Last year was the first year that I read a fiction book since I was at school. Up until then I had only really read non-fiction. I didn’t really understand why people would read function at all when we have TV and films, but last year my perspective changed I and read a handful of books which really gripped me.
I spent the year reading random recommendations and as a result I had a bit of a mixed bag of enjoyment. I also finished the year not really knowing what kind of genres and authors I wanted to read.
To remedy that this year I wanted to read a wider variety of genres, and be more deliberate in selecting things I thought I’d enjoy. So far this has been a success. I’ve read 12 books which have spanned from Sci-Fi to Thriller and from classics to viral modern hits.
Hyperion Cantos — Dan Simmons
The first two books I read this year were Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion from the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons. Hyperion was on my radar as I came across it on someone’s reading list and when I found a copy at South Bank Book Market I thought I’d give it a go.
Hyperion
12 days · 5/5
Hyperion is a literary science fiction novel about 6 pilgrims and their journey to the planet Hyperion. Over the course of the book, and their trip, each one tells the story of how they came to be on the pilgrimage. The stories range from romance, to war, to noir, to cosmic horror and each reveal parts of the wider story of the war unfolding around them as well as the mysteries of the planet Hyperion itself.
It was at that point the best book I’d read, and is still the best opening to a book I’ve read. The stories are varied, imaginative, and genuinely touching at points. Each one reveals a small amount of the mystery that opens the book and through each one we get a good understanding of the characters and their motivations. The book ends with us hearing the main characters story which ties together all the threads of the other 5 stories we’ve heard up until this point.
It’s the first proper Sci-Fi book I’ve read and I think I enjoyed it because it isn’t was I was expecting from a Sci-Fi book. My expectations we’re for massive space battles, aliens, etc. but instead the stories were about regular people dotted throughout the galaxy facing some weirdly relatable stories.
Of course there are plenty of Sci-Fi parts to the stories such as a private detective asked by a man to solve his own murder or a disease which makes people age backwards, but these are used to explore themes such as grief, love, or remorse and it works really well.
It was a very strong start to the year and I couldn’t wait to read the sequel.
The Fall of Hyperion
9 days · 4.5/5
So I didn’t wait. I ordered it before I was done reading so I could carry on the story.
The Fall of Hyperion is the story of what happens after the pilgrims arrive at their destination. It is a lot more of a traditional “Space Opera” than the first book. Where in the first book the conflict between the new human civilisation, “The Hegemony of Man”, and so called “Ousters” are just a backdrop to the pilgrims stories it takes centre stage in this book. We also get a better look at the technology which has allowed humanity to spread across space as well as the relationship between humanity and the “AI TechnoCore”.
Again the story is really well done. Each pilgrim gets a conclusion to their journey, we get answers to some of the bigger mysteries which have cropped up, as well as some really good twists to end everything. However we also get a lot more poetic and philosophical stuff which I found it challenging to follow at times, which is where this read lost a few points.
Despite that I really enjoyed the book. This was written ~35 years ago but the visions for future society and AI’s role in it was very sound I thought, which is not always the case with speculative fiction of the 1900s. We are obviously a long way from a separatist AI movement but living in the advent of LLMs it really resonated with me.
Stephen King
Heard of a lot first though the film adaptations, then after getting more into reading though online communities
Why I selected Different Seasons, how picking up The Shining at the southbank book market led to reading the first horror book, then collection doctor sleep to finish the story, then why billy summers
What of Stephen King I want to read next
Different Seasons
8 days · 4/5
Chose because people said it was a good range of Stephen King’s work without being horror (never read horror, don’t really enjoy horror films, so this was a good start). Contains literary, coming of age, thriller, etc.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
Apt Pupil
The Body
The Breathing Method
The Shining
8 days · 5/5
The fist horror book I’ve read. Got hooked pretty much immediately.
Doctor Sleep
9 days · 4/5
Billy Summers
5 days · 4.5/5
Freida McFadden
Both reads were the same in that I needed something in between reads (waiting for books) as they are short and fast reads. The first was decent but not for me, the second was just bad.
The Housemaid
2 days · 2.5/5
The Inmate
3 days · 1/5
Standalone Reads
Do I want to intro this?
Crime and Punishment — Fyodor Dostoevsky
10 days · 4.5/5
The first proper classic I’ve read? Maybe not but feels that way
Just a book that accidentally fell into my lap though Katy’s colleague and I thought why not. Always heard about it and wondered what makes this SUCH a classic. I went in wondering if it would just be painful (ie reading Blood Meridian I thought I can see why this is impressive, and why people would like it, but I just found it odd and terse to the point of not being enjoyable), but actually it was a compelling story. It was more challenging that your average book with the cultural references in the back, the writing was a little more odd, but it was actually a good story. Talk about how at a base level it is just a good story, then beyond that it is a deep as you want to make it.n
American Tabloid — James Ellroy
12 days · 5/5
Been on the shelf for a while. Was apprehensive but it turned out to be amazing. Lots of difficult language which made me cringe a bit, but the structure of the story, the pacing, the turns, just awesome and epic crime and historical saga.
The Lies of Locke Lamora — Scott Lynch
12 days · 5/5
The first fantasy book I’ve read? I just found the world very engaging and weirdly wholesome somehow, even though there is lots of death and violence. Wasn’t really sold until the act where it twists (do I mention this?), but after that I was hooked. After reading GoT I noticed that some things here mirror that (a ‘Spider’ character who is the eyes and ears behind the scenes, the towers, kind of forgetting now) but it did make me think how inspired this book was by GoT, or are these fantasy tropes that I just aren’t that aware of because I haven’t read much.
The Hobbit — J.R.R. Tolkien
7 days · 3.5/5
Not as good as I thought it would be. I tried to meet it on it’s level as a kids book and as a book of it’s time which inspired all fantasy basically, but to me it just read like a kids book, and I wish that I read it when I was younger almost. But the imagination and world carried the story for me. But still kind of disappointed, but I think my expectations were a bit off