Finished 12 Months - Dresden Files.

Basically a filler book.

Wayward Pines trilogy done. Now that was fun. I liked Dark Matter a d Recursion a lot, but this was fun on a different level. I absolutely don't want a book 4 (ended nicely), but I still love to see how their final decision paid off. Should have seen that ending coming, but I didn't, which was perfect. Solid read.

The Marksman said:

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World War Z by Max Brooks. Pretty entertaining and unique book.

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Solid book. 2nd that!

Finished Iron Gold and halfway through Dark Age (Red Rising Series). Dark Age is really rough with regard to the brutality. Outside of that it's been a very good book, I'm enjoying it more than Iron Gold, which I feel has been the weakest of the series).

Pac1698 said:

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Finished Iron Gold and halfway through Dark Age (Red Rising Series). Dark Age is really rough with regard to the brutality. Outside of that it's been a very good book, I'm enjoying it more than Iron Gold, which I feel has been the weakest of the series).

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Currently 60% through Iron Gold and agree its the weakest so far. I'm sure necessary set up for the rest of part 2 but areas feel like a slog.

Finished Frankenstein recently. Good, but different than I expected. I can see why it's a classic, considering the time period.

Finally finished listening to The Count of Monte Cristo. Great storytelling but probably didn't need to be 48 hours long. Every few chapters I had to go back and read online notes.

Almost done with Goggins' Can't Hurt me.

StinkyPinky said:

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Pac1698 said:

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Finished Iron Gold and halfway through Dark Age (Red Rising Series). Dark Age is really rough with regard to the brutality. Outside of that it's been a very good book, I'm enjoying it more than Iron Gold, which I feel has been the weakest of the series).

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Currently 60% through Iron Gold and agree its the weakest so far. I'm sure necessary set up for the rest of part 2 but areas feel like a slog.

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Has a really nice third act.

Keep going.

Lightbringer might be his best one

War of the Wolf (The Saxon Stories #11 - Bernard Cornwell

Traveling a bit so that's when I use my Kindle the most so knocked this one out.

Back to Empire of Silence which I'm really liking but this first book is clearly one long origin story and a little slower. 50% done so going to knock it out this week.

Purchased The Devils by Joe Abercrombie today. Will be hard for me not to read that immediately next.

Finished Hitchhikers Guide.

Going to read World War Z next.

World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

Not gonna get sucked in, not gonna get sucked in, not gonna get sucked in...

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Not gonna get sucked in, not gonna get sucked in, not gonna get sucked in...

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YouBet is aWWZ propagandist!!!

FancyKetchup14 said:

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Finished Hitchhikers Guide.

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What did you think of this book? I tried to read it once and couldn't seem to get into it after a few pages. Maybe I didn't get far enough into it to give it an honest attempt? I'm not sure. Maybe I need to give it a try again.

Ag12thman said:

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FancyKetchup14 said:

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Finished Hitchhikers Guide.

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What did you think of this book? I tried to read it once and couldn't seem to get into it after a few pages. Maybe I didn't get far enough into it to give it an honest attempt? I'm not sure. Maybe I need to give it a try again.

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You didn't ask me, but I'll chime in anyway

I read it last year and this was my comment from the 2025 book thread:

Quote:

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Finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. One of the more wheels off books I've ever read. It felt like an attempt to mix of Slaughterhouse Five and Catch 22 (both books I love) - but kind of missed the mark for me. It wasn't bad, but it just….missed. Not sure how they made all of that into a coherent movie.

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All that to say that it seems to be such a highly regarded book, that it's probably worth giving it another shot. It's a quick read and isn't bad…I just may have had high expectations going in.

Ag12thman said:

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FancyKetchup14 said:

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Finished Hitchhikers Guide.

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What did you think of this book? I tried to read it once and couldn't seem to get into it after a few pages. Maybe I didn't get far enough into it to give it an honest attempt? I'm not sure. Maybe I need to give it a try again.

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It's entertaining but hard to take seriously, which gives me trouble

Thanks for your input on it! I appreciate it. I may have to give it another shot soon. I'm trying to read The Picture of Dorian Gray right now, but I may have to put Hitchhikers back on the "to read" list.

The Marksman said:

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Ag12thman said:

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What did you think of this book? I tried to read it once and couldn't seem to get into it after a few pages. Maybe I didn't get far enough into it to give it an honest attempt? I'm not sure. Maybe I need to give it a try again.

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It's entertaining but hard to take seriously, which gives me trouble

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This is exactly what my early feeling was about it.

I'll put in my 2 cents on HItchhiker's Guide as well. I enjoyed reading it because I had "played" the text-based game in the 80's, so it was easy to follow along. I already knew what the answer was to "life, the universe, and everything".
If you aren't familiar with the game, it was/is a text-based interactive fiction puzzle/adventure. And when I say I played it, someone I knew had the whole game cheat typed up. When it got to a point that it was impossible, figure out the answer and probably start over. I think it was from the same company that created the Zork series as well as other games.

