Books you read in 2019

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by billdozer, Jan 2, 2019.

  1. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
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    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    Heard good things on Noonday Demon.
     
  2. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    1. Consent to Kill (Mitch Rapp #7) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    2. Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, by Isabell Wilkerson (9.5/10)
    3. Act of Treason (Mitch Rapp #8) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    4. Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose (8.5/10)
    5. Protect and Defend (Mitch Rapp #9) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    6. Extreme Measures (Mitch Rapp #10) by Vince Flynn (8/10)
    7. Pursuit of Honor (Mitch Rapp #11) by Vince Flynn (7.5/10)
    8. American Assassin (Mitch Rapp #12) by Vince Flynn (6/10)
    9. No Exit by Taylor Adams (7.5/10)
    10. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendrick (6.5/10)
    11. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (8.5/10)
    12. Last Man (Mitch Rapp #13) by Kyle Mills (6.5/10)
    13. The Survivor (Mitch Rapp #14) by Kyle Mills (6.5/10)
    14. Star Wars: The Queen's Shadow by EK Johnston (8/10)
    15. American Spy by Lauren Wilkenson (9/10)
    16. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Salwyn Raab (9/10)
    17. Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse #8) by James S A Corey (10/10
    20 Cherry by Nico Walker (8/.510)
    21. The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre (8/10)
    22. Star Wars: Master and Apprentice, by Claudia Gray (8/10)
    23. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe (9/10)
    24. Here and Now And Then, by Mike Chen (7/10)
    25. The White Darkness by David Grann (6/10)
    26. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (9/10)
    27. The Republic for Which it Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Ageby Richard White (9/10)
    28. It by Stephen King (8/10)
    29. Outland by Dennis E Taylor (8.5/10)
    30. Hunting LeRoux by Elaine Shannon (8/10)
    31-33 Wayward Pines Trilogy by Blake Crouch (7.5/10)
    34. Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham (8.5/10)
    35. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbreath/JK Rowling (6.5/10)
    36. Cari Mora by Thomas Harris (6.5/10)
    37. Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed (7.5/10)
    38. The River by Peter Heller (8.5/10)
    39. Recursion by Blake Crouch (9/10)
    40. The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson (9/10)
    41. Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (8.5/10)
    42. Red War (Mitch Rapp #17) by Kyle Mills (9/10)
    42. The Quiet Game (Penn Cage #1) by Greg Iles (9.5/10)
    43. Turning Angel (Penn Cage #2) by Greg Iles (9/10)
    44. The Chain by Adrian McKinty (8/10)
    45. The New Girl (Gabriel Allon #19) by Daniel Silva (8.5/10)
    46. Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason, by Timothy Zahn (6.5/10)
    47. The Devil's Punchbowl (Penn Cage #3) by Gregg Illes (6.6/10)
    48. Natchez Burning (Penn Cage #4) by Greg Iles (8/10)
    49. Dark Age (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown (9/10)
    50. My Sister, The Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithewaite (7/10)
    51. The Bone Tree (Penn Cage #5) by Greg Iles (8/10)
    52. Mississippi Blood (Penn Cage #6) by Greg Iles (9/10)
    53. The Nickel Boys by Colston Whitehead (6/10)
    54. Mindhunter by John Douglass (6/10)
    55. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (8/10)
    56. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore (7/10)
    57. Lethal Agent (Mitch Rapp #18) by Kyle Mills (6/10)
    58. The Water Dancer by Ta-Neshi Coates (7/10)
    59. Dry by Neal Shusterman
    60 . The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott (7/10)
    61. The Sixth Wicked Child (4MK Thriller #3) by J.D. Barker (8/10)
    62. Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope by Megan Phelps-Roper (9/10)
    63. Ninth House, by Leigh Bardugo (8/10)
    64. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (9/10)
    65. Hex by Thomas Olde Huevelt (7.5/10)
    66. Blue Moon (Jack Reacher #24) by Lee Child (8/10)
    67. The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses, by Dan Carlin (7/10)
    68. Edison, by Edmund Morris (6/10)
    69. Auberon (Expanse 8.5) by James SA Corey (8/10)
    70. The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden (9./10)
    71. Cemetery Road by Greg Iles (9/10)
    72. Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force #1) by Craig Alanson (7.5/10)
    73. SpecOps (Expeditionary Force #2) by Craig Alanson (7.5/10)

    Auberon -
    This was just a novella to set up the next and final book in the Expanse series. Must read if youre an Expanse fan

    The Prey of Gods - This book was unlike anything Ive ever read. Takes place in a near future South Africa. Everyone has a personal robot that's basically like a SIRI on steriods. There's an ancient demigoddess that gets more power , the more people believe in her. The robots are gaining autonomy. It's like a mix of American Gods and I, Robot. It was weird and different and really good.

    Cemetary Road - I was bummed Illes went away from Penn Cage, but this seems like a start of a new series. Illes is a great writer. Great book

    Expeditionary Force books - Someone posted these and caught my attention. So far so good. Liking these
     
