1. The Space Between Worlds by Miciah Johnson (7.5/10) 2. Star Wars The High Republic : Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (8/10) 3. Black Buck by Mateo Askiripur (8/10) 4. I am Legend by Richard Matheson (7.5/10) 5. Moonflower Murders (Susan Reyland #2) by Anthony Horowitz (7.5/10) 6. The List (Orphan X #5,5) by Gregg Hurwitz (8/10) 7. Prodigal Son (Orphan X #6) by Gregg Hurwitz (8.5/10) 8. Remote Control by Nnedi Okafor (7/10) 9. Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark, by Claudia Gray (8/10) 10. To Be Honest, by Michael Leviton (7/10) 11. The Assassination of Fred Hampton, by Jeffrey Haas (8.5/10) 12. The Orchard by David Hopen (10/10) 13 Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and Crippling of American Democracy, by Adam Jentleson (8/10) 14. We Could Be Heroes, by Mike Chen (6.5/10) 15. Winter World (The Long Winter #1) by AG Riddle (8./10). 16 The Solar War (The Long Winter #2) by AG Riddle (7.5/10 17. The Lost Colony (The Long Winter #3) by AG Riddle (7.5/10) 18. Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman (10/10) 19. Us Against You (Beartown # 2) by Fredrik Backman (8.5/10) 20. The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease and the End of an Empire by Kyle Harper (8/10) 21. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (5.5/10) 22. The Last One, by Alexandria Oliva (5/10) 23. The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone, by Heather McGhee (8.5/10) 24. The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson (7/10) 25. Exo (Exo #1) by Fonda Lee (7/10) 26. Cross Fire (Exo #2) by Fonda Lee (7.5/10) 27. Empire Of Pain: The Secret History of Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (9/10) Exo Duology - Sci Fi about Alien invaders who have colonized Earth. They're benevolent colonizers in that they extract earth's natural resources, but dont enslave the population. They give them technology that improves lives for the most part. Theres a clash between human loyalist and rebels who want the aliens gone. Pretty good. I read these because of the author. She's in the middle of an amazing fantasy series (Jade War) so I gave these a shot. It's a little YA ish but it didnt bother me. She's good author. Empire of Pain - Speaking of good authors - Patrick Radden Keefe is shooting of the rankings of investigative journalists. Between this and Say Nothing - he's great. I knew the general shittiness about the Sacklers. Purdue Pharma and the opium crisis, but holy shit. What a reprehensible family fueled by entitlement and arrogance. Im not a big guillotine guy but would make an exception for them.
1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling 10/10 2) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 9/10 3) American Assassin by Vince Flynn 10/10 4) Darth Bane Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn 9/10 5) Darth Bane Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn 8.5/10 6) Darth Bane Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn 9/10 7) Meat Market by Bruce Feldman 8/10 8) Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray 10/10 9) NBA Jam by Reyan Ali 7.5/10 10) The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel 8/10 11) Kill Shot by Vince Flynn 8.5/10 12) Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Carol 8.5/10 13) How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates 9/10 14) The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter 10/10 15) Spark by John Rate 7/10 16) Flash Boys by Michael Lewis 8/10 17) Do the Work by Steven Pressfield 5/10 18) Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho 8.5/10 19) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang 9/10 20) Money: The True Story of a Made-up Thing by Jacob Goldstein 9.5/10 21) Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn 8.5/10
1. White Night (Dresden Files #9) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 2. Small Favor (Dresden Files #10) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 3. Turn Coat (Dresden Files #11) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 4. Changes (Dresden Files #12) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) (reread) 5. Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13) - Jim Butcher (8/10) (reread) 6. Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 7. Skin Game (Dresden Files #15) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 8. Peace Talks (Dresden Files #16) - Jim Butcher (8/10) 9. Battle Ground (Dresden Files #17) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 10. The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 11. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 12. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archive #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10) (reread) 13. Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread) 14. Dawnshard (Stormlight Archive #3.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread) 15. Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling 10/10 2) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 9/10 3) American Assassin by Vince Flynn 10/10 4) Darth Bane Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn 9/10 5) Darth Bane Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn 8.5/10 6) Darth Bane Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn 9/10 7) Meat Market by Bruce Feldman 8/10 8) Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray 10/10 9) NBA Jam by Reyan Ali 7.5/10 10) The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel 8/10 11) Kill Shot by Vince Flynn 8.5/10 12) Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Carol 8.5/10 13) How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates 9/10 14) The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter 10/10 15) Spark by John Rate 7/10 16) Flash Boys by Michael Lewis 8/10 17) Do the Work by Steven Pressfield 5/10 18) Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho 8.5/10 19) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang 9/10 20) Money: The True Story of a Made-up Thing by Jacob Goldstein 9.5/10 21) Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn 8.5/10 22) The Long Walk by Stephen King 9/10
Beartown - Not great but enjoyed it Us Against You - A sloppy mess, did not like. Admittedly I shouldn't have read them back to back. Backman's style wears on me a bit. I end up speed reading through sections.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - Phenomenal My kid's assigned reading in 4th grade so I read it after him. Really great, short read.
