2024 Year End Recap

(If you have a short reading attention span, feel free to just skip to the actual ranking, which you'd have to click into the blog post to view >:3)

This particular blog post is to first document what was actually published in 2024.

Note: Notice two font sizes below? The regular size matching this sentence and paragraphs above, are my makeup work for before. The smaller size (like this) are the ones that are posted extremely closed to, if not in fact on the exact published date. Those, should there actually be casual viewers of my blog, are hard to miss, since the Blog Archive function reflects them quite well, and the backdated ones are what easily gone unnoticed, hence the emphasis.

1. [Series Overview] The Book of Tea - Judy I. Lin
2. [Series Overview] The Drowning Empire - Andrea Stewart
3. [Series Overview] The Stolen Heir duology - Holly Black
4. [Series Overview] The Queen of the Tearling trilogy - Erika Johansen
5. [Series Overview] The Celestial Kingdom - Sue Lynn Tan ☜ NOW MOVED TO 2025!!!
6. [Series Overview] Shadow Bruja - J.C. Cervantes
7. [Series Overview] Threads That Bind duology - Kika Hatzopoulou
8. [Adaptation Observations] ゴーストハント (Ghost Hunt)
9. [Source Material vs. Adaptation] フェルマーの料理 TBS series Season 1
10. [Series Overview] The Study Chronicles: Valek's Adventures - Maria V. Snyder
11. [Series Overview] The Midnight Hour trilogy - Benjamin Read & Laura Trinder
12. [Series Overview] The Licanius Trilogy - James Islington
13. [Series Overview] The Books of Ambha - Tasha Suri
14. [Post Index] 宅宅逛展展 / sightseeing / window shopping
15. 2024 Year End Recap ☜ THIS POST!!!

Technically this post wasn't exactly posted within the timeframe, but close enough to be counted as published on time, so I'm counting it, lmao. That said, as this is the one post per year you'd get more of my personal life, I'll still share the gist of my year:

• True to my words (?), 2024 really is relatively smooth (but busy). I admit, I was rather unhappy and grumpy from mid-February to the end of June, and was truly fearing the fiasco of 2022 would reappear, but luckily it didn't, and thanks to all my friends IRL and from the Net, I kept my sanity. Another year went by, I'm content.
• So why o why am I reading so little and also writing so little? Simple: I became way more active IRL, as documented HERE. You can see how much more 2024's activities are comparing to previous years. Originally the plan was to gradually post all items individually, but unfortunately, technical difficulties occurred (translation: Facebook sucks) so it didn't happen in 2024. I still hope to do it in the future though.

Okay, if it wasn't obvious, I was as previously predicted, busier in 2024 due to RL responsibilities; I do hope that next year my reading and blog posts wouldn't be so unevenly distributed, fingers crossed.

Anyways, as of 2024/12/31, according to the Blog Archive function, I have 8 posts published in 2024 (not counting this one), and 1 of them WILL be has been readjusted to be counted for 2025. That one particular post that was more than 90% done back in 2021? I finally published it, and will continue to update it. I really hope I can fully finished it by the end of the first quarter of 2025 though! That, along with a couple of other non-Series-Overview posts. Wish me luck! lol

2024 Reading Challenge

Sammm has read 32 books toward her goal of 35 books.

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32 of 35 (91%)

view books

It's because of 2024's unusual circumstances that resulted in the first part being larger than usual. I hope people are patient enough to reach this part, lmao. On Goodreads, there's the My Year in Books function they provided that give some statistics, [check out mine for 2024!] (My GR profile is set for GR Users only, so this one, you'd have to login in order to view.) There's also the Goodreads Year in Review, [read mine!] (no GR account required.)

So what's different here is that I'm going to rank what I've read, but limited to series that concluded or standalones, extras, and compilations published in this year and the year before. You may notice, 2024 is like 2022, I fear there'd be no point of making a ranking list had I not included the two-year duration from the start. And, ladies and gents, drum roll....!

[Series Overview] The Books of Ambha - Tasha Suri

I started this series on: December 25, 2024
I finished this series on: December 28, 2024
Cover editions here updated on: December 25, 2024
Written content here updated on: December 28, 2024

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts As I struggled to decide which book series to cover overviews for, it dawned to me that I'd never get started at this rate. It became clear to me that, it's rather unlikely for me to use this blog as my "main" reviewing spot since I have Goodreads for that, and chances of someone miraculously stumbling across this blog out of the countless ones out there, is just rather slim, therefore, I'd put up links to my GR reviews (in English,) and this post would be in Chinese for people who are curious about the series but either aren't comfortable with or just don't prefer reading in English. Please also note that, sometimes I don't have time to write actual reviews, HOWEVER, I do always put down thoughts when I document my reading status updates, so for GR desktop users, remember to scroll down if it appears to contain little, it'd be under the quotes I liked from that book (when applicable lol;) for mobile app users, remember to switch to "Reading Activity," which would not be the default as "Review" is.

