In Short: 2024

Posted 9th January 2025 by Sia in Memes & Tags, State of the Sia / 8 Comments

I couldn’t find an End of Year tag I liked, so I invented my own! Because I have way too much fun looking at stats and things.

How much did you read?

I read fewer books in 2024 than I did in 2023 – 215 compared to 241 in 2023. That’s the first time I’ve read less than the previous year since 2017.

At first glance, that’s a little odd, because I was unemployed for the whole of 2024, and you would think that would leave more time for reading. But the lack of routine really did a number on me, which negatively affected all of my Fun Stuff, and there was a ridiculous amount of stress, which, likewise. So a bit of a drop’s not that strange, really!

Not counting books I only tried a few pages of, I DNFed 80 books last year. Which brings my total of ‘books attempted’ to 295. (And means I DNFed 27.11% of all the books I tried.) That seems pretty high, but is a lot lower than I was braced for!

In 2023, I had 57 DNFs – out of 298 (57+ 241). So, 19.13% of my reads attempted. Significantly less than last year!

When we count books attempted, it was 298 in 2023 – and 295 in 2024. Which is barely a drop at all! Interesting. That seems to suggest I actually read about the same amount in both years – it’s only the DNFs that changed. Did I take more risks in 2024, which didn’t always pay off? Was I a bit unluckier in the books I attempted? Or did a more stressful year = less patience = me DNFing books I might not have a year ago? I know of no way to tell.

What did you read?

Surprising no one at all, Fantasy dominated my reading this year (when doesn’t it?) Honestly I think I’m a bit surprised it was only 3/4s of my reading!

Honestly, I’m very surprised I read that many straight books! Wtf.

Well, this is just depressing. I genuinely don’t know what to do about this – I keep trying to pick up more BIPOC authors, but I’m just not finding ones I enjoy, and I’m not willing to finish books I don’t enjoy just so I can say I’m reading more BIPOC authors. That seems…weirdly dishonest, or something?

I’ve tried all the names on all the rec lists, and I don’t know where to look for more. Suggestions are very welcome!

% of 5 star reads

Of the (215) books I finished reading in 2024, I gave 107 five stars. That’s just under half! (49.77%, to be exact.) Which seems pretty freaking excellent!

(Although I think this has more to do with how quick I am to DNF something I’m not enjoying, than it does my skill/luck in picking up books I’ll love!)

(And of course, if we count it as out of 295 (books attempted) instead of 215 (books finished), it becomes 36.27%. Significantly less!)

Coolest Covers

My favourite covers of last year belonged to books I REALLY didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another! But that doesn’t change the fact that the covers themselves are amazing. I love covers that look like other things (Sky on Fire, which is a mountain fastness and a dragon, or Strange Beasts, which is both a building and a skull) and ones that have tons of tiny, perfect details in them (like Dragonfruit or Emperor and the Endless Palace). And I have a very obvious preference for illustrated covers, thank you!

First book that blew you away

Tainted Cup was so much fun! I’m pretty wary of anything that even vaguely resembles Sherlock, and I got definite Sherlock/Watson vibes from the blurb. But happily it really wasn’t Sherlockian at all, for all that Ana is a genius at putting info and deductions together! Lots of plant weirdness (this might be my favourite of all the worlds that Bennett has created so far) and a murder mystery I actually ended up invested in, which NEVER happens!

My review!

Last book that rocked your world

I got to read an arc of this just before the end of the year, and HI YES IT WAS FIREWORKSICAL!!! I want to read it at LEAST one more time before I review it…because I’m completely speechless and just FLAILING DELIGHTEDLY and what are words??? I DON’T KNOW HOW TO TALK SMARTLY ABOUT IT OKAY???

A book more people should know about

Originally published in the 90s and reissued in 2024, The Fortunate Fall is an amazing far-future sci fi about a woman who is a ‘camera’ – like a streamer, but who streams her senses, thoughts and emotions! She uncovers the messy underbelly of an old war while forming a strangely intense relationship with her newest journalist partner…the writing is amazing and I’m so impressed by all the sci fi concepts I’ve never seen anywhere else before!

Favourite reread

I reread the Very Secret Garden duology and the Master and Mages trilogy every year, and continue to enjoy them immensely – but I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed rereading Feast Makers right at the end of the year (I read the arc, ofc, and was then reading the final version). It brought me so much joy! Which shouldn’t have been surprising, but somehow it was. The intensity and vibrancy of it, maybe.

