 clamairy: I'm loving this reread so far :)

Wyrd Sisters I like this quote from page 80 of my book, which is 24%:

"The duke had a mind that ticked like a clock and, like a clock, it regularly went cuckoo."

Pratchett had such a way with words.

>104 Narilka: I love Wyrd Sisters! Pratchett plays very nicely with Macbeth tropes.

Wyrd sisters is one of my favourite Discworld books! I lent it to a friend who loves Shakespeare and got her hooked on Pratchett's writing.

Finished Wyrd Sisters. I really enjoyed this! I was reading elsewhere that the ending was foreshadowed waaaay ahead of time. Pratchett was very sneaky! I totally missed it lol

Loved that ending too, with the play and how Granny got them to start acting out the actual truth. Plus loved Death staring himself and getting stage fright :D

Apparently there's also a full-length animated film of Wyrd Sisters that was made by Cosgrove Hall in 1997 freely available on YouTube. I haven't watched it yet but though I'd share the link if anyone was interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGKP2vVwcDg

Next up I'm returning to the Beaufort Dragons with Game of Scones.

>109 Narilka: The Wyrd Sisters film was so fun. I was delighted that it really was so itself and so close to the book.

>109 Narilka: Oh! I might have to look for that.

I looked for my Kindle highlights and notes on Wyrd Sisters and found this gem:

"There was something here, he thought, that nearly belonged to the gods. Humans had built a world inside the world, which reflected it in pretty much the same way as a drop of water reflects the landscape. And yet…and yet… Inside this little world they had taken pains to put all the things you might think they would want to escape from—hatred, fear, tyranny, and so forth. Death was intrigued. They thought they wanted to be taken out of themselves, and every art humans dreamt up took them further in."

>111 clamairy: That's an excellent quote.

>111 clamairy: Love it.

Game of Scones ch 1. Not very huge spoilers but tagging in case. The blue potatoes had me excited and disappointed all at the same time but only a small disappointment. I was hoping they were something real I could try out hah The food coloring is pretty funny :) I have experimented with purple potatoes - they're fun! I like to roast a medley of different colors now and then. Same with carrots :D

At least the murder happened fast. If it's a murder and not just an unfortunate mechanical catastrophe.

Here's another quote I enjoyed from Wyrd Sisters:

Granny Weatherwax was often angry. She considered it one of her strong points. Genuine anger was one of the world's greatest creative forces. But you had to learn how to control it. That didn't mean you let it trickle away. It meant you dammed it, carefully, let it develop a working head, let it drown whole valleys of the mind and then, just when the whole structure was about to collapse, opened a tiny pipeline at the base and let the iron-hard stream of wrath power the turbines of revenge.

>115 Narilka: "let the iron-hard stream of wrath power the turbines of revenge." That's saying something!

>115 Narilka: Pterry knew what he was talking about. See Neil Gaiman's introduction to A Slip of the Keyboard.

>115 Narilka: Ah, yes. Timing is everything! Love this.

I finished An End to All Tails today which wraps up the Threadbareverse. Turns out it was OK not to complete the Blasphemy Online prequels. The first book of Blasphemy has enough background with introduction to the characters that join Threadbare in the end plus this book gives a great summary of where that series ended to provide the needed context. I would recommend finishing the Small Medium series as it was not given as much detail (plus is genuinely a fun read in its own right) and it would be easy to be a bit puzzled about Chase and friends. I may go back to finish up Blasphemy anyway it sounds like Richard went on a pretty amazing quest. This book ties together all three series and answers exactly what was going on with that world and why. I like where most of the characters end up and I found it an exciting and satisfactory ending, if a bit rushed at the end.

Next up on audio is Carl's Doomsday Scenario. I can't wait! I was planning to start tomorrow but I think I see something needing to be dusted... yes, definitely need to dust the house with my headphones on ;)

Game of Scones has been slow going. Partly me just being tired and partly the story is on the slow side so far. Ch 8. I find myself agreeing with Miriam "Miriam growled at the bottom of the sink, and helped herself to a large chunk of brownie from a tub she'd discovered earlier. If a day like this didn't call for generous servings of brownies, she wasn't sure what did."

I had a work week that definitely called for generous servings of brownies!

Carl's Doomsday Scenario through ch 4 OMG we have a Paid Anarchist and a Former Child Star as classes, I'm laughing so hard lol

I like how they suckered Mordecai into being their agent :D His advice any time is going to be invaluable.

I bet that race that Carl picked, a Primal, will be important later. Definitely in future books if not this one.