The actual review is, as usual, WIP, but like I said above, getting the post out there first.

GR stats (linking default edition)	Editions I'm privy to
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]

Author:
Series:

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts The following section, basically a gallery of editions around the world with different book cover art, is largely inspired by treatments of fellow blogger Amethyst, who unfortunately hasn't done those types of blog posts for a while. Please DO NOT mistaken the following to be all existing editions; I'm only including completed sets with matching designs. All clickable images are linked to respective editions on GR; people, shelving correct editions ain't that hard. Highly recommend accurate shelving. =D

British English | 英式英文


italiano | Italian | 義大利文


polski | Polish | 波蘭文

[Series Overview] The Licanius Trilogy - James Islington

I started this series on: December 3, 2024
I finished this series on: December 17, 2024 (main series)
Cover editions here updated on: April 8, 2025
Written content here updated on: December 8, 2024

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts As I struggled to decide which book series to cover overviews for, it dawned to me that I'd never get started at this rate. It became clear to me that, it's rather unlikely for me to use this blog as my "main" reviewing spot since I have Goodreads for that, and chances of someone miraculously stumbling across this blog out of the countless ones out there, is just rather slim, therefore, I'd put up links to my GR reviews (in English,) and this post would be in Chinese for people who are curious about the series but either aren't comfortable with or just don't prefer reading in English. Please also note that, sometimes I don't have time to write actual reviews, HOWEVER, I do always put down thoughts when I document my reading status updates, so for GR desktop users, remember to scroll down if it appears to contain little, it'd be under the quotes I liked from that book (when applicable lol;) for mobile app users, remember to switch to "Reading Activity," which would not be the default as "Review" is.

我是真的有點驚訝這系列沒有半集入圍Goodreads Choice Award... @@ 作者其實有先自己出版第一集，後來才又商業化出版，所以第一集的情況：感覺自己出版的那個沒入圍，商業出版的那個也因為其實出過了不能算當年度所以不能入圍（這是合理的解釋啦！），第二和三集，我個人是懷疑，頁數偏多所以不夠多人及時看及時評價，所以不夠到GR雷達上。

我的想法啦：整個系列的評比數量至今（2024年）確實低於同類型同質量但可能不同觀眾群的作品，所以我才覺得頁數應該是讓大多數人卻步的原因xDDD（我自己都拖了五年才終於開始看xP）但是單論平均分數的話，它還是很不錯的喔！可以挑戰看看！

The actual review is, as usual, WIP, but like I said above, getting the post out there first.

GR stats (linking default edition)	Editions I'm privy to
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]

Author:
Series: Unofficial:

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts The following section, basically a gallery of editions around the world with different book cover art, is largely inspired by treatments of fellow blogger Amethyst, who unfortunately hasn't done those types of blog posts for a while. Please DO NOT mistaken the following to be all existing editions; I'm only including completed sets with matching designs. All clickable images are linked to respective editions on GR; people, shelving correct editions ain't that hard. Highly recommend accurate shelving. =D

以下涵蓋5款，記得看全文以觀賞喔 >:3

English | 英文

在這邊道歉，作者是澳洲人，應該是有澳版的，但我真的真的分辨不出來😭 上方到底是哪一種英文版本，因為出版社全部一樣，我放棄辨識了🤦🏻‍♀️ 如果有人知道怎麼分辨，來解惑超感激！封面由Dominick Saponaro^{[繪師官網]}繪製。

čeština | Czech | 捷克文


Deutsch | German | 德文

[Series Overview] The Midnight Hour trilogy - Benjamin Read & Laura Trinder

I started this series on: December 3, 2024
I finished this series on: December 6, 2024
Cover editions here updated on: December 3, 2024
Written content here updated on: December 4, 2024

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts As I struggled to decide which book series to cover overviews for, it dawned to me that I'd never get started at this rate. It became clear to me that, it's rather unlikely for me to use this blog as my "main" reviewing spot since I have Goodreads for that, and chances of someone miraculously stumbling across this blog out of the countless ones out there, is just rather slim, therefore, I'd put up links to my GR reviews (in English,) and this post would be in Chinese for people who are curious about the series but either aren't comfortable with or just don't prefer reading in English. Please also note that, sometimes I don't have time to write actual reviews, HOWEVER, I do always put down thoughts when I document my reading status updates, so for GR desktop users, remember to scroll down if it appears to contain little, it'd be under the quotes I liked from that book (when applicable lol;) for mobile app users, remember to switch to "Reading Activity," which would not be the default as "Review" is.

