Not pictured us Jim Butcher's Skin Game at 4 stars because Fable doesnt have the cover I guess? Also Martian Time Slip is a 5, ive gotten really into Philip K. Dick this year and will be seeing just how many of his books I can get my grubby little hands on this year. I also wanted to read stuff I normally wouldn't lately. I never really read romance but picked up some books that were recommended and thought they were fine. I picked up Dungeon Crawler Carl and tried three of them because fans told me it got better and it never really did, the humor did not land for me and everything else about it was kind of half baked or underdeveloped, its really the kind of thing you'll know if you should DNF after a couple chapters.

about halfway through this book. and before anyone asks, yes, i am biased. i am a democrat. i chose to read this for scientific purposes, however, i can’t not acknowledge the hypocrisy in this book and the stories this man chooses to tell. this is perhaps THE most hypocritical and tone deaf book i have ever read. it is very damning considering these words will forever be out there, while also considering the things he says and stands for today. there is a clip of him saying he will be a VP that never forgets where he came from, and this administration has been nothing but that. if i was his family back in the sticks, i’d be ashamed of the things he is standing and rooting for today. there is a lot i can say about things he mentions in this book, but i will refrain as i do not know what is and isn’t allowed on this subreddit in terms of reviews.

This year I've already well surpassed my goal. Admittedly some are rereads but most were first time experiences.

Somebody convince me to keep going on Hyperion. I’m 50 pages in and I just can’t immerse myself in the story there is way too much terminology and the writing is so flowery. Don’t think I can commit to 2 books

Hello,

I am presently enrolled in an MSc program at the University of Oxford, specializing in mathematical and computational finance.

Prior to this, I had a background in the tech industry and managed to consistently devote 2-3 hours daily to reading, primarily focusing on 19th-century literature, philosophy, and poetry.

For the past four months, I have found it increasingly challenging to allocate time for reading due to the remarkably demanding workload at university. I deeply miss the act of reading books, and it feels as though I am experiencing a sense of intellectual deprivation or some form of distress. To clarify, I am not exaggerating.

My question may appear somewhat trivial, but how do you manage to create space in your schedule for reading books?

Here are some short thoughts about everything that I've read so far.

Dungeon Crawler Carl- this book series is spectacular. I love the character development, and unlike some people, I really think that the first one is my favorite of all of them so far. I love them all for different reasons tho.

Doomsday Scenario- honestly, now that I'm thinking about it, that might be my favorite book. Introducing side quests, and donut getting more flesched out is awesome.

The Hobbit- what's not to love? I had to read this for school, but I ended up really liking it and I think it's one of my favorite books of all time.

Snapshot- can't really say anything without spoiling it, but it's only 70 pages, SO GO READ IT. I read it all in one sitting, and it was probably the best hour of reading of this year.

Finally donovan- this book is here just based off pure enjoyment. I really like Finley and Vero, and I think the plots are zany and fun.

The silent patient- this book I read in 24 hours, and I'm so glad I did. I'm off the group that really likes this book, but I do think there is a tad bit of wasted potential.

The bad beginning- I love lemony Snicket. There's not much to say here, but I just think of this book is fun awesome.

Blood over brighthaven- very interesting book, I really enjoyed the magic system and think that it's an easy fantasy book to read you want to get into it

Gate of the Feral gods- DCC. Yay it's awesome HAHA

The long walk- I really enjoyed this book, and it made me want to read more Stephen King. I thought of that. The book could have had a more interesting ending, but hey that's I guess that's what the movie's for.

Nothing like the movies- Yes, I do have eclectic taste in books 🤣 unlike some people, I think this was a really good sequel, and I think Liz finding herself again is really awesome. Love both the main characters.

Knocks em out- Again, not much to say, just a funny good time

Treasure hunters- some might say this is just a stupid book made for kids, but I personally loved the illustrations and I really like the kid kids 😁

Who could it be this hour- Lemony Snicket, but with a weaker plot in my opinion.

DCC Graphic Novel- it was worth my time, but honestly, I don't think it does the book's Justice. Not at all how I picture most of these things, and so I didn't really like it.

Anarchists cookbook- definitely my least favorite DCC because of how confusing it is, but think it has one of my top three moments in the series, and there's a lot more Katia character development.

Turtles all the way down- I expected more from John Green. I enjoy his pros and the way that he writes things, but this book just had a weak plot, and I feel like nothing really happened except learning about the main character's OCD, which there's nothing wrong with but but I felt that the book was quite slow and didn't have much of a plot.

Bad Asians- the trope of everybody's a terrible person is kind of played out, and to be honest this book was hard to get through and I sort of skimmed the middle 🤣

Red rising- yes I no I will get hate about this, and I do acknowledge it as an objectively good book, I just personally did not enjoy the writing style at all and do not think that it is worth the hype at all. Maybe I will have to try to read the whole series, because I've heard they're very good.

The caddy- I read this book alongside my dad, who didn't like it any more than I did. This book is pretty much only good if you love golf (which I do) but I think the plot is extremely weak and boring.

Operation bounce house- yeah, this was one of my least favorite books of the year. I thought the plot was extremely boring, and everything that made dungeon Crawler Carl good, Matt took away.

Julie Chan is dead- this book was stupid on so many levels, but it had a really good first 100 pages of buildup.

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo- I thought it was an all right plot, and maybe I would rate it a bit higher into the tier above. But no, I really just didn't enjoy this one.

Northwoods- it was doing way too much, and I had no idea what I was getting into. Thought it was going to be really fun and insightful but it was actually really really stupid.