1. These Truths: A History of the United States - Jill Lepore (9/10) 2. The Great Gatbsy - F. Scott Fitzgerald (6.5/10) 3. The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris (8/10) 4. Rabbits - Terry Miles (8.5/10) 5. Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy - Adam Jentleson (7.5/10) 6. Beartown (Beartown #1) - Fredrik Backman (10/10) 7. Us Against You (Beartown #2) - Fredrik Backman (9/10) I love this writer. This book was not what I expected, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Took a bit to get into it like I had with Beartown, but once I was, it was hard to put it down. Old characters continued to be fascinating, new characters were really good, and the story was once again gripping. This dude can write. Man.
1. White Night (Dresden Files #9) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 2. Small Favor (Dresden Files #10) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 3. Turn Coat (Dresden Files #11) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 4. Changes (Dresden Files #12) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) (reread) 5. Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13) - Jim Butcher (8/10) (reread) 6. Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 7. Skin Game (Dresden Files #15) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 8. Peace Talks (Dresden Files #16) - Jim Butcher (8/10) 9. Battle Ground (Dresden Files #17) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 10. The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 11. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 12. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archive #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10) (reread) 13. Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread) 14. Dawnshard (Stormlight Archive #3.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread) 15. Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 16. Bloodline (Cradle #9) - Will Wight (7/10)
1. A People’s History of the United States - Howard Zinn (8.25/10) 2. Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 - John Maxwell (6/10) 3. The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins (7/10) 4. The Institute - Stephen King (7.5/10) 5. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate - Naomi Klein (8/10) 6. The Burning Case for a Green New Deal - Naomi Klein (7.5/10) 7. The Dead Zone - Stephen King (9/10) 8. Grant - Ron Chernow (10/10) 9. Bleak House - Charles Dickens (9/10) 10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (9/10) 11. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (reread) (8/10) 12. Nicholas Nickelby - Charles Dickens (8.5/10) 13. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (8/10) 14. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (9.5/10) 15. The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia #6) - C. S. Lewis (6.5/10) 16. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia #1) - C. S. Lewis (7.25/10) 17. The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia #5) - C. S. Lewis (6.5/10) 18. Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia #2) - C. S. Lewis (7/10) 19. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia #3) - C. S. Lewis (7.5/10) 20. The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia #5) - C. S. Lewis (6/10) 21. The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia #7) - C. S. Lewis (6/10) David Copperfield was my favorite Dickens. Chronicles of Narnia books were alright. I see why they’re classics for their time. Up next - Caste: The Origin of Our Discontent - Isabella Wilkerson
The Blackfish TCoN are some of the first books I remember my parents reading to me. Curious what made Dawn Treader your favorite?
1. Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 2. The Queen’s Gambit - Walter Tevis (9/10) 3. 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 (7/10) 4. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America - Erik Larson (7.5/10) 5. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA - Richard English (7/10)
If youre looking for further reading on the IRA / The Troubles, I highly recommend Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe
I need to start cataloging my reading better, especially since its probably about to grind to a halt. 1. Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas - 8/10 - Longer than I remembered but its a fun book 2. The Black Count, Reiss - 9/10 - Found the story of Dumas way more interesting than the book he based it on. 3. And Then There Were None, Christie - 7.5/10 Wanted to dive into some Agatha Christie. This was pretty damn good. 4. Mysterious Affair at Styles, Christie - 6/10 - Not a super strong start to Poirot novels 5. The Murder on the Links, Christie - 7.5/10 - Much improved, still not sure how I feel about him. 6. Evil Geniuses, Andersen - 8.5/10 - A little all over the place but the central premise is interesting about how a few rich people decided to fuck our country. 7. The Mastermind, Ratliff - 9/10 - Super fun read about an insane murderous dude who could have made so much money in a sort of legal way if he wanted. 8. The Deficit Myth, Kelton - 10/10 - Everyone needs to educate themselves on this 9. Station Eleven, St. John Mandel - 9/10 - This was good, can't wait for the HBO show. 10. The Education of an Idealist, Power - 9/10 - Somehow her name was completely unfamiliar with me. The Obama stuff is the best part of this but its an interesting perspective. 11. Codename Villanelle, Jennings - 7/10 - Its not really good but love a popcorn book like this. Hope the sequels improve 12. Power and Empire, Clancy/Cameron - 1/10 - Holy shit what a fascist nightmare of a book. I'm probably about done with this series, only hanging on for nostalgia. 13. Line of Sight, Clancy/Maden - 4/10 - An improvement but this might be it for me. 14. Read a few of the Gray Man books, they fine. Not worth looking up and listing out. 15. Dare to Lead, Brown - 5/10 - Pretty boring and obvious shit book 16. The Essential Wine Book, Sussman - 9/10 - For work but its honestly really good Working on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd now then doing The Sum of Us.
