1. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (8/10) 2. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 3. Red Country - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 4. The Way of Kings (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 5. Words of Radiance (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 6. Edgedancer - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 7. Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) 8. Scorched Shadows (Hellequin #7) - Steve McHugh (8/10) 9. Snapshot - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) 10. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 11. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) - Enjoyed all of the short stories 12. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) 13. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 14. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 15. Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 16. Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera #5) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 17. First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera #6) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 18. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (9/10) 19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 20. Dune - Frank Herbert (7.5/10)
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) - JK Rowling (9/10) 2. The Chalk Man - CJ Tudor (6.5/10) 3. All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire - Jonathan Abrams (9.5/10) 4. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch (10/10) 5. Breaking Bad 101: The Complete Critical Companion - Alan Sepinwall (8.5/10) 6. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 7. The 25th Hour - David Benioff (9.5/10) 8. The Broken Girls - Simone St. James (8/10) 9. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - Michelle McNamara (9/10) Broken Girls - This was a good read. Good pacing, interesting characters, and a great balance of the dual narrative that it bounced back and forth between. I’ve read a lot of thrillers the last few years but this one was different enough to stand out among those. I'll Be Gone in the Dark - This was a phenomenal book. Only have two knocks on it. 1. Part 1 was better than 2 and 3, so I thought the book peaked early. But that was in part because of... 2. The unfortunate disjointed nature the book had at times, because of how it had to be written. Those two things aside, it was an incredible read. I knew nothing of these crimes, which is amazing when you consider all the victims. But it seems like I wasn’t alone in that. Great book, highly recommend.
1. Devil's Bargain: Joshua Green 2. Long Way Down: Jason Reynolds 3. Benediction: Kent Haruf 4. The Hate U Give: Angie Thomas 5. Velocity: Chris Wooding 6. Our Souls at Night: Kent Haruf 7. Through the Woods: Emily Carroll (graphic novel) 8. Poppies of Iraq: Brigitte Findakly and Lewis Trondheim (graphic novel) 9. The Blade Itself: Joe Abercrombie 10. My Friend Dahmer: Derf Backderf (graphic novel) 11. Trashed: Derf Backderf (graphic novel) 12. The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman - reread 13. The Cay: Theodore Taylor (audio) - reread 14. Feed: MT Anderson (audio) - reread 15. Before They Are Hanged: Joe Abercrombie 16. The Skeleton Tree: Iain Lawrence 17. Blacksad: Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (graphic novel) 18. Turtles All the Way Down, John Green 19. Fools Crow, James Welch - reread 20. Spill Zone, Scott Westerfeld and Alex Puvilland (graphic novel) I read Fools Crow the first time 20+ years ago in college, but the reread was an easy 10/10. It absolutely transports you to life among the Blackfeet in the 1870's at the advent of the white invasion of their lands. Really captures what life must have been like for them in the time, but is also an elegy about the loss of that life due to their being cheated, murdered, and made ill by the white man's doing. Really an amazing story. Spill Zone rates as 100% "eh, whatever." Protagonist navigates a post "event" (mysterious, naturally) U.S. I've liked some of Westerfeld's previous stuff, but wasn't really moved at all here. I've got Stephen Florida and The Fourth Monkey on deck, based on comments/recommendations from here. Both look really interesting (for totally different reasons).
1) The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive # 1) by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 2) Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive # 2) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 3) Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive # 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 4) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 5) Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 6) Thunderhead (Arc of the Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman 6/10 7) The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child 7.5/10 8) The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey 7/10 9) The Kremlins Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) 9.5/10 10) Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney 7/10 11) End Game (Will Robie # 5) by David Baldacci 3/10 12) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -Reread - 10/10 13) Iron Gold (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown 7/10 14) Operator Down (Pike Logan # 12) by Brad Taylor 7/10
1. We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (Phillip Gourevitch) - 9/10 2. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) - 8.5/10 3. The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (Isabel Wilkerson) - 8/10 4. The Road To Jonestown: Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple (Jeff Guinn) - 9/10 5. All The King's Men (Robert Penn Warren) - 9.5/10 6. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Matthew Desmond) - 9.5/10 7. Columbine (Dave Cullen) - 8/10 8. Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything (Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner) - 7/10 9. Animal Farm (George Orwell) - 8/10 10. Lincoln In The Bardo (George Saunders) - 8.5/10 11. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir Of A Family And Culture In Crisis (J.D. Vance) - 5/10 12. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are - 8/10 - I enjoyed this one. Written for the general reader and the author was clearly inspired by Freakonomics (which he admits near the end of the book). He outlines the ways in which Big Data will transform the way we understand ourselves going forward and discusses the new types of data now available due to the Internet. Some of the anecdotes from his research are pretty funny (such as Indian men's fascination with breastfeeding). Felt like he could have spent more time on the potential negative impacts from Big Data but did hit on the major concerns. Up next is Lonesome Dove. Given it's length, I may mix in Killers of the Flower Moon simultaneously.
