Books You’ve Read in 2025

1. Moscow X by David McCloskey - 9/10
2. Challenger by Adam Higginbotham - 9.5/10
3. The Barn by Wright Thompson - 10/10
4. A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko - 7/10

5. What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci - 5/10. I really enjoyed Tucci’s first book and his travel show. But maybe I should’ve taken the title of the book to heart because it is literally a day by day account of food he ate with some minor digressions. I mean legit “today for lunch I had…”. Argh

6. Augustus by John Williams - 10/10. Palate cleanser from our King. Just incredible

 

1. Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) (Reread)
2. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archives #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (Reread)

 

1. The Power of the Dog (Power of the Dog Series #1) by Don Winslow 8/10

 

3. Horror Movie; Tremblay (7/10): A very post-modern and meta take on horror that could be taught in literature classes. It follows the story of a horror movie in the past that resulted in tragedy and was never released, and the subsequent attempt to reboot it. The narrator is unreliable, and the horror is seldom shown, but the creepiness permeates the book. Not your traditional horror read, but enjoyable.

4. A Land Remembered; Patrick Smith (8.5/10): A historical fiction about Florida’s past and the “progress” that ultimately destroyed the land. It highlights the tragedy of the commons, and how one family’s lineage ultimately shaped the way Florida looks. Very good book.

In the queue: Age of Vice.

 

Loved Age of Vice.

 

My mother in law is one of the most avid readers I’ve known, and she just gave it to me and said to read it. So far, she hasn’t steered me wrong, except to read 100 years of solitude to see if I hated it as much as she did lol.

 

Horror Movie was cool. Could make a very fun movie imo

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
As discussed previously, I am unable to accurately rate Taylor’s books due to bias, but I enjoyed this. The story is a bit evocative of one of his other books, which kept it from being great, but I knew almost nothing about what was apparently one of the bloodiest battles in US history between mine company hired guns and union workers in West Virginia. Probably going to read one of the non-fiction books he referenced in his notes now. The final act kinda ended with a whimper too.

Next up - Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

 

electronic how do you beast mode Crime and Punishment in under a week??

 

Snow days.

 

1. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 8/10
2. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu - 8/10. Enjoyed this one a lot. Got significantly better as it went building up to a great climax. Looking forward to reading the third book.

 

Spoiler

Dark Forest is one of the more terrifying concepts Ive read about. Truly mind blowing stuff

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (10/10)

Holy fucking shitballs. I grew up with a bunch of Mormons and was generally familiar with the story of the church, but had no idea the depth of the violence that forms the basis of their belief structure, to say nothing of the shocking murders that are the subject of the book. Krakauer’s style and thoroughness are unrelenting and fascinating.

Up next: Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

 

my co-worker is reading Naked Lunch right now. Crazy

 

1. The Twelve (The Passage #2) - Justin Cronin - (9/10)
2. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (6.5/10)
3. The Emperor's Soul - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
4. The Hope of Elantris - Brandon Sanderson --
5. Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1) - Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee (8.5/10)
6. Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs - Camilla Townsend (9/10)
7. Death of the Author - Nnedi Okorafor (8.5/10)
8. Alloy of Law (Mistborn Era 2 #1) - Brando Sando (8/10)
9. Allomancer Jak (Mistborn Era 2 #1.5). Brando Sando --
10. Shadows of Self (Mistborn Era 2 #2) - Brando Sando (8.5/10)
11. City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) - Justin Cronin - (8/10 )

Death of the Author - Light Sci-fi about a struggling author that writes a book that becomes a sensation and changes everything. Okorafor is solid to great as always.

City of Mirrors - This was one of my favorite trilogies and a re-read. I remember being very disappointed in this final book on the first read. I liked it more this time. There are some wild, long tangents that take you out of the story. But the ending is good and very satisfactory. But it felt like no one edited the book and it badly needed to cut down on some stuff.

Mistborn 2.0 - Enjoying it. Most of the thoughts are in the Brandon Sanderson thread. Liking my Sanderson journey so far. The Novella was just whatever

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (10/10)
6. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (2/10)

I enjoy modern art and generally find the avant garde genre to be at least somewhat interesting. However, this book was completely and entirely lost on me. Probably due to the fact that it’s pretty difficult to appreciate something that broke barriers 65 years ago, but has inspired a billion more cohesive books.

It’s like, if you go back far enough finding the musicians who inspired your favorite bands, you’ll find that it starts with some dude farting into a trumpet on a street corner in the Mississippi Delta. That’s Naked Lunch. It’s a non linear, incoherent series of fever dreams by a schizophrenic heroin junkie in the midst of a bender. You could have mixed up each of the “chapters” in completely different order and it would have made no difference in the outcome.