New-to-you authors now on your auto-buy list

Wendy Palmer and Matt Weber are two self-published authors whose work makes me feral; after Pechacek’s debut The West Passage I will read anything he writes ever; and The Mountain Crown was my (appallingly late!) introduction to Karin Lowachee, which has convinced me that I need to read everything she’s ever written as well as anything she writes in the future!

Books you didn’t get to

I did start a few of these, but they all got set aside for one reason or another (reasons all to do with me, not the book itself!) And most I didn’t start at all! Gah.

biggest Letdown

I had such incredibly high expectations for the finale of the Redwinter trilogy…and although McDonald went in very non-traditional directions, which I usually approve of, I absolutely hated it. Such a letdown after how amazing the first two books were!

biggest (positive!) surprise

I’ve spoken a bit about Relics of Ruin before, but I’ll say it again: I picked it up on a whim after not really enjoying the first book in the trilogy, AND IT PULLED ME UNDER LIKE A RIPTIDE. (And when I went back and reread book one, I fucking loved it, so I have no idea what was wrong with past!Sia when she read it the first time!)

best ambush predator book

All three of these were books I didn’t know about and definitely wasn’t anticipating – they all sprang out at me out of nowhere! And I’m so glad they did, because I completely adored them!

(Now I just need The Gathering to get a whole bunch of sequels…!)

Book of the year

OBVIOUSLY I couldn’t pick just one. Obviously. I went into more detail about all of these (Brimstone Slipstream standing in for the whole Street of Flames series, ofc) in my Best of 2024 list!

Review you’re most proud of

I think it’s a three-way tie – between the two reviews I wrote for Metal From Heaven (one, two) and the one for Feast Makers.

(I seriously doubt it’s a coincidence that both those books are by the same author.)

I poured everything I had into all three of those – something I don’t always have the spoons for, and not every book needs a review written in your soul’s blood. But these did, and I managed to write something that felt worthy of them.

(And I was so proud to write an analytical, ‘grown-up’ review for Ancillary Review of Books! Still feels like such an accomplishment to be accepted by them.)

Non-review blogger thing you’re most proud of

My rec list of disability in SFF. I was so surprised by the response to it! It was really touching and made me so happy!

5 star predictions for 2025

The only reason Saint Death’s Herald isn’t included here is because it wouldn’t be a prediction; I’ve already read it, so I KNOW it’s a five star book!

Feel free to use these questions yourself if you feel like it – just link me to your version so I can come check out your answers!

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8 responses to “In Short: 2024

  1. TashaT50

    I found when I first started focusing on reading BIPOC it was difficult for me to get into and finish books and stories because they write differently. It doesn’t follow the same beats, acts, tone, emotions aren’t always expressed the same so characters may seem cold or angry when they aren’t. This is one reason why publishers end up publishing books with BIPOC characters written by white authors because it’s comfortable. We tend to think we don’t like their books because of x, y, and z when that is a side effect of the actual problem.

    My solution was to read a number of short stories and anthologies by writers from a similar background. I started with Asian authors simply because a knew a few online and it bothered me I couldn’t get into their work which was nominated for a number of awards so the problem likely was me. I was following a number of BIPOC authors and reviewers online and this topic came up numerous times. Short stories were easier for me to read all the way through without feeling like it was too much work. Then I picked up novellas. In the year I took the Tempest Challenge to read no books by cis white males authors this method of short stories and novellas took me from “I expected to get into these books more” to 50%+ of my reading was BIPOC authored within a couple years and over the 10 years since my reading has become majority BIPOC authored. My switch to mostly BIPOC authored books was hindered a bit by my attachment to cis white women authors and their long running series and new series they started that I was very attached to.

    Sorry for the rambling reply.

    • Sia

      No, please don’t be sorry! I really appreciate you taking the time to write all that – and it seems like great advice! Short story collections – I can do that.

      Seriously, thank you SO MUCH <3

      • TashaT50

        I hope it helps. I know how frustrating it is to be where you’re at. Here are some of my favorite anthologies and magazines – yes it’s a lot LOL. Yes my recommendations lean Indigenous as I had a year where I made a point to read at least 12 books/stories by Indigenous authors and ended up reading anthologies instead of books by individuals. I try each year to read 12 books a year/1 book a month by an underrepresented author group. Some years I do better than others. In some cases I continuing to read 10-12 books a year by that author group in subsequent years in addition to the one I’m focusing on. For example for the last few years I usually read more than 12 books every year by Asian and Black authors. Unfortunately it’s frequently the same authors as I’m following series or grabbing their new releases so I’m not reading as many new authors as I think I should given my 200+ books yearly. I have no formatting skills so excuse the wall of text.

