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 (Books 1-4) - Chris Philbrook

Adrians Undead Diary Omnibus Volume 2 (Books 5-8) - Well, I couldn't handle it and ended up powering through the rest of the omnibus. Looks to be two other books after this but this is a good breaking point to go read something else. This half of the AUD got way more into the good vs evil themes of these books. Great second half and conclusion to this part of AUD. The spirtual/religious aspect of this seems to turn some readers off for some reason. I guess some folks simply can't handle any religion at all in their stories but it makes sense here with this type of genre, frankly. Anyway, really enjoyed it. The ending was slight anti-climatic but still a great read. Adrian may be one of my favorite characters in any series ever.

In Progress
Dead Wake - Erik Larson - Just started and focusing on this next.
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) - 75%
The Martian - Andy Weir - 35%
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell - 9%

I read Dead Wake last year and really enjoyed both the history and the story telling.

Let me know how you like Dead Wake.

After enjoying Isaac's Storm as much as I did, and as much as I remember enjoying Devil in the White City, I could easily be talked into letting Dead Wake jump to the front of my list if it lives up to those two!

Finished the Master and Commander series.

Now reading Tune In, a surprisingly long biography about the Beatles' early years. Apparently it's the first of a trilogy, yikes,

garrettc16 said:

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Let me know how you like Dead Wake.

After enjoying Isaac's Storm as much as I did, and as much as I remember enjoying Devil in the White City, I could easily be talked into letting Dead Wake jump to the front of my list if it lives up to those two!

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Enjoying it so far.

You and mrsbeer need to read In the Garden of Beasts also by Larson if you haven't already. US Ambassador in 1930s Germany ring side for rise of Hitler. Good book.

YouBet said:

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garrettc16 said:

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Let me know how you like Dead Wake.

After enjoying Isaac's Storm as much as I did, and as much as I remember enjoying Devil in the White City, I could easily be talked into letting Dead Wake jump to the front of my list if it lives up to those two!

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Enjoying it so far.

You and mrsbeer need to read In the Garden of Beasts also by Larson if you haven't already. US Ambassador in 1930s Germany ring side for rise of Hitler. Good book.

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Oooohhh. I'm finishing a Custer/Crazy Horse book so I need a new nonfiction

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+
10) Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - A
11) Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - B

12) Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger - B

This is one of those that you're supposed to read as a Texan and as a football fan, and rightfully so. Football isn't really about football, it's about celebrating identity, and Bissinger correctly makes the book more about the identities of the players than the games themselves. I found the racism documented believable, and even though I didn't see the level of it he describes here when I was in high school in the early 2000's, I did see some, and this book made me wonder if I missed more. Some of Bissinger's east coast preconceptions do filter in. He does a good job of describing the follies of the oil industry and the plight of its workers when the oil price drops, and a lot of his imagery was eerily similar to the downturn of the last few months. But, he basically suggests that Odessa's oil boom of the 80's is gone never to return. (I mean how could it? No new technologies or methods ever get created, and geopolitics never create new incentives.) Thirty years later, we know that oil is a perpetual boom-and-bust industry, so it's interesting to see his faulty assumptions while also noting that some things he described really do never change.

13) Metro 2033 (Metro #1) by Dmitry Glukhovsky - C+

This was...not what I expected. I came in looking for action packed post-apocalyptic sci-fi with harrowing fights against radioactive mutants. Instead, I got this philosophical, Odyssean, undeniably Russian thing about the various evils produced by all of human society (fascism, communism, exploitative religion, cannibalism, etc) packed into a smaller area. It's like if Huck Finn took place in the Moscow metro, with a sub-optimal translation and a little action tacked on. I get what the author was trying to do here, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

14) On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace by Donald Kagan - A-

A remarkable work of serious, academic history. Kagan uses the Peloponnesian War, the Second Punic War, WW1 and 2, and the Cuban missile crisis to examine why conflicts happen. His theses boil down to 1) war, not peace, is the natural state of humanity, 2) economic ties are not an effective deterrent to war, 3) nations often fight for irrational reasons like honor or prestige, 4) in our time, ideology is our form of honor or prestige, 5) if there's peace, it's usually because someone assumed the asymmetrical burden of keeping it, and 6) if you have the ability to keep the peace, you have the moral obligation to do so, whether by force or otherwise. He eventually comes around to a kind of neo-con endorsement of America being the world's policeman, funding NATO, etc, as a necessary evil. I don't agree with every conclusion, but he makes compelling arguments and frames the facts well enough that I think the broad strokes, especially those about honor, are mostly correct. Not a book for casual history readers.

15) Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt - A

Wow, what a masterpiece! The one lesson in the title is essentially that any economic decision should consider all affected groups in the long term, not just one or two affected groups in the short term. Hazlitt uses this concept to demolish common economic fallacies in about 5-10 pages each, including government subsidies, inflation, the minimum wage, unions, and make-work programs. The only reason I can think of that this isn't required high school reading is that the education system doesn't actually value economic literacy, but that couldn't possibly be true. The biggest problem I have with his argument and with the Austrian school in general (which I mostly agree with) is that while he correctly notes that natural human selfishness prevents people from reliably working hard for a stranger's well being (which socialists miss), he doesn't address the related natural human jealousy and resulting societal/political unrest brought about by varying levels of wealth and success (which is one of the few things I think socialists are right to point out).

16) A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin - A-

Le Guin is another of those classic authors that I somehow never picked up before now. This book was great. It's like a cross between the best things about Moorcock and Guy Gavriel Kay, minus most of the bad. I think I counted four or five ideas in the first chapter alone that later fantasy authors just ripped off wholesale. This book made me wish modern fantasy authors would remember that brevity and economy of expression are virtues. Fully recommend to any fan of the genre.

17) Elantris by Brandon Sanderson - in progress

Finished Tune In, a rather exhaustive account of the Beatles' formative years, up until just before they broke big. It gave me a certain extra appreciation for their earliest music.

It's only the first of a planned three volumes, but research for the second has swamped the author, so it may still be a while coming.

Also read the Hunger Games prequel that just came out. I needed to get through it quickly so my son, who was also reading it, didn't spoil anything for me.

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)
Wheel of Time #9 (Winter's Heart) in-progress

Haven't been reading as often lately, but I picked the book up again and read the majority this week.

The cast of characters is starting to be a bit much, especially because I can't risk looking people up on the wiki for fear of spoilers. It doesn't help that there was a gap between reading the first third of the book and the rest, but still.

I'm fairly confident that Rand has plot armor, but damn if he doesn't almost get himself killed in the dumbest of ways.

Poor Perrin just can't help but affect things as ta'veren and may accidentally bring back Manetheren lol. I'm definitely interested to see how Elayne reacts to that. Doesn't seem like she would want to let that go even with more important things going on.

It was good to get a glimpse of Logain again, especially with him taking an Aes Sedai captive and doing some type of quasi-Compulsion to her with a kiss.

I try to take notes as I go (when I remember), so I thought I'd go ahead and share the following that I wrote partway through: I'm starting to wonder more about who Dashiva might be. Taim still seems like the true threat (and I still think he is Demandred), but Dashiva showed a different side to Rand during the campaign against the Seanchan. The last few chapters made that much more clear, but it's still not entirely clear why he did what he did.

Cool thanks for posting your progress and notes, fun to read!

Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen Ambrose, B+

Interesting parallel between the two men.

This is the 3rd Native American history book I've read and man the US government has royally screwed over the Native Americans

Forgive an ignorant question, but when I see people mention "Malazan" are we talking about the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series by Steven Erikson?

dc509 said:

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Forgive an ignorant question, but when I see people mention "Malazan" are we talking about the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series by Steven Erikson?

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Yes, that's it! There are also books in the same universe by Ian C. Esslemont, but Malazan Book of the Fallen by Erikson is considered the 'main' series.

Ok awesome. Thank you. I'm halfway through The Wheel of Time, and I think Malazan is next. When I started looking for them on Goodreads I had in my mind that "Malazan" was the author.

Just finished Path of Daggers (WoT #8). This series is really good, but I do see why people say the middle books begin to drag a little bit. I've liked all of them, but there is a very long way to go and plot progress is pretty slow. Other authors would have tied themselves into a Cairheinen knot at this point.

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 (Books 1-4) - Chris Philbrook
Adrians Undead Diary Omnibus Volume 2 (Books 5-8) - Chris Philbrook

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) - Brandon Sanderson (Audible) - I decided to divert away from Dead Wake and knock this out and I FINALLY finished this today. I checked my GoodReads records and I started this trilogy 4 years ago in July. The third and final book is easily the best book in the trilogy, but I would rate the overall series around a 3.5 stars out of 5. The second book was literally forgettable for me as about the only thing I recall from it is that there was a siege. I'm not sure if this was planned, but this book just felt much different than books 1 and 2 as if the book 2 was almost filler while Sanderson tried to figure out what to write for book 3.