The only redeeming quality bumping it from a 1 to a 2 was that the prose and word choice were solid. Pretty clear that Burroughs, when sober, is a good writer. Otherwise, yikes.

Next up, How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith.

 

1. The God of the Woods - Liz Moore (6/10)
2. Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell (7/10)
3. Three-Inch Teeth (Joe Pickett #24) - C.J. Box (6/10)
4. The Chamber - Will Dean (6/10)
5. New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West - David Sanger (9/10)
6. The Wanderer's Havamal - translation by Jackson Crawford (8/10)
7. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate - Peter Wohlleben (9/10)
8. The Surprising Genius of Jesus - Peter J. Williams (8/10)

 

1) Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio 10/10
2) Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson 9/10
3) Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey 8/10
4) A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towels 10/10
5) Starry Messenger by Neil Degrasse Tyson 7/10

Fine, but I think where I listen to his Star Talk podcast often I just didn't love it.

6) A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders 7/10


Came across this Saunders book on YouTube or somewhere right after reading A Gentleman in Moscow and it piqued my interest. It has about 7 famous short stories by famous authors I've never read (Chekhov, Gogol, Tolstoy), which I liked most of them. The author provided insightful commentary, why authors did what they did. I started skim reading those sections the last several stories, I just didn't want to dedicate the time. I'll probably revisit this in the future though and maybe do one story and analysis a week or something. I was ready to move back into Sun Eater and Mistborn.

Next up: Tales of the Sun Eater Vol. 2, then Mistborn 2.

 

1. The Power of the Dog (Power of the Dog Series #1) by Don Winslow 8/10
2. Damascus Station (Damascus Station #1) by David McCloskey 9/10

 

That Saunders book is the current selection for my book group. Haven't started it yet but it's on my nightstand.

 

1. Moscow X by David McCloskey - 9/10
2. Challenger by Adam Higginbotham - 9.5/10
3. The Barn by Wright Thompson - 10/10
4. A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko - 7/10
5. What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci - 5/10
6. Augustus by John Williams - 10/10

7. Wagnerism by Alex Ross - 8/10. Impressive cultural study of Richard Wagner and his impacts across any number of things. Art, architecture, politics, adoption of Wagner by the Nazi’s etc. got a tad repetitive towards the end

 

Sometimes a Great Notion was very good and I enjoyed it. Been a long time

 

1. Necroscope (Necroscope #1) - Brian Lumley - 9/10
2. Wamphyri (Necroscope #2) - Brian Lumley - 8/10
3. Little Heaven - Nick Cutter - 7/10

4. The Sibley Guide to Trees - David Allen Sibley - 10/10 (reread)

I was reading some pretty heavy historical fiction when life decided to get in the way and demand I read something much less bleak. So, with spring fast approaching, and not having done much vegetative work in 6-8 months, I took the opportunity to brush up on tree identification. Not to brag (well kind of), but I’m pretty damn good at tree identification south of the Mason-Dixon Line. But I’ve always found plant ID to very much be a use it or lose it knowledge, so it’s good to brush up and sharpen skills even if they’re fairly well honed already. The range maps are fantastic, and I could see why someone would prefer pictures to illustrations, but I always prefer the latter in my field guides.

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (10/10)
6. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (2/10)
7. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (9.5/10)

Incredible book about slavery through the eyes of the author (a doctoral student at an Ivy) as he visits various sites in America and one in Senegal. Incredible history lessons about places I knew a bit about, but never the full stories. Particularly chilling chapter about Angola prison, how it still functions today, and the history of horrifying treatment of black people. Definitely recommend.


Next up: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.

 

Sounds great. Try “the half has not been told” or “stamped from the beginning” if you’re looking for similar.

Have you read midnight in the garden before? You’re gonna love that being a GA native

 

Never read it before, but certainly familiar with it due to working in Savannah for 10 years and working with Bouhan Falligant a lot.

 

5. The Killer Angels (Civil War Trilogy #2) / Michael Shaara (7/10)
Book the movie "Gettysburg" is based on. 1975 Pulitzer winner for Fiction. I visited Gettysburg last summer so wanted to read the story. Noles will be interested to know the author was a professor of creative writing at FSU.

4. Glock: The Rise Of America's Gun / Paul M. Barrett (9/10)
Don't know much about guns; learned a lot from this book. Good explainer of some of the principal figures in guns and law/politics surrounding them since the 80s.

3. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas / Hunter S. Thompson (10/10)
Seen the movie a bunch, never read the book. Absolutely hilarious.

