Just started "Children of Dune" by Frank Herbert.

I need to make sure I read through it quicker than I read the first two books. I typically read before I go to bed but what keeps happening is I drift off and keep missing key moments in the plot.

I miss my younger days when I read all the time. Now nobody leaves me alone long enough for me to get going.

My 2023 list: probably not as entertaining as most lists but right up my alley.

Doctrine of God by John M Frame
Common Sense and Other Writings by Thomas Paine
Mere Christianity (and others) by C.S. Lewis
12 Rules for Life by Peterson
Conquering Tide by Ian Toll
Justification by Faith Alone by Jonathan Edwards

I just finished re-reading Atlas Shrugged so I'm taking a breather with Barry Hutchison's Space Team - The Sting of the Mustard Mines(Book 10 in the series). Good lord, he's a funny author! I'd put him right up there with Christopher Moore or Tom Robbins for pure laughs.

unfortunately my first of the year is a dnf on connecticut yankee in king arthur's court,, mark twain's rambling rants are just too much of a distraction from the story

A series i have yet to see mentioned on any of these threads is "The Spiral Wars" by Joel Shepherd. There are 8 books so far in the series.

Good plot, good characters, and best of all; Lots of great action.

Very similar to "The Expanse" by James S. A. Corey, but much better in my opinion. I couldn't even finish The Expanse to be honest, even though i thought it was ok. I read all but the last book in that series.

Others i've seen mentioned that i agree are very good to excellent:

Red Rising series by Pierce Brown
All of the Riyria books from Michael J. Sullivan. (My personal favorite fantasy series. Great plot and characters)
Ringworld by Larry Niven
All of Brandon Sanderson's books have been great
Hyperion books by Dan Simmons
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Pretty much every book i have read by Alastair Reynolds has been outstanding

Dab said:

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Pretty much every book i have read by Alastair Reynolds has been outstanding

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I couldn't agree more.

I've been reading the second Rothfuss book. I understand he is like GRRM with his next book never being written, but I really don't understand how he intends to wrap up the entire story in a single book anyways. I would think he has a good 3 more books worth of material he could write if he really wanted to.

Adding R. Scott Bakker, The Prince of Nothing series as a DNF. Which is rare for me, and disappointing since there is so many positive reviews around it. Just couldn't do it.

Switched the The Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield) which has been one of the few recent books that I can't put down. Great book and highly recommend. As a background it's the book that the movie 300 was based on, but in typical fashion the movie only represented a small fraction of the story between the pages.

Next up is Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) which is supposedly another top 5 book for many respected readers. Haven't read The Martian yet by him so will probably be the follow-up. When I feel like returning to the Fantasy genre will finish the stand alone books after the First Law Trilogy (Ambercombie), which I had a tough time finishing the first book, but it finally took hold and finished the trilogy strong.

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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I've been reading the second Rothfuss book. I understand he is like GRRM with his next book never being written, but I really don't understand how he intends to wrap up the entire story in a single book anyways. I would think he has a good 3 more books worth of material he could write if he really wanted to.

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He probably could, but has lost the self confidence to even finish the third. So bizarre.

Blood of Elves: The Witcher Book 1, Andrzej Sapkowski: A-
Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Runelords Book 2,David Farland: B+
Wizardborn: The Runelords Book 3, David Farland: B+

StinkyPinky said:

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When I feel like returning to the Fantasy genre will finish the stand alone books after the First Law Trilogy (Ambercombie), which I had a tough time finishing the first book, but it finally took hold and finished the trilogy strong.

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I appreciate Abercrombie's books, but I couldn't get through the last couple. Everything is a downer.

Have any Tolkien fans tried this one out?

I've heard good things about Project Hail Mary. Gonna be hard to top the opening lines of The Martian though: "I'm pretty much ****ed. That's my considered opinion. ****ed.".

Best book opening line in any sci-fi history IMO.

Picked up my reading by a ton the last quarter of 2022 and hoping to keep better track this year. I doubt anyone will be interested in some of my reads but I'm throwing them out there anyways for me to keep track of.

2023 - Completed
King of Faerie (Stariel: Book 4) - A.J. Lancaster
A Rake of His Own (A Stariel Novel) - A.J. Lancaster
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) - Martha Wells
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2)
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3)
Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4)
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--- - Mark Manson

In Progress:
Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5)

Next Up:
Elantris - Brandon Sanderson

Subtle Art was a really good read for me. In the grand scheme of things we don't have much time here and only so many Fs to give, so conserve your Fs for the things in life that truly deserve it. It discusses how to reframe your values and the metrics you use to determine happiness. Happiness isnt a life without problems, it's a life filled with the problems you want to have and enjoy finding the solutions to.

After completing Stormlight in full last year back to back to back, I think I am ready to delve back into the Cosmere. Elantris is next.

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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The Dog Lord said:

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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.

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I'd recommend reading Secret History after reading Way of Kings. Mostly because there is a good "what the...!?" moment in Way of Kings regarding Shadesmar (which is the main setting in Secret History). I think the best place to first encounter that is in Way of Kings.

I read Mistborn awhile back and then wanted to try Stormlight. About halfway through Stormlight I found out I have a whole Cosmere to read through which I am excited about, however reading all of Stormlight in a row was great but very draining. Needed a break!

I also read Edgedancer and one other book I hardly remember much about except that it involved magic based on colors. I need to reread the latter of those as I dont remember much except the sword.

