Finally got back to reading regularly.

In the last month or so...

Finished

Allies by Winston Groom- Pretty good

Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey- Fantastic

Artemis by Andy Weir- Meh

Planning to read Killers of the Flower Moon and Children of Dune next.

Finished Rainbow Six, on to The Bear and The Dragon by Tom Clancy.

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)
Wheel of Time #7 (A Crown of Swords) in-progress

Longest of the series and definitely some parts that I wished hadn't gone on as long as they did. The Aes Sedai, for instance, just get on my nerves, but I have issues with those who act like them in the real world.

Another frustrating piece was that, after so much buildup, we didn't get the battle with Sammael.

Overall, I'm still enjoying each book a ton. Rand being bonded as a Warder without his permission was crazy, as was his being captured. I love the parts involving the Forsaken, whether it's Moghedian being captured or the glimpse we get of Semirhage's psychological torture experiments.

Speaking of Forsaken, I'm guessing Mazrim Taim is Demandred. He seems pretty powerful, and Rand had mentioned to be on the lookout for any of the male recruits that seemed too powerful or that learn too quickly. Also, Lews Therin's voice always talks about killing him as if he recognizes him, and Taim gets super pissed at being #2 to Rand like Demandred essentially was to Lews.

Reading... though I've figured out the flow and skim over the four paragraphs describing the attire of whatever person is speaking without realizing it now. Cut out some of that and the books move a lot quicker.

8 and 9 are the shortest books in the series, just FYI.

I just finished book 12 and Sanderson ****ing crushed it. It's easily my favorite so far... despite how many story lines he was forced to tie up.

I suspect the same thing regarding your last spoiler, btw.

BoilerAg10 said:

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Reading... though I've figured out the flow and skim over the four paragraphs describing the attire of whatever person is speaking without realizing it now. Cut out some of that and the books move a lot quicker.

8 and 9 are the shortest books in the series, just FYI.

I just finished book 12 and Sanderson ****ing crushed it. It's easily my favorite so far... despite how many story lines he was forced to tie up.

I suspect the same thing regarding your last spoiler, btw.

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Yeah I've heard Sanderson ended it well. I'm definitely looking forward to it. There's nothing worse than a disappointing ending to a series, especially one like this.

Also, holy hell you're blazing through them even with skimming at certain parts!

I've read world war z before but someone highly suggested the audiobook. Well worth the re-listen. The production on the Audiobook was phenomenal.

With the lockdown I'm relying on the county digital library. 2 weeks isn't enough time for me to finish anything

First post - 24 - March 15

Since last post:
Sapiens - Harari
Foundation - Asimov
Foundation and Empire - Asimov
Second Foundation - Asimov
The Muqaddimah - Ibn Khaldun
A Hero of Our Time - Lermontov
A Game of Thrones - Martin
A Clash of Kings - Martin
A Storm of Swords - Martin
A Feast for Crows - Martin
A Dance with Dragons - Martin

I really enjoyed The Muqaddimah. It's a slog, but well worth it if you're into tracing ideas back in time and getting a picture of how people thought in the past. Ibn Khaldun was centuries ahead of his time in many ways.

A Hero of Our Time was also fantastic, lighter read than a lot of the other stuff here, but very good. Fits well in its era of history and was quite influential on Tolstoy.

Sapiens was extremely disappointing, I had hoped for much more from a book with as many recommendations as it has. Wish I hadn't used the time.

GoT was good. A lot of the best fantasy seems to have a theme or message that is really the core with the plot secondary to that, whereas this seems to start with plot and layer on themes as character exploration and motivation. Still really good, I enjoyed them a lot and look forward to reading the rest of the series when they are done.

I expect them to be (eventually) written by Brandon Sanderson. And honestly, if GRRM is having this hard a time finishing, they'll probably be better for it. No way a surefire success like this isnt finished one way or another.

Completed
Black Cross - Greg Iles
Sharp Ends (First Law World Book 7) - Joe Abercrombie
Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse #6) - James S.A. Story (Audible)
Stormchild - Bernard Cornwell
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) - Andrzej Sapkowski
Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) - James S.A. Story

Adrians Undead Diary Omnibus Volume 1 - been a while since I posted a completion. Finally knocked this out last night. It's actually the first four books and there are six more! If you like zombie stories this is a good one. Your protagonist is Adrian Ring and it starts out as his story of survival but then it evolves into a larger good vs evil theme with some spiritual themes. Was a little surprised where it went as I was expecting your basic survival tale. Your average American male will probably highly identify with Adrian. He's funny, good hearted, crass about certain topics but not mean. Actually might be interesting for women who want to see inside the mind of your average guy.

