The Lady of Rivers by Phillip Gregory (9/10)- Historical fiction during the War of the Roses. The main character is the lady-in-waiting for the Queen of England during that time. I'm now curious about the real history of the main character.

Beautiful Creates by Kami Garcia (8/10)- Fantasy YA- A teenage girl will either be claimed at a light or dark caster (witch) on her 16th birthday. Told from point of view of teenage boy that has been seeing her in dreams before he actually meets her. The underlying mystery made up for the female main character's overly dramatic reaction to the possibility of doing dark. But at the book repeatedly points out all 15-year-olds are overly dramatic.

Update:

1) Branden Sanderson's The Way of Kings. (A)
2) David Baldacci's The Camel Club. (B-)
3) Preston & Child's City of Endless Night. (B+)
4) Louis Bayard's The Black Tower. (B)

5) Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance #2 in Stormlight Archive series. While I enjoyed it very much I found myself getting frustrated of the secrets being held. Talk to each other people! (A)

6) David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon (NF) Very well done. Kept thinking about my parents that were born in the 20's and my grandparents and the life that led around this time period in Texas. The cheapness of life (especially non white) and the greed of men was eye opening. (A)

7) Dan Simmons' The Terror For good and bad reads like a NF book. Just amazing that people even tried aexplorations like this in 19th century. (A-)

8) Jo Nesbo's Cockroaches (actually #2 in series, but weren't released in U.S. in order) Thought was good, not great (B)

9) Brandon Sanderson's Edgedancer (#2.5 in Stormlight Archive series) A novella filler (B)

June edits:
10) Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer (#3 Stormlight Archive) As good as the first two. Excellent world builder and use of characters with faults. (A)

Next: Norman Mailers' The Executioner's Song (NF)

Oathbringer - Sanderson: A+
We are legion- Taylor A-
For we are many-Taylor: B
All these worlds-TaylorB+

Update:
Arcanum Unbound - Sanderson: A
Galactic North - Reynolds: C+
Excession - Banks B+
Player of Games - Banks: A

Current audiobook
Iron Gold - Brown (Very slow start...hope it picks up)

Current book:
Altered carbon - Morgan

Update and to bring back to top

1) Branden Sanderson's The Way of Kings. (A)
2) David Baldacci's The Camel Club. (B-)
3) Preston & Child's City of Endless Night. (B+)
4) Louis Bayard's The Black Tower. (B)
5) Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance (A)
6) David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon (NF) (A)
7) Dan Simmons' The Terror (A-)
8) Jo Nesbo's Cockroaches (B)
9) Brandon Sanderson's Edgedancer (B)
10) Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer (A)

11) Norman Mailers' The Executioner's Song (NF) About Gary Gilmore. Very interesting and will remember it for long time. Doesn't try and change your mind about death penalty one way or other. Just very informative about the whole process. Unbelievable that he went from release from prison, murders, trial, and execution in just over 9 months. Many interesting, but flawed characters (B+)
12) Joe R. Lansdale's Savage Season. First Hap and Leonard novel. Good characters, good east Texas humor. (B+)
July update:
13) Collin Cotterill's The Cororner's Lunch Another first in series detective novel. An old coroner in Laos just after Vietnam War. I enjoyed it. (B+)

I got side tracked by a Bible in 90 days bible study but got through that and back to floating around the pool reading in my free time.

Iron Gold (Brown) A-: like several others it took me some time to get back into the world/characters but it ended well and it is just such a fascinating combination of ancient Rome and ultra sci-fi. Hope the movie comes through.

Up Next: Oathbringer (need to brush up on characters first been a while) by Sanderson

Listening: Artemis- I'm actually enjoying it a good bit. Maybe it is more fun when read in the female main character's voice? Not sure. Although they do remind us that the moon has lower gravity WAY too much!

Last bus to Woodstock - first book on Morse . Then, by accident saw the video on it. Pretty close to book.

