• News of the World by Paulette Jiles
• The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Book One by Bill Watterson

Just finished Pa*****o. (Wow Texags sensors are strong - Pachin ko)

Would recommend. Tells the multi-generation story of a Korean family living through colonization all the way up to the 90s and living in Japan.

Agreed, I don't think, I would have guessed the real killer in a million years. I started the second book as well. I am about half way through and like how he is bringing everything together, maybe the author is hitting his mystery stride.

I will have to check out Elmore Leonard thanks for the recomendation!

I'm reading the Powder Mage books. On the second right now. Pretty good.

1. A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
2. Envy the Night by Michael Koryta

I normally love Baldacci books, but this one was a struggle. I think he's pumping them out too fast now and the writing is suffering a bit. (It won't prevent me from continuing to read him.) I read a couple of Koryta novels last year and I like his writing style. This was a short book (< 300 pages) and his first . . . thumbs up.

Blood of the Elves (Witcher #1)
Strange Dogs (Expanse 6.5)
The Time of Contempt (Witcher #2)
Baptism of Fire (Witcher #3)
The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus #1)
The Tower of the Swallow (Witcher #4)
Lady of the Lake (Witcher #5)
Tiamat's Wrath (Expanse #8)

YouBet said:

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Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World

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Holy Smokes.

I'm about 1/3 through this book and can't believe what Im reading. I cant even wrap my head around how a 20 something kid can figure out how to do any of this. How is any of this possible?

This story is crazy.

AgGrad99 said:

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YouBet said:

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Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World

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Holy Smokes.

I'm about 1/3 through this book and can't believe what Im reading. I cant even wrap my head around how a 20 something kid can figure out how to do any of this. How is any of this possible?

This story is crazy.

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Amazing isn't it. Just saw an article yesterday that GS CEO took a 35% pay cut last year as punishment for this. He still made $17.5M though. Lol.

Some of the most amazing parts, is learning about the inner workings of GS and similar companies. Guys like Tim Leisner who make 1 million+ per year, which is basically just seed money, because they reserve the best deals for themselves and partners. As long as you're bringing in $$, no one asks too many questions.

AgGrad99 said:

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Some of the most amazing parts, is learning about the inner workings of GS and similar companies. Guys like Tim Leisner who make 1 million+ per year, which is basically just seed money, because they reserve the best deals for themselves and partners. As long as you're bringing in $$, no one asks too many questions.

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Yes, and keep in mind this all started within months of the Great Recession ending caused by a mortgage bubble that GS and like firms pushed. They suffered nothing from that and continued their unethical ways with this. It's a sobering inside view to these big investment firms. We all knew they were unethical, but this really hit it home.

third coast.. said:

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And they are the ones screaming foul after this whole game stop thing. The finance pundits were incredulous.

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Exactly. We may see another book out of this event today and I suspect we will.

third coast.. said:

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And they are the ones screaming foul after this whole game stop thing. The finance pundits were incredulous.

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Yep. 'Don't do to us what we do to you!!'

Finished Fellowship of the Ring unabridged (audio) and good gracious does that one like to take its time.

Words of Radiance (text), however, flew by in no time at all. Really excited to see where that series is going, can't wait!

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lennie
B-
A bi-racial girl coming of age in 1950s Japan. Heartbreaking story that goes against everything you know about the character in the end.

Artemis by Andy Weir
B-
It's funny, but not as good as The Martian. The ending felt rushed and the overall plot felt weak.

Equal Rites
Mort

37 to go

Read 24 books in 2020, goal is to get to 30 in 2021. So far this year:

Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson- Interesting look at the motorcycle gang as they were beginning to see their reputation grow.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher- First book in the Dresden Files. Though it was pretty good, seemed like a lot of stuff left on the table and unexplored but I suppose that's why there is like 20 something books in the series. Good enough that I'm going to keep at it.

Reading now-

Full Moon by Butcher- Like I said, not done with the Dresden series.

The Sinful Seven by Spencer Hall and several other guys that used to write with SB Nation. Basically a history of the NCAA, how it rose to be the authority in college sports, and how it's led to discrepancies in money and power across the different sports. All of that is told with a Western Sci-Fi setting, where schools, coaches, and NCAA officials are different characters and what not. It's very weird and far from brilliant writing, but it's fun and has actual information in there too.

For reference, I just read through a scene where a bear named Paul teams up with a crow named John David to defeat a minotaur from Varr City who speaks like Matthew McConaughey.

