2024 Iteration, keep a running list of what you've read. Preferably with a rating or a small review letting us know if its any good, if you want. #Book Club
1. Usher’s Passing by Robert McCammon - I’m working my way through McCammon’s cannon, having previously read Boy’s Life, They Thirst, Stinger, and Gone South in the past year. Usher’s Passing is his foray into the southern gothic genre, and as you may have guessed deals with the Usher lineage of Poe fame, who now are the primary arms dealer for the US Government and have been for the last 200 years. Set in the mountains of western North Carolina, it’s an atmospheric horror novel brimming with family drama and secrecy, monsters and magic, missing children, death, and destruction. An easy 400 pages with little wasted space. 8.5/10. Available on Kindle Unlimited.
Going for 26 this year, currently reading Dune, just finished part 1. A few I have on deck: Red Rising series (read first 1 or 2 many years ago) The Wager Poverty, by America
I plan on reading Red Rising this month. Kind of hesitant because sci-fi fantasy stuff doesn't appeal to me but I haven't read or spoken with anyone who has said a bad thing about it Just don't want to have to read 7 books for some payoff
Started The Wager as part of my New Year's resolution of reading more. About half way through really enjoying it so far
Doubt you like the first third of the first book that much. Honestly the first book is a little weak (still very entertaining) but it picks up from there big time.
It originally was a trilogy. They’re all quick fast paced reads. So 3 is a good stopping point if you want it. There is plenty of payoff. Also what The Blackfish said about the first book
1. Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac. Technically started this with a few days left in 2023 but just finished it this morning. I never know what to make of Kerouac. A troubled soul who was clearly a bit of a pig. The first 60 pages of this book sucked it’s just him alone on a mountain in Washington ranting to himself and saying some sexist shit and making some racist jokes about Chinese people. I almost stopped there. I am glad I kept going simply because it’s a look into how he struggled to find peace within himself and when it clicks it clicks. There’s always been a music to the way he could write, a flow, almost poetic even in the middle of him ranting about death and Buddhism for pages. Weird guy, hell of a writer. 6/10
Ok, so, I’m looking for some recs on a great audible book. I have an 8 hour drive coming shortly(then another 8 after four days) I’ve tried several times to read The girl who kicked the hornets nest and am thinking I might just buy that but if anyone has something they loved please let me know. I love most genres. I’ve read fantasy mostly but am willing to read most anything if it’s a good story(I’ve read memoirs of a geisha and thought is was great but would’ve never picked if wasn’t for someone recommending it)
I’d go with All the Sinners Bleed by SA Crosby. Should be a great road trip book. Not fantasy, but a gripping crime thriller that should work great for a road trip
Have you done any of the Blake Crouch books? All are fantastic car reads. Dark Matter, Recursion and Upgrade
Just updated 2023 thread -- I did 50 last year! This year I'm going to focus on longer books so the number will be smaller. I'll see y'all in here eventually when I polish off one of these tomes.
Finished this yesterday, would probably give it an 8 or 8.5. Next Up: The Escape Artist-Jonathan Freedland
1. Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac 6/10 2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. At first, it kinda felt like I was diving into a kitschy YA novel but I was very wrong. A beautiful and haunting quick read about growing up and feeling isolated in childhood with a nice touch of the fantastic. Dives into the mistakes we make as adults more than I would have expected. Didn’t think I would enjoy it but I loved it. 8/10
I love The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I haven’t read it in years though. I may reread it this year
It was one of our Book Club books but I think we lost the thread in the crash. Looks like I rated it below some books in an old thread that I now do not remember as fondly as I do Ocean. Def need to reread.
To start 2024 off I’ve now read 2 of the 3 books I owned but had never read number 3 is The Brothers Karamazov and idk when I’m gonna start that but it won’t be next
I gave up 1/3 of the way through 4 twice and then last year powered through, the second half is good and 5 and 6 are insane so you should give it a go
Brothers Karamazov is titties. Wife got me a US first edition for Christmas. She will not tell me how much it cost
1. Usher’s Passing by Robert McCammon 8.5/10 2. Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons - Carrion Comfort follows an extermination camp survivor who desires to bring those responsible for such atrocities to justice. And vampires. But not normal vampires, vampires who control your mind, turning you into their pawn, while playing chess with the human race to dictate present and future. This is the first Simmons novel I’ve read, and I didn’t realize he’s had some troubling viewpoints, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Great characters, a plot that spans decades and continents, and blends science fiction, horror, and action/thriller. Solid 80’s vibes, too. 800ish pages, but it read pretty quick with little wasted space or irreverent side plots. 8/10. Just downloaded Blindsight by Peter Watts, so that’s up next.
Not familiar with his viewpoints, but if you liked that Simmons novel you should definitely check out Hyperion. It’s probably his most famous and it is fantastic.
Yeah, I’ll likely get around to it at some point. Would also like to read the Summer of Night series.
1. The Wager David Grann- 8/10 2. The Escape Artist Jonathan Freedland- 9/10 Really enjoyed this one, liked how the author included the aftermath of the escape and inaction by so many Next Up: Red Sparrow- Jason Matthews
1) Dune by Frank Herbert 9/10 I think watching the movie before reading the book increased my enjoyment of the book, especially when it came to things like the voice, worms, etc. and being able to visualize those better. Really enjoyed it, will read book 2 some time soon.
1. The Armour of Light by Ken Follett - 7.5/10 A new book in Follett’s Kingsbridge series (the first book being his most famous work - The Pillars of the Earth), this time following characters in the town in the late 1700s - early 1800s during the Industrial Revolution and Napoleonic wars. It has all the makings of a Follett book - easy to read, predictable character arcs, and cringey sex scenes, but still an enjoyable enough story and an easy way to learn about a time period in history.
1. Red Rising (Red Rising #1) - Pierce Brown (9/10) (reread) 2. Golden Son (Red Rising #2) - Pierce Brown (9/10) (reread)
1. Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica - 7/10. Creepy book that I ripped through. A bit heavy handed at times but I can see why it became a best seller in times like these 2. Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - 5/10. I loved this authors first release, a series of short stories. Perhaps he should’ve kept to that style for this scattershot, kaleidoscopic novel. Honestly just didn’t enjoy it, and I was excited to read it. Another one where it’s a bit heavy handed, and the footnotes throughout were strange. I think the readers deserve more credit than having to read footnotes on why isolation is bad in prisons?
I liked Chain Gang All Stars quite a bit. I agree w the footnotes, but also thought a lot of times it drove home the point. That it didnt really just happen in this fictional novel. It was pulled from the real world.
Maybe I am being too harsh. I wish it was a little more focused. I like the idea of building out different characters in the world, but I just kept wanting them to go back to Staxx
Its been a minute since I read it, but I do remember thinking there were lulls in the book. Some of the characters I didnt really care too much about. But it didnt bother me too much
Just under halfway. But I stopped to read a different book really quick. I have a friend that published her first book this week that I feel obligated to read and (probably give a hollow 5* review on GR) really quick. So if you see me give 5* to a sci-fi romance book on GR - dont judge me lol
1. The Mere Wife 2. Leave the World Behind 3. What Moves the Dead About to start Kitchen Confidential
1. Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac 6/10 2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman 8/10 3. Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner A fictional retelling of the Castro Revolution mostly told from the perspective of American kids growing up in a sugar cane operation owned by an American company. As someone who took a class in Cuban history once it’s very accurate and feels like historical fiction than just a novel at some points. Beautiful writing and feels like a love letter to Cuba but, I struggled with there only being one POV from an actual Cuban character in a book with a large cast of POVs. 7/10