2. The Beatles / Bob Spitz (10/10)
1. Treachery (Dark Tower Comics Book 3) / Robin Furth (10/10)

 

1. The Twelve (The Passage #2) - Justin Cronin - (9/10)
2. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (6.5/10)
3. The Emperor's Soul - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
4. The Hope of Elantris - Brandon Sanderson --
5. Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1) - Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee (8.5/10)
6. Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs - Camilla Townsend (9/10)
7. Death of the Author - Nnedi Okorafor (8.5/10)
8. Alloy of Law (Mistborn Era 2 #1) - Brando Sando (8/10)
9. Allomancer Jak (Mistborn Era 2 #1.5). Brando Sando --
10. Shadows of Self (Mistborn Era 2 #2) - Brando Sando (8.5/10)
11. City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) - Justin Cronin - (8/10 )
12. Bands of Mourning (Mistborn Era 2 #3) - Brando Sando (9/10)
13. Mistborn: A Secret History - Brando Sando (9/10)
14. The Lost Metal (Mistborn 2 #4) - Brand Sando (9/10)

Bands of Mourning - I really enjoyed this book but feel like I shouldnt as much as it I did. It was pretty much a rip off of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade which made it kind of predictable. Still was a good read regardless. Speaks to how good Sanderson is , I suppose

Secret History - Amazing short story that provides a ton of dimension to the universe.


Lost Metal - Really good conclusion. Feel like I needed to read some other Sanderson books first

 

1. Stoner by John Williams 10/10
2. Orbital by Samantha Harvey 8/10
3. Rogues by Patrick Raden Keefe 9/10

Next up Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

 

Tomorrow is a great book.

 

1. Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) (Reread)
2. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archives #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (Reread)
3. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archives #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (Reread)

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (10/10)
6. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (2/10)
7. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (9.5/10)
8. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (8/10)

Really enjoyed it. Story was compelling, and while I didn't/don't know anybody in the book, I do know a few of the folks through others. Weirdly, I think I would've enjoyed it more if I wasn't pretty familiar with Savannah, and specifically the legal community of Savannah already. Savannah is probably the main character of the book, and while the author did a fantastic job presenting it, it didn't grab me like it may have otherwise. Still, fun read and very glad to finally have that one down.

Next up - Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesey. It's a book about some of the most tragic and insane deaths in the Park.

 

1. Wool - Hugh Howey (9/10)
2. Stoner - John Williams (10/10)
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman (8/10)

 

1. Moscow X by David McCloskey - 9/10
2. Challenger by Adam Higginbotham - 9.5/10
3. The Barn by Wright Thompson - 10/10
4. A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko - 7/10
5. What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci - 5/10
6. Augustus by John Williams - 10/10
7. Wagnerism by Alex Ross - 8/10

8. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - 9/10. Had never read this. Really really good. Great characters. Sadness permeates the novel though :(

9. Seventh Floor by David McCloskey - 8.5/10. Next iteration of these CIA novels. Perhaps my least favorite of the three so far, but still good and fun

 

1. The God of the Woods - Liz Moore (6/10)
2. Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell (7/10)
3. Three-Inch Teeth (Joe Pickett #24) - C.J. Box (6/10)
4. The Chamber - Will Dean (6/10)
5. New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West - David Sanger (9/10)
6. The Wanderer's Havamal - translation by Jackson Crawford (8/10)
7. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate - Peter Wohlleben (9/10)
8. The Surprising Genius of Jesus - Peter J. Williams (8/10)

9. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)

10. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (10/10)

 

1. Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) (Reread)
2. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archives #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (Reread)
3. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archives #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (Reread)
4. Oathbringer (Stormlight Archives #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) (Reread)

 

1. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 8/10
2. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu - 8/10.

3. Death's End by Cixin Liu - 7.5/10. Found myself a bit disappointed by this book to be honest. Maybe some of it just went over my head but I just didn't find it as engaging as the first two in the series and by the end I was ready for it to be over. Still entertaining and evoked a lot of existential dread at the end.

 

Damn dude you are plowing. Those books are huge

 

1. The Wager: A Tale of shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder- David Gran
2. Into The Deep- Robert Ballard
3. Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies- Jared Diamond
4. The Man-eaters of Tsavo- John Henry Patterson.
5. The Long Hunters- Steven Rinella.
6. Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West- Jerry Enzler.


7.In the Hurricanes eye: The genius of George Washington and the victory at Yorktown-Nathaniel Philbrick
8. Wind and Truth: Sanderson
9. Blood Gun Money: Ioan Grillo. Love this author, talks about the black market gun trad and the flow into Mexico
10. Riverman: An American Odyssey- Ben Mcgrath. Really interesting book about a guy who canoed America's rivers an his disappearance.

