1gilroy
Starting the year fresh with no books crossing the threshold. Holding steady on the goals because I felt like it fit what I wanted to do. I didn't make it the past few years, so still want to shoot for the same numbers.
I didn't keep up with the whole update as I read concept from the past years, so I'm leaning towards a leaner approach to the thread this year. I think I'll be posting once the book is complete, tracking the start and end dates off line for ease (unless it's already cataloged). I'm a slow reader, It might be stretches between posts. Any notes I make will go into my future reviews.
At the end of the year, I'll do a final goal count post as well as my annual book poll. That poll will also be posted in the new thread.
The hopeful goals:
Total books to read: 35 -- 15 audio, 9 physical, 11 e-books
(Count as of January 1 - 0 audio, 0 physical, 0 e-books)
I didn't keep up with the whole update as I read concept from the past years, so I'm leaning towards a leaner approach to the thread this year. I think I'll be posting once the book is complete, tracking the start and end dates off line for ease (unless it's already cataloged). I'm a slow reader, It might be stretches between posts. Any notes I make will go into my future reviews.
At the end of the year, I'll do a final goal count post as well as my annual book poll. That poll will also be posted in the new thread.
The hopeful goals:
Total books to read: 35 -- 15 audio, 9 physical, 11 e-books
(Count as of January 1 - 0 audio, 0 physical, 0 e-books)
3gilroy
Annual Reading Poll for 2025
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDe9vKvO2Eabb-JRAb-JOYRLAQbg-wXeIJnnbM...
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDe9vKvO2Eabb-JRAb-JOYRLAQbg-wXeIJnnbM...
4gilroy
Dud books - Books I've attempted and gave up on
(Also known as Pearl Rule books)
Note on how I designate a dud book:
Unless the book is so horrid of prose/story/cliché that I can't get past the first few pages, I feel the need to give the author at least 50 pages or a quarter of the book, which ever I can make. This allows for initial bad openings and characters to grow enough. At that point, if I continue to struggle and can't get into the book, I'm done and it becomes a dud. At least that's the plan.
(Also known as Pearl Rule books)
Note on how I designate a dud book:
Unless the book is so horrid of prose/story/cliché that I can't get past the first few pages, I feel the need to give the author at least 50 pages or a quarter of the book, which ever I can make. This allows for initial bad openings and characters to grow enough. At that point, if I continue to struggle and can't get into the book, I'm done and it becomes a dud. At least that's the plan.
7Alexandra_book_life
Happy New Thread! I wish you a wonderful book year :)
8Sakerfalcon
Happy new year! I hope it’s a good one, in books and in life.
10haydninvienna
What >8 Sakerfalcon: said.
13gilroy
We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
Start 01/04/2026 End 01/10/2026
Thoughts
-- Lots to ponder. Amusing names picked through the book. Enjoyed the first book of the series, worth going deeper.
Start 01/04/2026 End 01/10/2026
Thoughts
-- Lots to ponder. Amusing names picked through the book. Enjoyed the first book of the series, worth going deeper.
14gilroy
The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver
Read by Kaleo Griffith
Series Colter Shaw
Start 01/14/2026 End 01/29/2026
Thoughts
-- Okay, I admit I started reading this one because I found the TV show Tracker fascinating. They made some changes to the book for the TV show, but they were mostly to minor characters (changing genders, partners, and giving his sister a spouse and kids). The only real change to Colter himself is he has a Winnebago in the book and rents a car, but tows a Airstream and drives the truck in the TV show.
-- The link betweenvideo games and a thrill killer creates a unique storyline. It kept me reading, though a few of the minor characters I suspected of being the killer and not trusting. Just my nature.
Read by Kaleo Griffith
Series Colter Shaw
Start 01/14/2026 End 01/29/2026
Thoughts
-- Okay, I admit I started reading this one because I found the TV show Tracker fascinating. They made some changes to the book for the TV show, but they were mostly to minor characters (changing genders, partners, and giving his sister a spouse and kids). The only real change to Colter himself is he has a Winnebago in the book and rents a car, but tows a Airstream and drives the truck in the TV show.
-- The link between
15gilroy
City of Skies by Farah Cook
Series Viking Assassin
Start 12/26/2025 End 02/07/2026
Thoughts
-- I'm starting my notes here because I'm at 88% complete and didn't want to miss things.