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes #9) - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (6/10) Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7) - James S.A. Corey (8.5/10) Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) - James S.A. Corey (7/10) Forge of Darkness (Kharkanas Trilogy #1) - Steven Erikson (9.5/10) Fall of Light (Kharkanas Trilogy #2) - Steven Erikson (9/10) Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (9/10) Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) - Ian Esselmont (8/10)
Tangman I just read Killers of the Flower Moon. It's worth your time. I learned a lot of things I didn't know, and I'm from Oklahoma.
I liked it a lot, not quite as deep as most of the others but that was almost a little refreshing. Reading Deadhouse Landing now
1. Devil's Bargain: Joshua Green 2. Long Way Down: Jason Reynolds 3. Benediction: Kent Haruf 4. The Hate U Give: Angie Thomas 5. Velocity: Chris Wooding 6. Our Souls at Night: Kent Haruf 7. Through the Woods: Emily Carroll (graphic novel) 8. Poppies of Iraq: Brigitte Findakly and Lewis Trondheim (graphic novel) 9. The Blade Itself: Joe Abercrombie 10. My Friend Dahmer: Derf Backderf (graphic novel) 11. Trashed: Derf Backderf (graphic novel) 12. The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman - reread 13. The Cay: Theodore Taylor (audio) - reread 14. Feed: MT Anderson (audio) - reread 15. Before They Are Hanged: Joe Abercrombie 16. The Skeleton Tree: Iain Lawrence 17. Blacksad: Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (graphic novel) 18. Turtles All the Way Down, John Green 19. Fools Crow, James Welch - reread 20. Spill Zone, Scott Westerfeld and Alex Puvilland (graphic novel) 21. Stephen Florida, Gabe Habash Holy shit, this book. Read it in two long sittings - couldn't pull myself away from the little fucking weirdo. Loved it.
1. Persepolis Rising (Expanse #7), by James S.A. Corey (10/10) 2. Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon #8) by Daniel Silva (8/10) 3. Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, by Gordon S Wood (8/10) 4. The Defector (Gabriel Allon #9) by Daniel Silva (6.5/10) 5. Star Wars: Colbalt Squadron, by Elizabeth Wein (6/10) 6. Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown (7/10) 7. Thinking the Twentieth Century, by Tony Judt (6.5/10) 8. Paradox Bound, by Peter Clines (7/10) 9. American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent, by Tamer Elnoury (9/10) 10. The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon #10) by Daniel Silva (6.5/10) 11. Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon #11) by Daniel Silva (4/10) 12. The Kremlin's Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) by Jason Matthews (9.5/10) 13. Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford (9/10) 14. Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs #1) by Richard K Morgan (7/10) 15. Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney (6/10) 16. The Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (7.5/10) 17. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry (9/10)
1. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (8/10) 2. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 3. Red Country - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 4. The Way of Kings (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 5. Words of Radiance (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 6. Edgedancer - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 7. Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) 8. Scorched Shadows (Hellequin #7) - Steve McHugh (8/10) 9. Snapshot - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) 10. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 11. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) - Enjoyed all of the short stories 12. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) 13. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 14. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 15. Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 16. Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera #5) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 17. First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera #6) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 18. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (9/10) 19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 20. Dune - Frank Herbert (7.5/10) 21. Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) (reread) - Ian Esselmont (8.5/10)
I'm loving Deadhouse Landing so far. So many more recognizable names. Wish these books were longer. I'm getting closed to being done and really don't want to be.
1) The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive # 1) by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 2) Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive # 2) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 3) Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive # 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 4) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 5) Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 6) Thunderhead (Arc of the Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman 6/10 7) The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child 7.5/10 8) The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey 7/10 9) The Kremlins Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) 9.5/10 10) Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney 7/10 11) End Game (Will Robie # 5) by David Baldacci 3/10 12) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -Reread - 10/10 13) Iron Gold (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown 7/10 14) Operator Down (Pike Logan # 12) by Brad Taylor 7/10 15) The Deceivers (John Wells #12) by Alex Berenson 7.5/10
Yeah, I really enjoy it too. I'm over 70% into it too and it doesn't seem like I've been reading for very long.
1. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (8/10) 2. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 3. Red Country - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 4. The Way of Kings (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 5. Words of Radiance (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 6. Edgedancer - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 7. Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) 8. Scorched Shadows (Hellequin #7) - Steve McHugh (8/10) 9. Snapshot - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) 10. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 11. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) - Enjoyed all of the short stories 12. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) 13. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 14. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 15. Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 16. Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera #5) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 17. First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera #6) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 18. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (9/10) 19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 20. Dune - Frank Herbert (7.5/10) 21. Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) (reread) - Ian Esselmont (8.5/10) 22. Deadhouse Landing (Path to Ascendancy #2) - Ian Esselmont (9.5/10)
working through The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution (will probably have to wait until summer to finish it). very easy and interesting read if you have an interest in that particular historical topic
1. Devil's Bargain: Joshua Green 2. Long Way Down: Jason Reynolds 3. Benediction: Kent Haruf 4. The Hate U Give: Angie Thomas 5. Velocity: Chris Wooding 6. Our Souls at Night: Kent Haruf 7. Through the Woods: Emily Carroll (graphic novel) 8. Poppies of Iraq: Brigitte Findakly and Lewis Trondheim (graphic novel) 9. The Blade Itself: Joe Abercrombie 10. My Friend Dahmer: Derf Backderf (graphic novel) 11. Trashed: Derf Backderf (graphic novel) 12. The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman - reread 13. The Cay: Theodore Taylor (audio) - reread 14. Feed: MT Anderson (audio) - reread 15. Before They Are Hanged: Joe Abercrombie 16. The Skeleton Tree: Iain Lawrence 17. Blacksad: Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (graphic novel) 18. Turtles All the Way Down: John Green 19. Fools Crow: James Welch - reread 20. Spill Zone: Scott Westerfeld and Alex Puvilland (graphic novel) 21. Stephen Florida: Gabe Habash 22. The Fourth Monkey: JD Barker 23. Templar: Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham, Alex Puvilland (graphic novel) Templar is the story of the French government turning on the Knights Templar in the early 14th century. It follows a handful of knights and henchmen that escape imprisonment and execution and make off with the order's legendary treasures. Historical fiction isn't really my jam, but this book was really well done. The Fourth Monkey was totally, 100% underwhelming. I had the "twist" with the killer's identity figured out in the first 50 pages - and if an idiot like me can see it that far off, then it's not nearly as smart a book as it wants to be. Plus there were just too many "cop movie" cliches to really keep me interested. It just seemed like it would've been better off just skipping right to the movie treatment. Liu's Three Body Problem is next up. Excited about that one.
I was underwhelmed w the Fourth Monkey too. However I think (hope) it will get better as the series progresses. Pretty unspectacular as a stand alone book, but laid out a good premise and character rivalry for future books.
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes #9) - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (6/10) Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7) - James S.A. Corey (8.5/10) Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) - James S.A. Corey (7/10) Forge of Darkness (Kharkanas Trilogy #1) - Steven Erikson (9.5/10) Fall of Light (Kharkanas Trilogy #2) - Steven Erikson (9/10) Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (9/10) Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) - Ian Esselmont (8/10) Deadhouse Landing (Path to Ascendancy #2) Ian Esselmont (9/10) FUCK. I'm all out of new Malazan books. I started Gardens of the Moon in March of 2015. Over 3 years later I have finished every available work that takes place in this universe (over 20 novels/novellas/short stories). It is my favorite series ever and honestly it was difficult not to just pick up Gardens of the Moon and start all over again.
I did like Porter, but TBH nobody else really did it for me, including Bishop. (In fairness, that’s also not my genre of choice.) Like I said, I think it’d maybe work better as a film or miniseries for me though. I could probably be convinced to give book two a try but I think it would get a short leash.
Have you read Dark Matter, by Crouch (can't remember his first name off hand). That's a better version of that genre/ type book. We all pretty much loved it.
