AgGrad99 said:

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Jack Carr- Savage Son, True Believer, The Terminal List , The Devil's Hand - in order.

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Im about to finish Savage Son, and The Devil's Hand will be delivered tomorrow.

I really like these books, but does anyone else have to flip back sometimes, to remember who is who?

He'll introduce characters in short little random chapters at the beginning, and Im all...'wait, was he the Russian Kingpin, or the CIA Mole?'

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Gotta get a whiteboard and list out the characters while you read

It usually takes me about half the book before I have a good handle on who everyone is.

"Rhythm of War": Brandon Sanderson A-
Is there any real value to the fabrial tutorials before each chapter?
as others have stated, the mental health part got a little old but many of the storylines developed much further
"New Spring" Robert Jordan: B+/A-
David Gemmel's Troy series: A (I actually read this trilogy years ago but figured I'd mention it here because I assume, like me, people look here for book ideas.)
"Malazan: Gardens of the Moon": Steven Erikson: B-
Holy crap! This book makes me feel dumb! I'm 3 chapters in and there is so much going on that it takes delving into Malzan Wiki to explain to me what I just read. Way too many characters, places and things introduced for me to process. Do I stick it out because it will get better or cut my losses?
I stuck it out, still confusing. Hard to tell who are good guys and who are bad guys and soooooo many characters, places, species and world specific words. It became a little clearer toward the end but still.
"Masters of the Air": Donald L. Miller: B+ ( I read this because it is supposed to be the basis of a third mini-series following "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific"; it covers the daylight bombing campaign of the 8th AF during WWII; some pretty amazing stories but seemed to jump around quite a bit and was more air warfare philosophy driven than story driven.)
"Firefly: Big Damn Hero" : James Lovegrove: A- (Only thing better would've been if Nathan Fillion had been the narrator)
"Sidekick:Raptor Book 1" Jaime Castle/C.J. Valin : B (Audible Original YA I think)
"Dusty's Diary" : Bobby Adair : A
"Bound No More" : Faith Hunter : B
"Malazan: Deadhouse Gates" : Steven Erikson: B-
Still struggling to figure out who is who and they just keep piling on new characters and killing off established characters that I like. I might give it one more chance on the next book in the series but DANG!
"Off the Grid--Jane Yellowrock" (Audible) : Faith Hunter: C
"Bound No More--Jane Yellowrock" (Audible) : Faith Hunter: C
"Kings of the Wyld" : Nicholas Eames : A (Thanks Eliminatus for the referral on this one)
"Superteam: Raptor Book 2" Jaime Castle/C.J. Valin : B (Audible Original)
"Scions: Raptor Book 3" Jaime Castle/C.J. Valin : B (Audible Original)
"Robert E. Howard's Conan The Cimmarean Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus": Robert E. Howard/Finn J. D. John: B
"Project Hail Mary": Andy Weir: A- (not as good as The Martian in my opinion)
"Make Mead Like a Viking": Jereme Zimmerman: B+ (interesting concept, wish it had more exact instructions but I guess that is kind of the point)
"Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods": Sandor Ellix Katz: A (helps fill in a few of the gaps I had in Make Mead Like a Viking)
"Bloody Rose": Nicholas Eames (only halfway through, almost quit reading it but it finally became interesting 200 or so pages in/ended up being a very good second half book) First half: D-; Second half: A ...you decide
"Firefly: Signs of Life" (Audible) : James Lovegrove: A-
"Firefly: Generations": (Audible) Tim Lebbon: A-
"The King's Henchmen": (Audible) Craig Halloran: B+
"The King's Assassin": (Audible) Craig Halloran: B+
"The King's Prisoner": (Audible) Craig Halloran: B+
"Murder on the Orient Elite": (Audible) Larry Correia: B
"Tokyo Raider": (Audible) Larry Correia: B+
"Detroit Christmas": (Audible) Larry Correia: C
"One-Eyed Jax": (Audible) R.A. Salvatore: B+
"Master of Sorrows": (Audible) Justin T. Call: A
"Underworld: Level Up or Die": (Audible) Appolos Thorne: B+

Buzzy said:

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AgGrad99 said:

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Jack Carr- Savage Son, True Believer, The Terminal List , The Devil's Hand - in order.

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Im about to finish Savage Son, and The Devil's Hand will be delivered tomorrow.

I really like these books, but does anyone else have to flip back sometimes, to remember who is who?

He'll introduce characters in short little random chapters at the beginning, and Im all...'wait, was he the Russian Kingpin, or the CIA Mole?'

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Gotta get a whiteboard and list out the characters while you read

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Should be read in order.

I've continued reading music books:

"Me" - by Elton John
"Rod" - by Rod Stewart

My takeaway? Being a rock star in England in the 70s sounds like a HELL of a lot of fun!!!

Just start "The Dirt" by Motley Crue and got "Life" by Keith Ricards as well.

I liked the Elon John book.

Yeah it was very entertaining and funny. He seems like a genuinely good person to me. Some drama of course but always out to have fun and take care of those he loves.