第一集客觀中文簡介^{[英國安德魯納伯格聯合國際有限公司（台灣代表處）]}、出版社們趕快看一看去買（喂喂）。

2018年8月，在第一集尚未出版前，就宣布其film rights已被Altitude Films取得且進行劇本撰寫^{[The Bookseller][出版社Facebook文]}，但基本上就沒有消息了。喔，然後，這邊分享個人推測，這部是英國出生，但Goodreads Choice Awards入圍需要以美國出版時間作為基準，我覺得，這部有可能是被疫情害到，因為看起來第二集就沒有成功在美國出版了（有找的到封面，但好像沒有真的上市），二三集自然就不可能Goodreads Choice Awards獲獎了。我是覺得，它能在那麼多國家都相安無事出版完畢，比較有參考價值啦！

這部比較特別的是作者，Benjamin Read確實是完全貢獻文字，不過Laura Trinder除了負責書中插畫，在諸多場合也有被credit說同樣是故事的創作者，兩人以Trindles & Read名義有網站和社交平台帳號。更有趣的是，在這三部曲問世前，兩人也合作出版一本名為Night Post的picture book，我看到書名...就，等等，跟這部有關嗎！？然後繪師官網上面確實寫"Inspired the Midnight Hour trilogy" xD 故事出發點真的蠻有趣的（憑文案和試閱判斷啦xP）

我從這部得到最大的收穫，大概就是多認識了一種folklore creature，這邊就直接爆梗，女主第一集後來發現自己有Pooka血統，我真的聽了老半天不知道那是什麼東西，對不起😝。第一集是聽有聲書，亂槍打鳥去查（我應該是打Puka之類的），第二集才看到書中的拼法是Pooka，英文維基頁面是用Púca為主^{[Púca @ Wikipedia]}，有好多好多好多超多拼法xDDD（好啦，其實也只列了六種，加書中拼法七種，但我真的很少看到這麼多的。） 維基上是說可以變成很多種動物，不過本作設定是三種：野兔、獵犬、和馬，所以我一開始也是聽的一頭霧水，不是說她是一匹馬，為什麼後來又變成別種動物，害我還懷疑我前面聽錯xP（原來設定就是三種😂）然後書中種族確實有改運能力（如同folklore），覺得蠻有意思的。

其他比較特別的、但我有所保留的，大概是女主稍微比較重要的朋友，種族是ghûl（書中拼法），我會覺得校正選擇有點詭異，因為Pooka在書中開頭字母是大寫，但ghûl不是🤔 我找不到確切的，搞了半天好像其實就是ghoul^{[Ghoul @ Wikipedia]}，書中形象和眾所皆知的差非常多😂 這位朋友是只吃花的（我可能需要重聽第一集，去聽一下他本人怎麼介紹解釋😅）

然後，不知道為什麼，hedgehog（刺蝟🦔）在本作超級重要，害我有點心動也想要一隻笑死。

The actual review is, as usual, WIP, but like I said above, getting the post out there first.

GR stats (linking default edition)	Editions I'm privy to
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]
[Read My Review!]

Authors:
Benjamin Read:
Laura Trinder:
Series:

Disclaimer, one you'd see on multiple posts The following section, basically a gallery of editions around the world with different book cover art, is largely inspired by treatments of fellow blogger Amethyst, who unfortunately hasn't done those types of blog posts for a while. Please DO NOT mistaken the following to be all existing editions; I'm only including completed sets with matching designs. All clickable images are linked to respective editions on GR; people, shelving correct editions ain't that hard. Highly recommend accurate shelving. =D

以下涵蓋5款，記得看全文以觀賞喔 >:3


British English | 英式英文

需要特別強調，雖然作者之一是繪師，但英版封面由別人負責😂 由繪師Hannah Peck^{[繪師官網]}作畫。

Nederlands | Dutch | 荷蘭文


Français | French | 法文 （口袋平裝）

法文普通版使用英版封面，2023出版的口袋版才換獨特的封面，有人知道繪師是誰歡迎提供～（第一和三集我不等GR頁面啦～不知道會等到什麼時候，看到就先更新了。）