Dean Sas

I think I read thirty nine books from twenty five different authors, though Good Reads thinks I read 41 books and has listed 39. Twelve of the books were rereads of books I’ve read in previous years, mostly the Song of Ice and Fire series and The Stormlight Archive, as I planned last year.

Reading list

1. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Like the first Hyperion book, I thought this was amazing.
2. The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick. Good, clear book about the value of talking to customers and how to do it.
3. Before & Laughter by Jimmy Carr. Weird mixture of autobiography and a surprisingly good self-help book.
4. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
5. A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin. Re-read, after many years and maybe for the first time since the tv show finished. It holds up.
6. A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin
7. A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin
8. A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin
9. A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin
10. Lion by Conn Iggulden. Re-read.
11. Empire by Conn Iggulden.
12. The Ancient Guide to Modern Life by Natalie Haynes. Light, interesting and surprisingly funny.
13. Diary of a Mid-Life Cyclist by Jane Cullen. Interesting travelogue about two organised long distance bike rides I’m interested in repeating.
14. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It started off interesting but then just kept coming around to Harari’s pet opinion of hunter-gathering yay, settled humans nay. Barely managed to finish.
15. Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres. Practical & clear advice on talking to customers and learning from them. I enjoyed lots of practical advice, but also the point about not testing to prove your assumptions are true, but to reduce the risk of them being false.
16. Politics On the Edge by Rory Stewart. Interesting and readable political autobiography. What is described is predictable and depressing.
17. What Goes Around by Emily Chappell. Emily was booked to talk at the Chesterfield Cycle Festival that I helped organise so I thought I better read something she’d written! I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book about cycle couriering, but it was both interesting and well written.
18. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The “first alien contact” story is a common one, but this was a good implementation.
19. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Sequel to the above, that absolutely lives up to it.
20. The Popes by John Julius Norwich. An up and down history of the papacy.
21. Bloody Minded: My Life in Cycling by Alex Dowsett
22. The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker. Re-read. Not too serious, believably dark.
23. The End of the World Survivors Club by Adrian J Walker. It’s all a bit too silly.
24. Where There’s a Will by Emily Chappell. Stories of Emily Chappell racing across Europe.
25. Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie by Andrew P Sykes. Reread.
26. Pax by Tom Holland
27. Cunk on Everything by Philomena Cunk. So many small funny notes. Not sure a book is the ideal form for the material, but the material is very funny.
28. Unruly by David Mitchell. A fast paced history of the monarchy. You learn a little about a lot.
29. Vigilant by Cory Doctorow. Short.
30. Daemon by Daniel Suarez. Interesting idea. The pace never let up.
31. Freedom by Daniel Suarez. Continuation of the above.
32. Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. It’s not the movie, it’s much darker, and not in a good way.
33. The Secret Life of Special Advisers by Peter Cardwell. It was ok, certainly the least of the “The Secret Life of…” political series. Occasionally wandered into Partridge territory.
34. Stormlight Archive 1: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Re-read in anticipation of Book five.
35. Stormlight Archive 2: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Re-read.
36. Stormlight Archive 3: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Re-read.
37. Stormlight Archive 3.5: Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson. Re-read.
38. Stormlight Archive 4: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Re-read.
39. Stormlight Archive 5: Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson. Not the best written Stormlight book and somewhat clumsy in places. I enjoyed the plot – much of which I didn’t see coming and the Adolin thread. It was great to finally have more of Roshar built out.

Plans for 2025

I’m currently reading Lucy Worsley’s Cavalier – it’s a piece of local history. I want to read Julia: A Retelling of George Orwell’s 1984 next. At some point I might reread the original Mistborn series.