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  3. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
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    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    1. Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany (Stephen E. Ambrose) - 8/10
    2. The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov - Burgin/O'Connor Translation) - 9.5/10
    3. The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing (Merve Emre) - 6.5/10
    4. Washington Black (Esi Edugyan) - 6/10
    5. Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms (Hannah Fry) - 8.5/10
    6. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Mary Beard) - 9/10
    7. Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (Rick Perlstein) - 9.5/10
    8. The Right Stuff (Tom Wolfe) - 9/10
    9. Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (Erik Larson) - 10/10
    10. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History (S.C. Gwynne) - 9/10 -
    11. Where The Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens) - 8/10
    12. Exit West (Mohsin Hamid) - 6/10
    13. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (Steve Coll) - 9/10
    14. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Dan Ariely) - 7.5/10
    15. Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Pevear/Volokhonsky Translation) - 8/10
    16. Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (Rick Perlstein) - 9/10
    17. Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe) - 8.5/10
    18. Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (Laurence Bergreen) - 8/10
    19. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Jon Krakauer) - 9/10
    20. Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (John Douglas and Mark Olshaker) - 5/10
    21. The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics (Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alistair Smith) - 8.5/10
    22. Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow) - 9/10 -
    A long one but as I've come to expect from Chernow, really, really good. I knew very little about Hamilton's early life and I'm glad Chernow included so much detail on that period. His rise to stardom was pretty crazy considering his upbringing. Undoubtedly one of the most intelligent politicians to ever grace America. I hope to see the musical at some point soon.
    23. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou) - 8.5/10 - Wild story that I've caught bits and pieces of over the last few years but never had it laid bare as the author does here. Holmes is a psychopath and Sunny Balwani comes off as a massive piece of shit. I'm hopeful that both spend time behind bars. An easy read and worth your time even if you know the basics on Theranos.
    24. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky - McDuff Translation) - 7.5/10 - Glad I read this one for sure. This book is something of a continuation of Notes from Underground, hitting on many of the same themes: human suffering, good/evil, anti-atheism/nihilism and the ills of godless socialism, etc. It helps to read a version with an introduction that places his work within the proper historical context (though I'd suggest reading the actual novel first). I though McDuff's translation flowed well but some of the British idioms were off-putting at times. You'd also want to familiarize yourself with Russian naming conventions before reading. The epilogue (redemption portion of the story) felt out of place to be honest but he kind of needed it to complete the story. A very important work, though, and one you should read IMO.

    Up Next: 1) Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland 2) 1984 3) Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families

    Will reach my yearly goal upon completion of Say Nothing but hope to get all 3 in by 12/31.
     
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  4. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
    14) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    15) When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jackie MacMullan 8.5/10
    16) The Breach by Patrick Lee 9/10
    17) The 1997 Masters by Tiger Woods 8/10
    18) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 8/10
    19) Naive. Super by Erlend Loe 8.5/10
    20) My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman 7/10
    21) Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner 8.5/10
    22) Ghost Country by Patrick Lee 8.5/10
    23) Deep Sky by Patrick Lee 7.5/10
    24) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller 7/10
    25) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 10/10
    26) And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer by Fredrick Backman 8.5/10
    27) The rise and fall of the second largest empire in history: how Genghis Khan's Mongols almost conquered the world by Thomas Craughwell 8/10
    28) Pines by Blake Crouch 8.5/10
    29) Alone on the wall by Alex Honnold 6.5/10
    30) Wayward by Blake Crouch 8/10
    31) In the garden of beasts by Erik Larson 8.5/10
    32) The Last Town by Blake Crouch 9/10
    33) Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl 8.5/10
    34) Recursion by Blake Crouch 8.5/10
    35) The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrick Backman 7/10
    36) The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John LeCarre 9/10
    37) Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 6.5/10
    38) The Stranger by Albert Camus 7/10
    39) Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott 6/10
    40) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre 6/10
    41) The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini 7/10
    42) The Phenomenon by Rick Ankiel 9/10
    43) The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin 8/10
    44) The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin 8.5/10
    45) Dracula by Bram Stoker 7/10
    46) Dream Team by Jack McCallum 9/10
    47) Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh 10/10
    48) Craven Manor by Darcy Coates 7.5/10
    49) The Whisper Man by Alex North 9/10
    50) The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin 6.5/10
    51) Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrick Backman 8.5/10
    52) Seinfeldia by Jennifer Armstrong 8/10
    53) And then there were none by Agatha Christie 7/10
     
    #404 Kevintensity, Dec 7, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2019
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  5. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers

    1. Nyphron Rising (Riyria Revelations #3) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    2. The Emerald Storm (Riyria Revelations #4) - Michael Sullivan (7.5/10)
    3. Wintertide (Riyria Revelations #5) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    4. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    5. The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    6. The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    7. The Death of Dulgath (Riyria Chronicles #3) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    8. Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Gary Wolf (8/10)
    9. The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe (10/10)
    10. On the Shoulders of Titans, A History of Project Gemini - NASA (8/10)
    11. A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin (9/10)
    12. Apollo - Charles Murray and Catherine Cox (10/10)
    13. Failure is Not an Option - Gene Krantz (8/10)
    14. Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly (7/10)
    15. Rise of the Rocket Girls - Nathalia Holt (8.5/10)
    16. The Martian - Andy Weir (10/10)
    17. Unsouled (Cradle #1) - Will Wight (9/10)
    18. Soulsmith (Cradle #2) - Will Wight (9/10)
    19. Blackflame (Cradle #3) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    20. Skysworn (Cradle #4) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    21. Ghostwater (Cradle #5) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    22. Underlord (Cradle #6) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    23. House of Blades (The Traveler's Gate #1) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    24. The Crimson Vault (The Traveler's Gate #2) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    25. City of Light (The Traveler's Gate #3) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    26. Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) - Mark Lawrence (9.5/10)
    27. Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) - Mark Lawrence (9.5/10)
    28. Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor #3) - Mark Lawrence (8.5/10)
    29. Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) - Mark Lawrence (8.5/10)
    30. King of Thorns (The Broken Empire #2) - Mark Lawrence (8.5/10)
    31. Emperor of Thorns (The Broken Empire #3) - Mark Lawrence (8/10)
    32. Uncrowned (Cradle #7) - Will Wight (8/10)
    33. Skyward (Skyward #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
    34. The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) - Brent Weeks (9/10) - reread
    35. The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer #2) - Brent Weeks (9.5/10) - reread
    36. The Broken Eye (Lightbringer #3) - Brent Weeks (9.5/10) - reread
    37. The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer #4) - Brent Weeks (9/10) - reread
     