Edit: It was Warbreaker

Finished "Nothing to Lose" book 12 in the Jack Reacher series. Starting "Gone Tomorrow" tonight.

I'd like to finish the entire series this year and have a couple others waiting in the wings:

"Five Presidents" by Clint Hill
"Directorate S" by Steve Coll

I should finish Empire of the Summer Moon by next week and highly recommend for anyone interested in Texas/Native American History.

I then plan to jump back into the Stormlight Archives with Dawnshard and Rhythms of War.

Finished Red Rising book 4. Thought it was a significant drop off from original trilogy. Didn't love any part of the book particularly but I recognize it was actually more of a setup book. Book 5 opened pretty awesomely so will see how that goes.

2023 is definitely going to be a busy year for me in terms of distractions away from reading unfortunately so my reading count is absolutely going to suffer. Bummed about that.

One book down so far

Elantris: Brandon Sanderson: 4/5 - For one of his "lesser" works, still a fantastic read IMO and definitely a cut above normal. As expected from Sanderson. A lot more politicking than his later works, but something I have grown to accept and even like as I get older myself.

13B said:

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Rocagnante said:

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I've heard good things about Project Hail Mary. Gonna be hard to top the opening lines of The Martian though: "I'm pretty much ****ed. That's my considered opinion. ****ed.".

Best book opening line in any sci-fi history IMO.

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The Martian is better than Project Hail Mary but PHM is still a very good book!

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My little circle of sci-fi nerds was pretty much split 50:50 on these. The Martian is one my favorite books but I think PHM is better. Similar style but the unique story line hooked me. Both are fantastic and near the top of my favorites.

I wrapped up City on Fire by Don Winslow last night. It's book one of a new trilogy about the Irish mob in Rhode Island. It was pretty good, not his best. I rated it a B. His series on the Mexican cartels is really, really good.

Starting the new Jack Ryan book, Red Winter (written by Marc Cameron) and am now on the third Mistborn era 1 novel, The Hero of Ages. Books 1 and 2 were awesome!

Agreed. I liked Winslow's Sinaloa books a lot better than the RI book.

07ag said:

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unfortunately my first of the year is a dnf on connecticut yankee in king arthur's court,, mark twain's rambling rants are just too much of a distraction from the story

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Agreed. I started that one about 10 years ago and got about a third of the way through it and just gave up.

Elantris: Brandon Sanderson: A- For one of his "lesser" works, still a fantastic read IMO and definitely a cut above normal. As expected from Sanderson. A lot more politicking than his later works, but something I have grown to accept and even like as I get older myself.

The Blade Itself: Joe Abercrombie: A-

Roll the Bones said:

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I wrapped up City on Fire by Don Winslow last night. It's book one of a new trilogy about the Irish mob in Rhode Island. It was pretty good, not his best. I rated it a B. His series on the Mexican cartels is really, really good.

Starting the new Jack Ryan book, Red Winter (written by Marc Cameron) and am now on the third Mistborn era 1 novel, The Hero of Ages. Books 1 and 2 were awesome!

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This. The entire series is awesome, and The Power of the Dog is one of my favorite books.

The Third Victim by Phillip Margolin- 3.5/ 5
Was a little predictable and the story line of the mentor lawyer was weak.

Race like a Pro by Matt Fitzgerald and Ben Roario- 3.5/5
I am a runner, but have never really liked books about running. Wished it was more scientific.

Current Reads:
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
Gleanings by Neal Shusterman
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan

c-jags said:

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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.

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Empire is such a good book. Have you read Killers of the Flower Moon?

mrsbeer05 said:

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The Third Victim by Phillip Margolin- 3.5/ 5
Was a little predictable and the story line of the mentor lawyer was weak.

Race like a Pro by Matt Fitzgerald and Ben Roario- 3.5/5
I am a runner, but have never really liked books about running. Wished it was more scientific.

Current Reads:
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
Gleanings by Neal Shusterman
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan

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Have you read Born to Run by McDougall? I prefer tennis to running for cardio, but I absolutely loved reading it in college.

Capybara said:

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mrsbeer05 said:

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The Third Victim by Phillip Margolin- 3.5/ 5
Was a little predictable and the story line of the mentor lawyer was weak.

Race like a Pro by Matt Fitzgerald and Ben Roario- 3.5/5
I am a runner, but have never really liked books about running. Wished it was more scientific.

Current Reads:
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
Gleanings by Neal Shusterman
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan

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Have you read Born to Run by McDougall? I prefer tennis to running for cardio, but I absolutely loved reading it in college.

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I'll have to add it to my list.

I just finished reading 1984 by George Orwell for the first time, I found it very engaging and eerie on how the modern world reflects some of the ideas.

I am also re-reading the Ancients Among Us series by Edward Savio, the third book should be released this year. It is about people with a genetic defect that cause them to age significantly slower than normal (100 years for ever 1 normal) and two factions are warring with each other. Typical good vs. evil stuff.

1984 (Orwell) - A+

Animal Farm (Orwell) - A

The Screwtape Letters (CS Lewis) - A+

Project Hail Mary (Weir) - A+

James Moriarty Consulting Criminal (Weir) - B

The Egg and Other Stories (Weir) - B+

Now reading "Out of the Silent Planet: Ransom Trilogy, Book 1" by CS Lewis

O'Reilly's Killing the Legends and Killing the Killers. Have read all the previous killing books.

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl 4.5/5

Just Dave telling stories. Listened to the audiobook which Dave reads. If you like the Food Fighters or rock stories, this is very enjoyable.