AgLiving06 said:

---

Just finished Project Hail Mary. I was underwhelmed by it. I don't think it's in the same class as The Martian. The ending was lazy in my opinion.

---

I didn't love the ending, but overall I thought it was one of the best reads in several years, but I love science based science fiction. I sure do miss Michael Crihton.

I didn't mind the science. I thought the flashbacks were the best part of the book to be honest.

I'll put my next thoughts in spoilers:

The introduction of Rocky was lazy in my opinion. He was basically the perfect companion to Dr. Grace and always had the answer to get them out of any situation. Need a 10km rope? No problem. New fuel tanks? Got that too. It got to weren't even worried because it would be solved pretty easily.

And then of course the ending...he just goes and lives on the alien planet no big deal and oh...the earth is great now. I realize why he did it...the book gets a lot longer if Grace shows back up with an alien or alien tech...but to just say he magically can live on an alien planet was just an easy way out...I think he'd have been better if he had died like they had all planned.

Ooohhh I think I'll get this for my dad for Xmas. Thanks for the rec.

Currently reading Dave Grohl's book then The Five Families for the winter.

How is the Grohl book? I was thinking of using an Audible credit on it.

I'm a hundred pages in. So far just his youth and first real band.

I'm a couple hours in to the audio version of The Storyteller by Dave Grohl. It's very well written and I am really enjoying his narration. Very entertaining listen.

Finished: Dune, The Right Stuff

Still wading through: Hirohito's War

Sucked this year on my goals. Meanwhile, my wife has completed 34 books this year including the freaking Bible!

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

Dune - Herbert
Finished this and was able to get far enough that I read just past where the movie ended when it came out. Not much else to say there that hasn't probably already been covered.

Loved Death Masks. There are some who think Blood Rites is not that great, but I think it's fun, and also has a big reveal.

Dead Beat is when Dresden starts to just hit at the A+ mark, consistently.

This year read lot's of books, but only highlighting the Sci-Fi/fantasy genre.

Kingkiller Chronicles - Rothfus
Gentlemen ******* series - Lynch
Browkn Kingdom Trilogy- Lawrence
Blade Itself - Ambercombie
Dune- Herbert
Currently reading book One of Red Queen Trilogy - Lawrence.
Looking forward to book 4 of Gentlemen *******'s series ifnit comes out in 2022 (fingers crossed). Not to mention Doors of Stone but not sure I can trust Rothfus will finish it

DallasTeleAg said:

---

Loved Death Masks. There are some who think Blood Rites is not that great, but I think it's fun, and also has a big reveal.

Dead Beat is when Dresden starts to just hit at the A+ mark, consistently.

---

Picking up #6 as soon as I knock out Tiamat's Wrath.

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit - F-minus

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

Finally finished Neuromancer. The lingo was a bit annoying and prevented me from really getting into it at first. Read the last half in three sittings though. I guess I did enjoy it overall, although it really just ends in a "wtf?" way. That seems to be more common with some of these older sci-fi stories though.

For 2022, I'm planning to tackle the Interdependency Series, Kingkiller, and possibly the Witcher series depending on how I'm feeling after finishing the aforementioned.

The Dog Lord said:

---

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

Finally finished Neuromancer. The lingo was a bit annoying and prevented me from really getting into it at first. Read the last half in three sittings though. I guess I did enjoy it overall, although it really just ends in a "wtf?" way. That seems to be more common with some of these older sci-fi stories though.

For 2022, I'm planning to tackle the Interdependency Series, Kingkiller, and possibly the Witcher series depending on how I'm feeling after finishing the aforementioned.

---

I'd put Kingkiller on the top of the list for 2022.

Why? So he can suffer for another 20 years like the rest of us waiting for the 3rd and final book?

After waiting for George RR Martin to finish ASoIaF, I swore I wouldn't do it again. Wife has been begging me to read Kingkiller though. Finally agreed, but I'm going to try to think of it as 2 books only to see if that helps.

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)
- Dune

Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse, #8)
Probably my last read of the year unless I knock out Dune Messiah over the next few days. I have Leviathan Falls ready to go but just realized there is a novella (Auberon) between #8 and #9 so will read that first on kindle. Fantastic series and looking forward to the conclusion.

Just finished the second book in Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries, Rogue Protocol.

I recommend it if you like the idea of an irreverent autonomous rogue AI Security Bot who is trying to hide from humans that he has hacked his governing unit and is actually a free agent.

1st one was All Systems Red. 149 pgs. Quick but fun read.

2nd is 158 pgs.

There are 6 in the series, and they have been getting longer, I'm guessing due to positive fan reaction.

Only problem is they are hard to find in the same paperback format.

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Squeaked in one last book for 2021. Really enjoyed Ender's Shadow. He definitely recaptured the feel of Ender's Game (although I don't remember it perfectly since it's been awhile since I read it). I really liked learning more about Bean and seeing just how much he knew all along.

Has anyone read the other 4 books in the "shadow" series? I also just saw that a final book was released this year that wraps up both the Shadow and original Ender series. I've read the other Ender books except Ender in Exile and am interested in reading these others if they're worth it.

