Soon it will be that time again, when I crunch up numbers, post stats, all that jazz. Perhaps before that, though, some notes I made along the way during the year. Many of them posted in Facebook – either on my own wall or in the Bookaholics group – some I just wrote here, to jot down some thought about my reads.

Jan 10

Started reading TJ Klune’s Into This River I Drown. I’m on the third page (in Kindle, on my phone, so prolly still on page one or two) and I feel emotions stirring.

I don’t know how he does it, but anything he writes ALWAYS hits me to my very soul. Maybe not the best book(s) to read on a bus…

Feb 1

Feb 17

Feb 24

Love this book! Love its feel, its atmosphere, its ambiance; just as it says on the cover (love its cover! and it matches my hair ), it’s poetic, eerie, and beautiful Has the same feel as The Phantom of the Opera (though I actually haven’t READ it yet – it’s next in line). – Gothikana, by RuNyx

And, just look at that awesome tarot bookmark I found!

#gothikana#tarot#bookmark#beautifulbookcover

Feb 25

Well, I had a good staycation, back to work tomorrow. I read a book a day, except last weekend (when I finished Sanditon) and today (when I read 2/3 of The Phantom of the Opera). And then some; reading a 3 in 1 book in Kindle, halfway through the second book of the book. Have done little else all week, which is exactly the way I wanted it.

Feb 25

Very peculiar. Reading my supposedly illustrated copy of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (and being a bit disappointed by the journalistic style lacking all the feeling and mysterious air of the movie/opera/theater versions).

Supposedly illustrated bc there is not one single illustration in the book. Also, the first 15 chapters lack page numbers – the numbering starts at 1 on page 3 of chapter 16.

Some sort of Amazon ”printed in Poland” copy of the book. But at least the story seems to be there

March 3

Every now and there are posts asking about undervalued books/authors. I never remember any at that point, but as I started to read The Labyrinth on Dreaming Books (by Walter Moers) I felt that here I have an example of an author who/whose books books should be way more famous.

And to take it a tad further, especially these Dreaming Books books should be way more famous – apparently where Moers is known, he’s mostly known for The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, not his other works so much.

I have read Bluebear, and a couple other Moers books, and while I have enjoyed all of then, in my opinion, Dreaming Books books are far superior. Highly recommended for fantasy adventure lovers, especially if you also love books about books (and writing)!

>> why aren’t the other Moers books translated yet??!

March 23

I’ve had this book in my library for quite some time now. A few years, maybe? Somehow hadn’t gotten around to reading it, despite meaning to, so many times. Until today.

I don’t know what I expected, exactly, but I find the book quite peculiar. Strange atmosphere, somehow quite film noir. Slow paced and vague, a bit prickly. Everyone’s tense and acting odd and when does one ever lie down to nap on a first visit to someone – and it’s happened twice already.

And yet I am weirdly hooked. Intrigued and irritated at the same time. Wanting to go on and put the book away. Perhaps that’s what makes it special.

The Price of Salt (or Carol), by Patricia Highsmith

April 1

I mean, if you create a fantastical fantasy world which is supposedly totally out of this world and its religions, you just do. not. have Christmas. Churches (cringe) I can overlook, but not Christmas. No, you do NOT have Christmas in Nevermoor. Humph.

Otherwise a truly delightful book [Nevermoor – The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend]

April 17

Tää on kirja Andystä, mut tää on ennen kaikkea kirja täynnä Andyn tajunnanvirtaa millon mistäkin. Funtsin ja funtsin miks se tuntuu niin tutulta, kunnes sivulla 258 sen hogasin: mun teiniajan päiväkirjat on täynnä ihan samanlaista, ihan samalla kielellä kirjotettua tajunnanvirtaskeidaa

[Lamppu Laamanen: Andy]

April 21

Anyone else here read the Dark Verse series by RuNyx?

I read her Gothicana and really liked the style, so obviously needed to see if she’d written more, thus landing on this series. I finished the first book, The Preadtor, last night, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the story, loved the writing in general, and am totally reading the entire series (starting The Reaper today), I have but two complaints:

– Inconsistancies in dates and date math is really hard for me to get past

– 2-3 yo toddler IS NOT A TOOTHLESS BABY who sits on a table gurgling and gigling!!! I mean, RuNyx is young, but still. Really confusing to me when the age of a kid is stated as almost 3 and then the behavior described is that of a 5 month old

These aside, I love this darkish mob series and recommend them to anyone digging that kind of stuff.
>> but where is the last book lagging? The Syndicater

Edit Nov 27: Book 6 was finally published and so I read it as soon as I got it in my Kindle. Nice wrap-up for the series.

May 16

I read some rather dark abd grim stuff for a while there (RuNyx’ Dark Verse series, and TJ Klune’s Immemorial Year duology), and while they broke me and appalled me and I hated them but I LOVED them (and how does that work even?), I needed something lighter and sweeter to read.