The Mastermind was awesome. There’s no reason that dude isn’t an infamous as El Chapo. Agree on the deficit myth. Required reading.
1. White Night (Dresden Files #9) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 2. Small Favor (Dresden Files #10) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 3. Turn Coat (Dresden Files #11) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 4. Changes (Dresden Files #12) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) (reread) 5. Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13) - Jim Butcher (8/10) (reread) 6. Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 7. Skin Game (Dresden Files #15) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 8. Peace Talks (Dresden Files #16) - Jim Butcher (8/10) 9. Battle Ground (Dresden Files #17) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 10. The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 11. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 12. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archive #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10) (reread) 13. Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread) 14. Dawnshard (Stormlight Archive #3.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread) 15. Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 16. Bloodline (Cradle #9) - Will Wight (7/10) 17. The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) - Evan Winter (9.5/10)
1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling 10/10 2) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 9/10 3) American Assassin by Vince Flynn 10/10 4) Darth Bane Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn 9/10 5) Darth Bane Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn 8.5/10 6) Darth Bane Dynasty of Evil by Drew Karpyshyn 9/10 7) Meat Market by Bruce Feldman 8/10 8) Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray 10/10 9) NBA Jam by Reyan Ali 7.5/10 10) The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel 8/10 11) Kill Shot by Vince Flynn 8.5/10 12) Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Carol 8.5/10 13) How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates 9/10 14) The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter 10/10 15) Spark by John Rate 7/10 16) Flash Boys by Michael Lewis 8/10 17) Do the Work by Steven Pressfield 5/10 18) Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho 8.5/10 19) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang 9/10 20) Money: The True Story of a Made-up Thing by Jacob Goldstein 9.5/10 21) Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn 8.5/10 22) The Long Walk by Stephen King 9/10 23) Limitless by Jim Kwik 6/10
1. Blue Mind-Wallace Nichols 2. Elantris-Sanderson 3. The Stand- Stephen King 4. The girl with seven names-Hyeonseo Lee 5. Nothing to Envy-Barbara Demick 6. Atomic Habits-James Clear 7. White Hunters-Brian Herne 8. The Lost City of the Monkey God-Douglas Preston 9. Cadillac Desert- Marc Reisner 10. The Sandman- Gaiman Really interesting world 11. Breath- James Nestor How breathing thru you nose is better . Author plugged his nose and only breathed thru his mouth for 10 days. 12. Rage of Dragons-Evan Winter Really good once you get past the tropey stuff in the beginning
World War Z - Pretty good. Worth a read. Spoiler Absolutely nothing like the movie. Other than they're about Zombies almost no similarities in the story. The Israeli Wall and Warmbrunn plan the only overlap?
Speaking of zombie books, I remember a bunch of people loving "The Passage" by Justin Cronin a few years ago. That still considered good?
Man hard to believe it was that long ago. We're old. The Passage and that trilogy is still one of my faves.
The Passage is awesome. I will definitely re-read that trilogy at some point in time. Hard to believe it's been five years since it ended.