Tricky as most of the Morse series are .

Clavell said:

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Just to keep this traditional thread going.

1) Branden Sanderson's The Way of Kings. Began last year, but finished 2018.

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just finished book 1+2
Going on to edgedancer then oathbringer

First Sanderson books, love them

10 book series, ugh. And he spends about 4yrs between these books (so far).

Ya he projected 2020 for book 4

Love kingkiller, waiting for 3rd

Read a simple thriller novel on the plane. "Don't Let Go" by Harlan Coben. It was like reading an episode of CSI or some show like that. It entertained me though.

Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck - A much darker subject. Interesting subject but the author clearly is not a great historian but more of a beat writer. Still I found some of it very interesting to see how we used to treat the "Feeble-minded".

mrsbeer05 said:

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nai06 said:

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mrsbeer05 said:

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Nick and Nora's infinite playlist (C+) by David Levithian

I think I'm just going too old for 'realistic' ya fiction

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There is a lot of great contemporary ya out there. If you give a few books you like I could recommend a few. Nick and Noras is good, but a little dated.

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Give me your favs

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Very delayed response but just found this thread.

I'd recommend checking out Rainbow Rowell. She has two YA books (Eleanor & Park and Fangirl) and two adult contemporary (Attachments and Landline). Easy writing style, great dialogue, quippy, and well-defined characters. Landline was probably my least favorite...start with any of the others.

Iron Gold (Brown) A-: like several others it took me some time to get back into the world/characters but it ended well and it is just such a fascinating combination of ancient Rome and ultra sci-fi. Hope the movie comes through.

Edgedancer (Sanderson short)- A- I really enjoyed this look at a minor character. I found Lift pretty funny.


Up Next: Oathbringer (need to brush up on characters first been a while) by Sanderson

Listening: Artemis- I'm actually enjoying it a good bit. Maybe it is more fun when read in the female main character's voice? Not sure. Although they do remind us that the moon has lower gravity WAY too much!

Mine for the year so far.

Way Of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer
Oathbringer
Mistborn Final Empire
Well of Ascension
Hero of Ages
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
Codex Alera book 1

All highly recommended, thought it was a bit jarring to read 9 books in a row by 1 author then switch to another author.

Quote:

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Quote:

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Clavell said:
Just to keep this traditional thread going.

1) Branden Sanderson's The Way of Kings. Began last year, but finished 2018.

---

just finished book 1+2
Going on to edgedancer then oathbringer

First Sanderson books, love them

10 book series, ugh. And he spends about 4yrs between these books (so far).

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Not as bad as that. Current rate and expectation is a book every other year and what I've read it is really two series of 5 so will get some conclusion by 2022 on first series.

I'm currently reading The Emperor's Codes: The Breaking of Japan's Secret Ciphers.

The Butterfly Garden, By Dot Hutchison

This is a series of books that I would recommend if you're looking for a new book!

Just finished A Man Called Ove. Really enjoyed it. However, I couldn't shake the thought that this book is almost an exact mix of Grand Torino and Despicable Me.

I love Rainbow Rallows books! I think Attachments was my favorite. It was also the first book I read from her.

Does audible count? If so I recently finished The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung.

Shadow Prowler - Pehov - A-
Shadow Chaser - Pehov B+

Currently listening to Shadow Blizzard - Pehov

Unique take on fantasy, solid narration. Not quite Sanderson or Rothfuss, but certainly enjoying it so far.

Iron Gold (Brown) A-: like several others it took me some time to get back into the world/characters but it ended well and it is just such a fascinating combination of ancient Rome and ultra sci-fi. Hope the movie comes through.

Way of Kings (Sanderson) - A+ this was my 2nd read. I tried starting Oathbringer and was pretty lost so just restarted the series. It was much better this round IMO.

Artemis (Audiobook)- A+ I loved this book and the reader captured the snarky young lady main character perfectly.