So yesterday I started Elodie’s Library of Second Chances by Rebecca Raisin (pictured), which I found through this group a while ago. Thank you It touches my soul. It makes me cry, because it’s just so lovely. Exactly what I needed: kinda light-weight, but full of the brighter BETTER side of being a HUMAN.

May 17

I admit that most I ever knew about Frankenstein’s ”monster” before was that he was an abomination created by a mad scientist named Frankenstein. Seen the pictures and refs, obviously.

So, now I’m 2/3 into the original story, and I wholeheartedly disagree with anyone claiming that Frankenstein was NOT the monster. If anyone in this story is one, it’s definitely him: playing god and then abandoning his creation (like gods do), leaving him to fend for himself in a world scared of *difference*.

A horror story it is not. No, it’s a tragedy. It’s a tale as old as time. A miserable misundersrood lonely soul, shunned by society. Poor ”monster”, shame on Frankenstein.

June 9

Ready Player One meets D&D. Davi keeps on rebirthing into a fantasy world to save it and gets tired of starting over on the good side and decides to beat the Dark Lord by becoming the Dark Lord. Which is where the book starts – we don’t get much of the Groundhog Day there, only whatever mentions Davi makes of her memories of alle them previous lives.

When your book has footnotes 😊 but also the footnotes have footnotes 😄 Totally my kind of side thoughts upon thoughts upon thoughts and then some kind of stuff, that 😂

Edit Dec 24: OBVIOUSLY, this book is to be continued, too. At the point of finishing this one, there was no other sign of the sequel anywhere, other than the ad at the end of the book, claiming that book 2 was to be published earlier this year. Welp, finally sometime in the autumn I found book 2 in amazon.com, to be published in May 2025.

June 14

Ever thought those adventures featuring insane coincidences involving high-level politicians, double-crossing con-artists, murderous crews, buried and then lost treasures, caves and holes riddled with spiders, snakes and scorpions, drug lord accomplices handling shit with a gun and a wad of cash, outlandish tech hauled around in a Cessna almost as ancient as the civilizations it’s used to uncover, and… maybe you get the gist? are a bit farfetched?

I tell you, this TRUE STORY (together with the accounts of historical escapades) has it all and then some! I constantly need to remind myself that I’m reading non-fiction, not an Indy Jones manuscript or one of Gibbins’ Jack Howards or smtg.

Intriguing, unbelievable, amazing story of finding the truth behind the legend of Ciudad Blanca, in Honduras.

The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston

June 18

Well, that Atlas Six trilogy was a rather intense experience… First one was more fast paced, second slowed down, the first half of the third book was a bit boring but then it sped up to some sort of climax. Anyway, the entire trilogy was more in the heads of the SIX than real action, so heavy read, psychologically intense.

The minds of those SIX, geez, it was just the ugly complexity of utter humanity, and I kinda usually like my reads a bit more glossed over, so that I can escape humanity in its raw form instead of diving into the muddy depths without scuba gear. After finishing the last 200 or so pages of the trilogy last night in a frenzy, I had oppressive dreams all night, not really nightmarish in any way, just, heavy.

July 5

Chuckles. The characters writing back and forth to each other are just so real. I could totally see their personalities via their letters, notes and accounts of each other. I was quite apprehensive about the format of the book at first – letters, journal notes, missives, annotations… – but the story just flowed through them bouncing like rapids on rocks, joyfully and effortlessly. The mystery unraveling bit by bit as the two main characters (of the present day) went through their joint archives trying to figure out what exactly happened to their siblings who disappeared together.

In the end (or rather, even quite a bit before reaching the end) I came to thoroughly enjoy the penpal-format of the story as it touched a nostalgic part of me, reminding me of what it was like to write long letters by hand, wait for days before the replies came, hoping and anticipating and then reveling in the letter of the other. Such a different way of communicating than the instant messages of today! So yes, this book was an absolute delight!

A Letter to the Luminous Deep, by Sylvie Cathrall

(And shucks! Obviously “the story will be continued”! A Letter from the Lonesome Shore to be published in May, 2025 – obviously already preordered!)

July 16

If Les Miserables was written today, it would never be published as it was. I admit: I didn’t read probably half of the book faithfully at all, skimming through pages on end, occasionally just flipping through pages on end. Vast descriptions of places and their history, detailed scenes from historical events that have little to do with the story itself, multitudes of sideline stories that really could’ve been a couple sentences instead of a dozen pages long, lengthy introductions of minor characters, way too many names and dates, soliloquies that go on for pages, long dialogues of little or no value in the big picture…

Ok, some of it sets the scene, some of it is of consequence, but no I do NOT need to know the full history of the sewers of Paris, nor what happened to Brunesau (why was that character even introduced?) in them in times before the story, just to appreciate and understand what went on in them as Valjean carried Marius through them.

