I have not read anything in the queue but from the suggestions I'm thinking Dune first.

About 30% into Mistborn #3 right now. Highly relevant to COVID debate with parallels to mist inoculation. Really makes you think.

boboguitar said:

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Now start mistborn era 2. You'll get to read a character that is in my top 5 of all time. Wayne.

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Mistborn is really just Empedocles with a twist. Pretty good though, I like how tightly he designed the systems.

Just finished Making Rumours by Ken Caillat about the great Fleetwood Mac album he co-produced and engineered.

1st quarter:
1) Anne Rice's "Blood Communion" Been a guilty pleaseure series since read "Interview With a Vampire" when student at A&M and picked off rack at school library when needed a break. This one, meh (B-)

2) - 6) Read Percy Jackson and the Olympians series at my granddaughters strong suggestion. Of course told her it was an A just below Harry Potter. In reality (B-)

7) Joseph Kanon's "The Prodigal Spy". I enjoy Kanon's books. This one was decent Cold War thriller/mystery with a different perspective. (B+)
8) Greg Iles's "The Footprints of God" Good AI novel of possible implications with a bit of "What is God" included.
(A-)

Currently reading: Leon Uris's "The Haj"

Finished Executive Orders by Tom Clancy. Jack Ryan is a real badass in this one.


Now halfway through Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, which is about John Clark's (the real super spy in the books) origins in the CIA.

The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe - about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the abduction of a mother of 10. It was very well done and I learned a lot about the Troubles, which I previously knew very little about.

Champ Bailey said:

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Finished Executive Orders by Tom Clancy. Jack Ryan is a real badass in this one.


Now halfway through Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, which is about John Clark's (the real super spy in the books) origins in the CIA.

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Finished this, on to Rainbow Six, where John Clark goes after Osama Bin Ladin.

Any specific recommendations for audio books? I have two Audible credits to use.

I'm currently listening to It and Steven Weber (the younger brother from the TV show Wings) does a great job narrating.

I blew through Talking to Strangers pretty quickly (I like Gladwell) and really liked The Shining (though the narrator sucked).

Finished "The Eye of the World."

I'm a little more than halfway through "The Great Hunt."

I've put off starting The Wheel of Time for quite awhile, but with everything having slowed down I finally took the leap. So far I'm a fan.

1) The Hundred Days (Aubrey/Maturin #19) by Patrick O'Brian - A
2) The Crippled God (Malazan #10) by Steven Erikson - A-
3) The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson - B+
4) Blue at the Mizzen (Aubrey/Maturin #20) by Patrick O'Brian - A
5) The Last Wish (The Witcher #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski - B
6) The Jewel in the Skull (Eternal Champion/Hawkmoon #1) by Michael Moorcock - B-
7) The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) by Brandon Sanderson - B+
8) The Blade Itself (First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie - A

9) A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson - B+

This is a really funny book with an A+ first half and a C second half. I was hoping for more hijinks on the trail itself, but the book sort of runs out of steam right about the time the protagonists do. Still, Bryson is a very good writer, and I'll be checking out more of his work in the future.

10) Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - A

One of the coolest books and premises I've read in a long time. A half-black, half-Asian katana-carrying hacker/pizza deliveryman as your protagonist? I'm in. A noir detective story that delves into the connections between linguistics, programming, neurobiology, corporate franchising, and ancient religion? I'm double in.

11) Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - B

I love Bourdain's show, so this has been on my TBR for a while. You can really hear his voice coming through in every line of this book. He wrote it in 2000, before he was a TV star, so it's fascinating to see the beginning of some of the steps that would take him there - one example being him thinking all the new experiences in his life are over, then he takes a trip to Japan and his mind is blown. As someone who loves travel, I found his emotions on this trip very relatable. The book also has several references to suicide and death which stick out knowing what happened to him. The chapter 'A Day in the Life' is by far the best of the book, a solid A, and probably worth the cost of the book. My knock against this book is that it's kind of all over the place without a lot of internal structure, more of an essay collection/magazine piece compilation than a cohesive book. Still a good read for fans of the show.

12) Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger - in progress

Wheel of Time #1 (The Eye of the World)
Wheel of Time #2 (The Great Hunt)
Wheel of Time #3 (The Dragon Reborn)
Wheel of Time #4 (The Shadow Rising)
Wheel of Time #5 (The Fires of Heaven)
Wheel of Time #6 (Lord of Chaos) in-progress

Looks like #6 is the longest in the series (just a hair longer than #4). I know a lot of people say the series lags from around book 4 or 5 to 7 or 9, but book 5 was okay. Definitely had some slower bits, but it was still good overall. On one hand I wish it would move along at certain times, but I appreciate that it's trying to provide a more "real" experience/story. It may help that I'm able to read the entire series at once rather than waiting for the next book to come out. I will say that I was disappointed that Perrin wasn't in #5 at all.

