NColoradoAG said:

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Any recommendations on Military Sci-Fi? I also have a soft spot for James Rollins and his Sigma Force series so outlandish adventure novels also interest me.

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Check out The Kurtherian Gambit. Huge series.

1) Nemesis Game - James S.A. Corey (C+)
2) Babylon's Ashes - James S.A. Corey (B+)
3) Persepolis Rising - James S.A. Corey (A)
4) Tiamat's Wrath - James S.A. Corey (A-)
5) Astroball: The New Way to Win it All - Ben Reiter (A)
6) Dune - Frank Herbert (A)
7) Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert (B)


This year I finally, finally read Dune. Enjoyed the first book and read through Dune Messiah since reviews stated it was mostly an epilogue to the original book. Really on the fence if I will read any more of Herbert's series, but, I did like the universe he created and am excited for the new movie adaptation coming out next year.

Now, for a change of pace and to read another book that's been on my bucket list for forever - Lonesome Dove. I am also tempted to re-read Shogun since it's been almost 20 years and I really enjoyed that book in high school.

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I am also tempted to re-read Shogun since it's been almost 20 years and I really enjoyed that book in high school.

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I support this decision.

JRC0811 said:

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This year I finally, finally read Dune. Enjoyed the first book and read through Dune Messiah since reviews stated it was mostly an epilogue to the original book. Really on the fence if I will read any more of Herbert's series, but, I did like the universe he created and am excited for the new movie adaptation coming out next year.

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I read Dune for the first time this year as well, and just finished up Messiah a couple of weeks ago. Loved Dune, thought Messiah was pretty good especially when it picked up in the second half, but I kind of want to take a break before jumping into Children of Dune.

So I'm reading The Allies by Winston Groom (about Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) and Magician (Master) by Raymond Feist at the moment. Plan on starting Tiamat's Wrath next.

1) Memories of Ice (Malazan #3) by Steven Erikson - B+
2) Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco - C (revised down from C+ after some time to think about it)
3) The Nutmeg of Consolation (Aubrey/Maturin #14) by Patrick O'Brian - A-
4) House of Chains (Malazan #4) by Steven Erikson - B+
5) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins - B-
6) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - A
7) The Truelove (Aubrey/Maturin #15) by Patrick O'Brian - A-
8) Midnight Tides (Malazan #5) by Steven Erikson - A-
9) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - B
10) The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch - B+
11) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - B- (finally decided B- was about right)

12) The Bonehunters (Malazan #6) by Steven Erikson - B+

This series is still getting better as it goes, even if I didn't like this particular installment quite as much. The overall arc of all 10 books seems fairly clear now. I was a little disappointed at the ending of this one though. It set itself up for a very dramatic scene at the end and then backed away from resolution for what seemed like no good reason other than there's 4 more books to go.

13) On War by Carl von Clausewitz - B

This one had been sitting on my shelf for a while so I decided to knock it out. Lots of illuminating thoughts on 19th century warfare and overall mindset. This was a slightly edited version that took out some of the more technical sections on artillery, etc and left the philosophical sections that informed the later German thinkers. Zero consideration of whether war itself is good or evil, only the assumption that you're going to have it and you're going to fight to win. Absolutely indispensable background for the Guns of August (see below).

14) Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - A-

I had not read any of Kay's work before and was very impressed. Quality writing and pacing. It's a fantasy analogue to pre-unification Italy, with lots of events borrowed from real Roman history if you're paying attention. I'm looking forward to reading some more by this author and I've already got the Lions of Al-Rassan on my to-read shelf.

15) The Wine-Dark Sea (Aubrey/Maturin #16) by Patrick O'Brian - A-

Still my favorite series. It's consistently excellent book after book. This one focuses on Peru and Chile, with espionage, sabotage, high seas action, and great writing. Everything great about this series is in this novel.

16) The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman - A

Wow, what a classic. A vivid look at my favorite period of history to study. Exceptional writing, page-turning pacing. A lot of 'scholars' apparently criticize this book for not being stodgy enough, but as someone with a history degree, I believe books like this should be a primary goal of the field - dramatically written narratives that invite the public to be better informed. Recommended for any reader.

