BOOKS READ IN 2024

Book of the Year: Mistborn HERO OF AGES

I started reading audiobooks in 2024, though admittedly not until about halfway through the year. In that time I read more books than I’d read in years and it’s scratching the surface of how many books I could read in a full year. How long have y’all been hiding this audiobook secret from me?

Well, now that I’m in, I’m not stopping any time soon. My goal is to read 52 books in 2025. But first, let’s look back at what I read this year. And before any of you come at me, yes, most of these are books I’d read before. However,

A) I’d never listened to the audiobooks for these titles, or these SPECIFIC audiobooks for these titles.

B) It had been years, and in some cases DECADES since I’d last read these books.

C) I think re-reading a book counts as reading a book. Deal with it.

neverwhere by neil gaiman

I’m going to get this one out of the way. I’ve read Neverwhere before and quite enjoyed it. Having been a Neil Gaiman fanboy for many years, I’ve read many of his works. Ever since the allegations against Mr. Gaiman came to light this year I’ve had to wrestle with my feelings about such things. On one hand I believe in people changing, growing, improving over the years and becoming better people. I consider myself evidence that change is possible in a human being over time. Even if that “change” is merely peeling away the grime to reveal the real you underneath. On the other hand, taking responsibility is part of that process and I was more than underwhelmed by Neil Gaiman’s response to the allegations. As prolific a writer as he is, you’d think he’d put more thought into his words on such an important piece of writing. But it was that lack of accountability that really messed with me as a fan. As far as a court of law is concerned, absolutely, innocent until proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. 100%. And ultimately, me getting “the ick” from his response isn’t enough reason for me to condemn him and turn my back on his writing without a second thought. The Sandman series alone demands that I take a moment and look at it all objectively.

So I re-read Neverwhere. A young woman in peril, a lovable doofus, magic, fantastical characters… This book was always a hoot. And it had been years. So I gave it a re-read. And…

I honestly didn’t enjoy it quite as much. This is not typical of me with re-reads. If I read a book more than once I loved it the first time and I’m going to adore it all the more the second. American Gods, for example, one of my favorite novels, is always fun to re-read.

Neverwhere had some sequences that really resonated with me this time around, but over all, I was glad when it was over.

Ultimately I think this will be the last time I ever read Neverwhere.

AMERICAN GODS BY NEIL GAIMAN

Before hearing about the allegations, the first audiobook I enjoyed this year was AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman. I still love it. Holds up. But I did find this time that I wanted more from the ending. A bit anticlimactic. But knowing there were always plans for a sequel I always forgave that a bit. Now all the years later, no sequel? Now it bugs me. I still love this book, and Gaiman’s ick not withstanding I doubt it’ll be the last time I read it. It was just too formative for me and my ideas about fantasy. I own a copy, I don’t have to give him any more of my money to read it again. I can just read it whenever I want. But yeah, I think I’m done spending money on Mr. Neil Gaiman.

It’s a complex emotional dilemma, I don’t know if my feelings on this are eternal but whatevs. LET’S TALK ABOUT MORE BOOKS!

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Classic. Better than the film in many ways and the film is a masterpiece. Yet, also one of those examples of a film adaptation that made good changes that added to the storytelling. Hammond was a more sympathetic tragic character in the film and more of an evil billionaire CEO type in the book. I prefer the film version to that. Yet the frights were scarier and the gore was gorier in the book, which I prefer over the film. What I’m saying is, if you love the movie, read the book! It’s great. And if you’ve read the book, watch the film. It’s great!

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Narrated by Andy Serkis. Need I say more? This was such a joy to experience! And it IS an experience! Not typically a fan of the songs in The Lord of the Rings books? I’ll bet you two pints and a barrel of Longbottom Leaf that Andy Serkis singing those songs will change your mind!

The Two Towers and The Return of the King, narrated by Andy Serkis, are both on my TBR for 2025. Of course, I’ve read all of these books before. But to listen to Andy Serkis PERFORM them is absolutely amazing. Especially since he does not try to do impressions of his castmates in the films; instead, he has his own voices and performance choices for each character in these books.

I have two favorites, obviously not counting Gollum. The first is Gandalf because the way Andy plays him reminds me of Usidore the Blue, Wizard of the 12th Realm of Ephysiyies, Master of Light and Shadow, Manipulator of Magical Delights, Devourer of Chaos, Champion of the Great Halls of Terr'akkas. The elves know him as Fi’ang Yalok. The dwarfs know him as Zoenen Hoogstandjes. He is also known in the Northeast as Gaismunēnas Meistar. And there may also be other names you do not know yet!

