December 2024 Reading List

First, my year end numbers.

I read 129 books in 2024 and uncounted short stories. I started and tossed at least twice that number of books, and probably more. I’m quick to quit on a book because I don’t have time to waste on stories that don’t entertain me. That said, looking through my spreadsheet, I see more 3 and 3.5 star books than I would have guessed. That means the author held me, even though I ended up not loving the story.

I did a lot of reading in December for a Space Opera workshop I’m taking this month, which meant two anthologies and a couple books. The thing about anthologies (for me anyway) is that the stories blend together after a while.

The first anthology I read was Galactic Empires, put together by Neil Clarke, son of the famous writer, Arthur C. Clarke. The stories in it were hit or miss for me, but I read them all and then looked at the Table of Contents and picked out the ones that stuck with me.

Winning Peace by Paul J. McAuley, Galactic Empires. There are only four characters in this story. A POW is sold into slavery when the war ends instead of being returned home. His shady boss, an arrogant, cruel man drunk on power, has come up with a reckless plan to get himself out of the deep financial hole he has dug and needs the help of the third character, a Navy Lieutenant. Things do not go as planned and the ending is delightful.

The Lost Princess Man by John Barnes, Galactic Empires. This is a con story with a twist that caught me. That’s all I can say without giving too much away.

The Impossibles by Kristine Katherine Rusch, Galactic Empires. Kris has won or been nominated for every award in science fiction–for good reason. The woman may be the most decorated writer who is working today. The Impossibles takes place in her sci-fi Retrieval Artist series and concerns the courts of law that govern a widely disparate group of aliens and humans and the challenge of defending someone accused of breaking one.

The Twelfth Card by Jeffrey Deaver. Genre switch here. This has been sitting on my book shelves for a while. I thought I’d read it, but I hadn’t. A teenaged black girl is attacked while doing research on an ancestor in the library, setting off a chain of events that leads back 140 years. This is a Lincoln Rhyme novel, a series I really enjoy. I gave this 5 stars.

Holiday Spectacular from WMG Publishing. This anthology is like an Advent Calendar with one story a day showing up in my email box through the holidays. I deleted them once read because my box was overflowing, which was a mistake because I can’t remember the titles of the ones I really liked. LOL.

I do remember a couple of the authors though. I highly recommend Lisa Silverthorne’s work. She writes romantasy, dark romantic fantasy, romantic mystery fantasy, and some sci-fi. And she does it really well.

Robert Jeschonek writes all over the place, always with a unique spin that has won him several awards. He’s written for Dr. Who and Star Trek and his story in the Holiday Spectacular was true to form - a holiday romance with a delightful twist.

And back to the upcoming Space Opera workshop, Diving the Wreck, by Kristine Katherine Rusch is the first book in one of my favorite sci-fi series. I’ve read it twice already, and read it again for the workshop. Still love it. The entire series is great. Rusch has taken an Earth occupation - diving ship wrecks - and set it in space, added warring factions and a mystery. She’s put together one of the best SF series ever, in my humble opinion. 

I am currently reading New Adventures in Space Opera for the workshop, an anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan. I’m only a few stories in so can’t pick out favorites yet, but what I’ve read so far is promising and creative.

The Black Spectacles by John Dickson Carr. This mystery came out in 1939. The plot involves poisoning, the characters were interesting. The writing was a little dated, but the story holds up. I gave it 4 stars.

I also snuck in several romances by Jennifer Cruisie. I love her books and will often reread one as a palate cleanser when I need a break. You can’t go wrong with Jenn if romcom is your thing.

That’s a wrap! let me know if you have a book or fav author to recommend. I’m always looking for new to me stories.