Just finished Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival

After the Lewis & Clark expedition, Astor set out to expand his fur trading business to the Pacific Coast and establish a global trade network. I find that period and the trailblazers fascinating. The book does a great job of depicting the challenges of such a venture and the spirit of the men of that time.

The story was compelling, but the author is repetitive in parts. I'm glad I read it, but I definitely think he could have trimmed it by 20%.

ReturnOfTheAg said:

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StinkyPinky said:

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Pac1698 said:

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Finished Iron Gold and halfway through Dark Age (Red Rising Series). Dark Age is really rough with regard to the brutality. Outside of that it's been a very good book, I'm enjoying it more than Iron Gold, which I feel has been the weakest of the series).

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Currently 60% through Iron Gold and agree its the weakest so far. I'm sure necessary set up for the rest of part 2 but areas feel like a slog.

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Has a really nice third act.

Keep going.

Lightbringer might be his best one

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Definitely will keep going. Love the series too much.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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Ag12thman said:

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FancyKetchup14 said:

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Finished Hitchhikers Guide.

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What did you think of this book? I tried to read it once and couldn't seem to get into it after a few pages. Maybe I didn't get far enough into it to give it an honest attempt? I'm not sure. Maybe I need to give it a try again.

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You didn't ask me, but I'll chime in anyway

I read it last year and this was my comment from the 2025 book thread:

Quote:

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Finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. One of the more wheels off books I've ever read. It felt like an attempt to mix of Slaughterhouse Five and Catch 22 (both books I love) - but kind of missed the mark for me. It wasn't bad, but it just….missed. Not sure how they made all of that into a coherent movie.

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All that to say that it seems to be such a highly regarded book, that it's probably worth giving it another shot. It's a quick read and isn't bad…I just may have had high expectations going in.

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I read it as a teenager and that was probably the best time to read it. Not sure how it would hold up for me today.

The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson : Good series so far

YouBet said:

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World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

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Have you read Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne?

Newest Orphan X dropped yesterday. Starting it today.

13B said:

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YouBet said:

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World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

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Have you read Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne?

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Actually, yes. Also really good although it tailed off a little in later books. I don't think I ever finished the series.

The best series IMO is Adrian's Undead Diary. The very final book (supposedly) should be coming out this year.

YouBet said:

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World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

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It's really good. Shame the movie didn't even try to follow the book.

maverick2076 said:

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YouBet said:

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World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

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It's really good. Shame the movie didn't even try to follow the book.

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Agreed in spades!!!

StinkyPinky said:

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maverick2076 said:

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YouBet said:

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World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

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It's really good. Shame the movie didn't even try to follow the book.

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Agreed in spades!!!

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Totally agree, but I have come to view the movie as a completely seperate body of work that I can appreciate as a good zombie action movie.

That said, the book is begging for a limited series TV remake that follows more closely the book.

I agree with what many have already said. It was just kind of "fine." I can certainly appreciate the British humor and general creativity, but there's much better Sci-Fi out there.

I've never thought of Hitchikers being a sci-fi book. Maybe it's just me. Sort of like I don't think of Life of Brian or The Holy Grail as historical fiction.

For you WWZ folks, don't forget this epic companion gem:

YouBet said:

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13B said:

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YouBet said:

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World War Z is arguably the best zombie book out there. Easily the best zombie anthology.

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Have you read Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne?

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Actually, yes. Also really good although it tailed off a little in later books. I don't think I ever finished the series.

The best series IMO is Adrian's Undead Diary. The very final book (supposedly) should be coming out this year.

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Yeah, I have to agree with that but I thought the first one was extremely good. The ending was a little meh.

I got the first 4 books in a bundle (almost 40 hours) on Audible and really want to get the rest but I try to get max bang for the credit and most of AUD is under 10 hours per book. I haven't seen any other bundles or freebies for it.

I also enjoyed The Extinction Survival Series by Walt Browning. Especially Shrek!

Completed God Emperor of Dune. I enjoyed this one quite a bit, mostly due to Leto Atreides II. He is among the most unusual yet compelling characters I have read. He is entirely philosophical yet carries clear menace. The supporting characters, like the other books that I have read, were strong and carried the story toward its conclusion while Leto opined throughout. I believe this is a finale of sorts, as Leto II is the last of a set of familiar characters, and the next book takes another jump into the distant future. I am guessing there will be no more Duncan Idaho appearances.

On to Heretics of Dune.

YouBet said:

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Hitchhiker's somehow got past me growing up and I haven't read it and have no desire to. I think I'm too old for it at this point.

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I think this is me.