The second is Pippin because it is the only character that sounds like Andy is doing an impression of his costar, Billy Boyd, and it is so very funny to me. I can’t wait to hear how he performs the rest of these books. Outstanding! 10 out of 10!

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE: A GAME OF THRONES BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

YouTube had a free version of this audiobook as part of a special event or promotion of some kind. I’m sorry I’m being so vague. It was so very long ago. I remember the videos going down as I finished the Epilogue, so I can’t provide links. I finally listened to this entire audiobook because it was done by a female narrator whose range was surprisingly versatile. She was a much better narrator than the older gentleman I’d heard do these books previously. I cannot now find this young lady’s name but her narration was leaps and bounds above her predecessor. I already love this series, and this book in particular, so to have an audiobook reading that was so enjoyable meant a lot to me. Loved it. But GRRM knows how to write his ass off.

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE: A CLASH OF KINGS BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

A male narrated the one I listened to on Libby but, once again, a new person, and they also did a fine job. This is a crazy book with one of my favorite battles in all of fiction: The Battle of the Black Water Bay. Good lord. For those of you who only watched the show and never read the books, remember the battle of the black water in season two? Remember how good it was? That’s a way-watered-down version of what’s in the books. Ask a book reader if Tyrion’s Chain is worth reading about, and watch their faces light up with excitement. Read the damn books, you savages!

MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE BY BRANDON SANDERSON

This book made me a Mistborn fan. You can read my full review two blog posts ago.

MISTBORN: THE WELL OF ASCENSION BY BRANDON SANDERSON

This book made me a Brandon Sanderson fan. You can read my full review in the previous entry.

MISTBORN: THE HERO OF AGES BY BRANDON SANDERSON

THIS FUCKING BOOK CHANGED MY DNA AND DESERVES YOUR RESPECT! BOW DOWN!!!

I need to calm down. Everything’s fine. I’m an adult.

Look, I don’t want to tell you about this book. Because it’s perfection. I don’t want to tell you what it’s about because you should just read the whole series. I don’t want to tell you WHY I CRIED because I want you to cry, too. I won’t tell you how Brandon Sanderson turned my brain into scrambled egg by giving us the best three-book-long origin story for the HERO OF AGES a growing boy could hope for. It’s just THAT GOOD. A full review of this bad boy isn’t coming. It’s too damn good. Suffice it to say you need to read it asap. If you want to discuss the book's details with me as two geeky fans, hit me up. I could talk Mistborn for months!

MISTBORN: ERA 2 BY BRANDON SANDERSON

I also read the entire second era of MISTBORN, which includes the following novels:

1) The Alloy of Law

2) Shadows of Self

3) The Bands of Mourning

4) The Lost Metal

The first novel in this series was good. It was a nice “palette cleanser” in some ways as its very different from Era 1. Yet, its many references to Era 1 were what kept me around. That and Wayne. Wayne is hilarious.

The second novel amped everything up, started developing lore for our new characters and expanding the narrative. Having Wax literally SPEAK to Harmony, and wonder if he really is speaking to Harmony and not just hearing voices, was a stroke of genius. Because WE (the readers) know it’s really Harmony. We can tell by the way Sanderson writes his dialogue. And more than that, in the audiobook, hearing the narrator slip into his [CHARACTER WHO BECAME HARMONY IN ERA 1] voice when speaking as Harmony gave me goosebumps. For that moment alone, the second novel made me really like this new series.

The Bands of Mourning turned it up to eleven. The steampunk is steampunkier and the lore is more lorey. Hunting down the Lord Ruler’s metal minds?! AWESOME! I’d always wondered what happened to those after the events of THE FINAL EMPIRE!

And I’m finishing up THE LOST METAL today after clicking publish. This era of Mistborn was very different from era one but I promise you Wayne alone is worth your time. More than that, it just makes me happy to be back on Scadrial, seeing the fruits of our Era 1 Crew’s labors.

MISTBORN: SECRET HISTORY BY BRANDON SANDERSON

Brando Sando… why are you like this? I can’t reprogram my personality everytime you reveal more about Kelsier to me. It's too much. Please. Knock it off.

And I heard he shows up in Stormlight Archive?! WTF Sanderson? Why are you doing this to me?

AND WHY DO I LET YOU DO IT?! IT HURTS SO GOOOOOOD!