1. Persepolis Rising (Expanse #7), by James S.A. Corey (10/10) 2. Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon #8) by Daniel Silva (8/10) 3. Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, by Gordon S Wood (8/10) 4. The Defector (Gabriel Allon #9) by Daniel Silva (6.5/10) 5. Star Wars: Colbalt Squadron, by Elizabeth Wein (6/10) 6. Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown (7/10) 7. Thinking the Twentieth Century, by Tony Judt (6.5/10) 8. Paradox Bound, by Peter Clines (7/10) 9. American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent, by Tamer Elnoury (9/10) 10. The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon #10) by Daniel Silva (6.5/10) 11. Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon #11) by Daniel Silva (4/10) 12. The Kremlin's Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) by Jason Matthews (9.5/10) 13. Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford (9/10) 14. Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs #1) by Richard K Morgan (7/10) 15. Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney (6/10) 16. The Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (7.5/10) 17. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry (9/10) 18. Star Wars: Last Shot, by Daniel Jose Older (6.5/10)
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer - 7/10 Slogged a little in the middle but incredible descriptions of an insane story. Golden Son - Pierce Brown - 9 /10 Just as good as Red Rising, reading Morning Star now. Beneath A Scarlet Sky (Audible) - Mark Sullivan - 8/10 If even part of the story is true, its incredible, and the book is really well written. Handmaid's Tale (Audible) - Margaret Atwood - 6/10 - I really dig the concept and the best parts of the book were when they talked about how shit went down and the bad guys got control of the government. The rest was ok,I don't love stream of consciousness which was how this felt a lot of the time. It would have probably been better in print, as it was hard to know if it was the narrator or the girl's own thoughts at times. Not bad, not great. 1984 - George Orwell - 7/10 - Enjoyed for the most part, or at least as much as one can enjoy such a depressing book. Fascinating to see how they break him down in the final third of the book. Highly recommend the Audible reading, i need to see who did the narration because he killed it. Edinburgh Twilight - An Ian Hamilton Mystery - 7/10 - I was looking for something with the free Audible edition along with it, this popped up so I went for it. Fairly entertaining, interesting characters. The narrator's voicing of the characters was somewhat overwrought, or maybe that's what they actually sounded like back then. Interesting portrait of the city as much as anything. Darknet (Audible) - Matthew Mather - 7/10 - Entertaining read about a post-apocalyptic type scenario in NYC. Kind of like a summer blockbuster in book form, enjoyable if you don't think too much about it. The Atlantis Gene - AG Riddle - 7.5/10 Another somewhat hard to believe premise but well carried out by the author, I enjoyed it and used both Audible and the e-reader to finish it. First of three books, will see where the rest goes but it was worth the read. The Short Drop (The Gibson Vaughn Series Book 1) - Mathew Fitzsimmons - 8.5/10 - Was surprised how much I enjoyed this one, Vaughn is a believable character and a good "hero" for the story. Slowed down a bit in the middle but the last 1/3 of the book was a page turner for sure. About 100 pages into Book 2 right now.
1. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (8/10) 2. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 3. Red Country - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 4. The Way of Kings (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 5. Words of Radiance (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 6. Edgedancer - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 7. Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) 8. Scorched Shadows (Hellequin #7) - Steve McHugh (8/10) 9. Snapshot - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) 10. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 11. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) - Enjoyed all of the short stories 12. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) 13. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 14. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 15. Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 16. Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera #5) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 17. First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera #6) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 18. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (9/10) 19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 20. Dune - Frank Herbert (7.5/10) 21. Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) (reread) - Ian Esselmont (8.5/10) 22. Deadhouse Landing (Path to Ascendancy #2) - Ian Esselmont (9.5/10) 23. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) - N.K. Jemisin (8/10)
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes #9) - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (6/10) Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7) - James S.A. Corey (8.5/10) Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) - James S.A. Corey (7/10) Forge of Darkness (Kharkanas Trilogy #1) - Steven Erikson (9.5/10) Fall of Light (Kharkanas Trilogy #2) - Steven Erikson (9/10) Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (9/10) Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) - Ian Esselmont (8/10) Deadhouse Landing (Path to Ascendancy #2) - Ian Esselmont (9/10) Scourged (Iron Druid #9) - Kevin Hearne (7.5/10) Thought the last book in the series was pretty good. Wish it had been a little bit longer, I feel like some of the side stories were pretty anticlimactic, but I enjoyed the ending. Hope he decides to pick it back up eventually.
