An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington. It is book 2 of the Licanius Trilogy. Pretty good so far.

reading about 12-15 books on Minecraft, as I like to learn tips and look at the pictures.

Should finish all by EOD Thursday.

I started and got about 30% of Empire of the Summer Moon over Christmas and today. Really enjoying it.

Right before that I finished Pillars of the Earth. Tough and brutal read but I really liked it.

Just finished Washington's Immortals by Patrick O'Donnell, a history of the Revolution loosely through the lens of the Maryland contingent of the Continental Army.

When reading histories of the Revolution, I'm constantly surprised by the repeated quotes about how poorly-equipped the Americans were, particularly in terms of shoes and clothes. It almost seems like we beat the British despite half of our soldiers walking around with their socks out for want of pants.

Starting with Christmas gift from daughter and her family:
Babel by R F Kuang

Finished Matter by Iain M. Banks and now about 100 pages into Surface Detail.

The Culture Series by Banks is a great set of sci-fi books.

On my to-read list... prob. only get through 3 or 4 in '23:

Hail Mary by A. Weir
Billion Dollar Wale by T. Wright & B. Hope
The First Conspiracy by B. Meltzer
Bleachers by J. Grisham
One Second After by A. Matherson
American Marxism by M. Levin
Unfreedom of the Press by M. Levin

Hyperion series of books is a must if you like SciFi.

Just Finished Zorrie by Laird Hunt.

Depressing novel, honestly not sure what to think of it yet.

Been on a fiction kick lately so pivoting to some non-fiction. Up next: The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles & Their Secret World War

Since Brandon Sanderson is offering the "year of Sanderson" with his new books, I decided to read the Cosmere in 2023.

Starting with Elantris. I know reading order has been discussed plenty, but I've been planning on going with the following:

Elantris
Mistborn trilogy 1
Mistborn 2 (except Lost Metal)
Warbreaker
Stormlight
The Lost Metal
Stormlight 5 once released

Thoughts on the short stories and novellas? Wasn't sure if mixing them in is necessary or if I could put them off to the end if I still want more once caught up.

Stormlight 5 is 2024

That's a lot of pages for one year. Good luck!

I have read Stormlight with a few rereads when the last book came out and am now 2/3 through the mistborn Era 1 trilogy. Great stuff.

I'm presently working my way through Sanderson's "Shadows of Self" (Mistborn 5). I'm seriously considering putting the brakes on and going back through Mistborn 1-3, or at least tracking down some lengthy summaries. It feels like I've forgotten so much.

The Dog Lord said:

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Since Brandon Sanderson is offering the "year of Sanderson" with his new books, I decided to read the Cosmere in 2023.

Starting with Elantris. I know reading order has been discussed plenty, but I've been planning on going with the following:

Elantris
Mistborn trilogy 1
Mistborn 2 (except Lost Metal)
Warbreaker
Stormlight
The Lost Metal
Stormlight 5 once released

Thoughts on the short stories and novellas? Wasn't sure if mixing them in is necessary or if I could put them off to the end if I still want more once caught up.

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The Stormlight novellas are pretty good but not required, Secret History is good to read after Mistborn 6, and The Emperor's Soul (Elantris world) is great any time. All the others are up to you, I don't think they have any other impact on any of his other stories, outside of maybe White Sands.

Starting "It Wasn't So Jolly" by Thomas Baker, a history of the 90th Bomb Group (which my granddad was part of) in WW2.

Just picked up and started the first book of the Harry Bosch series. Pretty entertaining so far. Has anyone read the books before?

like any serial author who creates a world like Connelly, they can get formulaic at times, but I personally enjoy almost everything I read by him. I just enjoy LA crime novels in general.

I just found "The Late Show" on Kindle Unlimited so started up with him again.

Diggity said:

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Anyone ever wondered why these threads have such a slant towards SciFi/Fantasy?

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Yeah kind of makes me feel like I might be missing out but who knows.

I haven't had much free time lately, but I've continued chipping away at The Passenger. I'm intrigued so far.

I just finished The Lawless Land by Boyd Morrison. He wrote it with his sister Beth who is an art historian at the Getty Museum. I'm going to read the next one when it comes out.

I'm on Reaper's Gale (#7) from the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson. I planned to finish this series in 2022, but ended up taking a break. If anyone is looking for a really interesting series this is one worth getting into. One warning though, I think it took about 3 books before I had any idea what was going on.

Have a goal to read one a month this year. I prefer non-fiction, but I started with The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham. Finished it yesterday.

Didn't hate it, but it wasn't suspenseful and somewhat repetitive. I basically knew what was going to happen. Doesn't hold a candle to his early work.

I also happen to be from Biloxi, and there were some details that just didn't ring true to me. I doubt it would bother anyone who wasn't from there, but I was just hoping for more.

Yeah, his more "recent" stuff (read last 15 years) is pretty forgettable.

I'll still read it occasionally and it's mildly entertaining, but he never seems to be able to finish his books in a satisfying way.

Re-read original trilogy of Red Rising pst few weeks now working on book 4 for first time.

Can't wait for someone to make a live action version of those. May be my favorite trilogy of books, will see how the series pans out.

dc509 said:

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I just finished The Lawless Land by Boyd Morrison. He wrote it with his sister Beth who is an art historian at the Getty Museum. I'm going to read the next one when it comes out.

I'm on Reaper's Gale (#7) from the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson. I planned to finish this series in 2022, but ended up taking a break. If anyone is looking for a really interesting series this is one worth getting into. One warning though, I think it took about 3 books before I had any idea what was going on.

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I've also heard these are good, but had just forgotten about them. Will definitely add to the list.

Diggity said:

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Yeah, his more "recent" stuff (read last 15 years) is pretty forgettable.

I'll still read it occasionally and it's mildly entertaining, but he never seems to be able to finish his books in a satisfying way.

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I probably have only read one book of his in 20 years. I think the last one was Sycamore Row. I liked that one pretty well. Before that, I think it was The Brethren (which actually has a plot point in common with a real Biloxi/Dixie Mafia scandal from my childhood).

I actually didn't mind the ending of this book. But it was the 400+ pages in between that seemed to just rehash the same few plot points and themes over and over.

I'm reading Fable by Stephen King but really struggling with it.

TXTransplant said:

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Diggity said:

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Yeah, his more "recent" stuff (read last 15 years) is pretty forgettable.

I'll still read it occasionally and it's mildly entertaining, but he never seems to be able to finish his books in a satisfying way.

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I probably have only read one book of his in 20 years. I think the last one was Sycamore Row. I liked that one pretty well. Before that, I think it was The Brethren (which actually has a plot point in common with a real Biloxi/Dixie Mafia scandal from my childhood).

I actually didn't mind the ending of this book. But it was the 400+ pages in between that seemed to just rehash the same few plot points and themes over and over.

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I use to be a big John Grisham fan, but you're right about his last 15 years. Unfortunately I think he has run out of stories.