Haven't ever participated in this thread, but hoping to read way more this year. Off to a good start.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
B-
Decent amount of good history told through a comedic lens, and the way she included a lot about doing her research for the book was entertaining.

The Word is Murder (Audiobook)
B-
Very cool concept where the author pulls himself into a murder mystery. I probably would have liked it more if I had realized how much of himself he put in there. The real life elements make it feel fairly real, but I thought the ending kind of wrecked that. The Audiobook was done very well.

Complete: First Watch by Dale Lucas. A procedural crime story set in a fantasy world. It's a fine, easy read. Not as good as Terry Pratchett's books about the Ankh-Morpork Guard (of which it is reminiscent), but that's a high bar to hit. At least good enough that I bought the next book in the series.

When you are done reading the Harry Potter series to your kids, may I recommend Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson? It is an interesting take on the story of Peter Pan. It is thick like HP but broken up into very manageable chapters a night. I believe there are 4 in the series.

Ok, I have never posted on a book thread, but thought I would throw this out there for anyone that might be interested. Forewarning.. It is a book about a female survivor of sexual abuse, essentially recounting her experience. Based on my job, I hear about these things several times a week, but it was still very enlightening.

disclosure/ If any survivor of sexual abuse is reading this, the (in my opinion) descriptions of actual abuse are not detailed or specific enough to trigger. Not saying it would not be anxiety provoking, but I am just saying that the prose is not very specific and is vague/implied... in general. I'd rate it an A- if that helps.

Spilled Milk

Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick
A

I really liked this book and the first book in the series, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits. Good social satire in a really cool setting. Plus, how could I resist that title?

Completed
Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, #7) - James S.A. Corey
Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World

Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4)
So this is the book that fans says where this series really takes off and I agree. Fast paced action and fun.

Starting book 5. Will probably read a few of these before I swing to something else.

Finished Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy the other day. Started a Dune reread.

My favorite sci-fi fiction is from Dan Simmons, the Hyperion Cantos and Ilium-Olympus. Also enjoyed the Raven's Shadow series from Anthony Ryan, fantasy genre. Gentlemen *******s series (fantasy) from Scott Lynch, and Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga (sci-fi). All good reads.

Dune
Dune Messiah in-progress

2021 has been very busy for me so far, so I haven't done much reading. Also, I wasn't immediately pulled into this one, so I read lightly to start. The first scene with a sand worm followed by the awesome dinner scene with the who's-who of Arrakis is where I picked up the pace, and it just kept getting better.

I have to say this was a lot different than I expected. I've always heard that people love it and that it's a classic in sci-fi, but I didn't realize that it was high fantasy-esque. I guess I was expecting more of your standard sci-fi, but it's definitely closer to Foundation than Old Man's War.

For those that have read it, will the appendices spoil anything of the future story, and are they worth reading right now?

Just finished book 2 of The Expanse series. Digging it so far. Hit 35 books last year hoping to hit that mark this year.

Favorite series last year was The Licanius Trilogy. Good read with some excellent plot twists.

Read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the Hunger Game prequel, which caused me to re-read the whole series again. I had honestly forgotten how psychologically damaged Katniss was throughout Mockingjay.

Finished:
Empire of the Summer Moon
The Moth and the Mountain
Billion Dollar Whale
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
The Logic of God
Free Fire
News of the World
In the Garden of Beasts
Sword of San Jacinto: A life of Sam Houston
What Christians Believe
Killers of the Flower Moon

Reading:
Live not by Lies

AgGrad99 said:

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Reading:
In the Garden of Beasts
It's a true account of the Ambassador to Germany in the 30s, leading up to WWII, as Hitler is taking control of the country. It's a really good story from the perspective of the Ambassador and his daughter. It's extremely interesting historically, when you compare it to our world today.

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I read this a couple of years ago and really liked it. His perspective was fascinating.

I'm going to read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" one of these days.

Quote:

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His perspective was fascinating.

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Completely agree. As is the perspective of his daughter. No different than the youth today.

Longhorn Nation said:

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1. A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
2. Envy the Night by Michael Koryta

I normally love Baldacci books, but this one was a struggle. I think he's pumping them out too fast now and the writing is suffering a bit. (It won't prevent me from continuing to read him.) I read a couple of Koryta novels last year and I like his writing style. This was a short book (< 300 pages) and his first . . . thumbs up.

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Good to know - I read a lot of Baldacci books

I'm always curious about the output of some of these guys so I looked up Baldacci.

Seems like 2 a year is his typical pace. Maybe just running out of ideas?