1) The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive # 1) by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 2) Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive # 2) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 3) Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive # 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 4) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 5) Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 6) Thunderhead (Arc of the Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman 6/10 7) The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child 7.5/10 8) The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey 7/10 9) The Kremlins Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) 9.5/10 10) Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney 7/10 11) End Game (Will Robie # 5) by David Baldacci 3/10 12) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -Reread - 10/10 13) Iron Gold (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown 7/10 14) Operator Down (Pike Logan # 12) by Brad Taylor 7/10 15) The Deceivers (John Wells #12) by Alex Berenson 7.5/10 16) Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) by Mark Lawrence 8.5/10
1) The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive # 1) by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 2) Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive # 2) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 3) Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive # 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 4) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 5) Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 6) Thunderhead (Arc of the Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman 6/10 7) The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child 7.5/10 8) The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey 7/10 9) The Kremlins Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) 9.5/10 10) Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney 7/10 11) End Game (Will Robie # 5) by David Baldacci 3/10 12) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -Reread - 10/10 13) Iron Gold (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown 7/10 14) Operator Down (Pike Logan # 12) by Brad Taylor 7/10 15) The Deceivers (John Wells #12) by Alex Berenson 7.5/10 16) Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) by Mark Lawrence 8.5/10 17) The Terminal List by Jack Carr 6.5/10
1. We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (Phillip Gourevitch) - 9/10 2. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) - 8.5/10 3. The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (Isabel Wilkerson) - 8/10 4. The Road To Jonestown: Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple (Jeff Guinn) - 9/10 5. All The King's Men (Robert Penn Warren) - 9.5/10 6. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Matthew Desmond) - 9.5/10 7. Columbine (Dave Cullen) - 8/10 8. Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything (Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner) - 7/10 9. Animal Farm (George Orwell) - 8/10 10. Lincoln In The Bardo (George Saunders) - 8.5/10 11. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir Of A Family And Culture In Crisis (J.D. Vance) - 5/10 12. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are (Seth Stephens-Davidowitz) - 8/10 13. Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry) - 9/10 - Shared my thoughts in the book club thread but man, what a great novel. Felt sad to be leaving that world when it ended. Would highly recommend.
1. Persepolis Rising (Expanse #7), by James S.A. Corey (10/10) 2. Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon #8) by Daniel Silva (8/10) 3. Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, by Gordon S Wood (8/10) 4. The Defector (Gabriel Allon #9) by Daniel Silva (6.5/10) 5. Star Wars: Colbalt Squadron, by Elizabeth Wein (6/10) 6. Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown (7/10) 7. Thinking the Twentieth Century, by Tony Judt (6.5/10) 8. Paradox Bound, by Peter Clines (7/10) 9. American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent, by Tamer Elnoury (9/10) 10. The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon #10) by Daniel Silva (6.5/10) 11. Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon #11) by Daniel Silva (4/10) 12. The Kremlin's Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) by Jason Matthews (9.5/10) 13. Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern Worldby Jack Weatherford (9/10) 14. Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs #1) by Richard K Morgan (7/10) 15. Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney (6/10) 16. The Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (7.5/10) 17. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry (9/10) 18. The Phenomenon, by Rick Ankiel (7/10) 19. We Are Legion (Bobiverse #1), by Dennis E Taylor (7.5) 20. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2), by Dennis E Taylor (7/10) 21. All These Worlds (Bobiverse #3), by Dennis E Taylor (6.5/10) Ankiel's memoir about the yips was pretty good, but nothing special. Essentially he had a horrible upbringing, lost it mentally and just his story of getting back to the majors as an OF. Easy guy to root for. Bobiverse was entertaining, but I think I got fatigued. It started to meander a bit. Still glad I read it.
