cleaning up my TBR in 2024

Hi everyone! Happy belated New Year!

My name is Courtney and I mostly read fantasy, romance (romantasy and contemporary), horror, and science fiction. Although I have been known to branch out to other genres if something sounds interesting enough.

My reading goal for this year is to finish 125 books and to use LT to track and log all of my books. I also hope that I will be able to join a community of other bookworms who enjoy reading as much as I do!

My favorite book I read in 2023 was Project Hail Mary, and it is my all time favorite book right now.

>1 NotYourDad:
Welcome to The Green Dragon. I think you will find some very enthusiastic reader here. Good luck with your reading goal and with mingling with the denizens of The Green Dragon.

>1 NotYourDad: I'm glad you decided to start a reading journal thread! I look forward to seeing what you're reading. I enjoyed Project Hail Mary, too. Have you read The Martian?

>2 pgmcc: Thank you! I look forward to talking with everyone!

I have! It's another one of my favorites. Andy Weir is one of my auto buy authors. I've loved all of his books so far. Artemis was also a really fun read!

Starting out strong with Bound to the Battle God! I have shamelessly read (and really enjoyed) the Ice Planet Barbarians series, although I am still making my way through them. There are a TON of books in that series. Anyway, Ruby Dixon can do (almost) no wrong in my eyes. She has a way of taking big, not too smart, hulking brutes and making them into the biggest teddy bear you've ever laid eyes on.

After Faith accidentally steps through an interdimensional portal, she is immediately enslaved. From there, she has to navigate a brand new world with new rules, new customs, and, most importantly, new gods (who apparently are real and come down to the "not-Earth" planet to wreak havoc). Faith finds herself tied to Aron of the Cleaver, god of battle and storms. They must work together to bring down other godly Aspects before they are killed themselves.

Ruby Dixon has done it again. I don't know what it is about her books, but they keep me coming back for more every time. I really enjoyed the extreme grumpy x sunshine trope in this one, and how Faith and Aron both learn and change for each other. Towards the end it felt like the plot was a little lost, and I found myself trying to rush through it, but overall it was an enjoyable read. 3.5 stars

>1 NotYourDad: Welcome! Project Hail Mary is one of the books I keep intending to get to, but haven't yet.

>7 MrsLee: it can definitely be an intimidating book to start, but so worth it! If you read The Martian I think you'd love Project Hail Mary, especially if you're hip with some scientific jargon and love space. But honestly, even if you're not hip with the jargon, it's still an enjoyable read.

>8 NotYourDad: I loved The Martian and enjoyed Artemis, so I think there is a very good chance I will like it. :)

>1 NotYourDad: Welcome! I'm also a big fan of Project Hail Mary, it really is a great novel.

Welcome! Watch out for roombas!

Welcome to the pub! I look forward to following your reading this year!

I suppose since I started this thread late, I should update it with the books I read in January!

1. Remarkably Bright Creatures 4 stars
   
2. Faking With Benefits 3.5 stars
   
3. The Way of Kings 4.5 stars
   
4. World War Z 3.5 stars
   
5. Words of Radiance 4.5 stars
   
6. The Song of Achilles 3.5 stars
   
7. When In French 4 stars
   
8. Anxious People 1.5 stars
   
9. They Came From the Ocean 5 stars
   
10. Dungeons and Drama 4 stars
    
11. Filthy Rich Vampire 3.5 stars
    

I enjoyed almost all of these, which means that I had a great reading month! I haven’t read much fantasy lately, which is kind of a bummer, but I’m hoping to continue The Stormlight Archive and delve into more of Brandon Sanderson’s work. My coworker recommended this series to me, and so far I am loving it. The characters are delightful and complex, and the worldbuilding is unreal. Fair warning, these are big ol books. 1000+ a pop. I’m taking a brief break from the series only because they’re just such a commitment.

I think that it's more than fitting that I finish rereading a Romeo and Juliet retelling on Valentine's Day. These Violent Delights was such a good book the first time I read it, I just had to come back for more. I borrowed this audiobook from my local library, and I just adore the narrator. I think that she did a fantastic job reading this.



Set in 1920s Shanghai, Roma Montagov and Juliet Cai are the heirs to two rival gangs vying for control of the city. When a frightening madness rips through the population, the two have no other choice than to join forces to find the source and cure. Though they were both raised to hate the other, the work they do together to save their city just may bring them together.

Romeo and Juliet has always been one of my favorite plays. Although it is, at its core, a tragedy, I think there is also something so pure and sweet about loving someone so much that you would be willing to die for them. Chloe Gong's retelling of this age old love story gives such a fresh, new look at young love, loyalty, and knowing exactly who you can trust. If you liked the 1996 movie version of Romeo and Juliet, I think that you would like this one. It's the same tragic love story, but with more guns and fewer swords.

I would love to one day add this duology (and the spin off series) to my permanent physical bookshelf.

Did your name change today? Or am I losing my mind? I'm not good at user names, or any names, really.

>15 MrsLee: haha I did! Sorry for the confusion, the other username just felt kind of bland and I needed something new. This new one will (hopefully) be sticking around for a long time!

>15 MrsLee: & >16 NotYourDad: I had a "what the..." moment this morning over this as well. :o)

>13 NotYourDad:, >14 NotYourDad: I have Remarkably Bright Creatures on my TBR, and These Violent Delights sounds great.

Happy 2024 thread!

>13 NotYourDad: I haven’t read much fantasy lately Well the Sanderson counts as equal to at least 4 normal sized books, so I'd say you've read a lot of fantasy!

I think I have These violent delights on kindle. I'll have to seek it out.

>18 libraryperilous: I had Remarkably Bright Creatures on my tbr for such a long time before my boss finally lent me a copy. I'm glad that she gave me that kick in the butt I needed to finally read it!

>19 Sakerfalcon: You're totally right about Sanderson's book counting as 4 normal sized books. I'm just glad I bought the kindle version first because lugging around that huge stack of pages would have been a pain haha