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  6. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    1. The Future of Humanity by Machio Kaku ****
    2. The Giver by Lois Lowry ***
    3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes *****
    4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess ****
    5. An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena **
    6. Grain Brain by David Perlmutter ***
    7. Beartown by Fredrik Backman *****
    8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ***
    9. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks **
    10. Us Against You by Fredrik Backman *****
    11. Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, a s Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S.C. Gwynne *****
    12. The Road by Conor McCarthy **
    13. The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home by Denise Kiernan **
    14. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs ****
    15.The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah *****
    16. The Stranger by Albert Camus ***1/2
    17. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells ***
    18. Edgedancer (The Starlight Archive 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson *****
    19. Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World ****1/2
    20. The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs by Stephen Brusatte ****
    21. Moby Dick by Herman Melville *
    22. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
    23. Enders Game by Orson Scott Card ****1/2
    24. Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash ****
    25. Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseni **
    26. Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James *1/2
    27. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman ***
    28. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens ***
    29. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen **1/2
    30. Clouds of Glory by Michael Korda *****
    31. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell ****
    32. In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick ****
    33. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis ****
    34. The Other Woman by Sandie Jones ****
    35. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood ***
    36. What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell **1/2
    37. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell ***1/2
    38. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean ****1/2
    39. American Gods by Neil Gaiman ****1/2
    40. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari ***
    41. Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz *****
    42. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell **
    43. The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines ****
    44. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway ***1/2
    45. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden ****1/2
    46. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger ***
    47. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond *****
    48. Recursion by Blake Crouch ****1/2
    49. Churches and Churchyards of England and Wales by Richard Hayman ****
    50. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens *****
    51. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson ****1/2
    52. The Dream House by Jess Ryder **
    53. The Farm by Joanne Ramos ***
    54. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides *****
    55. The Lost Man by Jane Harper **1/2
    56. The Quiet Game (Penn Cage #1) - Greg Iles *****
    57. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ***1/2
    58. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan ****
    59. Rebel Richmond: Life and Death in the Confederate Capital by Stephen Ash ***1/2
    60. America Before: The Key to Earth’s Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock ***1/2
    61. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson *****
    62. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole ****1/2
    63. The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge ****1/2
    64. The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan ****
    65. Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World by Andy Stanley ****1/2
    66. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov ***
    67. The Night Before by Wendy Walker *
    68. Dune by Frank Herbert *****
    69. The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty **
    70. The Guest Book by Sarah Blake *1/2
    71. Where’d You Go Bernadette by Marie Semple ****
    72. The Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes ****
    73. Dare to Lead by Beene Brown ***
    74. The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters **1/2
    75. Without Remorse by Tom Clancy *** - the three different storylines all moved at a different pace for me. And I felt the first half of the book to be drawn out. I’m going to try Hunt for Red October or Patriot Games next.
    76. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks ****
    77. Alexander the Great by Anthony Everitt **1/2
    78. Turning Angel by Greg Iles ****1/2
    79. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan ****1/2
    80. Lost You by Haylen Beck ***
    81. The Lost World by Michael Crichton ****
    82. The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel by Julie Satow ****
    83. Mistress at the Ritz by Benjamin Melanie ***1/2
    84. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane ****
    85. The Warehouse by Rob Hart **
    86. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware ****
    87. Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations by Admiral William H. McRaven *****
    88. Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver by Jill Heinerth **1/2
    89. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan ****1/2
    90. 1776 by David McCullough ***1/2
    91. Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War by S.C. Gwynne *****
    92. The Golden Compass by Phillip Phulman ***
    93. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin **
    94. The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda ***1/2
    95. Craven Manor by Darcy Coates ***1/2
    96. The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson ****1/2
    97. The Breakdown by B.A. Paris *
    98. Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins by Annie Jacobsen ****1/2
    99. Wanderers by Chuck Wendig *
    100. Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge #1) by Ken Follett *****
    101. The Whisper Man by Alex North **1/2
    102. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell ***
    103. The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson ****1/2
    104. Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert ****
    105. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell ***
    106. The Chain by Adrian McKinty ****
    107. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow ***** -
    my second favorite book of 2019 releases. Highly recommended
    108. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker ****1/2 - incredibly riveting. Thank you to whoever recommended it in this thread. I have implemented some of the suggestions and it has helped my sleep improve
    109. Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers by Brian Kilmeade ***1/2
    110. Someone We Know by Shari Lapena *****
    - terrific murder mystery
    111. The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz ***
    112. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid ****
    113. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keif ****1/2
    114. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager ****
    115. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead **1/2
    116. Leadership in War by Andrew Roberts ***
    117. The British are Coming: The War for American, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson ****1/2
    118. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn ****
     
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  7. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    118. Very impressive
     
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  8. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
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    Thank you. It helps that most of them are quick reads. And that I have toned down video games and watching tv
     
  9. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
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    Glad you liked Say Nothing. Thought it was really good and I imagine most in this thread would like it.
     
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  10. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
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    It was informative and an easy to understand breakdown of The Terrors, something I hardly knew anything about before reading the book. Also, I was inspired to listen to Zombie by the Cranberries for a solid week, so that’s another plus.
     
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  11. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    What's your favorite 2019 release?
     
  12. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    - Added Then Thousand Doors of January to my list
    - Loved The Chain as well. Good suspense
    - Lock Every door has been on my list for while. Need to get to it.
    - We had Say Nothing and Nickel Boys, and the Atkinson book ranked the same
    - No offense, but LMAO at reading a Kilmeade history book. That guy is a moron. Sorry.
     
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  13. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    1. The Silent Patient
    2. Ten Thousand Doors of January
    3. Hymns of the Republic
    4. Someone We Know
     
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  14. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    Hahaha. You poke fun at me for reading Kilmeade every time. I don’t pay attention to his politics, but I appreciate how his books are a quick synopsis of historical events that aren’t talked about much in school.
     