-- There is a gem of a book in the mess that is the text. It needs a good line editor and maybe a developmental editor to smooth out many of the rough edges. It feels like the author smashed multiple concepts into a single book, and it makes the book messy. It has shades of Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and the Lord of the Rings. But not mixed well.
-- Through much of the story, there are two macguffins one the search for her dad (unresolved) and one for the great Viking Artifacts (resolved, sort of) , but the muddled story makes the quest forced.
-- Of course the author works (an unnecessary) love triangle but it fizzled within pages of it forming (Thank goodness)
-- The book needed a ton more world building and editing. I might have even suggested stretching this book into two or three books alone. Some of the events got compressed when we really should have had more details. Not sure I want to read the next book.
Series Viking Assassin
Start 12/26/2025 End 02/07/2026
Thoughts
-- I'm starting my notes here because I'm at 88% complete and didn't want to miss things.
-- There is a gem of a book in the mess that is the text. It needs a good line editor and maybe a developmental editor to smooth out many of the rough edges. It feels like the author smashed multiple concepts into a single book, and it makes the book messy. It has shades of Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and the Lord of the Rings. But not mixed well.
-- Through much of the story, there are two macguffins
-- Of course the author works (an unnecessary) love triangle but it fizzled within pages of it forming (Thank goodness)
-- The book needed a ton more world building and editing. I might have even suggested stretching this book into two or three books alone. Some of the events got compressed when we really should have had more details. Not sure I want to read the next book.
16gilroy
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Narrator Wil Wheaton
Series Ready Player One
Start 01/30/2026 End 02/18/2026
Thoughts
-- A lot of this book felt like an excuse to infodump about the 1980s. Having experienced that decade firsthand, I had a few nostalgia moments, a few OMG REALLY?! moments, and just some good nods along the way.
-- My thoughts floated around the book's ending and some of the discussion I'd heard of it. What I'm finding is the movie must have changed the ending. Because at the end,Wade and Artemis are sitting holding hands, agreeing to make the world a better place. Fade to black. But people keep talking about him turning off the Oasis one day a week.
-- I enjoyed the challenges presented to the gunters, understood the whole rejected relationship thing, and it felt like a return to my teens.
Narrator Wil Wheaton
Series Ready Player One
Start 01/30/2026 End 02/18/2026
Thoughts
-- A lot of this book felt like an excuse to infodump about the 1980s. Having experienced that decade firsthand, I had a few nostalgia moments, a few OMG REALLY?! moments, and just some good nods along the way.
-- My thoughts floated around the book's ending and some of the discussion I'd heard of it. What I'm finding is the movie must have changed the ending. Because at the end,
-- I enjoyed the challenges presented to the gunters, understood the whole rejected relationship thing, and it felt like a return to my teens.
17catzteach
>16 gilroy: yeah, being an 80s teen made me really enjoy this one.
18Gatoruss
>16 gilroy: I enjoyed Ready Player One, and thought it was creative. Also, loved the nostalgia.
Have you though about reading Ready Player Two? I haven't yet, but plan to.
Have you though about reading Ready Player Two? I haven't yet, but plan to.
19gilroy
>18 Gatoruss: I think it's listed as like book 2002 on the TBR list, beneath a few other heavyweights.
20gilroy
The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Narrator Michael Healy
Start 02/20/2026 End 03/02/2026
Thoughts
Narrator Michael Healy
Start 02/20/2026 End 03/02/2026
Thoughts
21gilroy
Frozen Heat by Richard Castle
Series Nikki Heat
Started 01/04/2026 End 03/28/2026
Thoughts
-- Well, this is Nathan Fillion in text form, as a Watson to Beckett's Heat/Sherlock. Much bigger story than I expected as they probe a death that triggers links to older stories and history.
-- While the prime story wraps, I feel like we are left with hints of bigger things to come in the future novels. And I'm sure I'm way behind others who would read these so yeah...
Series Nikki Heat
Started 01/04/2026 End 03/28/2026
Thoughts
-- Well, this is Nathan Fillion in text form, as a Watson to Beckett's Heat/Sherlock. Much bigger story than I expected as they probe a death that triggers links to older stories and history.
-- While the prime story wraps, I feel like we are left with hints of bigger things to come in the future novels. And I'm sure I'm way behind others who would read these so yeah...
