December 2024 book blog

I read a lot of books, and published one, in December 2024. Silverwood Rising was published halfway between my 61st birthday and Christmas Day, a gift to myself that I’m very happy with. I celebrated by reading a lot.

My first read of December was a short one – The Stillness in You by Katharina Unverricht. This is her first novel, and I hope it isn’t her last one. It’s a lovely story, full of hope and optimism. We meet Grace as she reaches a crossroads in her life. It’s a comfortable life, as seen from the outside, but Grace needs more. She flees her life and finds Josie, an older woman who takes her under her wing and finds that together they have the courage to reach for what they need.

From a slim indie tale, I moved onto one of Ellen Datlow’s horror anthologies. ‘Fears : Tales of Psychological Horror’. We kick off with ‘Bait’ by Simon Bestwick, a well constructed and expertly told version of the tale of a woman who has turned the tables on predatory men. Annie Neugebauer’s ‘The Pelt’ is a claustrophobic story set in a wide open space, which struck me as both skillful and memorable. John Malerman’s ‘A Sunny Disposition’ puts a child in an awkward position as his grandfather reminisces about a long marriage and a much missed grandmother. The title of Dale Baileys ‘The Donner Party’ does somewhat give the game away. I’m sure I’ve read this story before, or one very much like it, perhaps in another anthology. It’s not the only story in this collection to give off strong 1970s Pan Book of Horrors vibes, but it is the first. Steve Duffy’s ‘White Noise in a White Room’ deals with the dehumanisation of those involved in war. Weirdly, it reminded me in some ways of Third and Fourth Doctor era Dr Who stories, maybe it’s the settings … anyway, I got some real Dark U.N.I.T hints from this story. Margo Lanagan’s ‘Singing My Sister Down’ is one of my favourites from this collection, it’s a story about an execution, told with love and pity. Bracken MacLeod’s sparsely told ‘Back Seat’ has a plot born of equal parts Cormac McCarthy and Stephen King. Tim Nickel’s ‘England and Nowhere’ is one of the weirder stories in the book, I did struggle with it, perhaps I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Stuart O’Nan’s ‘Endless Summer’ is a story about a serial killer. Priya Sharma’s ‘My Mother’s Ghosts’ is another of my favourites in this collection, it’s a tense story of family loyalties viewed through an unusual lens. ‘The Wink and the Gun’ by John Patrick Higgins establishes an atmosphere of brooding menace. Livia Llewellyn’s ‘One of These Nights’ is a creepy little Mean Girls story that I liked a lot. Laird Barron’s ‘LD50’ is the story that this anthology was made for, originally self published on his blog and revived for the delectation and delight of new readers. I would love to read more about the central character in this story. Theresa Delucci’s ‘Cavity’ is another beautifully written study that iterates all the murderers the protagonist has met. I loved it. Sharon Gosling’s ‘Souvenirs’ is a story with an underlying horror that we can all understand, especially as we get towards the end of our lives … but there’s an extra horror, a treat at the end. ‘Where are you going? Where have you been’ by Joyce Carol Oates is an utterly terrifying story that traps the reader in a spiral of hope and hopelessness. Ray Cluley’s ‘The Wrong Shark’ is based on enough facts about the shooting of ‘Jaws’ to make the ending hit hard. I loved Carole Johnstone’s ’21 Brooklands’, it’s the kind of story I’d love to write. Hailey Piper’s ‘Unkindly Girls’ just made me sad. Charles Birkin’s ‘A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts’ has been dragged out of its timezone, to poor effect. The last story in the book, Stephen Graham Jones’ ‘Teeth’ is a longer story that takes its time but is worth it in the end.

From psychological horror to cosy crime is a bit of a leap, but I attempted it by borrowing Belinda Bauer’s ‘Exit’ from my local library. I have a tenuous connection with Bauer, which was why I went off genre out of a sense of curiosity. This is a very cosy crime novel indeed, nearly everyone is trying to do the right thing and the main characters are as sweet as sugar. It’s amusing, well plotted and kept my interest throughout.

I returned to my usual genre with Quicksilver by Dean Koontz, another library book. Honestly, I have a tbr pile three feet high at home, but I do feel a moral urge to use the library now and again. It’s sadly lacking in genre fiction though, and this was the most promising find of the day. I am not particularly a fan of Koontz, but decided to give his books another chance, because I did like Odd Thomas. I got a quarter of the way through Quicksilver and realised that my tbr pile was right there next to me. I DNFd this book. I don’t often DNF. Looking at the other reviews, I think I may have picked up the wrong Koontz book. Not for me, your mileage my vary, etc. etc.

I keep buying N K Jemisin’s ‘How Long ’til Black Future Month’, then losing the copy. I don’t mind, it’s worth buying several times. Last month I finally got round to reading it. It’s one of those things where you leave your favourite food on your plate until last. I’ll donate my extra copies to the charity stall and hope that they introduce more people to her wonderful stories. My review is brief but heartfelt. Pure, classic science fiction short stories. Some are set in the worlds of Jemisin’s novels, others aren’t. They’re all great reads.

Last year’s final book of the year was John Scalzi’s ‘Starter Villain’, so when I saw ‘The Kaiju Preservation Society’ just sitting there in the library, all Christmassy and fun, I had to check it out. I’m glad I did. It turned into my penultimate read of 2024, which means that I now have to continue the trend next year. Someone remind to obtain a Scalzi book which can be my third last read of 2025.

This book is an absolute romp, with sf in jokes aplenty. So, basically, there’s an alternate universe with nuclear powered monsters who like to browse on actinides. When we start letting off nuclear bombs, they bimble through the dimensional barrier for a snack. Hence, Godzilla. The KPS is set up to maintain a research station in the alternate universe and look after the monsters. They recruit their staff organically, from people they know and like, leading to a good working environment, if you ignore the fact that everything wants to eat them. Naturally, there are other very nasty people around who would fuck both universes over for a goddamn percentage. And … go.

My very last book of the year was a re-read. Tom Cox’s ’21st Century Yokel’. I’ve been reading a lot of Tom Cox’s rambling ramblings recently, mostly on his Substack blog. It’s always a pleasure, and I find nothing to disagree with it and everything to enjoy. He sparks joy. This was a library book read, and it’s possible that this book is the same one that I borrowed six and half years ago, although the stamp dates don’t line up. Perhaps I auto renewed it? It would be nice if it was the same book. I know this isn’t a review, but Cox’s work is fairly hard to review. He just rambles on and keeps his readers entertained and amused and makes us think.

So, that was 2024. Roll on 2025.

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