 

Oldest is doing travel volleyball. Lots of downtime.

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (10/10)
6. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (2/10)
7. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (9.5/10)
8. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (8/10)
9. Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesey (4/10)

It was a really great historical reference for the park, and it added great color to one of my most favorite places on planet earth. It also cites my dad directly at least twice, which was fun (and I knew about ahead of time). Still, pretty early on in the book, it becomes pretty monotonous to read about scores of deaths in the late 1800s/early 1900s that are scant on details.

25% of it was 10/10 fascinating. 75% of it was a slog. Glad I read it and will certainly use it as a reference in the future, but will never read cover to cover again.

Need a palate cleanser. Next up, Primitive War by Ethan Pettus.

 

1. Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) (Reread)
2. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archives #2) - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) (Reread)
3. Edgedancer (Stormlight Archives #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (Reread)
4. Oathbringer (Stormlight Archives #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) (Reread)
5. Dawnshard (Stormlight Archives #3.5) - Brandon Sanderson (7/10) (Reread)

 

Never heard of Primitive War. Looked it up. All I saw was the cover. Oh yeah. I need to read this

 

Came highly recommended by a buddy of mine who has been obsessed with dinosaurs since he was a kid. I'm excited.

 

1. Wing Walkers by Taylor Brown (8.5/10)
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6.5/10)
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (*/10)
4. Rednecks by Taylor Brown (7/10)
5. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (10/10)
6. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (2/10)
7. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (9.5/10)
8. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (8/10)
9. Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesey (4/10)
10. Primitive War by Ethan Pettus (7/10)

Basically, Predator in book form with dinosaurs set in Vietnam with some Russian mad scientist sprinkles. I think this started as Jurassic Park fan fic, and definitely reads like it, but was enjoyable nonetheless. It was an overly serious 80s action flick in book form, and I’ll probably read the next in the series at some point.

Next up: Another Country by James Baldwin.

 

1. The Twelve (The Passage #2) - Justin Cronin - (9/10)
2. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (6.5/10)
3. The Emperor's Soul - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
4. The Hope of Elantris - Brandon Sanderson --
5. Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1) - Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee (8.5/10)
6. Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs - Camilla Townsend (9/10)
7. Death of the Author - Nnedi Okorafor (8.5/10)
8. Alloy of Law (Mistborn Era 2 #1) - Brando Sando (8/10)
9. Allomancer Jak (Mistborn Era 2 #1.5). Brando Sando --
10. Shadows of Self (Mistborn Era 2 #2) - Brando Sando (8.5/10)
11. City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) - Justin Cronin - (8/10 )
12. Bands of Mourning (Mistborn Era 2 #3) - Brando Sando (9/10)
13. Mistborn: A Secret History - Brando Sando (9/10)
14. The Lost Metal (Mistborn 2 #4) - Brand Sando (9/10)
15. An Honorable Assassin (Nick Mason #3) - Steve Hamilton (6.5/10)
16. A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles (8/10)
17. Nemesis (Orphan X #10) - Gregg Hurwitz (7.5/10)


Honorable Assassin - 3rd entry in a serialized series about a former Chicago mob hitman that is forced into jobs against his will. First two were really good/fun empty calorie type books. A lot of my enjoyment was because they took place in Chicago. Now he's gone international and it's just kind of meh. Will have to debate if I read the next one when it comes out.

A Gentleman in Moscow - It was really good. I'm not one to care that much about prose. Care more about readability ect. But Towles really does write beautifully. Look forward to reading his other works. Good change of pace

Orphan X - Another solid entry. This has really filled the Jack Reacher - Mission fo the week, type series. Good stuff.

 

1. Wool - Hugh Howey (9/10)
2. Stoner - John Williams (10/10)
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman (8/10)
4. The Heart in Winter - Kevin Barry (5/10)

 

1) Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio 10/10
2) Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson 9/10
3) Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey 8/10
4) A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towels 10/10
5) Starry Messenger by Neil Degrasse Tyson 7/10
6) A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders 7/10
7) Tales of the Sun Eater Vol. 2 by Christopher Ruocchio 7/10
8) Mistborn: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson 9/10

Maybe a hair down from the first Mistborn book for me, but the ending definitely hooked me in for book three, will read it in a few weeks.

Next up: book 4 in the Sun Eater series, Kingdoms of Death

 

1. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell - 8/10
2. The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey - 7.5/10
3. The Black Prince by Michael Jones - 8/10
A biography on Edward, the Black Prince, the 14th century heir to the English throne. A nice blend of entertaining and academic.
4. Shyness and Dignity by Dag Solstad - 8/10
A novel about a middle-aged high school teacher who has a mid-life crisis of sorts. Enjoyable enough.