Up Next: Words of Radiance read #2 (need to brush up on characters first been a while) by Sanderson

Listening: Dark Tower book #1- read this a LONG time ago so giving it another round.

- Persepolis Rising (Expanse) -- B+
- Night Angel -- A
- Altered Carbon series -- 1-A, 2-B, 3-B-
- Iron Gold -- A
- Rusty Puppy (Hap and Leonard) -- B+
- Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix -- C- (I'll stick with the C but a little funnier now that I've visited my 1st Ikea)
- Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov -- A
- Shadow Chaser by Alexey Pehov -- A
- Shadow Blizzard by Alexey Pehov -- A-
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss -- A
- The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss -- A
- The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss -- D (Love the character this is about, explains a few things unseen in first two main books but about 3-4 pages of good info amongst 160 pages of near, non-sensical writing; bottom line: worth the time to read in the context of the over-arching trilogy but worthless as a stand alone. Do not read without having read "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear".)
- Tomorrow War: The Chronicles of Max [Redacted] by J L Bourne -- A (On an unacknowledged mission inside the Syrian border, a government operative unwittingly triggers an incredible event that unleashes a weapon with the power to destroy the moral fabric of humanity.)
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (Got 63 pages in and just couldn't bring myself to continue, premise is fascinating, HUGE potential...product...zzzzzz) ungraded because I didn't finish

- Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne (currently reading, hard to put down, History written like a novel)

Update:
14) Tom Holland's Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar (NF): Covers Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. First 50 pages covers Roman history through Julius Caesar. Pretty objective/critical view of the emperors. Seen bits and pieces of their reigns in books and movies, but this gives good overall look at the men and those around them. Have to say there are definitely similarities between Nero and Trump. Playing to the masses, contempt for ruling classes and delight in rubbing their noses in it, self absorbed, erratic with a purpose, grand gestures, etc. (B+)

15) Greg Iles' The Quiet Game. Another first in series detective novels. Really liked this one. Reminds me of John Grisham's early works. Will definitely read more of series (A)

16) Peter V. Brett's The Warded Man. Book 1 of fantasy series The Demon Cycle. Was ok, but first book was really mostly just introduction of characters and background. Downloaded books 1-4 to get better price so will probably keep reading, but something else first. (B)

17) Will Thomas' Some Danger Involved First in Victorian London Sherlock Holmes like detective series. Good, but a bit straight forward (B+)

October update
18) Janet Morris' I, The Sun. Historically based told as first person account of Hittities in 1300s BC. I knew almost nothing about this culture before reading which is good and bad. Learned a lot, but all the battles and small countries ran together for me. (B)

19) Dean Koontz's Lightening. Good light book that was interesting with a few twists. (B)

November Update:
20) Peter V. Brett's The Desert Spear. Book 2 of The Demon Cycle. Liked it better than book 1. Thought about going right into book 3, but decided on a little break first. (A-)

Next: Thomas L. Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem. Going on cruise next year that has a stop in Jerusalem so this one I thought might give me some good background.

Wiseguy-Pileggi
Passionate Nation-The epic history of Texas-Haley
Dragon Teeth-Chricton
Mafia Prince-Leonetti
The Outsider-Stephen King

Currently reading-Casino-Pileggi

There are a couple more, but drawing a blank right now.

I always forget about these threads when they start! I wish we had a texags Goodreads group... just sayin...
It looks like many of us have the same taste in books, which is cool.