        YA anthologies by BIPOC and other underrepresented author groups

        I don’t read a lot of YA but I did find it helpful in transitioning to reading BIPOC authors and reading YA was easier in my 30s than 50s LOL

        Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History
        Edited by a Asher Rose Fox
        In 1514 Hungary, peasants who rose up against the nobility rise again – from the grave. In 1633 Al-Shouf, a mother keeps demons at bay with the combined power of grief and music. In 1775 Paris, as social tensions come to a boil, a courtesan tries to save the woman she loves. In 1838 Georgia, a pregnant woman’s desperate escape from slavery comes with a terrible price. In 1900 Ilocos Norte, a forest spirit helps a young girl defend her land from American occupiers.
        These gripping stories have been passed down through the generations, hidden between the lines of journal entries and love letters. Now 27 of today’s finest authors – including Tananarive Due, Sofia Samatar, Ken Liu, Victor LaValle, Nnedi Okorafor, and Sabrina Vourvoulias – reveal the people whose lives have been pushed to the margins of history.

        Girls of Might and Magic: Diverse Books with Magic Anthology
        https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57844717-girls-of-might-and-magic
        Across realms, worlds, and dimensions we bring you sixteen fantasy and/or science fiction tales that explore the tribulations of growing up. Full of diverse characters and #ownvoices authors, the protagonists in these coming-of-age YA adventures will not only discover powerful magic but discover themselves along the way. Don’t miss this magical collection of stories about witches, fae, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, jinn, and more!

        INDIGENOUS authors

        Love Beyond Body, Space and Time: an Indigenous LGBT Sci-fi Anthology https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31560094-love-beyond-body-space-time
        Edited by Hope Nicholson
        A collection of indigenous science fiction and urban fantasy focusing on LGBT and two-spirit characters. These stories range from a transgender woman undergoing an experimental transition process to young lovers separated through decades and meeting in their own far future. These are stories of machines and magic, love and self-love

        Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction
        https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49755834-love-after-the-end
        Love After the End is a new young adult anthology edited by Joshua Whitehead (Lambda Literary Award winner, Jonny Appleseed) featuring short stories by Indigenous authors with Two-Spirit & Queer heroes, in utopian and dystopian settings.
        This is a sequel to the popular anthology, Love Beyond Body Space and Time (2019 AILA Youth Honor Book), and features several of the same authors returning, along with new voices!

        Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr
        https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75293507-never-whistle-at-night
        “A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?”

        Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Series – 3 graphic novel anthologies including Native American and First Nations (Canadian ) – comics & graphic novels can also help in transitioning to a different type of story telling

        This All Come Back Now
        Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spec fic
        I will say this anthology definitely pushed me in terms of reading different voices. This anthology was written by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders without any regard to outsiders comfort. I’m reading it a single story every couple months. The stories are fantastic. I want time to sit with each one to think about, reread a couple times, before moving on to the next.

        BLACK authors

        FIYAH https://fiyahlitmag.com
        Quarterly magazine of Black speculative fiction is very intersectional. We want to spill tea and throw shade in the most delightful way. We are intersectional and welcome our disabled, LGBTQIA, and neurodivergent brothers and sisters.

        NO SINGLE BIPOC AUTHOR GROUP

        Fantasy Magazine, Issue 60 – Dec. 2016: People of Colo(u)r Destroy Fantasy! Special Issue
        https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30070607-lightspeed-magazine-issue-73-june-2016
        People of Colo(u)r Destroy Fantasy! is 100% written and edited by people of color, and is lead by guest editor Daniel José Older, with editorial contributions from Amal El-Mohtar, Tobias S. Buckell, Arley Sorg, and others. It features four original, never-before-published short stories, from N.K. Jemisin, P. Djèlí Clark, Darcie Little Badger, and Thoraiya Dyer. Plus, there’s four classic reprints by Shweta Narayan, Leanne Simpson, Celeste Rita Baker, and Sofia Samatar. On top of all that, we also have an array of nonfiction articles and interviews, from Justina Ireland, Ibi Zoboi, Erin Roberts, Karen Lord, John Chu, Chinelo Onwualu, and Brandon O’Brien, as well as original illustrations by Reimena Yee, Emily Osborne, and Ana Bracic.

        New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color
        Edited by Nisi Shawl
        https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43557592-new-suns
        New Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color showcases emerging and seasoned writers of many races telling stories filled with shocking delights, powerful visions of the familiar made strange. Between this book’s covers burn tales of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their indefinable overlappings. These are authors aware of our many possible pasts and futures, authors freed of stereotypes and clichés, ready to dazzle you with their daring genius. Unexpected brilliance shines forth from every page. Includes stories by Kathleen Alcala, Minsoo Kang, Anil Menon, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Alex Jennings, Alberto Yanez, Steven Barnes, Jaymee Goh, Karin Lowachee, E. Lily Yu, Andrea Hairston, Tobias Buckell, Hiromi Goto, Rebecca Roanhorse, Indrapramit Das, Chinelo Onwualu and Darcie Little Badger.