    Truman likes this.
  15. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    1. Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany - Stephen E. Ambrose (7.5/10)
    2. Uprooted - Naomi Novik (6.5/10)
    3. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics - Daniel James Brown (9/10)
    4. The Twelve (The Passage #2) - Justin Cronin (8/10)
    5. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (8/10)
    6. Washington Black - Esi Edugyan (6.5/10)
    7. Beartown (Beartown #1) - Fredrik Backman (9/10)
    8. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson (7.5/10)
    9. Beasts of No Nation - Uzodinma Iweala (6/10)
    10. City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) - Justin Cronin (7.5/10)
    11. Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse #8) - James S.A. Corey (9/10)
    12. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne (6/10)
    13. Kellanved's Reach (Path to Ascendancy #3) - Ian C. Esslemont (7/10)
    14. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land - Thomas Asbridge (8/10)
    15. The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien (6/10)
    16. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens (9/10)
    17. Anthony Bourdain Remembered - CNN (9/10)
    18. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2) - Philip Pullman (6.5/10)
    19. Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy #1) - Stephen King (7.5/10)
    20. The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials #3) - Philip Pullman (6.5/10)
    21. Hamilton: The Revolution - Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (9.5/10)
    22. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (7/10)
    23. The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones - Anthony Bourdain (8/10)
    24. Recursion - Blake Crouch (7/10)
    25. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster - Adam Higginbotham (9/10)
    26. The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun #1) - Gene Wolfe (5/10)
    27. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (9/10)
    28. Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs - Buddy Levy (8/10)
    29. The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World - Steven Johnson (9/10)
    30. Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel - Taffy Brodesser-Akner (6/10)
    31. The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman (9/10)
    32. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (8.5/10)
    33. Hiroshima - John Hersey (8/10)
    34. Night (Night #1) - Elie Wiesel (8/10)
    35. Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #1) - Stephen Donaldson (6/10)
    36. Catch-22 (Catch-22 #1) - Joseph Heller (6/10)
    37. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan - Herbert P. Bix (7.5/10)
    38. Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) - Pierce Brown (9/10)
    39. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner (7/10)
    40. 1776 - David McCullough (8.5/10)
    41. A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines - Anthony Bourdain (8.5/10)
    42. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation - Joseph J. Ellis (9/10)
    43. Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow (9/10)
    44. Dark Age (Red Rising #5) - Pierce Brown (8/10)
    45. Auberon (The Expanse #7.5) - James S.A. Corey (7.5/10)
    46. Monsters (The Dresden Files short story) - Jim Butcher (7/10)
    47. Paul Revere's Ride - David Hackett Fischer (7/10)
    48. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders (6.5/10)
    49. The Quiet American - Graham Greene (7.5/10)
    50. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring - Alexander Rose (7.5/10)

    Probably finishes the year for me. Currently reading (spoilered for size):

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  16. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers

    1. Nyphron Rising (Riyria Revelations #3) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    2. The Emerald Storm (Riyria Revelations #4) - Michael Sullivan (7.5/10)
    3. Wintertide (Riyria Revelations #5) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    4. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    5. The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    6. The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    7. The Death of Dulgath (Riyria Chronicles #3) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    8. Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Gary Wolf (8/10)
    9. The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe (10/10)
    10. On the Shoulders of Titans, A History of Project Gemini - NASA (8/10)
    11. A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin (9/10)
    12. Apollo - Charles Murray and Catherine Cox (10/10)
    13. Failure is Not an Option - Gene Krantz (8/10)
    14. Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly (7/10)
    15. Rise of the Rocket Girls - Nathalia Holt (8.5/10)
    16. The Martian - Andy Weir (10/10)
    17. Unsouled (Cradle #1) - Will Wight (9/10)
    18. Soulsmith (Cradle #2) - Will Wight (9/10)
    19. Blackflame (Cradle #3) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    20. Skysworn (Cradle #4) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    21. Ghostwater (Cradle #5) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    22. Underlord (Cradle #6) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    23. House of Blades (The Traveler's Gate #1) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    24. The Crimson Vault (The Traveler's Gate #2) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    25. City of Light (The Traveler's Gate #3) - Will Wight (8.5/10)
    26. Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) - Mark Lawrence (9.5/10)
    27. Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) - Mark Lawrence (9.5/10)
    28. Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor #3) - Mark Lawrence (8.5/10)
    29. Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) - Mark Lawrence (8.5/10)
    30. King of Thorns (The Broken Empire #2) - Mark Lawrence (8.5/10)
    31. Emperor of Thorns (The Broken Empire #3) - Mark Lawrence (8/10)
    32. Uncrowned (Cradle #7) - Will Wight (8/10)
    33. Skyward (Skyward #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
    34. The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) - Brent Weeks (9/10) - reread
    35. The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer #2) - Brent Weeks (9.5/10) - reread
    36. The Broken Eye (Lightbringer #3) - Brent Weeks (9.5/10) - reread
    37. The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer #4) - Brent Weeks (9/10) - reread
    38. The Burning White (Lightbringer #5) - Brent Weeks (9/10)
     