Anyways, I will list some highlights of the 75+ books I've read (and listened to) this year (star rating is out of 5 stars):

• The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui 4 stars - great graphic novel about a family immigrating from Vietnam to the States.
• Iron Gold by Pierce Brown 4 stars - Same as y'all took way too long to get into. I hope the next is better/quicker
• In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides 4 stars - great non-fiction read
• The Stand by Stephen King 3.83 stars - finally did it (nearly 48 hours on audio)
• Gunpower Moon by David Pedreira 1.5 stars - had to give up on this one
• How to Stop Time by Matt Haig 4 stars - fun read
• Educated by Tara Westover 5 stars - a MUST read. So unbelievable.
• Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey 3.5 stars - Meh, twas ok. I like the TV show better
• Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey 3.2 stars - Same, twas ok. I like the TV show better
• The Oracle Year by Charles Soule 3 stars - not bad
• Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Joukhadar 3 stars - not bad for a debut author; could have been much better.
• Rocket Men by Robert Kurson 4 stars - awesome story of Apollo 8 mission
• Only Human (book 3 of Themis Files) by Sylvain Neuvel 4 stars - decent ending to a fun trilogy
• The Outsider by Stephen King 3 stars - a little long but not bad
• The Chinaman by Stephen Leather 3 stars - got worse towards the end but I want to see the Jackie Chan movie now
• The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn 4 stars - great debut novel - I think is going to be a movie with Amy Adams
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 4 stars- fun classic
• Circe by Madeline Miller 2 stars - had to stop reading...
• Astroball by Ben Reiter 3 stars - any Houston Astros fans out there HAVE to read this
• The Meg by Steve Alten 3.5 stars - fun read - ready to see the movie now
• The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte 3.6 stars - fun non-fiction about dinosaurs

Currently reading:

• Ball Lighting by Cixin Liu

...ok... I got tired of typing all of that up...
EDIT: ah crap, my copy and pasted stars didn't come through -- will retype it later...
EDIT 2: looks messy but I added my stars numerically...

Just finished the Way of the Kings.
Next up is Words of Radiance and then Oathbringer.
Bought the trilogy as a set.
Enjoyed the first book, but the kept secrets drove me cra6.
From comments above, it looks like those are worse in the next book.

Just really started reading again recently but spent a few months reading all of The Expanse books. Got my kindle hooked up to the B/CS library now so that should help also.

Anyone read the 'Gone Girl' book? I haven't seen the movie and the book is really popular and was available through the library (as opposed to most of the books I want to read on the waitlist.)

Recently read:

The Expanse - James S.A. Corey - Books 1-7: couldn't put them down.
The Hike - Drew Magary: This is a weird book, but I really enjoyed it.
The Martian - no need for thoughts here, everyone knows this book
Origin - Dan Brown (entertaining quick read)
Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer - James L. Swanson - (someone on Twitter recommended this as a 'summer read' and it was great. I learned that I basically didn't know anything about the Lincoln assassination or the manhunt that happened.)

Want to read:
American War - Omar El Akkad
Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann
The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu

So, I started reading Too Like the Lightening by Ada Palmer. I'm about 5% in and I'm putting it down and will come back to it...maybe. I'm not sure I like her writing style. It's pretty complex and written almost as if she is too smart for her own good.

I'm going to read Heir to the Empire by Zahn instead. Somehow never read that. Yes, it's a bit more lowbrow.

I liked The Outsider for about the first 1/3, then it veered off into something totally different and got pretty boring.

I got my daughter into Sanderson, so I started the year with a bunch of him so we could talk about it

Oathbringer - Sanderson
Edgedanceer - Sanderson
Mistborn - Sanderson
Well of Ascension - Sanderson
Hero of Ages - Sanderson
Alloy of Law - Sanderson
Bands of Morning - Sanderson
Mistborn: Secret History - Sanderson


I am not really much of a fantasy guy, but like most you have already found out Sanderson is a machine that churns out some really good work.

The Princess Bride - I was really impressed by it, different enough from the movie that it is worth the read.

Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern - Really a fun original story

Fifth Season - nk jemisin Saw that it has won some awards. It was unique story, but I didn't really get into it much.

Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman - Short pretty typical Gaiman, so I liked it.