        New Suns 2 : Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color
        https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75359470-new-suns-2
        I haven’t read it yet but I’m sure it’s fantastic

        • Sia

          Oh my gods, thank you so much! I have a few of these on my tbr already, I’ll dig them out. But I appreciate SO MUCH you taking the time to think of all these and write them all down for me! Genuinely, I’m humbled and so freaking grateful. This is something I’ve been struggling with for YEARS and now I’m really excited to dive in and start with anthologies and things. Thank you!!!

  2. orangesandlemons

    Hi Sia,
    Long-time follower, first-time commenter. I had the same problem as you a few years ago about wanting to read more BIPOC authors, but consistently reading mainly white authors. That changed in 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, when I made a goal to read 33% books by Black authors, and 66% BIPOC overall. I’m happy to report that I’ve generally been able to meet that goal for the last few years. I really had to expand my reading horizons and get outside of my genre comfort zone. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough SFF books by Black authors being published for me to only read those and still meet my goal.
    I know from following your blog for a while that you pretty much only read SFF. I’ve branched out to romance, nature writing (a personal favorite topic of mine), and historical nonfiction in order to meet my goal. I’m happy to report that genres I grew up hating have grown into some of my favorites. If you want to stay with reads that are SFF-ish, I think historical nonfiction might interest you. Just pick a historical period or real-life topic you’re interested in and find books written by BIPOC authors about it.

    In addition, here are some SFF books by BIPOC authors I don’t think you’ve read:
    -Not For Use in Navigation and You Are Here (just published January 1) by Iona Datt Sharma: An auto-buy author, so much so that I buy every single magazine they have a short story published in. Sharma juxtaposes the fantastical with the mundane in absolutely dazzling, life-giving ways.
    -The Alamaxa Duology by Hadeer Elsbai: you had this on a Cant-Wait Wednesday, but I don’t know if you ever read the series.
    -No One Will Come Back For Us by Premee Mohammad: this is a horror and dark fiction collection, which I’m a wimp for, but I found I really enjoyed it!
    -Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohammed: a graphic novel about modern-day Egypt, where wishes are real and highly regulated. It follows three “true” wishes and three different characters. This book absolutely sucker punched me.
    -The Kingston Cycle by CL Polk: I know you’ve read some of Polk’s work, but I don’t think you’ve read this trilogy. The first book is a rather conventional m/m Edwardian romance. AND THEN THE SERIES GETS FLAT-OUT AMAZING. Seriously. The ending of book 3 is what the whole trilogy is building towards, and it is absolutely worth it.
    -The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu: a super solid SFF short story collection, with some great fairy tale retellings
    -Filter House and Our Fruiting Bodies by Nisi Shawl: collections of Shawl’s short stories from over the last few years. I liked Filter House better, but they’re both genre- and mind-bending

    And finally, I don’t think you read much middle grade fiction, but middle grade fantasy is having a MOMENT right now! Try these authors:
    -Eden Royce
    -BB Alston
    -Dhonielle Clayton
    -Christina Soontornvat
    -Chantel Acevedo

    I get my recommendations from BIPOC reviewers on YouTube, like PerpetualPages. I also google “2025 BIPOC book releases” and just…trawl through the results until I find something I like. It can be a bit tedious, but I find it very rewarding! I’m sure you have lots of similar methods for finding all the new releases you do.

    • Sia

      Thank you for ending your silence to comment about this topic, particularly! It really means a lot to me that people are offering advice about this.

      I’m not willing to branch much out of SFF at the moment – I’m happy to check out individual books that look interesting, but not make a more concentrated shift into other genres. Although I’m not against switching up age-ranges and paying more attention to Middle-Grade, that’s a really good idea!

      I DNFed the first Alamaxa book, but I’m adding all the rest to my tbr! Especially the Kingston Cycle, I’ve been meaning to go back and reread book one so I can read the others. Especially now you’re saying book three is epic (I haven’t seen anyone mention that before!)

      I’ve looked for rec lists before, but SOMEHOW IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME to look for anticipated BIPOC releases! Please picture me banging my head against the desk. I will definitely get on that, thank you!

      Thank you for all of this – writing a really long, kind, thoughtful comment with recs and advice. I really am grateful!

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