Alister Mcgrath- CS Lewis: A Life. I'd consider it a must read for Lewis fans

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Starting off with The Count of Monte Cristo

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GREAT book but it is LONG! Took me forever to get through.

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Starting off with The Count of Monte Cristo after the girlfriend kept going on and on about it. Hope to finish it by the end of the month.

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Awesome, I'm reading through it for the second time, by far my favorite book of all-time. You'll get through ~1300 pages and wonder how they were able to take out enough to get the abridged version down to ~450 (or whatever it is). Every detail is integral to the overall storyline

Hunger Games Series (read for the 2nd time)


Not sure what to ready next... has anybody read/recommend the Hyperion sci-fi series???



And obligatory note for the couple of Wheel of Time guys that are new to the series (this has been discussed at lengths in last years thread so I'll keep it brief). The series definitely derails in books 6-10. Nobody knows what Robert Jordan was thinking. Book 11 is really good again, Jordan dies, and Sanderson finishes the series with books 12-14 and they are just as good as the first 3, if not better because the Last Battle is insane! If you really like the first 3 books, keep going... in the end it's the most epic and fulfilling series I've ever read, perhaps because in the middle you feel like you are part of a long and hard journey, but the payoff is worth it.

i just bought books 5-7 at half price books yesterday. about a quarter of the way through book 4 right now.

i read the hyperion books. they were good, but if i remember correctly a little out there. i didn't love it.

I don't think I will ever do the WOT just because of the length. I can't stay focused on one thing that long.

However I am attempting to read a biography of every US President. But that's history which is different. (For some reason)

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i read the hyperion books. they were good, but if i remember correctly a little out there. i didn't love it.

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Thanks. I'm looking for something that is not "a little out there". I tried to read Neuromancer a couple months ago... got to page 50 and said "I'm out". That book tries too hard to be vague and seem like the whole thing is an LSD induced dream. If it was the inspiration behind the Matrix, I'll gladly thank the Matrix for putting on screen what I cannot understand on paper!

if you haven't read the Foundation series, i HIGHLY recommend them. really enjoyable reading.

Finished Ultramarathon Man (Dean Karnazes autobiography) quickly, partway through Running With the Kenyans but it's not quite as entertaining

Started into Zen and the Art of Screenwriting this weekend, love it so far

Just finished the border trilogy by Cormac McCarthy (started in 2013).

All the Pretty Horses - Great book and McCarthy does a great job of painting the landscape of Mexico with his words

The Crossing - Slow developing but turned out of be my favorite of the trilogy

Cities of the Plain - My second favorite of the trilogy. The main characters from the first two books end up working together on a ranch in New Mexico and it ends in a melancholy way like all McCarthy books.

Also finished The Road by McCarthy. I'm a new dad so this one really got to me. Anybody who has kids younger than 18 has to read this one.

Lone Survivor will be my next book. I'm waiting on it be delivered because Barnes and Noble was sold out.

[This message has been edited by hennyj15 (edited 1/13/2014 10:18a).]

Kingdom Keepers V right now. My kids like these so I breeze through them so we can talk about them.

Doctor Sleep- Stephen King-B

Reading Lone Survivor now. Not enjoying his writing style, but will stick it out.

Read:

1984 by George Orwell (A+ ... I read this a long time ago, but reading this in light of the Snowden/NSA saga really scares the hell out of me)

Reading:

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

[This message has been edited by AggieDave02 (edited 1/13/2014 4:01p).]

So far I've read Soccer in Sun and Shadow (great read for those that like the sport). And just about finished with Love is a Dog from Hell by Bukowski. It's the first Bukowski material I've read and I'm looking forward to getting into some of his prose.

Im working on finishing up Zealot by Reza Aslan. Its a book that covers the historical and physical Jesus. Very interesting thus far. It uses what we can say for certain to draw assumptions on the time and the life of Jesus. Where he was from, what his actions would have meant during the time back then and not as people 100 years later that wrote about him wanted them to seem like. The places in the Bible that contradict each other and also contradict what took place in those times.

Reading Lonseome Dove right now. Love it. After that I have a book on Texas history and after that I'll probably reread Cardinal of the Kremlin by Clancy.

The Book Thief

Finished WoT Book 12. This one was much better. Still some filler but not nearly what was in the previous few. Trying to decide whether to start book 13 and push on through to the end or read the Sec. Gates book I just bought.

I'm aiming for 12. I FINALLY finished the book I was reading before my husband's motorcycle accident last year, Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific."

I'm now reading a 631 page "Badge of Honor" by James Cozzens set in WWII that takes place over just 3 days. Not being a military buff, this novel may take me a while because my interest may quickly wane.

Just finished Tom Clancy's last book Command Authority. I liked the plot as it's a continuation if his series about Jack Ryan Jr and he definitely left the ending somewhat open so I'm curious if someone else would ever continue writing these or not. I wasn't a big fan of the jumping back and forth between the present and 30 years ago, I get that it was necessary to get some points of the story across, but I didn't like how they alternated where you were jumping back and forth almost every other chapter. All in all, a good book but not up there with my favorites from him (red storm rising, patriot games, rainbow six). B

Now to start With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge

Finally reading the Mitch Rapp/Vince Flynn Series as many people have recommended. So far this year I am through American Assassin and Kill Shot. About halfway through with Transfer of Power now.

About halfway through "Beyond Band of Brothers: the War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters"

Excellent book. Not just about history, either, he makes some pretty good commentary on what it means to be an effective leader.

Biggest Brother by Larry Alexander is a great read about Winters as well.

Finished "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Norton and loved it! Great read for a cold Indiana January. Loved the story and the mystery unraveling as I read.

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Finished WoT Book 12

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There you go! Regardless of when you read 13 & 14 you are in for a real treat!!!

The Ultimate Hang: An Illustrated Guide to Hammock Camping

I did start 13 and I'm really liking it. Already more than half done!

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I did start 13 and I'm really liking it. Already more than half done!

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Halfway done! Geez you guys are lightening readers. Took me 6 years to read the entire series!!!! Sure I read some stuff in between, but still. The last 3 books I read the fastest, but it still took me a solid month or two each. Some of the more boring books took me 6 months to read (obviously going many days between reading sometimes).

The fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy

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Just finished Tom Clancy's last book Command Authority. I liked the plot as it's a continuation if his series about Jack Ryan Jr and he definitely left the ending somewhat open so I'm curious if someone else would ever continue writing these or not. I wasn't a big fan of the jumping back and forth between the present and 30 years ago, I get that it was necessary to get some points of the story across, but I didn't like how they alternated where you were jumping back and forth almost every other chapter.

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I agree with all that. Good, but not great.

Starting WoT book 14. WooHoo!

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Starting WoT book 14. WooHoo!

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Its OK to take the last one slow and enjoy! I wouldn't say I cried, but I got emotional with some of the stuff in that book. Such a long journey and so many characters do what needs to be done. No criticism here.

Anybody read the Divergent series and recommend it? I was a big fan of Hunger Games and I enjoy books that have sequels. I also enjoy easy reads so I don't care if it's written for a younger audience.

Finishing up "The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big Time College Football" and about to start the new Robert Gates book.