Where the first two books were very mysterious and vague on what exactly was going on, the finale pretty much starts telling you everything right out of the gate and with every chapter along the way. You mostly get to understand all the ins and outs of Sanderson's "magic" system here along with the history of what happened to the planet and it's people. It's a really clever series, but I just didn't think it was executed well all the way through.

Audible version was pretty good although I could never reconcile the voice for Elend. It reminded me of an exaggerated British theater actor like Brian Blessed which doesn't remotely fit the character from the first two books, but whatever. I will also say the Audible version has a minor spoiler with the chapter narrations at the beginning of the chapters merely because now you know who it is narrating. The books were not clear on this; at least the first two weren't.

I now read a traditional book while simultaneously listening to an Audible book, so back to Dead Wake for my hardback and onto Salvation Lost for my Audible option.

In Progress
Dead Wake - Erik Larson - 21%
Salvation Lost (Salvation Sequence #2) - Peter F. Hamilton - 0%
The Martian - Andy Weir - 36%
Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell - 9%

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask this question, but I will anyway:

Does anyone have a good resource or tips for becoming a better or more efficient reader? I've always read slowly, and my mind often wanders even when I'm reading a book I'm enjoying. I like to read but it often feels like more work than it should be. Thoughts?

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)
Wheel of Time #9 (Winter's Heart)
Wheel of Time #10 (Crossroads of Twilight) in-progress

Finally finished #9 this weekend. No real change (still enjoying the series). My random thoughts while reading are below.

Taim continues to make it clear that he isn't for Rand when he put Flinn, Hopwill, and Narishma on the list of traitors after Rand's attack (and of course when you find out he ordered Rand to be killed). I just can't understand why he hasn't tried to kill Rand himself in a moment of weakness, unless he is scared to try.

I hope Rand (and Logain) can get enough Asha'man support, especially in the worst case scenario where Taim is Demandred (even though another character made it appear he isn't, I'm not ruling it out 100% since there are a lot of people that seem to have a secret identity).

I was surprised by Rand's 4-way (in terms of being bonded anyway). I know almost everyone has their own plans/goals, especially people like Cadsuane, but I'm waiting to see if anyone actually betrays Rand for their own ends or if they are truly trying to guide him to succeed in the last battle.

I haven't really said much about him before, but Lan continues to be one of my favorite characters. He has really gone through the ringer during his life with respect to Malkier falling and Moiraine dying, but the support he has given Rand, Nynaeve, and Moiraine at various points makes him such an easy character to like. Speaking of Moiraine, I legitimately thought she might come back at some point, but I'm definitely having my doubts now. I suppose it could be a bigger shock if it happens late in the series.

We finally see Mat again, and they were some pretty funny chapters in terms of his being Tylin's Toy. I definitely thought he was going to be a Seanchan captive the next time we saw him, not banging the Queen still.

In terms of the Seanchan, I'll be really interested to see what happens with the freed damane and sul'dam. They're just asking for trouble since they appear to do a thorough job brainwashing them, but we shall see.

After getting so deep into the series it was cool to have a few chapters in Far Madding where the Power couldn't be used (without the use of a well at least).

The Forsaken scenes are always interesting. I'm guessing Moridin may be Ba'alzamon returned. As interesting as it is for some of them to return, it kind of takes away from them ever being killed. I guess it'll make the final battle more interesting though if there are more of them around.

My pace slowed down for the last few books, but I'll probably pick back up again, especially After that last 30 pages...damn! Random side note, did Rand essentially make a black hole at Shadar Logoth? The description of the "black dome" forming seemed to fit.

I know the final books will likely help pull me in like the first few did, but I'm already dying to finish the series. It's partly just from wanting to know what happens, but I'm also eager to be able to read the wiki and dive into a post-read review of all the little things that I forgot or just never picked up on. I could tell pretty early on that this was going to be one of my favorite series of all time (maybe my most favorite, but it has the advantage of being the most fresh right now).

I applaud your speed! I could not read them that fast!

Lethal Agent (Mitch Rapp #18) by *Vince Flynn* & Kyle Mills
This wasn't necessarily my favorite book in the series, but after reading eight WoT books in a row I needed a break. There's something to be said for some good ol' American ass kicking. I had to look up when this book was published because the theme is a little eerie. Finding out the book came out in September of 2019 made it all the more so. I'm sure I will read the next edition, but it's time for Kyle Mills to progress Mitch a little bit. Still a solid B.