Just finished Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould and jumped right in to Below the Line. Fun, quick read and looking forward to the screen adaptation that sounds like it should finish up production this year.

Wrapping up the audio version of True Believer (The Terminal List book #2) by Jack Carr and will likely continue with the series when done. I'm enjoying TB but not nearly as much as The Terminal List. The interjection of "REDACTED" time and time again is quite annoying and I really hope Carr just makes some **** up in Savage Son so the narration doesn't get so interrupted.

No Time Like The Future - Michael J. Fox
Bossy Pants - Tina Fey
Eat a Peach - David Chang

Current:
Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See - Juliann Garey
Empire of the Summer Moon - S. C. Gwynne

Completed
- Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, #7)
- Billion Dollar Whale
- A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness #1)
- Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4)
- Death Masks ( The Dresden Files #5)
- Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2)
- The Saints of Salvation (Salvation Sequence #3) - Peter F Hamilton

Swan Song - Robert R McCammon
Pretty decent good vs evil horror book written in 80s with backdrop of the Cold War. In the vein of The Stand with some Pennywise thrown in. I think this book is this author's most popular novel and I read some reviews that many enjoyed this over The Stand as it's nearest comparison. Not sure I agree with that. This book was definitely an easier read because it was much less epic and shorter.

Going to do a reread of Dune next in anticipation of the movie.

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune in-progress

I really liked Heretics of Dune. A lot of that is due to Miles Teg. Great character. I'd currently put my rankings as:

Dune
Heretics of Dune

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune
Dune Messiah

Finished: Memories of Ice
I'm starting to understand why people like this series so much. I'm not pumped that the next book is apparently almost exclusively about an entirely new character, but if WoT taught me anything it is that these series all build in an intentional way that is worth it.

Reading: Billion Dollar Whale
I'm about 80% done, and if you haven't read this I highly recommend it.

Finished
Hell's Angels
Storm Front
Full Moon
The Sinful Seven
The Ask and the Answer
In the Garden of Beasts
Creativity, Inc
The Bullet Journal Method
Perelandra
Crazy Love
The Cruise of the Snark
Smuggler's Cove
The Reality Dysfunction
Grave Peril by Butcher: I enjoyed this one, particularly Michael Carpenter as a side character and how the world continues to build on itself.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Tarantino: If you liked the movie, read the book. There is so much added about the characters and everything else going on. I would 100% read more novelizations by QT. Also, his obsession with feet is not just an on screen thing.

Summer Knight by Butcher: I think this is the best of the series so far. Much better job of leaning into the actual detective style, blending in the magic and the lore, and a lot less of "things just happening while explaining that's just the way things work in the magic world" that I feel like I saw a lot of in the first few books.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown: I enjoyed this one a lot. Very Hunger Games-esque with a little more political intrigue. I'll check out the rest of the series because Darrow's journey into the political machine actually interests me more than the academy stuff that this first book focused on.

Currently Reading

Project Hail Mary by Weir. Hoping I can fly through this and get back to the Nights Dawn Trilogy and more of the Red Rising stuff. Then will circle back to the Dresden Files. I was doing really well reading wise but with football coming up I know I'll end up slacking quite a bit.

The Dresden file books just get better.

I'm listening to The Sandman by Neil Gaiman (DC) on Audible right now. James McAvoy voices Morpheus/Dream, and Taron Egerton voices John Constantine. Kay Dennings, Riz Ahmed, and Andy Serkis also voice different characters. Pretty good so far, I have no previous knowledge of the character. Was free the other day on Audible so I snagged it.

Haven't seen it yet here but just wrapped up Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. A new to me author. It's book one of a fantasy trilogy.

Absolutely fantastic and I haven't seen such world and character building since Sanderson. It ranks up there with Mistborns the Final Empire in my eyes. Excellent story.

However, it is apparently universally agreed that the trilogy took a huge nose dive after the first. I'll still give them a shot but was told, "Don't hold your breath and don't feel obligated to finish just because of how amazing the first one is." Even my sister insists that it is ok to treat the first book as a stand alone and move on with life. So there is that....

But for what it's worth, that first book was incredible.

Blood Song is absolutely amazing. Tower Lord is a solid B, to me, and Queen of Fire is trash. However, there is a followup duology. The first book was actually good and I am about to start the second.

The Stand, it was all right, maybe a B+

Finished both of these this week:

Warbreaker by Sanderson - Okay, but I preferred Elantris to this if you're talking Stormlight "one offs". Maybe a B to B+ for me.

Empire of the Summer Moon - Enough said. I think this one has been touted by both the entertainment board and history board for years, and for good reason! Definitely A rating minimum!

Just got around to reading The Maltese Falcon. I couldn't stop reading every line of Spades dialogue in Humphrey Bogarts character's voice from Casablanca. It's like the book was written just to be made for a movie starring Bogart.

Been reading Harry Potter with my daughter. We are on book 3 now. So much fun turning my kids into bookworms.

Frok said:

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Been reading Harry Potter with my daughter. We are on book 3 now. So much fun turning my kids into bookworms.

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But is she ready for book 4?