17) Reaper's Gale (Malazan #7) by Steven Erikson - in progress


Notes: I spent a couple weeks in east Africa in June, during which I had very little time for recreational reading. I'm going to try to catch up some before football season starts. One thing that's helped is this app I've started using called Habitica. It lets you set daily goals and habits for fitness, learning, work projects, basically whatever. I set a daily goal to read at least 50 pages, which has helped me power through some sections that were bogging me down.

JRC0811 said:

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Now, for a change of pace and to read another book that's been on my bucket list for forever - Lonesome Dove.

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Be patient through the first couple of chapters. You won't be sorry.

Amen on O'Brian !

Nice list that includes several I've read over the years.
Foucault's Pendulum - I kept reading his books as they came out trying to find one even close to his Name of the Rose. I finally gave up

In Cold Blood - Good true crime book

A Confederacy of Dunces - Just don't get all the love for this book. Agree with your assessment.

Tigana - Really enjoyed it and Lions of Al-Rassan

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16) The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman - A

Wow, what a classic. A vivid look at my favorite period of history to study. Exceptional writing, page-turning pacing. A lot of 'scholars' apparently criticize this book for not being stodgy enough, but as someone with a history degree, I believe books like this should be a primary goal of the field - dramatically written narratives that invite the public to be better informed. Recommended for any reader.

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It won a Pulitzer, which really ticked off her critics.

July Updates:
22) Michael Scott's The Warlock (#5) B
23) Michael Scott's The Enchantress (#6) Last in series. Overall not bad. Read at suggestion of my 10 year old grand daughter that just finished it. She is a big Harry Potter fan. B+

24) Neal Stephenson's Fall; or, Dodge in Hell Like several of his books in that it explores interesting topics and take you deep into the subjects, but can drive you a little crazy in portions of book that you have to push to get through. Most similar to his Seveneves. B

25) Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad; In many places a satirical travelogue of cruise Twain took in 1865 all around Europe and Mediterranean, including Israel. Wish I had read before took somewhat similar cruise earlier this year. B

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson 9/10

An interesting look at the events, so many turns that lead to the event.

PDWT_12 said:

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JRC0811 said:

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This year I finally, finally read Dune. Enjoyed the first book and read through Dune Messiah since reviews stated it was mostly an epilogue to the original book. Really on the fence if I will read any more of Herbert's series, but, I did like the universe he created and am excited for the new movie adaptation coming out next year.

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I read Dune for the first time this year as well, and just finished up Messiah a couple of weeks ago. Loved Dune, thought Messiah was pretty good especially when it picked up in the second half, but I kind of want to take a break before jumping into Children of Dune.

So I'm reading The Allies by Winston Groom (about Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) and Magician (Master) by Raymond Feist at the moment. Plan on starting Tiamat's Wrath next.

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Is Dune worth the 900 pages it is to read?

https://bittersoutherner.com/the-rise-of-rural-noir-southern-crime-fiction

This is interesting.

Anthony Ryan has a new book out today I didn't even realize he was writing . The Wolf's Call, start of a new trilogy.

I finished Elantris and got a few pages into Mistborn, but decided to step away from Sanderson for a book and am reading The Operator. Talk about a nice change to see "Rob" "Dave" "Pete" instead of" Vyvvlen", "Tshorkak" and "MkStakliondel anon"..

The Operator is very intense. I picture the scenes he describes during operations, then I can't sleep because I seem to be running them over and over in my head.

Wesley Chu's - Lives of Tao & Deaths of Tao. Currently on Rebirths of Tao.

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Is Name of the Rose worth it?

Finished Unbroken a few weeks ago. A+, what a great book and unbelievable story.

Working on Killers of the Flower Moon now. Pretty good thus far, I understand Scorsese is making the movie, slated for 2020 release.