I wonder just how big Mongo will get. Will he end up like Jurassic Park movie size or will the game have fun and make him enormous as he levels? Hmm.

Carl's Doomsday Scenario through ch 6 Ugh, it's a circus. Where there's a circus, there's clowns. I can't wait for Mongo to tear into some clowns. Clowns are creepy!

I also hope Carl and Donut meet back up with the geriatric group. I'd love to see more race/class combos.

Game of Scones party way through Ch 14 Hopefully now that there's another murder the pace will pick up a bit.

Carl's Doomsday Scenario ch 7 A lot happened in one chapter!

Really glad that worked out well with Signet. I disagree with Mordecai slightly in that she could still be a useful ally if she doesn't just attack them. Which it seems she wont as Donut and Carl have impressed her for now. I can already see Donut's mind planning once she realized Elite story lines are like another show for viewers lol

I'm glad we got to see the initial level recap. More race/class combos! Love how inventive the author is.

Mordecai constantly getting drunk due to his new found freedom is already getting old. He gives great advice when he's sober! Though that's probably the point - to let Carl and Donut get into some trouble because they don't have access to his advice.

Half way through Ch 9 and it made me sad. That poor bear. It was a mercy killing at the end. At least it got to remember itself without the parasites for a few moments.

Hopefully Carl and Donut reunite now. I don't like them being separated even for a few minutes.

Through Ch 11 Great solution Carl found to the circus problem. Plus set them up well for the future.

Not cool that they're now putting Donut's life in trouble and she can't defend herself. Hang in there Mongo!

She's going to be both pissed and impressed when she finally wakes up, finds out what happened and sees their new viewer count lol Pissed she missed out and impressed at how their viewer count has risen.

I finished Game of Scones. I liked that ending a lot. Wish the beginning had been more engaging. I looked up "devil dandy dogs". Apparently they are the dogs of the Wild Hunt from European mythology. And pretty great when Dandy went full mythological creature mode and everyone could see him :D

Like Iain said, I'm very glad that Adams finally moved transferred up at the end of the book. It was inevitable.

Nice to see more dragons engaging. However it's going to make them harder to keep secret if many more join in regularly.

Next up is Pyramids.

Carl's Doomsday Scenario through ch 17 I learned something new. I never knew that Jai Alai had another name! The cesta is perfect for him to lob bombs :)

I love Mongo's new chompers lol

Through ch 19 That just took an unexpected turn. As if just being a crawler wasn't dangerous enough, now they're pawns in some interstellar politics. Carl can be pretty insightful at times.

I also didn't expect Mongo to enjoy the bath enough to immediately want a second one lol I hope they save up to buy a unit for their personal room. Ahh the small pleasures in life.

The Tiny Cat hunt is right up my alley. I've found 9 so far on my own :)

>125 Narilka: Impressed I am!

>125 Narilka: Nice! I got 4 the other day using my phone. I haven't had a chance to sit at my PC and give it a real shot.

>126 MrsLee: Thanks!

>127 clamairy: I can't imaging it being easy to do on your phone. 4 is impressive! I bet you find more when you use your PC.

>125 Narilka: Good work!

>129 Karlstar: Thanks! Time to see if I can figure out the rest with some hints.

I finished Carl's Doomsday Scenario. That was satisfying. I am so pissed they were cheated out of Celestial level loot!! Stupid, cheap Vorant Corporation. And pretty funny how the AI tried to hand that out to a lot of crawlers. This, along with the defects Carl has noticed, makes me wonder if the AI is really starting to malfunction or if it's just having fun bending/breaking game rules.

I'm not sure how I feel about Donut losing the crown. Because it was... destroyed? Does that mean that it won't respawn for someone else to pick up?

Poor Carl lol that whole ending scene.. and definitive proof that spoof video was a spoof lol poor guy.

Brilliant of Carl to have them just blow up everything since it as all about to blow anyway. He's really living up to his chosen class.

Pyramids just isn't holding my attention so I'm moving on to Guards! Guards! and will come back to Pyramids later. Not sure about my next audio pick yet.

Guards! Guards! I finally got time to just sit and read! Here are some of the quotes that have caught my eye and general commentary. I'm around 28% through.

"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read."

Even the footnotes are noteworthy lol

There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book out to be.

Oh man do I know this feeling. Going to look for a favorite to reread and discover it missing. The horror! My husband and cats might have had some talkings to about this over the years lol

Pratchett poking fun with the Patrician's "Oblong Office" hehehe

Carrot's letters home are so charming in his innocence. I also love how he's bring the Watch back to life and they are slow in realizing hah

Life is just chemicals. A drop here, a drip there, everything's changed. A mere dribble of fermented juices and suddenly you're going to live another few hours.