The one thing that has been difficult so far is not being able to look things up on the wiki without seeing a spoiler every. single. time. I sometimes want/need a refresher on a character or to check one bit of info, but I'm not going to try again at this point. I've only seen minor spoilers so far as far as I can tell and don't want to risk something bigger.

Yea I can definitely understand the frustration with that!

I just started book one of WoT. WTF have I put this off for so long?!

I asked myself that question last week.

With as much SciFi I've read over the years, I somehow have never read any Neal Stephenson. How that is possible is a mystery to me considering his major player status. Snow Crash sounds cool though. Added that to my Want To Read list on GoodReads.

I do own The Baroque Cycle in hardback, but when I walk by my library I look at it and then move on. For some reason, it looks daunting to me which book length has never been an issue at all for me.

You are about to enter the Dead Marshes portion of WoT reading. I quit after book #8 and have never been back. Plan is to go back and read synopsis online for Jordan's books and then pick with Sanderson's books and actually read those.

YouBet said:

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You are about to enter the Dead Marshes portion of WoT reading. I quit after book #8 and have never been back. Plan is to go back and read synopsis online for Jordan's books and then pick with Sanderson's books and actually read those.

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Yikes. I'm pretty determined to get through it, but I need to keep my pace through these next few books. If I slow down, I could see myself stalling out.

Stay strong. It IS worth it!

Yeah same here, this was my first Stephenson. I think for a long time I was never able to keep Neal Stephenson and Neil Gaiman separate in my head, which discouraged me from starting either of them for whatever reason. I'll definitely move on to other Stephenson books now though. I read a Vernor Vinge book two years ago and had the same experience, like 'where has this been all my life?'

DanHo2010 said:

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8) The Blade Itself (First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie - A

This came highly recommended and with good reason. Absolutely top notch effort. Great setting, great characters. Everyone seems to characterize this as grimdark, but this first volume was...not that dark? Maybe the next two kick it up a notch, or maybe I'm just a jaded reader at this point.

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Thanks for this!!!

Just finished (late) last night and downloaded "Before They Are Hanged" immediately. Top notch action adventure (with magic). I've seen a couple of others here agree.

I can't imagine how anyone, with any kind of interest, would regret reading it.

I've binged the first 4 WoT books in 6 days and just realized I'm not 1/3rd of the way done. Pray for me.

Starting book 4 of the Wheel of Time. I'm with you, Boilier. Long way to go.

I am reading Oathbringer currently as well. It won't bridge the gap all the way to the 4th book for me either, that's for sure!

I finished Robert McCammon's Swan Song last night: A

The Shining is up next, but I need a couple days to decompress.

Complete!
The Way of Kings
Expeditionary Force: Valkyrie
Galaxys Edge: Part VI Takeover
Words of Radiance (Holy **** that ending was wild!)
Oathbringer
Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars

Active
Galaxy's Edge: Gods and Legionnaires

If you're into Mil Scifi at all and haven't gotten into Galaxy's Edge, I really recommend it! It will remind you of elements of Star Wars, but way more gritty and incorporates modern politics and conflict that make the story jump.

Legionnaire is one of my favorite series openers ever. Jason Anspach and Nick Cole are awesome guys and engage with the fan base frequently. They even incorporate fans into the story line in fun ways.

Audiobooks in Season 1 are read by RC Bray (The Martian, ExForce) and he knocks it out of the park.

https://galaxysedge.us/

Me Tanner, You Jane (Evan Tanner #7) - Lawrence Block
Tanner on Ice (Evan Tanner #7) - Lawrence Block

Agents of the Crown complete series - Lindsay Buroker

Heritage of Power complete series- Lindsay Buroker

Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig. This is the new canon for the time between ROTJ and TFA. I bought this when it first came out, but gave up about a third of the way through (too many characters, author's style is hell on folks that value grammar.) I started it back up and to be fair, it did pick up and I enjoyed it enough to get the next one.

BoilerAg10 said:

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I've binged the first 4 WoT books in 6 days and just realized I'm not 1/3rd of the way done. Pray for me.

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How the hell is that even possible? Are you reading 20 hours per day?!

I just finished The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I really enjoyed it, but I'm taking a break from the sword and sorcery world to read a little Dave Robicheaux (book 3) by James Lee Burke. I find I must mix in some good Cajun crime stories to switch things up a bit.

I just finished number 8 and can't think straight anymore. I've done very little work lately.

BoilerAg10 said:

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I just finished number 8 and can't think straight anymore. I've done very little work lately.

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Are you reading or listening to audiobooks? Either way it's still a ton!