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  17. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
    14) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    15) When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jackie MacMullan 8.5/10
    16) The Breach by Patrick Lee 9/10
    17) The 1997 Masters by Tiger Woods 8/10
    18) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 8/10
    19) Naive. Super by Erlend Loe 8.5/10
    20) My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman 7/10
    21) Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner 8.5/10
    22) Ghost Country by Patrick Lee 8.5/10
    23) Deep Sky by Patrick Lee 7.5/10
    24) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller 7/10
    25) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 10/10
    26) And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer by Fredrick Backman 8.5/10
    27) The rise and fall of the second largest empire in history: how Genghis Khan's Mongols almost conquered the world by Thomas Craughwell 8/10
    28) Pines by Blake Crouch 8.5/10
    29) Alone on the wall by Alex Honnold 6.5/10
    30) Wayward by Blake Crouch 8/10
    31) In the garden of beasts by Erik Larson 8.5/10
    32) The Last Town by Blake Crouch 9/10
    33) Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl 8.5/10
    34) Recursion by Blake Crouch 8.5/10
    35) The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrick Backman 7/10
    36) The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John LeCarre 9/10
    37) Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 6.5/10
    38) The Stranger by Albert Camus 7/10
    39) Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott 6/10
    40) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre 6/10
    41) The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini 7/10
    42) The Phenomenon by Rick Ankiel 9/10
    43) The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin 8/10
    44) The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin 8.5/10
    45) Dracula by Bram Stoker 7/10
    46) Dream Team by Jack McCallum 9/10
    47) Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh 10/10
    48) Craven Manor by Darcy Coates 7.5/10
    49) The Whisper Man by Alex North 9/10
    50) The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin 6.5/10
    51) Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrick Backman 8.5/10
    52) Seinfeldia by Jennifer Armstrong 8/10
    53) And then there were none by Agatha Christie 7/10
    54) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 10/10
     
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  18. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    My 2019 reading list. Read a lot of good books, a lot of bad books, and a majority mediocre to slightly above average.

    — 2019 —

    1. The Urban Monk *5.0
    2. Fire and Blood *7.0
    3. To Pixar and Beyond *7.0
    4. Dust of Dreams (Malazan 9) *7.0
    5. Pet Semetary *9.0
    6. Skyward *7.5
    7. The Crippled God (Malazan 10) *9.0
    8. Lucky Suit *5.5
    9. This is Your Brain on Parasites *8.0
    10. Sovereign *7.0
    11. One Word Kill *7.5
    12. Zoo Nebraska *3.0
    13. Becoming *7.5
    14. Brionne *8.0
    15. Dark Canyon *7.0
    16. Killoe *5.0
    17. Warbreaker *6.5
    18. The Golden Compass *6.0
    19. The Stand *9.0
    20. A short History of Nearly Everything *6.0
    21. Recursion *8.5
    22. Alien III *2.0
    23. The Dead Drink First *6.0
    24. Hyperion *7.0
    25. Tiger Trap *7.0
    26. Blood Song *8.5
    27. Belichick *3.0
    28. Re-read Count of Monte Cristo *8.5
    29. Sackett *6.5
    30. Ball Lightning *6.0
    31. Blood of Elves *8.5
    32. Earth Unaware *7.5
    33. Earth Afire *6.5
    34. Earth Awakens *7.5
    35. Re-read: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets *6.5
    36. The Last Wish *7.0
    37. It *2.0/8.0
    38. When the Men Were Gone *3.5
    38. Legion *7.0
    40. The Shining Girls *7.0
    41. Sword of Destiny *8.5
    42. Sherlock Holmes Rediscovered Railway Mysteries *6.0
    43. A Study in Scarlet *6.0
    44. Outlander *5.0
    45. Time of Contempt *8.5
    46. Infinity Blade - Awakening *6.5
    47. Blood Meridian *5.5
    48. True Grit *7.0
    49. Dead Watch *6.0
    50. Baptism of Fire *8.5
    51. The Ultimate Prescription *1.0
    52. Starsight *7.0
     
    #418 RonBurgundy, Dec 29, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2019
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  19. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Favorite books of the year:
    Finishing the Malazan Book of the Fallen series (book 10 was great)
    The Stand
    Pet Semetary
    The entire Witcher series I’ve enjoyed so far, 2 books left.

    worst books:
    The Ultimate Prescription. Woof.
    It
    (was 8/10 great book - then completely unnecessary child sex scenes completely took me out of the book. Nearly stopped reading. Fuck King for that.)

    Most disappointing:
    Was really looking forward to reading Blood Meridian - wow, it was weird and not good.
    Starsight was just ok. Little underwhelming from Sanderson.
     
    #419 RonBurgundy, Dec 29, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2019
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  20. Room 15

    Room 15 Mi equipo esta Los Tigres
    Donor
    Auburn TigersAtlanta BravesAtlanta FalconsUnited States Men's National Soccer Team

    Yea I’d love to hear people’s favorite book of the year.
     
  21. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers

    My favorite for the year were probably either The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe or Apollo by Charles Murray and Catherine Cox.
     
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  22. -Asshole-

    -Asshole- TMB OG Reject
    Donor
    LSU TigersNew Orleans Saints

    Just finished Blood Meridian. Didn’t really care for it.
     
