They're great on their own for sure. I first read them years ago before I knew anything about the games. Great stuff.
Haven't been doing regular updates in here, but All Quiet On the Western Front was incredible, definitely in the top few books I've read this year.
UPDATED list: January: 1. American Elsewhere - Robert Jackson Bennett 2. Come With Me - Ronald Malfi 3. The Collective - Allison Gaylin 4. Local Missing Women - Mary Kubica 5. Video Night - Adam Cesare 6. A History of Wild Places - Shea Ernshaw February 8. Twenty Years Later - Charlie Donlea 9. The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave 10. In My Dreams I Hold A Knife - Ashley Winstead 11. The Sanatorium - Sarah Pearce 12. The Whisper Man - Alex North 13. The Overnight Guest - Heather Gudenkauf 14. Kill Creek - Scott Thomas March 15. A Flicker in the Dark - Stacy Willingham 16. Moon Lake - Joe R. Lansdale 17. The Night Shift - Alex Finlay 18. The Nothing Man - Catherine Ryan Howard April 19. The Resting Place - Camilla Sten 20. Summer of Night - Dan Simmons 21. Rage - Richard Bachman 22. My Lovely Wife - Samantha Downing May 23. The Maid - Nita Prose 24. The Children on the Hill - Jennifer McMahon 25. Dark Roads - Chevy Stevens 26. Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak June 27. The Perfect Child - Lucinda Berry 28. Hide - Kiersten White 29. The Shadows - Alex North 30. Cujo - Stephen King 31. The Regulators - Richard Bachman 32. Boy's Life - Robert McCammon 33. Seed - Ania Ahlborn July 34. The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix 35. The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson 36. Brother - Ania Ahlborn 37. The Island - Adrian McKinty 38. Suffer the Children - Craig DiLouie August 39. My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell 40. Old Country - Matt Query 41. Mine - Robert McCammon 42. American Predator - Maureen Callahan 43. The Girl Next Door - Jack Ketchum September 44. Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives - Adam Cesare 45. Fairy Tale - Stephen King October 46. The Cotton Candy Massacre - Christopher Robertson 47. The Exorcist's House - Nick Roberts 48. Night in the Lonesome October - Richard Laymon November 49. Penpal - Dathan Auerbach 50. The Traveling Vampire Show - Richard Laymon 51. Gone to See the River Man - Kristopher Triana 52. Endless Night - Richard Laymon
Updated. Don't think I'm gonna hit 100 this year for the first time in a few years. Just really got out of the groove of listening to books. May get 1 or 2 more in.
that's it for this year. favorite new book I read was probably Mount Chicago, which I started before the fall semester began and just finished a minute ago. really funny, strange, crushing book. better than Bubblegum, which I also adored
Wasn't sure I'd have time but I did end up finishing Moby Dick today. Good year of reading. My favorites were Harlem Shuffle and Devil House.
Novels 1.) Paradise Lost - John Milton, David Scott Kastan 2.) The Sum of All Men (The Runelords #1) - David Farland 3.) The Scarab Path (Shadows of the Apt #5) - Adrian Tchiakovsky 4.) Wit'ch Storm (The Banned and the Banished #2) - James Clemens 5.) Build Your House Around My Body - Violet Kupersmith 6.) Revelation (Mass Effect #1) - Drew Karpyshyn 7.) The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue #1) - Christopher Beuhlman 8.) The Last Watch (The Divide #1) - J S Dewes 9.) The Mime Order (The Bone Season #2) - Samantha Shannon 10.) The Sea Watch (Shadows of the Apt #6) - Adrian Tchaikovsky 11.) Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) - James S A Corey 12.) Wit'ch War (The Banned and the Banished #3) - James Clemens 13.) Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro #2) - Dennis Lehane 14.) The Song Rising (The Bone Season #3) - Samantha Shannon 15.) The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix 16.) Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) - Sarah J Maas 17.) Heirs of the Blade (Shadows of the Apt #7) - Adrian Tchiakovsky *18.) Gwendy's Final Task (The Button Box #3) - Stephen King & Richard Chizmar 19.) Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) - Sarah J Maas 20.) Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk 21.) The Mask Falling (The Bone Season #4) - Samantha Shannon 22.) Gai-Jin (Asian Saga #3) - James Clavell 23.) Magician: Master (The Riftwar Cycle #2) - Raymond E Feist 24.) The Air War (Shadows of the Apt #8) - Adrian Tchiakovsky 25.) Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5) - James S A Corey 26.) The War Within (The Great God's War #2) - Stephen R Donaldson 27.) City of Stairs (The Divine Cities #1) - Robert Jackson Bennett 28.) Silverthorn (The Riftwar Cycle #3) - Raymond E Feist 29.) The Tomb (The Adversary Cycle #2) - F Paul Wilson 30.) A Darkness At Sethanon (The Riftwar Cycle #4) - Raymond E Feist 31.) War Master's Gate (Shadows of the Apt #9) - Adrian Tchiakovsky 32.) Second Child - John Saul 33.) Wit'ch Gate (The Banned and the Banished #4) - James Clemens 34.) Beneath the Rising (#1) - Premee Mohamed 35.) Self Portrait: 100 Poems from the Pandemic and Life Lived Anyway - Garrett Lemons 36.) God's Demon (#1) - Wayne Barlowe 37.) The King's Justice - Stephen R Donaldson 38.) Howling Dark (Sun Eater #2) - Christopher Ruocchio 39.) Daughter of the Empire (The Riftwar Cycle: Empire Trilogy #5) - Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts 40.) City of Golden Shadow (Otherland #1) - Tad Williams 41.) When True Night Falls (Coldfire #2) - C S Friedman 42.) Old Man's War (#1) - John Scalzi *43.) Crown of Shadows (Coldfire #3) - C S Friedman 44.) The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War #2) - John Scalzi 45.) Servant of the Empire (The Riftwar Cycle: Empire Trilogy #6) - Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts *46.) The Discord of Gods (A Chorus of Dragons #5) - Jenn Lyons 47.) The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) - N K Jemisin 48.) Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan - Drew Karpyshyn 49.) Mistress of the Empire (The Riftwar Cycle: Empire Trilogy #7) Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts 50.) River of Blue Fire (Otherland #2) - Tad Williams 51.) The King's Blood (The Dagger and the Coin #2) - Daniel Abraham 52.) The Sleepwalker (The Nosferatu Conspiracy #1) - Brian James Gage 53.) Prince of the Blood (The Riftwar Cycle: Krondor's Sons, A Prelude to the Serpentwar #8) Rayond E Feist 54.) Father of Lies - Brian Evenson 55.) The Tyrant's Law (The Dagger and the Coin #3) - Daniel Abraham 56.) Nothing But Blackened Teeth - Cassandra Khaw 57.) The Widow's House (The Dagger and the Coin #4) - Daniel Abraham 58.) The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson *59.) The Spider's War (The Dagger and the Coin #5) - Daniel Abraham 60.) Liberty's Crusade (Starcraft #1) - Jeff Grubb 61.) Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta #1) - Gourav Mohanty 62.) The Croning - Laird Barron 63.) The King's Buccaneer (The Riftwar Cycle: Krondor's Sons, A Prelude to the Serpentwar #9) - Raymond E Feist 64.) Geek Love - Katherine Dunn *65.) Speaking Bones (The Dandelion Dynasty #4) - Ken Liu 66.) The Summer Is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved - Joey Comeau 67.) The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fallen #1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky 68.) One Bloody Thing After Another - Joey Comeau *69.) Wit'ch Star (The Banned and the Banished #5) - James Clemens 70.) No Sanctuary - Richard Laymon 71.) The Tower of Fools (Hussite Trilogy #1) - Andrzej Sapkowski 72.) Among the Missing - Richard Laymon 73.) Ship of Fools - Richard Paul Russo 74.) Shadow of the Xel'Naga (Starcraft #2) - Gabriel Mesta 75.) A Crown for Cold Silver (The Crimson Empire #1) - Alex Marshall 76.) Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies - John Langan 77.) [poem] Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came - Robert Browning *78.) The Last Emperox (The Interdependency #3) - John Scalzi 79.) Out Are the Lights - Richard Laymon 80.) Speed of Darkness (Starcraft #3) - Tracy Hickman 81.) Shadow of a Dark Queen (The Riftwar Cycle: The Serpentwar Saga #10) - Raymond E Feist *82.) Seal of the Worm (Shadows of the Apt #10) - Adrian Tchaikovsky 83.) Uprising (Starcraft #0.5) - Micky Neilson 84.) Fairy Tale - Stephen King 85.) Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death - Kurt Vonnegut 86.) Rise of a Merchant Prince (The Riftwar Cycle: The Serpentwar Saga #11) - Raymond E Feist 87.) The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut 88.) Ghoul - Brian Keene 89.) Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut 90.) Cage of Souls - Adrian Tchaikovsky 91.) Rage of a Demon King (The Riftwar Cycle: The Serpentwar Saga #12) - Raymond E Feist 92.) The Wehr Wolf - Alma Katsu 93.) The Midnight Club - Christopher Pike 94.) Horus Rising (Warhammer 40k: The Horus Heresy #1) - Dan Abnett 95.) Shards of a Broken Crown (The Riftwar Cycle: The Serpentwar Saga #13) - Raymond E Feist 96.) Echo - Thomas Olde Heuvelt 97.) False Gods (Warhammer 40k: The Horus Heresy #2) - Graham Mcneill 98.) Krondor: The Betrayal (The Riftwar Cycle: The Riftwar Legacy #14) - Raymond E Feist 99.) Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut 100.) Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture #1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky 101.) Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury 102.) Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1) - George R R Martin 103.) Galaxy in Flames (Warhammer 40k: The Horus Heresy #3) - Ben Counter 104.) Krondor: The Assassins (The Riftwar Cycle: The Riftwar Legacy #15) - Raymond E Feist 105.) Ball Lightning - Cixin Liu (translated by Joel Martinsen) 106.) Krondor: Tear of the Gods (The Riftwar Cycle: The Riftwar Legacy #16) - Raymond E Feist 107.) The Flight of the Eisenstein (Warhammer 40k: The Horus Heresy #4) - James Swallow 108.) Honored Enemy (The Riftwar Cycle: Legends of the Riftwar #18) - Raymond E Feist & William R Forstchen 109.) Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2) - Adrian Tchaikovsky 110.) The Lost Metal (Misborn Era 2: Wax and Wayne #7) - Brandon Sanderson 111.) Guns of the Dawn - Adrian Tchaikovsky 112.) Murder in LaMut (The Riftwar Cycle: Legends of the Riftwar #19) Raymond E Feist & Joel Rosenberg 113.) Fulgrim: Visions of Treachery (Warhammer 40k: The Horus Heresy #5) - Graham McNeill Comics 1.) Fine Print (or how a divine contract may not be the best cure for a broken heart #1) - Stjepan Šejić 2.) Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler - Tom King & Mitch Gerads 3.) Hellraiser: Hell Hath No Fury (#3) - Clive Barker, Mark Miller, & Janusz Ordon This was the year of Adrian Tchaikovsky for me. And Riftwar, but that's going to be next year too. Although I didn't include the new comics I'm reading, since I read those by issue, I did feel the need to add Batman:One Bad Day: The Riddler. Its like 80 pages, so sort of in between, but the reason I added it is because it was one of the best comics I have ever read. An absolutely brilliant look at Batman and the Riddler when the games are done, written by the best goddamn Batman writer ever. It's a perfect story.
I think you'd dig it too. The main world is very Tolkien. Some of the other series focus on other worlds, like the empire trilogy is straight up Eastern Feudal, so you get a lot of variety. If you were inclined, the first 4 books (sometimes combined as a trilogy) tell a full story on their own. He just keeps on building.
I think I’m gonna start it in April/May. I’ve got a list of audiobooks I’m trying to work my way through. There are ~16 ahead of it.
Books 1) The Inheritance Games-The Inheritance Games #1 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 2) Memento-The Illuminate Files #0.5 by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff 3) Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards 4) A Line To Kill-Hawthorne & Horowitz Investigate #3 by Anthony Horowitz 5) Murder Of Crows-Lethal Lit: A Tig Torres Mystery by K. Ancrum 6) The Hawthorne Legacy-The Inheritance Games #2 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 7) The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins 8) You'll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus 9) Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul 10) The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky 11) Camp Murderface by Josh Berk & Saundra Mitchell 12) A Good Girl's Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson 13) I Know Your Secret by Daphne Benedis-Grab 14) The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin 15) Sellout by Dan Ozzi 16) The It Girl by Ruth Ware 17) Death and The Conjurer by Tom Mead 18) Clown In A Cornfield 2:Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare 19) All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers 20) The Final Gambit-The Inheritance Games #3 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Graphic Novels 1) Stray Dogs 2) Jonna And The Unpossible Monsters Volume 1 My favorites for the year are The Inheritance Games trilogy and Death And The Conjurer. Last book in Inheritance Games is pretty convoluted though. My comics/graphic novel reading definitely slowed but what I did read was fantastic, really loved both of those series. My goal for 2023 is to catch up on my reading that I've been wanting to get to from the past year or so. I feel like this is ALWAYS the plan though haha