1. The Space Between Worlds by Miciah Johnson (7.5/10) 2. Star Wars The High Republic : Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (8/10) 3. Black Buck by Mateo Askiripur (8/10) 4. I am Legend by Richard Matheson (7.5/10) 5. Moonflower Murders (Susan Reyland #2) by Anthony Horowitz (7.5/10) 6. The List (Orphan X #5,5) by Gregg Hurwitz (8/10) 7. Prodigal Son (Orphan X #6) by Gregg Hurwitz (8.5/10) 8. Remote Control by Nnedi Okafor (7/10) 9. Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark, by Claudia Gray (8/10) 10. To Be Honest, by Michael Leviton (7/10) 11. The Assassination of Fred Hampton, by Jeffrey Haas (8.5/10) 12. The Orchard by David Hopen (10/10) 13 Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and Crippling of American Democracy, by Adam Jentleson (8/10) 14. We Could Be Heroes, by Mike Chen (6.5/10) 15. Winter World (The Long Winter #1) by AG Riddle (8./10). 16 The Solar War (The Long Winter #2) by AG Riddle (7.5/10 17. The Lost Colony (The Long Winter #3) by AG Riddle (7.5/10) 18. Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman (10/10) 19. Us Against You (Beartown # 2) by Fredrik Backman (8.5/10) 20. The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease and the End of an Empire by Kyle Harper (8/10) 21. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (5.5/10) 22. The Last One, by Alexandria Oliva (5/10) 23. The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone, by Heather McGhee (8.5/10) 24. The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson (7/10) 25. Exo (Exo #1) by Fonda Lee (7/10) 26. Cross Fire (Exo #2) by Fonda Lee (7.5/10) 27. Empire Of Pain: The Secret History of Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (9/10) 28. Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: The Greater Good (Thrawn Asc. #2) by Tim Zahn (7.5/10) 29. The Last Watch (The Divide #1) by JS Dewes (8/10) 30. The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis (8/10) Thrawn - Good book if youre a SW nerd. Suffers a bit from middle book syndrome. Expanded thoughts are in the star war literature thread The Last Watch - Read this on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. Good space opera / sci fi. Book borrows a lot of themes from ASOIAF but not in a cheesy or blanant rip off kind fo way. Basically there's a Night's Watch group that monitors the edge of the universe to make sure it doesnt contract. The last battle was about old invaders from maybe another universe contracting their universe to wipe them out ect. There's an outcast from the ruling empires royal family that joins The Watch and the story picks up from there. Good plot and character development. This series has potential. Look forward to teh next book that comes out later this year. The Premonition - Just another great Michael Lewis book. Boy did we fuck this whole thing up. idk what else to say. Learned a lot. This felt almost like a sequel to The Fifth Risk
1. White Night (Dresden Files #9) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 2. Small Favor (Dresden Files #10) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 3. Turn Coat (Dresden Files #11) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 4. Changes (Dresden Files #12) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) (reread) 5. Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13) - Jim Butcher (8/10) (reread) 6. Cold Days (Dresden Files #14) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) (reread) 7. Skin Game (Dresden Files #15) - Jim Butcher (9/10) (reread) 8. Peace Talks (Dresden Files #16) - Jim Butcher (8/10) 9. Battle Ground (Dresden Files #17) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 10. The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 11. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (reread) 12. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archive #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10) (reread) 13. Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread) 14. Dawnshard (Stormlight Archive #3.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread) 15. Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 16. Bloodline (Cradle #9) - Will Wight (7/10) 17. The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) - Evan Winter (9.5/10) 18. The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning #2) - Evan Winter (8.5/10)
I got about a quarter of the way thru When Breath Becomes Air and just wasn't feeling it. I have nearly 400 books on my Kindle, so I'm just using a random number generator to make my selections because I don't know where to begin choosing. The generator chose The Painted Bird
1) These Truths: A History of the United States 9/10 2) The Invisible Life of Addie Larue 8.5/10 3) Silence of the Lambs 7.5/10 4) The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions 8/10 5) The Hod King (The Books of Babel, #3) 9.5/10 6) Beartown (Beartown #1) 9/10 7) Later 8/10 8) V for Vendetta 7.5/10 9) Project Hail Mary 9.5/10 Really enjoyed Beartown. Will read the sequel soon but obviously putting a few books in between. Later and V for Vendetta were both enjoyable. Project Hail Mary was a blast and highly recommend. Obviously reminiscent of The Martian, but also of Children of Time. I’m buzzed so that’s all I got.
