happy new year! bit weird but I look forward to seeing that big book recap you do every year and just wanted to ask if you were gonna post your 2024 reads?
WHAT I READ IN 2024: DISMAL BUT WE MOVE
I'm going to be insane and just do short recaps of each and I will put little star emojis next to the best ones because I'm normal. Technically I read more than these but I'm too lazy to edit them into one photo so this is what you get. I also got really into short stories and longreads but we're not adding those so...
SIX CRIMSON CRANES: Amazing cover. That's all I have to say on that!
⭐⭐⭐ NETTLE AND BONE: BOOK! OF! THE! YEAR! If you love weird women and you love them going on quests and you love them hanging out with other weird women and bone dogs and one (1) hot viking, this is your book. Exquisite. I will read anything this author writes.
CONFESSIONS: No humans on earth would act like this at any point. It felt like a philosophical problem. What if the world was made of pudding. What if students made a contraption that murdered their teacher's daughter by accident, but not really. What if you drank milk with aids blood in it.
THE TENDER BAR: My mom's friends made me read this.
⭐⭐ WEYWARD: Again, I do just love weird witchy women doing weird, witchy things. I remember it fondly.
A CURSE FOR TRUE LOVE: I read this series to punish myself. I don't remember what for, but I do remember the punishment.
FLUKE: My mom told me to read this.
FOURTH WING: Zan made us read this to punish ourselves.
PACIFIC: I remember literally nothing. Men will write anything and call it science.
THE DEER AND THE DRAGON: Something is deeply wrong with this author, of the sort I usually only see on tumblr bios.
THE PRISONER'S THRONE: I love you Holly Black. Did I love this, though? It was fine.
UNDERLAND: Again, men will just write about anything and pretend they've done science.
⭐ ZEALOT: Cool! Cocks out for Jesus or something. I don't know.
NEON GODS: I forget why Zan and I read this but it was a punishment. Maybe the worst thing I read this year, and that's saying something.
⭐ PATHOGENESIS: Realizing I had this mixed up with Fluke. I liked it!
⭐ THE STOLEN HEIR: I signed a blood oath when I was 14 to read anything Holly Black wrote. I stand here, still, bound. It was actually pretty good. I love a book heroine who is actually like an ugly mean dead shark in semi-human form but who still bags that fairy prince.
⭐⭐⭐ COBALT RED: Why do I feel like this was on last year's list? Must read, truly. My niche thing (is this niche?) is that I am obsessive over current events in mostly Sub-Saharan Africa. Books on literally any African country, especially re: current events, are insanely few and far between. This is rigorously researched, important in the way few books are, deeply intelligent, and incisive. I would call it required reading for anyone who is ready to parrot "Free the Congo!" in their twitter bio while crowing about their new iphone and yeah I will be mean about it. I'm not saying to not get the iphone, but lets at least understand what goes into it. I think people need to understand resource extraction and the economy of that and the necessity of it and more, the pathological avoidance of law and regulation inherent to that process--which is apparent anywhere it is present. It has also fundamentally shaped literally every corner of the earth where humans are present and will continue to do so for the remainder of human history. Look up the size of the trucks used in gold mining (two humans can fit inside one wheel hub, standing up, on top of each other). Look up pit mines. Look up California during the gold rush. Geology gets by under the radar because people are like "oh, rocks, cool" and it's a great way to get people to have 0 understanding of what is the fundamental driver of most economies to this day. Do you know what the USA's number one export has been since 2008? You should look it up for funsies. Anyway!