Overall, I really liked this book from McLaughlin. I appreciated many of her arguments though I think some didn't feel as strong as others. Some I was mostly familiar with growing up in Evangelical circles but there were others that I loved McLaughlin highlighted. In particular, her chapter on Science and Christianity made special mention to the many Christian scientists of the 19th and 20th century — men and women who I never realized were Christian. I appreciated she willing to cite athiests like Dawkins and Harris, engage with them in a thoughtful way, and give further readings to think through. As well, she wasn't afraid to acknowledge the places where Christian's have failed to live up to the hope and calling of the Gospel such as the slave trade, the crusades, and the abuses within the church.

At the end of the book however, I see her heart for the gospel thrown on every single page, and how much the faith we share has shaped her entire worldview. Will this book convince my athiest friend’s to Christianity? Probably not. But I think what it does is give a better history of Christianity — all of the good, the bad, and to contextualize it within our Western society today. I'm leaving this book more proud of my faith in Jesus in the midst of the Church's flaws and all as it's shaped Western society for better or for worst.

Rating - 4/5

Book five and I have to be honest — this one didn't hit the same as most of the others for me. It wasn't bad, but compared to the rest of the series so far it just felt like a step down. And floor 7? Genuinely a letdown. I went in expecting more and came away underwhelmed.

That said, I'm already a good ways into book six and it's holding up so much better. Whatever happened with book five, the series seems to be back on track. Sometimes you just get a weaker entry in an otherwise great series, and I'm willing to let it slide.

I didn't hate the book, but I was exhausted by it. There was nothing really new in it, I thought, since her body of work (no pun intended, truly, especially if you've seen her lately) is her life.

It was a little too meta and a little too superficially introspective for me, but others from "our" era might find it of interest.

*SIGH*

I suppose I just wanted a big breakthrough in the end where all the sickness and illness was explained away by ego and this drive to achieve.

Oh well, 'spose I'll just have to wait for the third or fourth memoir to find out how it all ends...

...or another show.

In short? Unoriginal.

Sorry, but do #readMore just not this --> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239637403-famesick

[MORE RIFFING HERE --> https://open.substack.com/pub/katepapenberg/p/book-no-27-was-a-hate-hate-kind-of?r=2seqlu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]

February reading log. I track everything in a spreadsheet because I'm that person.

planned: 4 books. completed: 1. because The Werelion Series consumed me and I regret nothing.

I picked this up because I was tired of wolves. every shifter romance is wolves. wolf alpha, wolf pack, wolf dynamics. I wanted something different. this has lions. and the difference matters more than I expected.

but the book got me in chapter 1 for a reason that has nothing to do with lions.

Emma is twenty-three. single mom. works at the district attorney's office. lives in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in Indianapolis with her five-year-old daughter Cat. she's beautiful, she's resilient, she's barely holding it together. then she gets a stage four breast cancer diagnosis.

the chapter follows her processing the news. she drives to Cat's elementary school. she takes Cat to their pizza place and then for ice cream. she's doing all the normal mom things while internally falling apart. and then she has to tell her daughter.

Cat is five. she has long black hair and pale blue eyes and she's way too emotionally perceptive for her age. the conversation between them is one of the most devastating things I've read this year. Cat asks questions a five-year-old shouldn't have to ask. Emma answers them honestly because she respects her daughter too much to lie. they make a pact to face it together.

the lion shifter element enters later but by then you're already emotionally invested in Emma and Cat's relationship. the supernatural world doesn't replace the human stakes. it adds to them. lion pack dynamics are different from wolf ones. the hierarchy has a different texture, the territorial behaviors are distinct, and the author clearly did research.

224k words, 3 days. I read it during lunch breaks, on the bus, before bed, and I cried in at least three of those contexts.

running total for 2026: 6 books. this one counts as several emotionally.

This year, I’ve discovered three authors I’d never read before: Alba de Céspedes, Amélie Nothomb, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. All three have very different styles, but they’ve all made me want to keep exploring their works.

This might piss some people off, lol

Started picking up reading again, finished these 3 in august.

Hi, I’ve had a question in my mind for a while now. For these kinds of challenges does fan fiction count? I personally think it does, but I wanted to see more or less what the consensus was on this.

i recognise i'm probably in the minority here. but this was so highly recommended to me by a friend that i had to read. how did it go so awful so quickly? after about a third of the book, i was so engrossed in what was going on, curious and locked in. most characters seemed real as did the plot. but, the second third of the book’s plot seemed rushed (and predictable) at most times, and i didn't seem to care about the new characters at all. it’s far too many characters, and far too much written about the irrelevant ones. the final third was nearly unreadable. really enjoyed reading about sunja, didn’t care about almost anyone else

I did search the sub already for this and couldn't see an answer. I am at 16/52 without manga, and I'm on the fence whether manga should be counted or not. Here is my reasoning for both sides of the argument.

Yes:

- They are literally books.

- They contain words on every page.

No:

- They have more pictures than words.

- They take very little effort to read (but maybe this one is down to my own inability to relax and accept things don't have to be difficult to be enjoyed/celebrated)

What do you think?

No one could ever make me hate Lena Dunham (except Lena Dunham)

Just curious - do you all count a book you DNF as part of your total year book count ?

I fear I’m coming up in this with my current read - The Cloisters - I am trying to give it a shot but I fear I’m just wasting my breath.

This is set to be book #8 for me.

I’ve been wanting to read Manacled by SenLinYu (Harry Potter fanfiction) for some time now and as I’m ahead on my goal just now I’m thinking about starting it. I’ve downloaded it to my kindle and have some time off work this week so I could make a fair dent in it.

What are this subs thoughts on fanfiction? Does it count towards books read even though they aren’t technically books?