Many folks consider this the quintessential zombie read. It's up there with WWZ. Really neat origins starting out as a live blog posts by the author. Went viral and got so popular they combined and published them. The editing shows as there are quite a few minor errors throughout with a missing word here and there but it doesn't detract from the story. Will take a break from Adrian and try to knock out something below before I dive back in.

Edit: I now want a halligan!!!!


In Process
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3)
The Martian - Andy Weir
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell

Honestly, that might be the best case scenario. So long as it doesn't delay The Stormlight Archive that is.

Ulrich said:

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I expect them to be (eventually) written by Brandon Sanderson. And honestly, if GRRM is having this hard a time finishing, they'll probably be better for it. No way a surefire success like this isnt finished one way or another.

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You are probably kidding but I don't think Sanderson would ever finish GRRM or that it would work. GRRM is much more gritty with a ton more sex etc. There is almost none of that in Sanderson books and if so it is just hinted at. I have found a similar style to WoT through the first 3 books so far so I can see how he made sense to finish it.

YouBet said:

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Completed
Black Cross - Greg Iles
Sharp Ends (First Law World Book 7) - Joe Abercrombie
Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse #6) - James S.A. Story (Audible)
Stormchild - Bernard Cornwell
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) - Andrzej Sapkowski
Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) - James S.A. Story

Adrians Undead Diary Omnibus Volume 1 - been a while since I posted a completion. Finally knocked this out last night. It's actually the first four books and there are six more! If you like zombie stories this is a good one. Your protagonist is Adrian Ring and it starts out as his story of survival but then it evolves into a larger good vs evil theme with some spiritual themes. Was a little surprised where it went as I was expecting your basic survival tale. Your average American male will probably highly identify with Adrian. He's funny, good hearted, crass about certain topics but not mean. Actually might be interesting for women who want to see inside the mind of your average guy.

Many folks consider this the quintessential zombie read. It's up there with WWZ. Really neat origins starting out as a live blog posts by the author. Went viral and got so popular they combined and published them. The editing shows as there are quite a few minor errors throughout with a missing word here and there but it doesn't detract from the story. Will take a break from Adrian and try to knock out something below before I dive back in.

Edit: I now want a halligan!!!!


In Process
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3)
The Martian - Andy Weir
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell

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Adrian's Undead Diary is fantastic. Another Aggie turned me onto it while it was still being completed online. As much as I love being able to read something at will, the anticipation of waiting for the next blog entry was fun.

The Dog Lord said:

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YouBet said:

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Completed
Black Cross - Greg Iles
Sharp Ends (First Law World Book 7) - Joe Abercrombie
Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse #6) - James S.A. Story (Audible)
Stormchild - Bernard Cornwell
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) - Andrzej Sapkowski
Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) - James S.A. Story

Adrians Undead Diary Omnibus Volume 1 - been a while since I posted a completion. Finally knocked this out last night. It's actually the first four books and there are six more! If you like zombie stories this is a good one. Your protagonist is Adrian Ring and it starts out as his story of survival but then it evolves into a larger good vs evil theme with some spiritual themes. Was a little surprised where it went as I was expecting your basic survival tale. Your average American male will probably highly identify with Adrian. He's funny, good hearted, crass about certain topics but not mean. Actually might be interesting for women who want to see inside the mind of your average guy.

Many folks consider this the quintessential zombie read. It's up there with WWZ. Really neat origins starting out as a live blog posts by the author. Went viral and got so popular they combined and published them. The editing shows as there are quite a few minor errors throughout with a missing word here and there but it doesn't detract from the story. Will take a break from Adrian and try to knock out something below before I dive back in.

Edit: I now want a halligan!!!!


In Process
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3)
The Martian - Andy Weir
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell

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Adrian's Undead Diary is fantastic. Another Aggie turned me onto it while it was still being completed online. As much as I love being able to read something at will, the anticipation of waiting for the next blog entry was fun.

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Yep, and I already couldn't stay away and bought Omnibus Volume 2. Knocked out about 15% last night.

"A Gentleman in Moscow"

Have almost finished listening to all of Don Winslow's books including "Dawn Patrol", "Gentlemen's hour" "cartel trilogy" etc... can't believe I had never run across him.

Stumpknocker said:

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"A Gentleman in Moscow"

Have almost finished listening to all of Don Winslow's books including "Dawn Patrol", "Gentlemen's hour" "cartel trilogy" etc... can't believe I had never run across him.

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He wrote Savages, right?

I loved that book. It's a shame the movie was so bad.

