Just finished The Caine Mutiny. Fantastic novel, one of my favorite of the post WWII novels published by veterans. Didn't know Herman Wouk was a Naval Officer that advanced to XO of a DMS Minesweeper by the end of the war until after I read the book.

One of the few novels that I really liked where I thought the film adaptation was equally as good.

I special-ordered Godzilla and Godzilla Raides Again at B&N... it is third on my reading list behind Profit Song and No Country for Old Men.

Trajan88 said:

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I special-ordered Godzilla and Godzilla Raides Again at B&N... it is third on my reading list behind Profit Song and No Country for Old Men.

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Yep, that's the printing I have. Got it from Amazon.

Finished 13 books from 7/15 - 7/31/2024

MEMOIR
- We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby - 4/5

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
- The Match by Sarah Adams - 3/5

FANTASY + ROMANCE - all are primarily fantasy except the Milla Vane novels
- The Folk of Air 1, The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - 5/5
- The Folk of Air 1.5, The Lost Sisters by Holly Black - 3/5
- The Folk of Air 2, The Wicked King by Holly Black - 5/5
- The Folk of Air 3, The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black - 5/5
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson - 4/5
- A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen - 5/5
- These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan - 5/5
- These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan - 4/5
- A Gathering of Dragons 1, A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane - 4/5
- A Gathering of Dragons 2, A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane - 4/5
- Vampire Academy 1, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - 3/5

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling. One of my favorite novels in the series.

Just finished King's Fairytale. Mentioned before, but first time since a kid reading King again. Glad I did. Also have Under The Dome (King) purchased and plan to read. Anyone read 11/22/63? Have heard it is great so probably will read as well. Been enjoying my break from Fantasy. Also next up and just purchased (today) first two Dresden Files books (Stormfront and Full Moon). Too much feedback from here to not read them. Also plan to read Dungeon Crawler Carl but have to wait until the end of the moon for the reprint and books to be available. Have them on pre-order from Amazon. Stoked to check them out. Will jump back into the High Fantasy realm with Stormlight Archive. I know, I have to be one of the few people left on Earth that hasn't read SA. I liked both Mistborn era series, but was glad to be done with them. Hope SA is better.

I finished The Crippled God, last book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Overall I enjoyed the series, but I felt the last couple of books took a turn in regards to themes and tone I didn't particularly care for. I doubt it'll ever get a reread

Speaking of, I need to plan when to start a Stormlight archive reread in preparation of the new book coming out. Idk what other cosmere books should warrant a reread either. I'll let malazan digest a bit more before making that decision. I kind of need a palate cleanser before that, methinks

StinkyPinky said:

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Just finished King's Fairytale. Mentioned before, but first time since a kid reading King again. Glad I did. Also have Under The Dome (King) purchased and plan to read. Anyone read 11/22/63? Have heard it is great so probably will read as well. Been enjoying my break from Fantasy. Also next up and just purchased (today) first two Dresden Files books (Stormfront and Full Moon). Too much feedback from here to not read them. Also plan to read Dungeon Crawler Carl but have to wait until the end of the moon for the reprint and books to be available. Have them on pre-order from Amazon. Stoked to check them out. Will jump back into the High Fantasy realm with Stormlight Archive. I know, I have to be one of the few people left on Earth that hasn't read SA. I liked both Mistborn era series, but was glad to be done with them. Hope SA is better.

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Under the dome and 11/22/63 are both fantastic books with a head scratcher of an ending, imo. Definitely both worth reads.

I'll be doing another Dresden Files reread after SA since 12 months should be out soon

I think this has been discussed before, but what book would you say Dresden Files really hits its stride?

I read a few of them a while back and didn't get into it, but people love the series and say it improves a lot, so I started again. Just want to know how many I need to get through before I know if it's for me or not.

I'm about halfway through book 2 and ready to give up again

Maybe I'm not patient enough

Diggity said:

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I think this has been discussed before, but what book would you say Dresden Files really hits its stride?

I read a few of them a while back and didn't get into it, but people love the series and say it improves a lot, so I started again. Just want to know how many I need to get through before I know if it's for me or not.

I'm about halfway through book 2 and ready to give up again

Maybe I'm not patient enough

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From what I've heard most people say it takes off by book 4. Butcher himself says Book 5. Supposedly Book 3 is the worst so avoid pulling up anchor at that point.