22Karlstar
>14 gilroy: I keep seeing the book mentioned during the TV show, been meaning to give the book(s) a try. Thanks for the review.
23gilroy
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Series Wayfarers
Begin 02/08/2026 end 04/08/2026
Thoughts
-- It has been a bit since I finished the last book and so I struggled to enter this world again, since I had lost the old thread. Once I understood where the threads went, I had a better feel for the story.
-- Did not care for this book like I did the first. I thought Pepper would make a better secondary character,even with the understanding that the alternating chapters were giving Pepper's background . And Sidra could have been so much more if the author had allowed her to express her need for a purpose much much sooner in the book. I felt like this book dragged its feet to make word count, instead of truly pushing the story.
-- The writing itself is strong, but some of the choices were ... questionable.
Series Wayfarers
Begin 02/08/2026 end 04/08/2026
Thoughts
-- It has been a bit since I finished the last book and so I struggled to enter this world again, since I had lost the old thread. Once I understood where the threads went, I had a better feel for the story.
-- Did not care for this book like I did the first. I thought Pepper would make a better secondary character,
-- The writing itself is strong, but some of the choices were ... questionable.
24gilroy
In the non-reading but still book related news --
We had planned for a built in library system in our house when we moved in. The plan was set for "when we save enough."
The saving is done and the construction begins today.
Amish built cabinets and shelves along with a window seat. I need to get some pictures so I can upload them...
This image is the current library layout. So the upgrade will be a notable upgrade.
We had planned for a built in library system in our house when we moved in. The plan was set for "when we save enough."
The saving is done and the construction begins today.
Amish built cabinets and shelves along with a window seat. I need to get some pictures so I can upload them...
This image is the current library layout. So the upgrade will be a notable upgrade.
25clamairy
>24 gilroy: Oh, very nice! I can't wait to see the completed project!
26gilroy
These are two examples of what's being installed. The large cabinet goes into the corner (and gets a shelf on its top) and the other is a end drawer beside a window seat.
27catzteach
>24 gilroy: how exciting! I can’t wait to see your finished library!
28Alexandra_book_life
>24 gilroy: What a wonderful project! I am looking forward to seeing your new library :)
30Karlstar
>29 gilroy: Looks awesome!
32gilroy
The Goodbye Man by Jeffrey Deaver
Narrator Kaleo Griffith
Series Colter Shaw
Start 04/27/2026 end 05/14/2026
Thoughts
- Interesting start to the book. That then leads to a deeper investigation.
- I thought it was going to twist it at one point, but the twist didn't arise, which felt weird on one point, but made more sense the deeper into the book.
Narrator Kaleo Griffith
Series Colter Shaw
Start 04/27/2026 end 05/14/2026
Thoughts
- Interesting start to the book. That then leads to a deeper investigation.
- I thought it was going to twist it at one point, but the twist didn't arise, which felt weird on one point, but made more sense the deeper into the book.
33gilroy
Four: A Divergent Chronicle by Veronica Roth
Series Divergent
Start 04/06/2026 End 06/02/2026
Thoughts
-- This offers an interesting take on the thoughts and background of Four aka Tobias Eaton from the main series. Done in a series of short stories, it fills in some details like where and how some parts of Dauntless work.
-- It does bleed into the first book on the series a little, to give you a taste of his thoughts during some trying moments for Tris.
Series Divergent
Start 04/06/2026 End 06/02/2026
Thoughts
-- This offers an interesting take on the thoughts and background of Four
-- It does bleed into the first book on the series a little, to give you a taste of his thoughts during some trying moments for Tris.
34Karlstar
>32 gilroy: We watch Tracker, so I've considered reading these books, though if I remember right, the show only credits the first one, The Never Game
35gilroy
>34 Karlstar: The show does only credit the first one, but has technically taken parts of the second book into an episode or two.
Plus the entiremurdered father and Echo Ridge storyline is an ongoing thread through the first three books so far.
If I can catch up in the series, I'll know how much of a recent storyline in the show shows up in the books. (By the beginning of book 3Mom still owns Echo Ridge and there's something buried there, but that's not in the show yet.
Plus the entire
If I can catch up in the series, I'll know how much of a recent storyline in the show shows up in the books. (By the beginning of book 3