Mythos. It's a modern retelling of Greek mythology. I thought I would hate it but couldn't put it down.

Wheel of Time is done. I feel like I'm coming back to real life after being in a haze.

JonSnow said:

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Mythos. It's a modern retelling of Greek mythology. I thought I would hate it but couldn't put it down.

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Interested but you will note Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman in my list above. Similar concept with Norse myth. However, that book was pretty boring and repetitive. I'm not sure if it's simply the quality of Norse mythology is overall lacking compared to Greek mythology (which I love) or if Gaiman just didn't do it good service.

Regardless, will check this out.

kapon said:

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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

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After the Event super Boxset

PDWT_12 said:

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Finally got back to reading regularly.

In the last month or so...

Finished

Allies by Winston Groom- Pretty good

Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey- Fantastic

Artemis by Andy Weir- Meh

Planning to read Killers of the Flower Moon and Children of Dune next.

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Finished

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann- Fantastic, can't wait to see this turned into a movie.

Reading

Children of Dune

Blood of Elves by Sapkowski because Libby told me it was the first book in the series, but after doing some research it seems maybe I need to stop and read Last Wish and Sword of Destiny first.

I would definitely recommend reading Last Wish and Sword of Destiny first. They are not part of the series but set it up

Thanks, definitely seems like it would help to get some of the hinted backstory on these characters.

I audibly said "wow" in the last section as the author starts bringing home the fact that so many cases were never accounted for or investigated.

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)
Wheel of Time #7 (A Crown of Swords)
Wheel of Time #8 (The Path of Daggers) in-progress


Enjoyed it as always. Sure there are some slower parts toward the beginning, but the last few hundred pages are always exciting. There is so much going on, but I love it and probably liked this one more than #6.

I'm very interested to learn more about what happened with the Aes Sedai a few decades before the story took place. Those who know apparently feel it would mean trouble amongst them.

I'm becoming more intrigued by what role Mordeth will play in all of this. The few glimpses we have had of Mordeth's thoughts have mentioned things like him being separate from the Dark One, and then when one of the Asha'man was heeling Rand's cut from Mordeth, he mentioned he essentially separated the evil from Rand's old wound and the evil from Mordeth's cut. He said that maybe they would end up destroying one another. Mordeth seems crazy powerful, but I still can't imagine him being a match for the Dark One. I guess he could become more powerful, or he could do something sneaky, but either way, I can't wait to see if something like that plays out.

My annoyance with the Aes Sedai continues, so it's great to see them taken down a peg at times by Rand, the Wise Ones, Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve, and even by some of the Wise Women that have apparently lived longer than any Aes Sedai in recent history.

Finished:

The Bear and The Dragon by Tom Clancy. Was very good.


On to:

Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy. Goes back when Jack Ryan had just joined the CIA.

Cool, always interesting to read and hear other people's thoughts as they read through WoT!

Just finished Billy the Kid: an Autobiography. Great book that really examines Brushy Bill Roberts and his claim to be Billy the Kid.

Reading this next

mrsbeer05 said:

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Killers of the Flower Moon was very good, but made me so angry

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I'm interested to see how Scorsese and Dicaprio do with this one. There is a sweepstakes on the All In Challenge to be in this movie.

Completed:
Words of Radiance (Stormlight 2)
Edgedancer - Arcanum Unbounded (Stormlight 2.5)
The Screwtape Letters (Lewis)
Mere Christianity (Lewis)
A Grief Observed (Lewis)
The Meaning of Marriage (Keller)
The Four Loves (Lewis)
Oathbringer (Stormlight 3)
The Problem of Pain (Lewis)
The Abolition of Man (Lewis)
The Great Divorce (Lewis)
Isaac's Storm (Larson

In Progress:
Miracles (Lewis)

Really enjoying my journey through C.S. Lewis' work, there's definitely some drier, harder reads (The Abolition of Man, the beginning of Miracles) but his mind and view on things fascinates me and it is fun to see things come together as you read more and more of his work. Really given me some things to think through and study on in regards to faith and theology.

Picked up Isaac's Storm while in Galveston on the way home from our honeymoon. Caught my eye when I saw the "From the author of Devil in the White City" tag, as I loved that one. Checked out the back cover and saw it was about a hurricane (which fascinate me), in Galveston (a town I really enjoy), and the lead focus shares my last name. Seemed meant to be in that moment and I am sure glad I picked it up, couldn't hardly put it down once I started. Definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys that "Enhanced historical non-fiction" type of work.

Yea I really enjoyed Galveston. It's a quick read too.