Just finished The Expanse - Leviathan Wakes for the first time. I am not really a science fiction reader, but I was interested in the setting 100-200 years in the future where millions live elsewhere in the solar system. Can't say I loved it. The writing was good and his vision of the future was great, but I thought things moved to slowly, especially near the end which should have been the most exciting part. I know many people love the series. Are the other books better?

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Is Name of the Rose worth it?

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I think so. It was the first of Umberto Eco's novels that I read and really loved it. But whatever you do not read anything else from him. I kept trying his novels as they came out and they were all disasters.
Foucault's Pendulum
Baudolino
The Island of the Day Before

I give up and will not try anything else from him.


Reading August/September update:
26) Anthony Grey's Peking. A Historical fiction of China's Communist Revolution from Mao's long march in the 1930's to Mao's death and arrest of the Gang of Four in the 1970s. Very similar to his approach, maybe too similar, in his historical fiction novel Saigon I read about Vietnam's history in the 20th century. (B+)

27) Joe M Solomon's The Light Houston, Texas Ok apocalyptic story that was made better by the fact that all occurs around Houston so knew all the settings the survivors went through. Also good since was on special on ereader for about $2. (B-)

28) E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime. Thought it was well done. Took a bit to understand how everything was relating, but worth the journey. Guess I'll have to watch the movie now. (A)

29) Martin Cruz Smith's Rose I've only read his Arkady Renko (Soviet detective) novels until this one. This one set in English coal mines. As usual a good writer. (B+)

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller A+
Amazing writing and storytelling.

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett A
Fantasy with a bit of Monty Python sprinkled in

^ I've been pacing myself on the Discworld series, with maybe 8 done. I thought Color of Magic was just okay; Guards! Guards! is far and away my favorite so far.

I've started up the Master and Commander series for the third "voyage." I'll be into that for a while.

Here's another one for Umberto Eco. I just finished Numero Uno, which was a pretty good, short read.

More crazy conspiracy stuff which he's very good at putting together.

We were the lucky ones by Georgia Hunter. Amazingly well written story about her family during WWII. One of the best books I've read this year.
10/10

1. Founding Martyr, Joseph Warren- Spigna-*****
2. The Last Castle, Kieran *****
3. Living with Hitler, Krause-**
4. Indianapolis, Vincent-*****
5. The Age of Eisenhower, Hitchcock-*****
6. Texas Train Robberies, Jameson-***
7. Marooned, Kelly,-*****
8. Heirs of the Founders, Brands-****
9. The Field of Blood, Freeman -*
10. House of Medici, Hibbert-****
11. Rampage, Scott-*****
12. Shoot for the Moon, Donovan-***
13. Signing Their Lives Away, Kieran-****
14. Masters of the Air, Miller-*****
15. The City-State of Boston, Peterson-***
16. Wild Bill, Calvin-***
17. Bust He'll Wide Open, Mitcham-*****
18. The Pioneers, McCullough-***
19. The British are Coming, Atkinson-*****
20. Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels and the Border Dream, Tone-**
21. Spying on the South, Horowitz- don't bother
22. Putin's World, Stent-*****
23. El Norte, Gibson****
24. The Last. Sheriff in Texas, McCollom-*****
25. Freedom's Detective, Lane-*****
26. Berlin 1961, Kemp's-*****
27 The Fall of Berlin1945, Beevor-*****
28. The Stranger in the Woods, Finkel-*****
29. Prisoners of Geography, Marshall-*****
30. The Guns of August, Tuchman-****
31. In the Hurricanes Eye, Philbrick-*****
32. The Billionaires Vinegar, Wallace-*****
33. A Hanging in Nacogdochez, Borders-*****
34. 1920, The Year of the Six Presidents, Pietrusza-*****
35. The Widow Washington, Saxton-*****
36. Upheaval, Diamond-****

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.

I really loved Station Eleven

RE: Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. The only book I gave up reading half-way through... brutal.

