Saturday 16 December 2023

My reading in 2023

I do this every year, so you can step back for more than a decade should you so choose. Here's the link to 2022.


Goodreads (via its 'Year in reading') decided to make The Blacktongue Thief bigger than the rest, but coincidentally it is my favourite read of 2023.

All of these were good reads and several of them were excellent. The Words of Kings and Prophets was a fine follow up to The Children of Gods and Fighting Men. The Prophet of Edan was a strong sequel to The Way of Edan. I'm looking forward to book 3 in both these trilogies.

Here are links to my Goodreads reviews for all 9 books (in the order I read them):


The Blacktongue Thief

A Discovery of Witches

Sons of Darkness

The Hexologists

Morgan of Sea and Storms

The Prophet of Edan

The Words of Kings and Prophets

The Tenth Gift

Hills of Heather and Bone







 

7 comments:

  1. The Blacktongue Thief was one of my favorites this year as well. I loved the chapter dedicated to his love… and the way it all unfolds is great.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have not posted my Top Reads of 2023, but a sneak peek will tell you that The Book that Wouldn't Burn topped the list. We have Words of Kings and Prophets and Hexologists in common, so there is that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I couldn't finish a second page of the Blacktongue Thief. Just didn't capture me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This feels like hyperbole. Or the perfect example of why modern writers need to hook from page 1. I can think of only one book I've ever given up on after finishing only one page - and that's out of a LOT of books over many years.

      Delete
    2. That's just what happened. The premise sounded like something up my alley, but narration from such a cynical protagonist just put me off. And the sentence after "Now they were thieves, but not subtle thieves like me," describing how he is better and more skilled just made me dislike him outright. Maybe if it wasn't first person narration, I'd be more lenient.
      In any case, I can't judge a book by a single chapter, but it's certainly not the best first chapter I read.

      Delete
    3. But now you're talking as if you read the whole chapter... which is not what you said to begin with.

      Delete