This is me, except replace lunch with just prior to bed after the kids and wife are asleep. On the topic of long books, between last year and this year I’m planning on knocking out Chernow’s books. Already did House of Morgan and Titan. Currently reading Alexander Hamilton and will knock out the other 4 later this year. Also lots of epic fantasy.
I try to read before bed most every night but sometimes I'll pass out after like 6 pages and wake up at 3 AM with my lamp on and my book on my face. So that's not ideal. And thus I try to be intentional about carving out time during the day. I really enjoy reading on the bus to and from work because that's a good way to decompress. Always hoping to avoid super crowded buses because then it's almost impossible I am always hoping for sunshine during my work lunches because I will grab a spot on a bench outside and get a solid 45 minutes in. Then lots of reading in the park across the street and on my patio on weekends. I can't wait till the days are much longer so I can sit on the patio after work instead of just on weekends few things help me focus my thoughts like reading a really good work of fiction
1. The Shining (The Shining #1) - Stephen King (7/10) 2. The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) - Andrzej Sapkowski (6.5/10) 3. Washington: A Life - Ron Chernow (8/10) Currently reading (spoilered for size): Spoiler
How does everyone rate their reads? I just kind of base it off how much much I enjoyed it, how much I wanted to read it, and compare it higher or lower than past reads.
This. Then on Goodreads I take what I rated here and just divide by two, always rounding up (so a 7 equals 4*).
I gave Pet Sematary a 6/10 but after a month of thinking about it I moved it up to a 7.5/10. I think the 6 was based on how disturbed I was and that shouldn’t make a book mediocre. Learning
TC's Reading Plan For Success Morning -- read at home while eating breakfast (phone makes a great weight to keep book open) Lunch -- read while consuming my sandwich Evening -- sit in recliner after work and read while drinking a cup of coffee Weekends -- read in the chair some more, or take book somewhere like the park or coffeeshop
Same basically. I'm def giving it a rating based on how much I personally enjoyed it, not on how "objectively" "good" I think it is. Once in a while I've readjusted some ratings once I realized "wait, I rated it that? I liked it more/less than this, let me change that."
1. The Shadow of What Was Lost (Licanius #1) - James Islington (10/10) (reread) 2. An Echo of Things to Come (Licanius #2) - James Islington (10/10) (reread) 3. The Light of All That Falls (Licanius #3) - James Islington (10/10) 4. Starsight (Skyward #2) - Brandon Sanderson (7.5/10)
1. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner 2. Red Cavalry by Isaac Babel 3. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight 4. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson 5. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson 6. I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
I read at night once kids are in bed some nights, other nights it’s basketball or video games. I listen to audio books at the gym since my commute is short. I rate books however I want and how I felt after reading them. I’ve gone back and modified rating later, but usually keep as is. There’s a lot of highly rated books I give low marks to, and that’s ok with me. Just because a book works well for some doesn’t mean it works for everyone. also I finally bit the bullet and started writing a book. Outline is done and I’m 4,300 words into it. I’m actually super duper excited even if I never finish and likely never get it published. If there’s enough interest I may start a thread to update on progress.
1) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 8.5/10 2) The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch 8/10 3) The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski 8/10 Enjoyed all of the short stories but one. Going to start the show soon, bought the game as well but haven't started it yet
If you want to read before you watch , read sword of destiny too. The show from both those books of short stories.
1. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (10/10) (reread) 2. Child of God - Cormac McCarthy (10/10) (reread) 3. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon (4.5/10) 4. Fire Sermon - Wright Morris (9/10) 5. The Field of Vision - Wright Morris (7/10) 6. The Throwback Special - Chris Bachelder (6.5/10) a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award (Fiction), The Throwback Special is about a group of men who get together every year to reenact the Joe Theismann injury. It grew on me by the end because it wasn't really a sports book. There were some really poignant moments. And there was some good humor throughout, especially when Bachelder is describing how this large group of men interacts with each other. Would recommend for someone looking for an easy light read and definitely if you're a fan of the NY Giants or Washington because it might offer some nostalgic value for you. I'd say its shortcoming is that, for a relatively short book, it has a lot of characters and you don't get to know any of them well
1. The Shadow of What Was Lost (Licanius #1) - James Islington (10/10) (reread) 2. An Echo of Things to Come (Licanius #2) - James Islington (10/10) (reread) 3. The Light of All That Falls (Licanius #3) - James Islington (10/10) 4. Starsight (Skyward #2) - Brandon Sanderson (7.5/10) 5. The Prestige - Christopher Priest (7.5/10)
1) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 8.5/10 2) The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch 8/10 3) The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski 8/10 4) Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman 7/10
1. American Gods - Neil Gaiman 2. The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1)- Brandon Sanderson 3. Words of Radiance (SA #2) - Brandon Sanderson
1) Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families (J. Anthony Lukas) - 9.5/10 - This is a really phenomenal book. Lukas follows 3 families in Boston (one professional WASP, one Irish working class, one African American) from basically '68 post MLK assassination to '76 (the heat of the Boston busing crisis). Insanely detailed, he traces the family trees of these 3 back to Britain/Ireland/slavery and takes long looks at some of the traditional power centers in Boston (the Catholic Church, the Boston Globe, the mayor's office, etc). Would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about race relations and urban decay in 20th century America. I've seen some criticisms saying that Lukas may have been too sympathetic towards the anti-busing folks but I never got that feeling when reading. Well-written, too, as you'd expect from a journalist of Lukas' stature. 2) Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (Tom O'Neill) - 6.5/10 - Interesting book. The author was assigned to write an article for Premier magazine in '99 on the 30th anniversary of the Manson murders, covering Hollywood's memories of the murders. When no one really wanted to talk about it, he began looking into the murders. What he found was that prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, author of the insanely popular Helter Skelter, omitted a ton of information from the trial and book that calls into question the official narrative. He then spent the next 20 years going down the proverbial rabbit hole. The author does veer nto tinfoil hat territory a few times but is aware of that fact. He supplies documents supporting some of his reporting that calls Bugliosi into question. If you're at all interested in this case I'd give this one a read but the author is up front about the fact that most of this stuff is impossible to verify. 3) Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov) - 8.5/10 - Doubt I need to give much of a review on this one as I assume most have read it. I never did for whatever reason. Parts of it are downright hilarious. I will say that it's pretty depressing that Nabokov writes so much better than me despite English not being his native tongue. Perhaps one of the greatest opening paragraphs ever? Up Next: 1) The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus 2) One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America 3) The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
1. The Wolf's Call (Raven's Blade #1) - Anthony Ryan 7.5/10 2. Starsight (Skyward #2) - Brandon Sanderson 7/10 3. Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad - Stephen Ambrose 7.5/10 Honestly this book deserves higher, but for some reason it never really pulled me in. I found my mind wandering constantly as I was listening it, so I missed a few pages here and there. It was very well written and well done though. May circle back around to it some other time. Currently reading Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow and it is engrossing. My mind never wanders when listening to it.
That’s the difference between Chernow &Atkinson, and everyone else. I like Ambrose and other historians and biographers, but those two are a step above in their ability to tell fact based history without it ever reading like a slog / text book
1. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression / Andrew Solomon (9/10) 2. The Edifice Complex: How The Rich And Powerful (And Their Architects) Shape The World (6.5/10) Interesting idea for a book; book just never really goes anywhere. You read Chapter 1 and in Chapter 13 they're just giving more examples of the same thing Up Next--
1. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (10/10) (reread) 2. Child of God - Cormac McCarthy (10/10) (reread) 3. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon (4.5/10) 4. Fire Sermon - Wright Morris (9/10) 5. The Field of Vision - Wright Morris (7/10) 6. The Throwback Special - Chris Bachelder (6.5/10) 7. Slow Man - J.M. Coetzee (8.5/10) Coetzee has won just about every major literary award and it's easy to see why. An older bachelor gets in an accident and becomes reliant upon others, leading him to examine his place in the world and a number of other themes. Coetzee is the rare author who can show off their mastery of the English language while still creating a story that is an easy page-turner. Just finished this on my lunch break while sitting on a sunny bench, should be a nice way to kick off the rest of the day
1) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 8.5/10 2) The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch 8/10 3) The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski 8/10 4) Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman 7/10 5) The Hot Zone by Richard Preston 8.5/10
1. The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides (1/10 - this may have been the worst book I've ever read) 2. On Tennis - David Foster Wallace (9/10) 3. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (8/10) 4. Red Dragon - Thomas Harris (7.5/10) 5. The Advantage - Patrick Lencioni (5/10 - work read) 6. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - Steven King (8/10 - Do audio books count?) PSA: Don't ever read The Silent Patient, it is awful.