When I started, I was on deployment in Egypt and my grandmother sent me the first 3-4 books, so I was hungry to read anything and blew through them and immediately started buying the rest digitally. On rereads, the first 2 are definitely weaker, but i don't skip them like some do. A lot of the fan base says you can skip the first 2 and the third is really when it starts to get really good.

I've never heard that the 3rd was the worst, always the 2nd. 3rd book introduces Michael (fan favorite) and has the very important vampire party

thanks everyone. I'll continue to slog through. Shouldn't be too much longer it sounds like.

G.I.Bro said:

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I've never heard that the 3rd was the worst, always the 2nd. 3rd book introduces Michael (fan favorite) and has the very important vampire party

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Cool, good to know. Plan to plow through all of them regardless since they say the pay-off is well worth the up front work.

11/22/63 is fantastic. Definitely my favorite of King's more recent novels. It's been about 10 years since I read it, but I remember being very happy with it. It's long, but worth it.

Reading The Circle and St. Augustine's City of God.

The Circle may be one of the worst books I've ever read.

I'm rereading the Winds of War by Herman Wouk, to be followed by War and Remembrance. The first time I read, I was 13 or 14. Was probably in my 20s the next time I read. On the third round of reading this classic there is so much more I'm picking up on when it comes to the world, men/women, politics, propaganda, etc.

Amazing novels!

Worst as in, the content is terrible? Or worst in that the writing / story line is terrible?

Al Bula said:

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I'm rereading the Winds of War by Herman Wouk, to be followed by War and Remembrance. The first time I read, I was 13 or 14. Was probably in my 20s the next time I read. On the third round of reading this classic there is so much more I'm picking up on when it comes to the world, men/women, politics, propaganda, etc.

Amazing novels!

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I have long wanted to read those but wonder if I have the patience to actually get through them. They are long reads. I read at less than a snail's pace. So not a great combination. Still, these books are in my interest wheelhouse.

On a completely random choice I ended up reading the Forever War last night. One sitting. The last time I had read it was pre OIF/OEF and man, it hits a little different now.

I think it's a good example of how sometimes a book is not just a great book, but an even greater book at the right time. Or even the opposite. How a book can be seemingly bad or uninteresting but maybe it's just wasn't the right time for it.

713nervy said:

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Worst as in, the content is terrible? Or worst in that the writing / story line is terrible?

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I think the writing is terrible and the story drags. Plus I guess it's different reading this today as we pretty much are already living it.

Stormlight #3: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson
Stormlight #4: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson
Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas in-progress

Well I wasn't planning on sticking with the romantasy genre, but my wife and a friend convinced me to start the Crescent City books since I couldn't decide what to read next. The first one was okay. Similar to ACOTAR, the last third of book 1 ramped things up. There were some things that felt too similar to ACOTAR, but the modern-day setting and the inclusion of a wider range of supernatural beings was interesting.

Will go ahead and knock out the other 2 in that series since I don't like to switch back and forth usually. After that I may do some standalones or the Scholomance trilogy. I know I'll be reading Stormlight #5 when it releases in December.

I've been heavy on the fantasy for the last 2 years, so I'm thinking I might lean sci-fi for my 2025 "official series" (if not for most of the year). I've only read 1 book in the "Shadow" companion series to Ender's Game, so I might go with those. Hyperion has been on my list for a while too. Could throw in a reread of Old Man's War as well. I thought I read all of them, but now I'm questioning if I ever read past the third book (The Last Colony). Look's like Scalzi is putting out another in 2025, so that may be perfect timing.

I really enjoyed the Scholomance trilogy. Not a heavy romance in that one.

Finished Storm of Swords. Definitely the best so far. Would have been so much better if I hadn't known what was coming.

On to the next!

Read in 2024:

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Fairy Tale - Stephen King
The Shining - SK
A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
Game of Thrones - GRRM
A Clash of Kings - GRRM
A Storm of Swords - GRRM

Up next:
A Feast For Crows - GRRM

I think I liked the Shadow series more than the Ender series.