Path of the Assassin (Scott Harvath #2) by Brad Thor
I thought the Harvath #1 was better, but this was still entertaining. I actually read this one before Lethal Agent, but I had to go back to Good Reads because I'd forgotten what the book was about. None of that is a glowing endorsement I know, but if mid-aughts espionage novels are you're thing then it's worth reading. I'll probably get around to the third book at some point.

Now back to the Wheel of Time.

I just finished the 3 Body Trilogy. Took me about 6 months. Some of it was really page turning great. Some of it was incredibly boring. When it does pick up, it delivers. They never fully explained the online game, like who made it and what the whole purpose was. Kinda disappointed in that. It felt like Lost, where they just forgot about all the time they invested into that story and wrote on. Anyway, it really wasn't my cup of tea, though I don't feel cheated of my time. I didn't realize it was an alien book when I started and Aliens aren't really my genre. Maybe I should start reading the blurbs instead of just buying books that Texags recommends.

Not ever one to change, next up is a Texags recommendation, 'Where is Joe Merchant' by Jimmy Buffett. Pretty sure this isn't an alien book, but I don't know because I just bought it without looking.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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I just finished the 3 Body Trilogy. Took me about 6 months. Some of it was really page turning great. Some of it was incredibly boring. When it does pick up, it delivers. They never fully explained the online game, like who made it and what the whole purpose was. Kinda disappointed in that. It felt like Lost, where they just forgot about all the time they invested into that story and wrote on. Anyway, it really wasn't my cup of tea, though I don't feel cheated of my time. I didn't realize it was an alien book when I started and Aliens aren't really my genre. Maybe I should start reading the blurbs instead of just buying books that Texags recommends.

Not ever one to change, next up is a Texags recommendation, 'Where is Joe Merchant' by Jimmy Buffett. Pretty sure this isn't an alien book, but I don't know because I just bought it without looking.

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I have put in the time for 3 Body Problem as well. I listened to them as I do for most. I like SciFi so I really enjoyed it. Some of the most creative writing I can remember. I also think I still have my at least 20 year old copy of Where is Joe Merchant and afternoon reading your post I just might pick it up again.

Finally finished "The Ragged Edge of Night"....such a disappointment. Do not recommend. Overall grade: C.

Has anyone read "Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay?

1st quarter:
1) Anne Rice's "Blood Communion" (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". (B+)
8) Greg Iles's "The Footprints of God" (A-)

2nd quarter:
9) Leon Uris's "The Haj" While informative, could never get away from fact that was a Jewish writer giving the perspective of Muslims during forming of Israel after WWII. (B+)
10) Bernard Samson's "Winter: A Berlin Family, (1899-1945)". Story about two brothers diverging paths during WWI & WW2. Interesting view of how could fall into doing terrible deeds one slipery step at a time. (A)
11) Mathew Mather's "Darknet" . Nice ride through a vast conspiracy involving AI and the darknet. (A-)
12) Abbert Sanchez Pinol's "Victus: Barcelona 1714". Very informative on Fall of Barcelona, sieges and castle defenses. Not so good on story telling. (B-)
13) Kat Ross' "A Bad Breed" Third book in supernatural series. Will be my last. (C-)
14) Peter Duchin's "Ghost of a Chance: A Memoir" He was a band leader and through his memoir get to see an interesting period in America of the Rich and Famous (1930s - 1970s) (B-)
15) Joe R Lansdale's "The Ape Man's Brother" A retelling of Tarzan as only East Texas writer Lansdale can do. (B+)

So you want to talk about race? By Ijeoma Oluo
B+

Clear points, but sometimes I wanted more data.

Catcher in the Rye is totally dependent on the stage of life you're in when you read it. I first read it at 17, and my reaction was "wow, this is super relatable!" And now my reaction is "wow, this kid is a moron, just like I was at 17!"

It was far from my favorite, but like DanHo said, I think that was because of the fact I read it at 30 rather than 16.

I will say, as far as the writing goes, I have to give the book props. I did have flashbacks to feeling completely depressed over silly things when I was younger, think he nailed pretty well the feeling of teen angst. Glad I read it so I can say I have and catch any cultural/literary references to it elsewhere, but I probably won't ever pull it off the shelf again.

I know what you mean and I'm sure you are both correct. I wish I would have read it at that stage of my life.