Frok said:

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Been reading Harry Potter with my daughter. We are on book 3 now. So much fun turning my kids into bookworms.

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I did the same when my daughter was in the 5th grade. She read the physical book, and I read in tandem on Kindle (borrowed for free), and we would make sure we were roughly on the same chapters. Was a lot of fun. Also, we played the two Harry Potter Lego games (years 1-4, and years 5-8) on PS4. Was a lot of fun as it follows the story, and is pretty forgiving gameplay wise.

rynning said:

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Frok said:

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Been reading Harry Potter with my daughter. We are on book 3 now. So much fun turning my kids into bookworms.

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But is she ready for book 4?

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My wife keeps talking about that. I've actually never read the books or watched the movies so I guess I'll experience whatever happens with her.

dc509 said:

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Finished: Memories of Ice
I'm starting to understand why people like this series so much. I'm not pumped that the next book is apparently almost exclusively about an entirely new character, but if WoT taught me anything it is that these series all build in an intentional way that is worth it.

Reading: Billion Dollar Whale
I'm about 80% done, and if you haven't read this I highly recommend it.

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Finished:
Billion Dollar Whale
If you haven't read this I highly recommend it. What I found most interesting was the sheer audacity of what Jho Low was doing. He wasn't even running a scam in any kind of sophisticated sense. This was closer to straight bank robbery than to what someone like Madoff was doing.

House of Chains
I was wrong to doubt this book. So far this has been my favorite book of the series, and Karsa Orlong might be my favorite character.

Reading:
The Wisdom of Crowds
This is one of my favorite series. The three First Law books were slightly better than the three Age of Madness books, but I'm really looking forward to getting into this.

Just finished Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor. It was a solid read, felt a little far fetched at times but I enjoyed it. The basic story is an ex-Navy SEAL turned secret service agent trying to unravel a plot behind the kidnapping of the president.

This is part of a larger 20 book series with the same character, so I won't have to worry about what to use my Audible credits on for a while.

Just finished up rereading/reading all 17 of the Dresden files. What a ride.

Anybody have recommendations on books about the mafia? I generally read non-fiction but would be open to fiction, The Godfather maybe although I've seen the movies countless times. The Five Families shows up on a lot of websites, anyone read it?

Potcake said:

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Anybody have recommendations on books about the mafia? I generally read non-fiction but would be open to fiction, The Godfather maybe although I've seen the movies countless times. The Five Families shows up on a lot of websites, anyone read it?

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I can't give too much advice, other than to say The Godfather (the book) really isn't that great. Francis Ford Coppola was the best thing that ever happened to Mario Puzo.

The movie Goodfellas is based on a book of the same name. If you're a fan of the movie it's worth a read.

Potcake said:

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Anybody have recommendations on books about the mafia? I generally read non-fiction but would be open to fiction, The Godfather maybe although I've seen the movies countless times. The Five Families shows up on a lot of websites, anyone read it?

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I recommend reading The Godfather. I've seen it numerous times as well, and I still really enjoyed it.

Potcake said:

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Anybody have recommendations on books about the mafia? I generally read non-fiction but would be open to fiction, The Godfather maybe although I've seen the movies countless times. The Five Families shows up on a lot of websites, anyone read it?

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The book Man on Fire was made into two movies, the excellent remake with Denzel Washington being the more notable of the two, and is actually about someone taking on the Mafia in Italy, and is very enjoyable.

"Yearbook" by Seth Rogen.

Recommend the audiobook as Rogen reads it himself.

Finished Sanderon's "Rhythm of War" a few months ago... Probably my least favorite of the books thus far, but still hammered it out in a couple of weeks.

Despite being King fanboy, I just read "Pet Sematary" for the first time. Had some good themes, but a combination of A) Me not yet having kids and B) The movie being one of those horror movies I watched far too much at far too young an age it wasn't as much of a page-turner as I was hoping from one of King's own favorites. Couldn't help but picture Fred Gwynne in all of Judd's parts. Loved the sense of urgency with characters in different locales that led up to the climax, but ending didn't hit home for me I'm guessing because I knew how it was going to go. My least favorite aspect of King's writing reared it's head again (which I guess shows he's been doing it since Day 1) -- he just foreshadows significant events way too often. I can't even call it foreshadowing, as it's straight up spoiling. Just seemingly every novel has the "he didn't realize that would be the last time he'd see Character X alive again." To do that with Gage's accident -- what has to be one of the more significant death's in the King universe... I just don't get it.

I heard Seth talking about it on Conan's podcast and I want to read it just to hear more about the Nicholas Cage dinner.

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
Neuromancer by William Gibson in-progress

I really liked Chapterhouse: Dune but am sad that it ended there. I know Herbert's son and someone else penned more novels, but I hear they aren't good. Does anyone know if some of them are at least based on FH's notes for the 7th book? There are so many things that were left open. I may not read the son's books but would at least read a synopsis if they're supposed to follow FH's plan.

I think my final rankings may be:

Dune
Heretics of Dune

Chapterhouse: Dune
Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune
Dune Messiah