Year end list (not in order):
1) - 18) Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe Series. Have 3 left to read. Got the series, along with his Master and Commander series from widow of friend that was big into military history books. Enjoyable series, even with plot lines that repeat. Up from the ranks Sharpe looked down upon by and plotted against by upper crest officers, major battles that overcome large odds and love interest that happens somehow in middle of war. (B+)
19) - 23) Layton Green's Blackwood Saga. Typical D&D series. Good, but not great. (B)
24) John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Series of rambling short stories that were enjoyable. (B)
25) Garth Nix's The Left Handed Booksellers of London. Fantasy ok (B-)
26) - 28) James Jones WW 11 trilogy From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line, Whistle. All worth reading, but not as good as I believed would be going in. (B+)
29) - 30) Ransom Riggs The Conference of the Birds, The Desolations of Devil's Acre Not sure why keep reading this series, Liked initial trilogy, but meh since then. (C-)
31) Joe R Lansdale's Edge of Dark Water. Not my favorite of his, but still good. SE Texas Huckleberry Finn. (A-)
32) - 34) Dyrk Ashton's The Paternus Trilogy. Neat concept, every god and mythological hero coming together for epic battles. Kind over the top. (B)
35) Anthony Grey's Tokyo Bay: A Novel of Japan. Enjoyed his similar books on Vietnam and China better. (B)
36) Douglas Preston's Bloodless (Pendergast #20). What kind I say, I like the Pendergast character (B+)
37) Robert Graves' Count Belisarius. Now know why I Claudius is more well know novel. (B-)
38) Morgan Rice's Shadowseer: Londan (Book 1). Probably will not continue with book 2. (C-)
39) Rhys Bowen's The Tuscan Child. Ok, but more romance book (B-)
40) Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Labyrinth of the Spirits (Book 4 in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series). Not the best in series, but still very good. Probably my favorite foreign author (A)
41) Martin Cruz Smith's The Girl from Venice. Like his other post WWII novels. Enjoyed. (A-)

Just finished Prince of Fools (book 1 of Red Queen Trilogy - Mark Lawrence). Several have said this is his best but I liked the Broken Empire trilogy much more which I consider traditional Grimdark. Just starting boom 2 (Liars Key)

Any Hubert Selby Jr fans? Recently been watching Aronofsky movies (Mother! and Requiem) and didn't realize Requiem was based on Selby's book of the same name. Further exploration revealed he was Aronofsky's favorite author and curious to quality/style.

I had a reading goal of 30 books this year, which I met. I had to scramble during the last few months to find short books to fulfill my goal, which took some of the pleasure out of it. As a result, next year's goal will be based more on quality than quantity.

The Body in the Library - Agatha Christie
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
The Alchemist - Paul Coelho
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
Convenience Store Woman - Sayak Murata
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Hunger - Knut Hamsun
The Cement Garden - Ian McEwen
A Room with a View - E.M. Forster
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Pnin - Vladamir Nabokov
Things Fall Apart - China Achebe
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
The Death of Ivan Ilych - Leo Tolstoy
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
Chocky - John Wyndham
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
The Bell - Iris Murdoch
Turn Right at Machu Picchu - Mark Adams
Fantomas - Marcel Allain
The Yellow Wall-Paper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner
Shadow Country - Peter Matthiessen
Atomic Habits - James Clear
Burnout: The Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 - Stephanie Osborn
Everything That Rises Must Converge - Flannery O'Connor
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon
The Rings of Saturn - W.G. Sebald
Janacek, Leaves from His Life - Leos Janacek

Just started "The Cousins Wars", after stumbling upon a recommendation from one of y'all on another thread. Much obliged, by the way.

This is on my list. Love the concept of this one.

I really enjoyed the Ender's Shadow series. I didn't know there was a new book out. I'll have to check it out.

Bonzer103 said:

---

Any Hubert Selby Jr fans? Recently been watching Aronofsky movies (Mother! and Requiem) and didn't realize Requiem was based on Selby's book of the same name. Further exploration revealed he was Aronofsky's favorite author and curious to quality/style.

---

I read Last Exit to Brooklyn several years back. It was a fairly shocking read, especially having been written in the 50s. I'd like to dive into more of his stuff, but would need to counterbalance it with some happy fluff.

Bonzer103 said:

---

Any Hubert Selby Jr fans? Recently been watching Aronofsky movies (Mother! and Requiem) and didn't realize Requiem was based on Selby's book of the same name. Further exploration revealed he was Aronofsky's favorite author and curious to quality/style.

---

Not sure I have the stomach for it after reading descriptions and reviews of Last Exit To Brooklyn and The Room. Sounds like a worse version of Less Than Zero which while kind of fascinating to read...it made me hate humanity. I would have to be in the right state of mind to attempt Selby, I think.

"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+
"Leviathan Falls" James S. A. Corey: A
"Master Artificer": (Audible) Justin T. Call: A
"Vampire$": (Audible) John Steakley: F (poor ripoff of John Carpenter's Vampires)
"Haunted Guesthouse Mystery" Books 1-7: (Audible) E. J. Copperman: C (nice read/listen that fills the time)
"Mysterious Detective Mysteries" Books 1-2: (Audible) E. J. Copperman: C
"Hard Magic"Book 1 Grimnoir Chronicles: Larry Correia: A-
"Spellbound"Book 2 Grimnoir Chronicles: Larry Correia: A-
"The Accidental Alchemist" Book 1: (Audible) Gigi Pandian: C
"Monster Hunter Bloodlines": Larry Correia: A-
"Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse": Lee Goldberg: B-
"John Carter in A Princess Of Mars": Edgar Rice Burroughs: A-
"The Disappearance of Emily Downs": (Audible) C.J. Redwine: D+