I loved the main story and maintained my ability enjoy it only by skipping the tedious history lessons, the inconsequential not-even-side-characters, the stuff that didn’t build it. So maybe it was meant to be read thoroughly, but I simply could not bore (or confuse, what with all the dates and names and places and…) myself to DNF:ing the book by trying to plough through the backstories, sidelines, balloons pinched from the air.

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

Aug 10

A sweet magical story, loved reading it, even though I was a bit confused when it wasn’t actually *magical*, i.e. not fantasy, not magical realism, but a fantastical drama, or something. Anyway, a book to love ❤

The Wishing Game, by Meg Shaffer

Aug 24

At some point during the past couple of years I decided to start to fill in at least some of my gaps in classics, buying and subsequently reading stories like Mary Shalley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (which is still unread but next on my list of paper books).

Somehow (well, algorithm-how, obviously) I stumbled upon this series by Theodora Goss: The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, books as follows:

• The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter
• European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman
• Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl

The protagonist is Mary Jekyll, the daughter of Dr. Jekyll, who after her mother dies, discovers not only the truth about her dad, but that there are quite a few other women, daughters or “daughters” of these “scientists” ie. alchemists who dabble in vivisection and alteration of humans. Even Sherlock Holmes is part of these spin-off stories.

These (as you see I’m a bit over halfway through the second book) have lead me to discover (and order) more of these alchemist/scientist stories from the 19th century, such as The Island of Doctor Moreau (H.G. Wells) and Rappaccini’s Daughter (Nathaniel Hawethorn).

I have greatly enjoyed these Coss’s books, they’re witty and funny and fun adventures!

Sept. 14

There’s a first for everything they say. Well, didn’t see this coming, but I’m actually reading a trilogy by the Finnish author Antti Tuomainen, in English. For reasons.

Yes, I’ll state the reasons: the original Finnish book can’t be bought in physical format; it’s only available in eBook services like BookBeat, which I don’t use, while in Kindle it’s NOT available in Finnish. So this is what happened, I’m reading the English translation of a Finnish book…

Anyhow, it’s an intreresting experience! Locations are right here in my hoods, and all names of places and people are in Finnish. Even some very Finnish things are preserved in Finnish, like “lonkero”, not translated/changed. Then, however, most idioms etc. are translated and sometimes I stop to wonder what the original text was. Some examples here:

• “The moon looked like creamy Finnish cheese” > Oltermanni?
• “Henri: Nobody calls me HARRY.” > Harri??? How’s that a nickname for Henri? Oh, HENKKA?
• “Minttu K using ‘Honey’ when addressing Henri her boss” > Kulta? Kultsi? Muru? WOT? None of them fit into a Finnish mouth very well…

Fun books, though. And for the record, I don’t much like reading Finnish translations of English books either, and do the same brain gymnastics around the text the other way round on the rare occations that I do find myself lost in translation (sic).

(Antti Tuomainen: The Rabbit Factor, The Moose Paradox, The Beaver Theory)

Sept. 28

I recently read (and loved) My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee (left pic). From Geddy I learned that while Rush was writing and recording their album Clockwork Angels, Neil Pert was actually working with Kevin J. Anderson on turning the underlying story into an actual fantasy book by the same name (right pic). I definitely needed to get that!

So I did and now I’m reading it. Even with no knowledge of Rush and their music, the book – steampunk scifi fantasy – is truly an enjoyable story, but for a Rush fan, a real treat! Besides delving deep into the story behind the album lyrics, getting some meat around the album bones, it is riddled with bits and pieces of Rush lyrics from all of their work, making reading even more fun, a lyrics-treasure hunt of sorts.

Oct. 24

Veronica Speedwell I’m smitten

You know how it goes You’re lured by the cool cover, so you get the first one, you like it, so you get the second one too. It grows on you and suddenly you’re in love by book three and witness yourself buying the rest of the series in one small click to your Kindle, and neglecting everything else on your TBR, you find yourself fully immersed in the series Oops

Veronica Speedwell, the very modern Victorian lepidopterist lady with a twist in her family ties, and the grumpy but ah so romantic companion Stoker. Witty dialogue, clever mysteries, and references to British calssics.

“Reader, I carried him”

Dec 1

I usually steer away from hype, from anything that’s hyped, but this one I picked out before I realized there was any hype about it, even though I only got the book in November. And, well, it’s well worth it’s hype. A wonderful story that I didn’t want to end, at all! But end it did, eventually, Leaving behind this ethereal feeling that if I just look in the right place, I can step right into the story myself. And this book by Shaffer actually WAS magical for real as well as a story (ref. The Wishing Game)

The Lost Story, by Meg Shaffer

More bookish musings to come, once the year is over and it’s time for the full recap!