Reading list
Harry Potter
I'm a millennial, so I've read Harry Potter and I'm not going to lie about it. It's how I started reading as a kid. I was obsessed, I read whenever I could, followed news about the next books and movies. It was my first time being in a fandom, although limited to the part in my own language. Over the years I've learned about the many problematic parts of the series and the politics of JKR. All I can say is: Fuck JKR!
Lord of the Rings
Lord of the rings was the next series I read, a step up from the previous entry. I read it in Dutch, it's only later I started reading books in English. These books are unmatched in every way, and I might not want to write in this style I absolutely love it and could only dream of coming close to this expansive world building.
His Dark Materials
Altough I love this series I haven't read it in over a decade. In some ways I dislike it but oh well.
Die Elfen
My first foray into fantasy besides Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Still in high school at this point. The first book is my favorite, I'm not sure if I read all of the books in the series.
A Song of Ice and Fire
By this time I was a working adult and I had started reading in English, the last Harry Potter book being the first one and a lot of fanfiction. But no books. After seeing it recommnended on /lit/ a bunch of times I bought the entire series (up to A Dance with Dragons already) and read it in a month. In my opinion it's the best series in the genre alongside Lord of the Rings although in a different manner. I've long accepted that the series will never be finished, hot take but GRRM doesn't owe us his time and effort, people should be way more understanding of his life at this point.
Malazan Book of the Fallen
I like weird things in stories, and this has plenty of them. But somehow I still haven't finished the first book after almost 15 years. One day.
Jurassic Park and The Lost World
Before this I read only fantasy. At some point I wanted to expand what I read, so I bought a bunch of books but the only ones I read of those were the two Jurassic Park books. I liked them a lot and it was the gateway to a broader reading life. But not immediately.
Mistborn
Read a lot of good things about Brandon Sanderson and his books but I stopped reading after a few chapters. I just didn't like the prose, characters, tropes I could identify and the magic system. There are certain magic systems that I just do not like. Will attempt to read again later.
The martian
I watched the movie and decided to try the book. I don't know why but I hate first person storytelling unless it's a retelling of something in the past. Like those stories you can read on r/nosleep. First person just feels unnatural to me, people don't narrate every action or observation in their head. I have stopped reading books on the first sentence because of this.
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Inspired by youtube videos by Quinn's Ideas and watching the netflix show I bought the series, my first step into hard science fiction. I loved most of the first book until the last chapter, and the way the book talks about writers I found a little aggrandizing. The second and third book made me dislike the series a lot but I still finished it because I still found a lot of it very interesting. Hope the second season comes out soon.
World War Z
I forgot I read this which is weird because it's a memorable book. I liked it a lot, it's so different from the movie you could say it's not the same story at all.
Roadside picnic
I like weird stuff and I like aliens. It's a very interesting and unique concept (as far as I know) but I felt it was over really quickly and not a lot happened. Maybe that was the point, but I felt like the story gave up on exploring the idea and just straight up told you what it was nearing the end of the book.
Foundation
A little late in the year I started reading more, Roadside picnic was the first book I started and finished this year but it took months. This book was about two weeks. There something that I did this year that might be the cause of my enjoying reading again but I'm not sure. I saw some clips of the series on youtube and it was recommened by some online folks. It wasn't what I expected but I liked it a lot.
Prject Hail Mary
Watched to movie and liked it a lot, bought the book, saw it was first person and closed it immediately. Might try to read it again later.
Hyperion Cantos
One of the videos by Quinn's Ideas I saw was about this book but I don't remember a lot about it. It was a book I was aware of existing a long time but never had any interest in it. Bought it on a whim and finished it in 2 or 3 weeks as well. Liked it a lot, lots of weird stuff and mysteries. I am reading the second book right now. People have advised me to stop with this book but I'll try to read the third and fourth book as well. To become a good writer you need to read good and bad books. And I want to make my own judgement of the book.
What I've forgotten
I don't know what I have forgotten.