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  23. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    1. Consent to Kill (Mitch Rapp #7) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    2. Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, by Isabell Wilkerson (9.5/10)
    3. Act of Treason (Mitch Rapp #8) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    4. Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose (8.5/10)
    5. Protect and Defend (Mitch Rapp #9) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    6. Extreme Measures (Mitch Rapp #10) by Vince Flynn (8/10)
    7. Pursuit of Honor (Mitch Rapp #11) by Vince Flynn (7.5/10)
    8. American Assassin (Mitch Rapp #12) by Vince Flynn (6/10)
    9. No Exit by Taylor Adams (7.5/10)
    10. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendrick (6.5/10)
    11. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (8.5/10)
    12. Last Man (Mitch Rapp #13) by Kyle Mills (6.5/10)
    13. The Survivor (Mitch Rapp #14) by Kyle Mills (6.5/10)
    14. Star Wars: The Queen's Shadow by EK Johnston (8/10)
    15. American Spy by Lauren Wilkenson (9/10)
    16. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Salwyn Raab (9/10)
    17. Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse #8) by James S A Corey (10/10
    20 Cherry by Nico Walker (8/.510)
    21. The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre (8/10)
    22. Star Wars: Master and Apprentice, by Claudia Gray (8/10)
    23. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe (9/10)
    24. Here and Now And Then, by Mike Chen (7/10)
    25. The White Darkness by David Grann (6/10)
    26. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (9/10)
    27. The Republic for Which it Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Ageby Richard White (9/10)
    28. It by Stephen King (8/10)
    29. Outland by Dennis E Taylor (8.5/10)
    30. Hunting LeRoux by Elaine Shannon (8/10)
    31-33 Wayward Pines Trilogy by Blake Crouch (7.5/10)
    34. Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham (8.5/10)
    35. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbreath/JK Rowling (6.5/10)
    36. Cari Mora by Thomas Harris (6.5/10)
    37. Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed (7.5/10)
    38. The River by Peter Heller (8.5/10)
    39. Recursion by Blake Crouch (9/10)
    40. The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson (9/10)
    41. Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (8.5/10)
    42. Red War (Mitch Rapp #17) by Kyle Mills (9/10)
    42. The Quiet Game (Penn Cage #1) by Greg Iles (9.5/10)
    43. Turning Angel (Penn Cage #2) by Greg Iles (9/10)
    44. The Chain by Adrian McKinty (8/10)
    45. The New Girl (Gabriel Allon #19) by Daniel Silva (8.5/10)
    46. Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason, by Timothy Zahn (6.5/10)
    47. The Devil's Punchbowl (Penn Cage #3) by Gregg Illes (6.6/10)
    48. Natchez Burning (Penn Cage #4) by Greg Iles (8/10)
    49. Dark Age (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown (9/10)
    50. My Sister, The Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithewaite (7/10)
    51. The Bone Tree (Penn Cage #5) by Greg Iles (8/10)
    52. Mississippi Blood (Penn Cage #6) by Greg Iles (9/10)
    53. The Nickel Boys by Colston Whitehead (6/10)
    54. Mindhunter by John Douglass (6/10)
    55. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (8/10)
    56. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore (7/10)
    57. Lethal Agent (Mitch Rapp #18) by Kyle Mills (6/10)
    58. The Water Dancer by Ta-Neshi Coates (7/10)
    59. Dry by Neal Shusterman
    60 . The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott (7/10)
    61. The Sixth Wicked Child (4MK Thriller #3) by J.D. Barker (8/10)
    62. Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope by Megan Phelps-Roper (9/10)
    63. Ninth House, by Leigh Bardugo (8/10)
    64. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (9/10)
    65. Hex by Thomas Olde Huevelt (7.5/10)
    66. Blue Moon (Jack Reacher #24) by Lee Child (8/10)
    67. The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses, by Dan Carlin (7/10)
    68. Edison, by Edmund Morris (6/10)
    69. Auberon (Expanse 8.5) by James SA Corey (8/10)
    70. The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden (9./10)
    71. Cemetery Road by Greg Iles (9/10)
    72. Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force #1) by Craig Alanson (7.5/10)
    73. SpecOps (Expeditionary Force #2) by Craig Alanson (7.5/10)
    74. Paradise (Expeditionary Force #3) by Craig Alanson (7/10)
    75. Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World, by Joan Druett (7/10)
    76. Children of Virtue and Vengence (Legacy of Orisha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi (7.5)
    77. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapowski (6/10)

    Paradise -
    As I said before - fun action sci-fi series w good humor. Im getting a bit burnt out on it though. Will come back to it.

    Island of the Lost -
    Sailors in the early mid 1800s were shipwrecked for 2 years on a tiny island off of New Zealand. And that was when New Zealand was barely discovered. Good survival story.

    Children of Virture and Vengance.
    Liked this book better than the first one. This could be a pretty good light fantasy trilogy. I think they're making it into a TV show or movie. When I started the first book, I didnt realize it was YA, but it was good enough to keep me hooked. As was the second book.

    The Last Wish -
    This is a Witcher Book. It's just a collection of short stories, which I found pretty meh. I just wanted to read this one before I watch the show. I'll probably read the books in the main saga, but this was just ok.
     
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  24. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
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    IDK if I can narrow down to a favorite book.

    I'll say my top 3 non fiction were
    1. Say Nothing
    2. Unfollow
    3. The British Are Coming

    Fiction Stand Alone:
    1. Cherry
    2. Where the Crawdad's Sing
    3. Recursion
    4. The River

    Also some awesome Series
    - Finally read the Penn Cage series, which I should have read a long time ago
    - Dark Age (Red Rising) was Amazing
    - The 2 Expanse novels and 1 Novella. All great. Im going to be so bummed when the series ends next year.
     
  25. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    1. Marine Sniper 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson 6/10
    2. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy by Eric D. Weitz 8/10
    3. Operator Down (Pike Logan #12) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    4. The Confessor (Gabriel Allon #3) by Daniel Silva 8/10
    5. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins 4/10
    6. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose 9/10
    7. The Enemy (Jack Reacher #8) by Lee Child 7/10
    8. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 6/10
    9. Gunmetal Gray (Gray Man #6) by Mark Greaney 8/10
    10. Terrorism: A Critical Introduction by Richard Jackson 6/10
    11. A Death in Vienna (Gabriel Allon #4) by Daniel Silva 9/10
    12. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 9/10
    13. Zionism: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Stanislawski 8/10
    14. The Quest by Nelson DeMille 7/10
    15. Munich by Robert Harris 6/10
    16. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah 9/10
    17. Prince of Fire (Gabriel Allon #5) by Daniel Silva 9/10
    18. The Faithful Spy (John Wells #1) by Alex Berenson 6/10
    19. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 9/10
    20. Go Set A Watchmen by Harper Lee 7/10
    21. The First Wave by Alex Kershaw 8/10
    22. Palace of Treason (Red Sparrow Trilogy #2) by Jason Matthews 9/10
    23. Spymaster (Scot Harvath #18) by Brad Thor 5/10
    24. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer 9/10
    25. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson 9/10
    26. The Messenger (Gabriel Allon #6) by Daniel Silva 8/10
    27. Red War (Mitch Rapp #17) by Kyle Mills 7/10
    28. An Art Lover’s Guide to Florence by Judith Testa 6/10

    29. An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942-1943 (Liberation Trilogy #1) by Rick Atkinson 9/10 This is one of the best history books I've ever read, it was throughly interesting and well written. The research is phenomenal and I am excited to start working on the next two in the trilogy soon.