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer - 7/10 Slogged a little in the middle but incredible descriptions of an insane story. Golden Son - Pierce Brown - 9 /10 Just as good as Red Rising, reading Morning Star now. Beneath A Scarlet Sky (Audible) - Mark Sullivan - 8/10 If even part of the story is true, its incredible, and the book is really well written. Handmaid's Tale (Audible) - Margaret Atwood - 6/10 - I really dig the concept and the best parts of the book were when they talked about how shit went down and the bad guys got control of the government. The rest was ok,I don't love stream of consciousness which was how this felt a lot of the time. It would have probably been better in print, as it was hard to know if it was the narrator or the girl's own thoughts at times. Not bad, not great. 1984 - George Orwell - 7/10 - Enjoyed for the most part, or at least as much as one can enjoy such a depressing book. Fascinating to see how they break him down in the final third of the book. Highly recommend the Audible reading, i need to see who did the narration because he killed it. Edinburgh Twilight - An Ian Hamilton Mystery - 7/10 - I was looking for something with the free Audible edition along with it, this popped up so I went for it. Fairly entertaining, interesting characters. The narrator's voicing of the characters was somewhat overwrought, or maybe that's what they actually sounded like back then. Interesting portrait of the city as much as anything. Darknet (Audible) - Matthew Mather - 7/10 - Entertaining read about a post-apocalyptic type scenario in NYC. Kind of like a summer blockbuster in book form, enjoyable if you don't think too much about it. The Atlantis Gene - AG Riddle - 7.5/10 Another somewhat hard to believe premise but well carried out by the author, I enjoyed it and used both Audible and the e-reader to finish it. First of three books, will see where the rest goes but it was worth the read. The Short Drop (The Gibson Vaughn Series Book 1) - Mathew Fitzsimmons - 8.5/10 - Was surprised how much I enjoyed this one, Vaughn is a believable character and a good "hero" for the story. Slowed down a bit in the middle but the last 1/3 of the book was a page turner for sure. About 100 pages into Book 2 right now. Poisonfeather (The Gibson Vaughn Series Book 2) - Mathew Fitzsimmons - 7/10 - I really like the main character, but the premise wasn't quite as catching on this one. Author has pacing issues in the middle of his books, but overall I enjoyed it. Third book is starting out really good, if somewhat depressing.
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams (8/10) 2. Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter -- Steven Johnson (6/10) 3. Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious -- Timothy Wilson (9/10) 4. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley (8/10) *reread* 5. The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia #5) -- CS Lewis (10/10) *reread* 6. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism -- Edward E. Baptist (8/10) 7. The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently And Why -- Richard Nisbett (8/10) 8. Mind Sculpture: Unlocking Your Brain's Untapped Potential -- Ian Roberson (8/10) 9. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape -- James Howard Kunstler (10/10) 10. Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World -- Malcolm Potts and Thomas Hayden (9.5/10) 11. The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia #4) -- CS Lewis (10/10) *reread* 12. Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency -- David Greenberg (6/10) Too long; gets repetitive. Interesting to see though how what people perceive as more recent "bullshit" with the media and politics goes so far back. Per this book Teddy Roosevelt was the first modern president to recognize how he could use the press to advance his message. Up til that time Congress was more powerful but the White House started figuring out how it could appeal directly to the public to "go over their head"
1. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (8/10) 2. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 3. Red Country - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 4. The Way of Kings (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 5. Words of Radiance (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 6. Edgedancer - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 7. Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) 8. Scorched Shadows (Hellequin #7) - Steve McHugh (8/10) 9. Snapshot - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) 10. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 11. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) - Enjoyed all of the short stories 12. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) 13. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 14. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 15. Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 16. Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera #5) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 17. First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera #6) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 18. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (9/10) 19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 20. Dune - Frank Herbert (7.5/10) 21. Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) (reread) - Ian Esselmont (8.5/10) 22. Deadhouse Landing (Path to Ascendancy #2) - Ian Esselmont (9.5/10) 23. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) - N.K. Jemisin (8/10) 24. The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) - N.K. Jemisin (8/10)
1) The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive # 1) by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 2) Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive # 2) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 3) Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive # 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 4) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 5) Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 6) Thunderhead (Arc of the Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman 6/10 7) The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child 7.5/10 8) The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey 7/10 9) The Kremlins Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) 9.5/10 10) Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney 7/10 11) End Game (Will Robie # 5) by David Baldacci 3/10 12) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -Reread - 10/10 13) Iron Gold (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown 7/10 14) Operator Down (Pike Logan # 12) by Brad Taylor 7/10 15) The Deceivers (John Wells #12) by Alex Berenson 7.5/10 16) Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) by Mark Lawrence 8.5/10 17) The Terminal List by Jack Carr 6.5/10 18) The Fallen (Amos Decker #4) by David Baldacci 6/10
1. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (8/10) 2. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 3. Red Country - Joe Abercrombie (7/10) 4. The Way of Kings (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 5. Words of Radiance (reread) - Brandon Sanderson 6. Edgedancer - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 7. Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (10/10) 8. Scorched Shadows (Hellequin #7) - Steve McHugh (8/10) 9. Snapshot - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) 10. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson (9/10) 11. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) - Enjoyed all of the short stories 12. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (8.5/10) 13. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 14. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 15. Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4) - Jim Butcher (9.5/10) 16. Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera #5) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 17. First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera #6) - Jim Butcher (9/10) 18. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (9/10) 19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 20. Dune - Frank Herbert (7.5/10) 21. Dancer's Lament (Path to Ascendancy #1) (reread) - Ian Esselmont (8.5/10) 22. Deadhouse Landing (Path to Ascendancy #2) - Ian Esselmont (9.5/10) 23. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) - N.K. Jemisin (8/10) 24. The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) - N.K. Jemisin (8/10) 2. The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) - N.K. Jemisin (8/10)
1. Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) - Brandon Sanderson **Re-read** 2. Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive #2.5) - Brandon Sanderson **Re-read** 3. Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7) - James S.A. Corey (8.5/10) 4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia #1) - C.S. Lewis **Re-read** 5. Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia #2) - C.S. Lewis (6/10) 6. The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia #5) - C.S. Lewis (6.5/10) 7. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) - C.S. Lewis (7/10) 8. The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) - C.S. Lewis (6.5/10) 9. Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera #1) - Jim Butcher (7/10) 10. The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia #6) - C.S. Lewis (6.5/10) 11. The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia #7) - C.S. Lewis (6/10) 12. Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) 13. The Alienist - Caleb Carr (9/10) 14. Consider the Lobster and Other Essays - David Foster Wallace (8/10) 15. Old Man's War (Old Man's War #1) - John Scalzi (7.5/10) 16. Fall of Light (The Kharkanas Trilogy #2) - Steven Erikson (8/10) 17. Carrie - Stephen King (7/10) 18. Academ's Fury (Codex Alera #2) - Jim Butcher (7.5/10) 19. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI - David Grann (7/10) 20. Turtles All the Way Down - John Green (7/10) 21. Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove #1) - Larry McMurtry (9/10) 22. Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera #3) - Jim Butcher (7.5/10)
I've never read anything by Dostoevsky. Anybody have a recommendation of the best book to start with?
With McCarthy, I'd probably start with the Border Trilogy. A good introduction to his style. Definitely do not start with Blood Meridian (though it is his masterpiece). I haven't read Dostoevsky but I see Crime and Punishment usually mentioned when that topic is discussed. It does seem that the translation is vitally important to the reader's enjoyment and I see a lot of recommendations for the newer translations from Pevear and Volokhonsky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pevear_and_Larissa_Volokhonsky). I believe Constance Garnett's is the classic translation.
Definitely this. Need to read more of his stuff, but the fact that I could get into that book in high school is amazing.
Would there be any takers on a thread where we post books we want to get rid of and see if anybody wants them? I feel like we all prob have too many books already but idk
1) The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive # 1) by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 2) Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive # 2) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 3) Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive # 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 4) Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 9/10 5) Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 10/10 6) Thunderhead (Arc of the Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman 6/10 7) The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child 7.5/10 8) The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey 7/10 9) The Kremlins Candidate (Red Sparrow #3) 9.5/10 10) Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney 7/10 11) End Game (Will Robie # 5) by David Baldacci 3/10 12) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline -Reread - 10/10 13) Iron Gold (Red Rising # 4) by Pierce Brown 7/10 14) Operator Down (Pike Logan # 12) by Brad Taylor 7/10 15) The Deceivers (John Wells #12) by Alex Berenson 7.5/10 16) Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) by Mark Lawrence 8.5/10 17) The Terminal List by Jack Carr 6.5/10 18) The Fallen (Amos Decker #4) by David Baldacci 6/10 19) Overkill (Alexander Hawke #10) by Ted Bell 1/10
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) - JK Rowling (9/10) 2. The Chalk Man - CJ Tudor (6.5/10) 3. All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire - Jonathan Abrams (9.5/10) 4. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch (10/10) 5. Breaking Bad 101: The Complete Critical Companion - Alan Sepinwall (8.5/10) 6. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (9/10) 7. The 25th Hour - David Benioff (9.5/10) 8. The Broken Girls - Simone St. James (8/10) 9. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - Michelle McNamara (9/10) 10. Tiger Woods - Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (9/10) This book was great. Was fun remembering the good times, learning about other positives, and diving into the downfall. Great reporting and writing.