I'm two books into the Suneater series by Christopher Ruocchio and have thoroughly enjoyed them so far. I'd recommend the series if you're looking for sci-fi to read.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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Al Bula said:

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I'm rereading the Winds of War by Herman Wouk, to be followed by War and Remembrance. The first time I read, I was 13 or 14. Was probably in my 20s the next time I read. On the third round of reading this classic there is so much more I'm picking up on when it comes to the world, men/women, politics, propaganda, etc.

Amazing novels!

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I have long wanted to read those but wonder if I have the patience to actually get through them. They are long reads. I read at less than a snail's pace. So not a great combination. Still, these books are in my interest wheelhouse.

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They are long but paced very well in my opinion so they are enjoyable and engaging. Give em a shot!

birdman said:

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I'm nearly done with Memoirs of a Geisha.

Just finished Tale of Two Cities around Christmas. Excellent book. Bleak House by Dickens is a superior book. Not sure why, but Bleak House doesn't get mentioned like some of his other great works.

Next, I think I'm reading one of Aubrey-Maturin books. I don't remember the name. It's about the 6th or 7th book in series.

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A tale of two cities is one of my all-time favorites. I have never even heard of bleak house, actually, but I will check it out. The only other Dickens I have read is great expectations and I couldn't stand it.

bam02 said:

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birdman said:

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I'm nearly done with Memoirs of a Geisha.

Just finished Tale of Two Cities around Christmas. Excellent book. Bleak House by Dickens is a superior book. Not sure why, but Bleak House doesn't get mentioned like some of his other great works.

Next, I think I'm reading one of Aubrey-Maturin books. I don't remember the name. It's about the 6th or 7th book in series.

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A tale of two cities is one of my all-time favorites. I have never even heard of bleak house, actually but I will check it out. The only other Dickens I have read is great expectations and I couldn't stand it.

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Bleak House is really good, intriguing plot and characters keep you invested

I just finished Isaac's Storm and really enjoyed it. I usually take a while to finish books but I knocked this one out within a week.

StinkyPinky said:

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Just finished King's Fairytale. Mentioned before, but first time since a kid reading King again. Glad I did. Also have Under The Dome (King) purchased and plan to read. Anyone read 11/22/63? Have heard it is great so probably will read as well. Been enjoying my break from Fantasy. Also next up and just purchased (today) first two Dresden Files books (Stormfront and Full Moon). Too much feedback from here to not read them. Also plan to read Dungeon Crawler Carl but have to wait until the end of the moon for the reprint and books to be available. Have them on pre-order from Amazon. Stoked to check them out. Will jump back into the High Fantasy realm with Stormlight Archive. I know, I have to be one of the few people left on Earth that hasn't read SA. I liked both Mistborn era series, but was glad to be done with them. Hope SA is better.

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I'm listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl on audiobook right now and it's hilarious.

I was almost 100% certain that the narrator was Patrick Warburton (Puddy from Seinfeld) at first. It's uncanny how much the two guys sound alike.

Captain Winky said:

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I just finished Isaac's Storm and really enjoyed it. I usually take a while to finish books but I knocked this one out within a week.

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Have you read other Erik Larson books. I liked Isaac's Storm, but some of his other ones are even better.

Captain Winky said:

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I just finished Isaac's Storm and really enjoyed it. I usually take a while to finish books but I knocked this one out within a week.

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I really enjoyed Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts

I have not, but I will have to check them out. The next book on my list is The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard.

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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StinkyPinky said:

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Just finished King's Fairytale. Mentioned before, but first time since a kid reading King again. Glad I did. Also have Under The Dome (King) purchased and plan to read. Anyone read 11/22/63? Have heard it is great so probably will read as well. Been enjoying my break from Fantasy. Also next up and just purchased (today) first two Dresden Files books (Stormfront and Full Moon). Too much feedback from here to not read them. Also plan to read Dungeon Crawler Carl but have to wait until the end of the moon for the reprint and books to be available. Have them on pre-order from Amazon. Stoked to check them out. Will jump back into the High Fantasy realm with Stormlight Archive. I know, I have to be one of the few people left on Earth that hasn't read SA. I liked both Mistborn era series, but was glad to be done with them. Hope SA is better.

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I'm listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl on audiobook right now and it's hilarious.

I was almost 100% certain that the narrator was Patrick Warburton (Puddy from Seinfeld) at first. It's uncanny how much the two guys sound alike.

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Dude is insane talented.