I used to be anti audiobook until I changed jobs and acquired a commute, now they’re my best friends and absolutely count.
I don’t fw audiobooks or ebooks personally but they def should count for this topic. Different strokes for different folks
I dont do audio books because I have horrendous ADD and my mind wonders while listening and I miss too much. I dont look down on audiobooks or anything. Im kind of envious of those that can listen and have as much reading comprehension as when reading, but that's just a me thing. Idk what it is, I can listen to a podcast with conversational dialogue and pick up everything. But when I try to listen to a novel and shit is read to me, I zone out. Ive started to listen to some non fiction books on audio and works out fine, but for some reason I just dont do fiction well on audio.
I think I have a particular affinity to the printed word. I know a lot of the audio/visual learner stuff was debunked (all normally functioning people use all modes available to learn something) but I do think I soak something in best if I can read it. I like to watch tv/movies on subtitles so I can hear and read the text -- helps it sink in better
1. Black Ops (Expeditionary Force #4) by Craig Alanson (7/10) 2. The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, by Brad Meltzer (6/10) 3. Blood of Elves (The Witcher #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski (8/10) 4. Time of Contempt (The Witcher #2) by Andrzej Sapkowski (7/10) 5. Family Secrets: The Case That Cripled the Chicago Mob, by Jeff Coen (8/10) 6. Baptism by Fire (The Witcher #3) by Andrzej Sapkowsi (7/10) 7. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (7.5/10) 8. Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (6/10) 9. Last of the Mohicans by James Fienmore Cooper (7/10) 10. Into the Fire (Orphan X #5) by Gregg Horowitz (8.5/10) 11. The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston (8.5/10) Last of the Mohicans - I had pretty high expectations for this book and was kind of let down. I still enjoyed and feel glad I crossed another classic off my list. The writing style of the time is just weird. It reminded me a lot of how Uncle Tom's Cabin was written to, with weird/ random narrator drop ins. It didnt work as well for me in this book, with more action scenes. Like we'd build up all this tension and the climax of the scene is "and he emptied the contents of the rifle into his foe" lol. snooze. Into the Fire - This is becoming one of my favorite reoccurring action novels. Some of my other faves in Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, are getting a little stale, this one is still awesome. It's about a dude who the government adopted from an orphanage to turn him into a special super soldier. He got out and now is basically does good deeds to help normal citizens who are in trouble w street gangs, or loan sharks ect. All while trying to evade detection by the government. The Hot Zone - This was awesome, my thoughts are in the book club thread
1. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression / Andrew Solomon (9/10) 2. The Edifice Complex: How The Rich And Powerful (And Their Architects) Shape The World (6.5/10) 3. Educated: A Memoir / Tara Westover (7/10) This was chosen as next year's freshman read for the college where I work, and I think it'll make a really good one for that purpose. Brings up a lot of issues of what it's like to be a first-generation college student, and how to succeed at college (apply yourself and try your ass off instead of saying it's too hard.) I do wonder what it will be like to discuss with mostly bougie kids; doubt I'll have anyone who grew up not going to school in rural Idaho, but maybe some will have an affinity. Up Next--
I definitely retain info the best if I’m reading it. That’s why I try to only do nonfiction or straightforward novels when I listen to audiobooks. I know I’ll get lost if I try and do some long, complicated SFF novel.
1) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 8.5/10 2) The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch 8/10 3) The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski 8/10 4) Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman 7/10 5) The Hot Zone by Richard Preston 8.5/10 6) The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup 7.5/10 Ending of this one really didn't do it for me. The first 80% of the book was great.
1. The Wolf's Call (Raven's Blade #1) - Anthony Ryan 7.5/10 2. Starsight (Skyward #2) - Brandon Sanderson 7/10 3. Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad - Stephen Ambrose 7.5/10 4. Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow (10/10) Not much to say here other than it’s Alexander Hamilton and Ron Chernow. Fascinating man and elite biographer.
Just finished The Silent Patient last night and thought it was a fun read. It’s not on the level of AJ Finn’s “The Woman in the Window” but it’s good.
Same for me, but to each his own. I definitely would count it the same as reading a book for those with an attention span.