Dear Martin - Nic Stone - Read this because I was taking my daughter to a YA conference, and Nic Stone was the keynote speaker. Meh writing, but I bet she stays around and gets a lot of press because she takes controversial subjects head on, and has a engaging personality.

The Extraordinary life of Sam Hell - This was free on amazon prime and had like a million 5-star reviews. I hated this book so much. I usually don't finish books I don't like, I only finished because I was trying to figure out why people liked so much about it. I never did.

1. Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3) - Jim Butcher
2. Rules for a Knight - Ethan Hawke
3. Cibola Burn (Expanse #4) - James Corey
4. Stephen King's Darktower: The Gunslinger Born (Graphic Novel) - Peter David
5. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton
6. Half a King - Joe Abercrobmie
7. A Night without Stars - Peter F. Hamilton
8. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
9. Agincourt - Bernard Cornwell
10. The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) - Brandon Sanderson

Currently reading:
Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn

Abandoned:
2312 - Kim Stanley Robinson; very boring book yet somehow won Nebula Award

So far this year I've read all 4 of the stormlight archives, mistborn trilogy, wax and Wayne, all 6 codex alera, and 1984. Currently reading the man in high castle.

Origin- Dan Brown which was exactly like every other Dan Brown book (which is not a good thing). One dimensional characters, the presence of the same female supporting character in every book just with a different name, an easily and early predicted secret bad guy, terrible dialogue between characters, and a relatively interesting underlying mystery.

Ready Player One- Ernest Cline I was initially intrigued by the world Cline had created until I realized that it ran purely on nostalgia and little to nothing else. I found the devolution of the Artemis character from strong-willed female supporting character to doting damsel who fawns over the male lead in the 3rd act to be especially grating. I was a bit annoyed with how comically evil Nick Sorrento was. Overall, I thought it a fairly mediocre young adult novel that hooked people in with the nostalgia and provided little else in way of story, world building, or characterization.

Boy's Life- Robert McCammon One of my favorite books I've ever read. The story of a 12 year old boy coming of age in a fictional, small Alabama town. Lots of elements of magical realism. There is murder, the loss of friends and family, a shootout, a man-eating gator, taking on the KKK, an evil monkey, dinosaurs. It all sounds ridiculous but it highlights the innocence of childhood that we lose as we age.

The Road- Cormac McCarthy It is a much quicker read than I was expecting. I remember having significant difficulties getting through the first 40-50 pages, but then something clicked and I just couldn't put the book down. I thought McCarthy's style of writing with limited punctuation, very realistic and mundane dialogue significantly enhanced the reading experience given the subject. This book is so g***amn depressing and I loved it. I actually bought Blood Meridian, Suttree, Child of God, and No Country for Old Men after reading this.

The Shining- Stephen King A Phenomenal psychological horror book. The descent of Jack Torrance into madness is both horrifying as the Hotel slowly breaks away at his defenses. Also, the psychological tormenting that the house inflicts on Danny Torrance is terrifying. Definitely my favorite of the King books I've read so far.

The Body- Stephen King A fun, quick read. I think I actually enjoyed the movie a bit better despite it being essentially a carbon copy of the book.

'Salem's Lot- An excellent vampire tale. Loved the setting which King is so great at, loved all the characters of the Lot, as well.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child- John Tiffany & Jack Thorne As a huge Harry Potter fan, I really wish I never read this. I know this is an adaptation of the play, but god was it absolutely terrible. None of the established characters acted anything like their normal selves, and the story was just so absurd. If any Harry Potter fan has not read it yet, I recommend you stay away from this book.

I saw the Cursed Child in London and I don't know if I've ever seen a bigger disconnect between how well I thought a show was performed/presented and the plot of the thing itself.

I thought the effects, the actors, the sets, etc were brilliant. The actual story itself was garbage.

Reading through these threads each year, do y'all ever notice that most genres are the same? Is it because people who want to discuss books are the ones who read Sanderson, King, Butcher, and the like? Or is it just the general TexAgs audience?