    30. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 7/10 This was an interesting and good read but was too long in a number of spots. Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit but was ready for it to be over about 200 pages before it was.

    31. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison 9/10 This is the first Toni Morrison book that I have read and I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading some more of her works.

    32. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 10/10 First time reading this as well and I was certainly missing something from my reading days as a younger person. Incredible and made me sad that I had watched the movie last year for the first time.

    33. The Secret Servant (Gabriel Allon #7) by Daniel Silva 8/10 Another very good addition to the series and a quick and easy read to help me finally feel like I was finishing books again.

    34. King Lear by William Shakespeare 9/10 Enjoyed this as well and was a quick read to try and make my year in books look a little bit better. First time reading any Shakespeare since Romeo and Juliet as a teenager and I enjoyed it and look forward to adding some other works to the list next year.


    Overall a disappointing year of reading for me as I finished 10 books less this year than last year. I might be able to sneak another book in before tomorrow night but still fell well short of my goal of 52 books. Hopefully next year is better.
     
  26. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    I loved Army at Dawn. Its very under-covered as far as WW2 goes. I had no idea how unprepared the US Military was before I read that, and how fast it got up to speed.
     
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  27. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    My goal for next year.... write a novel.
     
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  28. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    One of my resolutions this year was to read more, so I set a goal of reading 52 books in 52 weeks for 2019. I'm happy to say that I ended up reading 56 books (nearly 18,000 pages and over 4.2 million words).
    I think my top 5 would be (in no particular order):
    Bear town
    A man called Ove
    Gang leader for a day
    The Silent patient
    Dark matter

    By far the most I've ever read in a calendar year. Most of my reading was done on weekends.
     
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  29. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    TMB, A Novel, by RonBurgundy.

    I love it!
     
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  30. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    I’ve finished 1 book since October when our 2nd kid was born. Super disappointed in myself. Getting back on the wagon soon.
     
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  31. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    Start reading your Steven King Novels to your kid. Kill two birds w one stone. Granted your kid might start havign nightmares, but a small price to pay, imo.
     
  32. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    When my kids were super little (youngest is 3 now) I did almost all audiobooks.
     
  33. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    i stopped Audiobooks on the way too and from work and listened to sports talk radio. I really am not sure why.
     
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  34. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    I have debated trying to write one for last 2 years. I have 3 ideas.
    1 is for a tradition epic fantasy world with what I think is a pretty unique hard magic system. I’ve got some characters and plot lines and main arcs in my brain that I’ve thought about while jogging/lifting/sauna time over a couple of years. I’ve already written about 10,000 words.

    Another is a stand alone novel based in that same world which would be almost a prequel, set years before and is probably structurally most similar to the novel Hyperion, in that it is a mystery/thriller with an ensemble cast who reveal their individual past histories to reveal more about a mystery/person of interest. Basically they’d be tracking down a cult leader/rebel but as they get deeper into it, turns out he’s much more than what they imagined. A little tropie but it’s an intro novel so thought I’d keep it simple.

    final idea is a near-future scifi book about an eccentric technology entrepreneur who has created a team of international experts and is claiming to be able to use stem cells to regenerate limbs and organs. They are running an offshore base since they claim no government will authorize their experimental work. In reality, they’ve discovered a (Blake Crouch Dark Matter) device to travel between parallel dimensions, and they kidnap that person in the parallel dimension and harvest the limb/organ. Problem with this idea is turning it into a decent story and making the parallel dimension piece into the big reveal without it being completely unbelievable and off putting. As an amateur author that’s probably impossible to accomplish.

    All are terrible but i have convinced myself to try to write them and fail before I give up.
     
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  35. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Between that and a second child you’ve made some poor life choices I’d say
     
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  36. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Poor life choices are my specialty
     
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  37. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Local? I can’t imagine listening to our local stations but granted, they’re terrible. Probably more than half of my books this year were audio.
     
  38. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    We have one really good one. The Round Table on JOX (station that Finebaum got famous on).
     
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  39. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    I've got an idea for a book but no idea how to start. And I think the idea behind everything would be tough to pull off to a wide audience
     
  40. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Yeah I’m in the same boat.

    Everything I’ve read and listened to about advice for prospective writers just reiterates WRITING and failing and REWRITING and getting a good writing group/beta readers.

    obviously I don’t think anything I’d write would be any good or would ever be “successful”, but it’s something I think I want to do. This year I pushed myself to produce a podcast based on my career, and I have 100 people who listen weekly, which is enough to give me a reason to keep going. I feel like writing a book and getting 1000 readers would be a win, and would be fun to say I did it.
     
  41. Doc Louis

    Doc Louis Well-Known Member
    Donor

    Read The Institute to him when he's around 8 years old..
     
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  42. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    119. The Institute by Stephen King ****
    120. Eden Mine by S.M. Hulse ****

    currently reading a few that I will likely finish by the end of the week but definitely not tomorrow. One of them is Erik Larson’s upcoming book on Churchill and the blitz - entertaining but also slow at times.
     
  43. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    I cant wait for that one. He's one of my favorite authors
     
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  44. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    BigRed what do you do for a living or do you just love to read after work? 120 books in a year is super impressive
     
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  45. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    Chemical engineer. Not going to lie, some of those are audiobooks since I have an hour commute to work and back. But most of them are books I actually read.
     