I know that is really referencing Vimes' alcoholism but it also put me in mind of Death's many comments about "glands" and that's why you don't have emotions after death. It's all chemicals. Unintended connection?

I am loving this reread.

For audio I'm going to continue DCC with The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook. I don't expect much listening time until next week though.

>133 Narilka: I still have not read this! It's definitely on my virtual TBR. Happy to see you're enjoying it so much.

>133 Narilka: I love the Guards/Vimes series. Of course that's silly to say because I say it about each series, but this one resonates with my noir-mystery loving self.

>133 Narilka: >136 MrsLee: I'm another Guards/Vimes fan. There is so much to love over several books.

>134 Narilka: I hope you enjoy it, this installment is when the tension really ramps up

>133 Narilka: I think I've read this one, I borrowed a few Pratchett from someone years ago, not sure which ones any more. You folks are making me want to pick them up and read them again. Of course, that's true with about half of what you all read, so I'll never get caught up.

>135 clamairy: Huh! Hopefully it will make it to the top of your TBR soon.

>136 MrsLee: I love the arc Vimes goes on across the series.

>137 quondame: Yay!

>138 Darth-Heather: :)

>139 Karlstar: I hope you give them another try and see if you like them.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook through Ch 6. Interesting set up to this level. So it's a massive subway system. That's definitely different.

I loved how everyone made that vendor's day by buying all those expensive rooms with vouchers. Win win win!

The trapped luggage I didn't expect. Fire ants, literally lol

I love that Mongo is now full sized and a murder machine :D

I'm glad it looks like they're going to meet up with some old friends. It was sad about the guy who died protecting the geriatrics. Nice that he was able to get a message sent before the floor collapsed.

Guards! Guards! around 60% I loved that nod to Dirty Harry lol Do you feel lucky??

Interesting how Vimes has worked out that the dragon went somewhere instead of dying. No splatter. Not sure why no one else didn't find this odd.

The Librarian and going into L-space... I'd forgotten that's where that was first referenced. Very cool.

Dwarfish yodel LOL Very ethnic lol

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook ch 7. And there it is. The titular item is an actual book! I know it was played off as a waste of a prize but I have a hunch this book will prove invaluable given Carl's chosen class. It's too bad he didn't choose the chaps for pure comedy reasons. Perhaps they'll come up again in the future.

And now they got Mordecai out of the way for a few days. Let's see how Carl and Donut do fully on their own for a while.

I finished Guards! Guards!. It is just as enjoyable as the last time I reread it. Now I don't know what I'm more looking forward to - more Watch books or more Witches books :D

I need something different so I'm going to give Foreigner a try next.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook through Ch 11 The mantaur was just weird. And I guess that's the thing on the cover that Carl is fighting. Too bad, seemed like a nice guy and he gave the group a lot of good information.

I like the patrons Carl and Donut have. I think the one for Katya could be problematic. We will see.

>144 Narilka: You have no bad choices there. My husband picked up Foreigner about 3 weeks back and may have finished the entire series by now. I'd never have recommended that, since I think once a year is just about right, but others reading habits are one of the great uncontrollables.

>146 quondame: Twenty-two books in three weeks?!? Wow...

>147 ScoLgo: It is possible I exaggerated a bit - or just forgot when he started. As of Friday he was up to 18.
And they aren't long books.

>148 quondame: That's still impressive.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook Ch 16 Ha! Donut got her sunglasses :D They have pretty sweet stats/abilities on top of looking cool.

I'm glad Carl is starting to crowdsource dungeon solving. With all the various tracks and color lines, they could use the help. I bet it will be handy on lower floors too.

I've enjoyed the Foreigner series! I hope you do as well!

Foreigner Up to Part 3, Ch 1. Parts 1 & 2 seem like double prologues? They were both annoying as they ended just as I was feeling hooked and then had to start the process over. At least Ch1 of Part 3 is off to the races with an attempted assassination.

I think I must have missed something with the whole Guild members thing. Isn't everyone who stayed from the ship? The inference is after their mechanical troubles the ship found this planet and built a space station to buy the people aboard time. Wouldn't that make them all descendants and candidates for membership?

I'm glad I'm reading this with my eyes. There is a glossary at the back making it easier to look things up. I imagine that could be confusing if you were listening to an audio book.

>152 Narilka: The humans had different classes of people on the star ship. Crew and colonists at a minimum. And political divisions among crew.