After picking up the Battletech computer game in the Spring of 2018, I decided to go back and see what I'd missed when I stopped reading them in the nineties. It's been a wonderful journey. Back in high school I read maybe ten of these books before I moved on and forgot about them. Imagine my surprise to find out that more than 63 books were written about politics and warfare in the 31st century.

Now, as fall 2019 starts, the end is in sight. I've put away more than 50 of these bite-sized novels, and I'm on pace to finish shortly after the new year.

The Fix by David Baldacci
B+ 8/10
I like the Amos Decker novels and I feel like this was one of the better ones.

Educated by Tara Westover
A-

Memoir of a girl raised in a survivalist Mormon family in Idaho whose parents refused to send her to school. She was poorly home schooled and somehow ended up with a PhD from Cambridge. More dramatic is the amount of abuse she suffered while her family was in denial. I generally don't like these "throw my family under the bus" stories but this one held my interest.

1) Memories of Ice (Malazan #3) by Steven Erikson - B+
2) Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco - C (revised down from C+ after some time to think about it)
3) The Nutmeg of Consolation (Aubrey/Maturin #14) by Patrick O'Brian - A-
4) House of Chains (Malazan #4) by Steven Erikson - B+
5) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins - B-
6) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - A
7) The Truelove (Aubrey/Maturin #15) by Patrick O'Brian - A-
8) Midnight Tides (Malazan #5) by Steven Erikson - A-
9) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - B
10) The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch - B+
11) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - B-
12) The Bonehunters (Malazan #6) by Steven Erikson - B+
13) On War by Carl von Clausewitz - B
14) Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - A-
15) The Wine-Dark Sea (Aubrey/Maturin #16) by Patrick O'Brian - A-
16) The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman - A

17) Reaper's Gale (Malazan #7) by Steven Erikson - B

You've probably heard that this series is a brutally tough read, and...yes, that's exactly right. There are basically three theatres of war on different continents that the series covers, and this one centers on the western one, which is (to me) the most straightforward and second most interesting of the three. There's a Malazan readthrough podcast that I've started listening to called Ten Very Big Books. They're in book 2 right now and it's helped a lot in remembering what was going on in the early parts of the story (esp since I started this series 18 months ago) and to pick up on a lot of the foreshadowing. This series really is good once you get your head around what the words on the page mean - that's just easier said than done.

18) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - B+

My first Sanderson and I really enjoyed it. It's a great changeup from something like Malazan, where you have to slog through dense chapters with nothing explained. This is a fun, easy read, and Sanderson explains everything, almost to a fault. I understand that technically, the amount of exposition in this book drags its quality down a little, but it's just too much fun to hate on. I'll definitely continue.

19) The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay - B? Should I even rate this?

I didn't read the whole set of papers, because I'm not that much of a weirdo. I read Ketcham's 'long list of the best' from this link, which came out to 32 of the 85. I was amused by the assumptions the writers made that turned out to be false. For example, the idea that we shouldn't worry about the federal government becoming too powerful because all federations inevitably weaken over time. Yeah, not what happened, Alex.

20) The Commodore (Aubrey/Maturin #17) by Patrick O'Brian - A

Still my favorite series. The way the characters gain depth as they age throughout the series is maybe its greatest achievement.

21) Elric of Melnibon by Michael Moorcock - B+

My first Moorcock book and eveything was as advertised, in a good way. Short, terse chapters with few wasted words, headlong action, pulpy classic fantasy tropes - all positives in my view. The first Hawkmoon is on my shelf for later.

22) The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay - B

Not as good as Tigana but still good. It's only vaguely fantasy, since there's only one character with any kind of powers. Really it's just a stylized retelling of the Reconquista, which I'm all for, but don't come to it expecting many fantasy elements.

22b) Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - Attempted and put aside for later

I got about 100 pages into this one and had to stop. The information is incredible, and there were several things in those 100 pages that have influenced my thinking about some business and management scenarios I'm working through, but I was only getting through approx 10 pages a day. I'll come back later but it won't be soon.

23) Toll the Hounds (Malazan #8) by Steven Erikson - in progress