I have Project Hail Mary loaded up. Meant to start it this weekend but have been procrastinating. Glad to hear its really good
1. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder (7.5/10) 2. From Fish to Philosopher by Homer by William Smith (7/10) 3. The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant (7.5/10) 4. The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (9/10) 5. Sevens Heaven: The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji's Olympic Dream by Ben Ryan (8/10) 6. Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman (9/10) 7. The Italian Job by Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti (7/10) 8. Run Fast: How to Beat Your Best Time Every Time by Hal Higdon (6.5/10) 9. A Promised Land by Barack Obama (9/10) 10. Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman (7.5/10) 11. Lies My Teacher Told Me; Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen (7.5/10) 12. The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's elBulli by Lisa Abend (7/10) 13. Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America by Leslie Knope (6/10) 14. Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World by Joseph Menn (6/10) 15. Survival Fitness: The Ultimate Fitness Plan for Escape, Evasion, and Survival by Sam Fury (6/10) 16. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss (9/10) 17. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (8/10) 18. Way of the Warrior Kid by Jocko Willink (8/10) Pawnee book was fine. some good new jokes (though they got repetitive). worthwhile if you're a huge fan of Parks and Rec. Cult of the Dead Cow was also okay. pretty much the history of hackers, specifically one group that eventually included Beto O'rourke. Survival Fitness goes over parkour, swimming, hiking, and mountain climbing. some of the parkour tutorials are cool. Never Split the Difference is great. former FBI negotiator gives recommendations and I've found it helpful in things like work. A Short History of Everything is basically a history of science. goes through the Big Bang to the evolution of humanity. would've made high school science classes a 1000x better. Way of the Warrior Kid is a kid's book by Jocko. I bought it for a friend's kid but read it first....going to read the other 2 in the series because it has great lessons and is classic Jocko.
I’ve actually consistently read books this year so why not post in this thread? 1. Wolf Hall Trilogy (Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies, The Mirror and the Light) - 9.5/10 - a bit of a biased score since I’m interested in Tudor history so I’m familiar with the events + I had seen the show before, but I really enjoyed each book and think they’re worthy of the hype. 2. A Children’s Bible: a novel - 8.5/10 3. The Vanishing Half - 8/10 4. Shantaram - 5/10 - A strange mix of very entertaining (I breezed through it) but equally cringey. Spoiler The best aspect of the book is the descriptions of the settings in Bombay and the rest of India. Puts me right there and makes me miss the feeling of stepping off the plane in a foreign country. But everyone loves the semi-autobiographical main character for no real reason and it becomes a bit ridiculous. He’s part time criminal, part time humanitarian, every girl is attracted to him and he picks up like three languages fluently right away. This main character falls in love and considers every other character a father, brother, or close friend, following them into near death situations like Afghan wars and mafia shootouts, again for no apparent reason. Everything is just told to you as a matter of fact, without the events in the book really backing anything up. The dialogue is also super corny where everyone speaks in one liners and says each other’s name when they talk to each other. No one consistently speaks like that in real life.
1-7. Harry Potter Series (8/10) I sucked at providing updates to the HP first time thread. Truman is a literary criticism beast. I enjoyed the series but it took me since January to read. Good but didn't quite pick up the momentum of "I can't put this down." This take will get me roasted, and it's just based on my own childhood nostalgia, but I enjoyed Chronicles of Narnia more. Working on watching the HP movies now. At least I'm caught up from the 2000s Up Next: Can't wait to get back to some nonfiction!
When was the last time you read Chronicles of Narnia? I just reread them and just from a pure enjoyment to read standpoint HP wipes the floor with it. Not taking time period it was written into account.
We read "Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in 4th grade and I created a Narnia board game based on it. Nothing is going to match that level of nostalgia in your heart. Just thinking about "The Silver Chair" though, the giants part in that book is prob cooler than any giant part in HP.
Post in my new book nostalgia thread: https://www.the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/scholastic-book-fair.181956/
Some good books submitted I read the first Wolf Hall book. It was really long and kind of dry. Also didn’t have a ton of previous knowledge on the topic do it was hard to follow at points. I have Vanishing Half on my list. I know It’s a hot book right now. Just never seem to actually choose to read it. Killers of the Flower Moon is so so good. Excited for TC to read it. dcon79 - I’m about half way through Project Hail Mary. Loving it. Enjoying it as much as I did w The Martian. Would take a very awful ending for me to hate this.
Powered through and finished today. Loved it 9.5 or 10. Just as good as The Martian Spoiler Man when Rocky died (or when we thought he died) I was gutted. All I wanted was for him to get back to earth and explain everything. Meeting aliens, finding new life, ect. The ending was the opposite of what I was hoping for but I still loved it. That’s a great book. Also him being a coward and having to be forced on the crew only to be a brave hero and sacrificing himself (or so he thought) is just good writing