Farewell 2024! The challenges, the stats and my favourite reads of the year!

Helllooo!

And so, we say farewell to 2024! Bit of a weird tiring year. Fun was had, adventures and I was very very busy at work. Things are ok and as is traditional tomorrow I think about the next year’s challenges. Today I look at did my reading challenges work, the stats and my favourite reads of 2024

Challenges

1 – Resurrecting the Newsletter? A fail and I’m debating how this could work or not. I quite like the idea of them becoming regular again but it is getting some time to write them and not simply repeat myself….I’ll use the holidays to ponder

2 – A weekly Runalong The Short Shelves – Getting there! I’m definitely enjoying short story reviews - slightly different approach to long fiction reviews and it is useful to see what I enjoy too.

3 – restart the discworld readalong – weirdly a blank. I’ve had feet of clay staring at me all year and was strangely reluctant. Reading is strange and yet the last few weeks its risen again up my reading pile…stay tuned

4 – Start a new readalong – Success took a little while, but I am enjoying the Ursula K Le Guin readalong and lathe of Heaven should be reviewed soon

5 – The Quarter century project – it has begun and I’ve decided certain authors who would be read will not be as quite frankly they don’t deserve my time I’ll live!

The Stats

Over 220 blogs and over 30 interviews it has been busy and pleasingly blog traffic continues to rise even as social media has fractured even more.

By 31/12 I’ve read 212 books a little less than in previous years, but I knew it would be busy with a major project at work

Looks at the demographics

41% by men

50% by women

9% by multiple authors

22% by non-white authors

Fairly consistent with previous years but always worth checking.

My Favourite Reads of 2024

The Why By Great Uncle Bulgaria Have I Not Read This Before

I really love A Wizard of Earthsea but I LOVED The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K Le Guin it feels complex, does some interesting things with a lack of visuals and has a touch of cosmic horror. As a runner up I also loved the Southern Reach series by Jeff VanderMeer which started with the great Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer and is a series of unusual trips into the future and past.

The Tomsk - Scream If you Want to Go Faster

For horror a stunning read awaited me in The Reformatory by Tananarive Due it mixes real history with the supernatural and by placing us in a young teenager’s viewpoint everything feels incredibly more dangerous and the living humans are far worse.

The Orinoco – Novellas Has I Told You Lately How I Love You

The best novella that manages to be funny and scary with a fascinating take on haunting for me was Grackle by AC Wise. Not what I expected at all and a delight to read especially as it creeped me out in broad daylight.

The Alderney – Mix Tapes Just For You

There are two great collections I really enjoyed For Tomorrow edited by Dan Coxon offers a feast of unique horror that has a great linked premise and all the stories pull out the stops.

The other collection which I feel manages to do interesting things exploring a whole quarter century of a country’s horror is the excellent Sinophagia - A Celebration of Chinese Horror edited by Xueting C Ni and a whole horror scene we need to explore more awaits.

The Madame Cholet – It’s the End of The tastiest Series As We Know it

It was an easy one for me and that was the stunning and satisfying end to the Burning Kingdoms trilogy The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri. A very impressive series and an ending that kept me gripped all the way to the finale.

The Bungo – Hold Me Kiss Me Thrill me

Thriller wise one that really stayed with me this year is Hotel Arcadia by Sunny Singh. Where a horrific terrorist attack brings a photo-journalist and a hotel worked in an unlikely alliance. Very refreshing

The Wellington – Let Me Be Your Fantasy

In a very good fantasy year I’ve three standouts

House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky has an amazing idea and runs with it with panache, intelligence and humour – a MASH hospital in a fantasy world – just admire its brilliance!

I loved the fallibility of the characters in The Book of Love by Kelly Link a reminder young and immortal people can still be painfully human even when offered great power. It feels on the nose for humans to be daft and yet forgivable. Combined with Link’s writing it was a pleasure to read.

Finally for me the debut of the year is Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan that delivers a unique world, a compelling story and handles the subject of immigration in a fantasy world really interestingly.

The Tobermory – Together in Electric Dreams

Three very different science fiction tales stood out for me

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky – a fascinating tale of alien biology, human resistance and has an ending that can be dark and hopeful at the same time

Ninth Life by Stark Holborn – in an ever inventive series this tale that can be read as a standalone shows one character’s life in a fascinating set of ways and opens up the SF wild west world that it all takes place in. Holborn continues to be an author to watch

Another inventive tale that sounds like it will be totally heartwarming but also tackles serious subjects was  The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley which uses time travel in a really unusual way.

The Runalong  - The One I loved The Most

I have been smitten by this excellent story for months. I find myself thinking about it all the time and for me having read Le Guin books recently this feels a worthy successor. Please run and treat yourselves to The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed in a time of war, anger and hatred I find this story with a pacifist lead character who is remarkable should be required reading

Not a bad reading year at all!

I wish you gentle readers to have an even better 2025. I leave you once again with these words from the novel Far From Uncommon Stars

“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Over there is over there. And here and now is not a bad place and time to be, especially when so much of the unknown is beautiful!”

I hope you get beautiful surprises next year and fear not I’ll have something new for you to read in due course! Keep reading!