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  46. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Started reading again. Feels good.
     
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  47. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
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    1. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History -- Sidney Mintz (6/10)
    2. Popularity: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World -- Mitch Prinstein (9/10)
    3. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh (10/10)
    4. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War / Mary Roach (4/10)
    5. Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose / Deirdre Barrett. (10/10)
    6. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man / John Perkins. (10/10)
    7. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain / Oliver Sacks (8/10)
    8. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
    9. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari (10/10)
    10. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism / Ha Joon Chang. (7/10)
    11. Under The Banner Of Heaven: A Story Of Violent Faith / Jon Krakauer (8/10)
    12. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values / Robert Pirsig (9/10)
    13. Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History / Stephen Jay Gould (7.5/10)
    14. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential) / Carol Dweck (6/10)
    15. Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives The Economy And Why It Matters For Global Capitalism / George Akerloff and Robert Shiller (7.5/10)
    16. Ways of Seeing / John Berger (7/10)
    17. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World And Why Things Are Better Than You Think / Hans Rosling (7/10)
    18. For Whom The Bell Tolls / Ernest Hemingway (8.5/10)
    19. This Explains Everything: Deep, Beautiful, and Elegant Theories of How the World Works / edited by John Brockman (5/10)
    20. The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America's Great Migration / Isabel Wilkerson (10/10)
    21. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story / John Berendt (6.5/10)
    22. How Not To Be Wrong: The Power Of Mathematical Thinking / Jordan Ellenberg (7.5/10)
    23. Sam The Cat Detective / Linda Stewart (10/10)
    24. Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) / David Hackett Fischer (7/10)
    25. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters / Matt Ridley (9/10)
    26. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventues of a Curious Character / Ralph Leighton (8/10)
    27. Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration / Sam Quinones (8/10)
    28. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience / Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (10/10)
    29. The Greeks / H.D.F. Kitto (5/10)
    30. Be Here Now / Ram Dass (10/10)
    31. Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop / Marc Myers (8/10)
    32. Night / Elie Wiesel (10/10)
    33. People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil / M. Scott Peck (1/10)
    34. The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History / Stephen Jay Gould (6/10)
    35. Stoner / John Williams (9/10)
    36. A Musical Pilgrimage / Nick Rossi (4/10)

    37. All The Pretty Horses / Cormac McCarthy (8.5/10)
    First Cormac McCarthy book I've read. I enjoyed it.

    38. The Big Catnap (Sam The Cat Detective #2) / Linda Stewart (10/10)
    Got book 1 of this at a Scholastic Book Sale in middle school. Never knew there were sequels until this year, when a friend surprised me with the second one! There are four total. Read if you like wise cracking cats and mysteries.

    39. Bitter Root #1 / Chuck Brown, Sanford Greene (9/10)
    Comic book/graphic novel by local guys in Columbia SC. Receiving national attention; supposedly a film/television version is in the works with the director of Black Panther. Story is about a family in 1920s Harlem who practices traditional African medicine and fights racism. Issue 1 was short but badass; want to read the rest.


    Still Working On For 2020 --
    [​IMG]
     
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  48. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    Best of 2019, General Nonfiction
    • Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh
    • Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari
    • The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America's Great Migration / Isabel Wilkerson
    • Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man / John Perkins

    Best of 2019, Spiritualism/Self Help
    • Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu
    • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience / Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    • Be Here Now / Ram Dass
    • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values / Robert Pirsig
    Best of 2019, Fiction
    • Stoner / John Williams
    • For Whom The Bell Tolls / Ernest Hemingway
    • All The Pretty Horses / Cormac McCarthy
    • Bitter Root / Chuck Brown, Sanford Greene

    Goal for 2020: 50 books
     
  49. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    1. Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany (Stephen E. Ambrose) - 8/10
    2. The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov - Burgin/O'Connor Translation) - 9.5/10
    3. The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing (Merve Emre) - 6.5/10
    4. Washington Black (Esi Edugyan) - 6/10
    5. Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms (Hannah Fry) - 8.5/10
    6. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Mary Beard) - 9/10
    7. Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (Rick Perlstein) - 9.5/10
    8. The Right Stuff (Tom Wolfe) - 9/10
    9. Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (Erik Larson) - 10/10
    10. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History (S.C. Gwynne) - 9/10 -
    11. Where The Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens) - 8/10
    12. Exit West (Mohsin Hamid) - 6/10
    13. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (Steve Coll) - 9/10
    14. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Dan Ariely) - 7.5/10
    15. Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Pevear/Volokhonsky Translation) - 8/10
    16. Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (Rick Perlstein) - 9/10
    17. Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe) - 8.5/10
    18. Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (Laurence Bergreen) - 8/10
    19. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Jon Krakauer) - 9/10
    20. Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (John Douglas and Mark Olshaker) - 5/10
    21. The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics (Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alistair Smith) - 8.5/10
    22. Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow) - 9/10
    23. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou) - 8.5/10

    24. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky - McDuff Translation) - 7.5/10
    25. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (Patrick Radden Keefe) - 9.5/10 - Easily among my favorite reads this year. The author weaves a popular history of the Troubles into the personal stories of a few of the participants. Gripping to read and informative. Gerry Adams comes off like a piece of shit in parts.
    26. 1984 (George Orwell) - 8/10 - Everyone has read this I'm sure, no need for a review. Hadn't read it since high school and I enjoyed the revisit. Orwell is terrific.

    Up next: 1) Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families (about 1/3 done, really great so far but dense) 2) Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties 3) Lolita

    Going to set my 2020 goal at 20 as I'm even dumber than The Blackfish and now have 2 daughters under 14 months old. Could be a slow year reading-wise.
     
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  50. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
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    Also, my best reads of 2019:

    Perlstein's Before the Storm and Nixonland
    Master and Margarita
    Say Nothing
     
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