They really like them some Tana French. Author of that list must be Irish.

I really like the Slow Horses series...but that seems high for a Thriller list? Great writing, characters and plot, yes. But Top 10-15 thriller, im not sure about that.

SA Crosby's All the Sinners Bleed....that book was intense and a good read

I remember reading this in my early 20's, feeling like I was doing so out of some obligation to read one of "the classics" and kind of dreading it. But I came away with the same reaction you did - absolutely loved it and I've been meaning to reread it ever since.

Finished DCC: The Butcher's Masquerade and have moved on to The Eye of the Bedlam Bride.

The crusades trilogy by Jan guillou, finished road to Jerusalem and midway through the Templar knight. Fantastic read , and interesting change of pace coming from a Swedish author.

Just finished midnight train by Matt haig. It is supposed to be in the same universe as midnight library that he wrote. Enjoyed midnight library more but enjoyed this one as well.

He has a good way of writing about death and using it to stimulate thoughts on life

Dr. Mephisto said:

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Finished Swan Song, by Robert McCammon. Really good story. At 862 pages, you are really connected to the characters by the time you close the book for the last time. There were a few demises that bothered me quite a bit, but I shan't give away anything. Two in particular made me put the book down and stare out over my deck for a minute.

It does have some comparison to King's The Stand, which I think is one of King's best. Subject matter is similar, but I think the journey in this one is more of a central part of the plot.

For books like this, you have to feel the bad guys getting whats coming to them feels earned and cathartic. This one has some righteous payback, but not across all villains in the story, so there's some intentional open ends left when you're done.

Still, over all, it's a solid recommend, especially if you've read McCammon before. If so, you will be very satisfied.

And you'll probably be satisfied even if you haven't read him before.

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Thanks for this. Just downloaded for $2.99. That's my kind of book right there.

Just started the 3rd book "Ruin" in the faithful and the fallen series by John Gwynne. The first two books I finished quickly and will do the same with the next two.

Update, on to the 4th book. Wrath!

Read 4 or 5 of his books, Swan Song definitely the best.

Les Miserables, would also be in my top 10.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (B) - An amusing look at the science and engineering involved with crewed spaceflight. The author uses funny (sometimes icky) anecdotes of past flights (American and Soviet/Russian) as well as interviews with scientist/engineers trying to improve on what has been learned to this point. Up next for my non-fiction read, The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned by John Strausbaugh

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert (B+) - A reread. A book I did not particularly care for as a teenager. Not enough action, too much internal dialog as a means of relating the story. As an adult I enjoyed the political powerplay between all the conflicting factions (somewhat reminds me of Game of Thrones). Next, God Emperor of Dune . In the middle of this one I gave up the series long ago.

I'm about ¾ through listening to Steinbeck's East of Eden. I'm enjoying it a great deal.

January
1) A Team For America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation at War by Randy Roberts (B)
2) Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (B+)
3) What Christians Believe: Understanding the Nicene Creed by Bishop Robert Barron (A)

February
4) A Gentleman in Moscow by by Amor Towles (A)
5) The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams by Adam Lazarus (C)

Audiobooks
1) The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien - A mixture of listening and reading the text in an attempt to actually finish the book after many failed attempts in the past. I think listening to the stories comes across as the telling of lore instead of a dry history.
2) Frankenstein (or, The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Shelley (B)

March (Not a good reading month of reading for me)
6) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (B-)

Audiobooks
3a) Don Quixote Part 1 by Miguel de Cervantes (A-)

April (All three of these book are rather short, so another not particularly good reading month for me)
7) Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter by Amy Welborn (B)
8) The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel (C-)
9) Night by Elie Wiese (A)

Audiobooks
4) The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (A)
5) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (C+)
6) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (A)

May
10) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
11) Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis (C+)
12) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by by J.K. Rowling

Audiobooks
3b) Don Quixote Part 2 by Miguel de Cervantes (B)
7) Hitler's Last Soldier in America by Georg Gaertner, Arnold Krammer (B+)

June
13) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
14) Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (B)
15) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Audiobooks
8) Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (B)
9) The Colour Out of Space and Others by H.P. Lovecraft (B)

July
16) True Grit by Charles Portis (A-)
17) The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel (C)
18) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
19) In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (A-)
20) That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (B+)
21) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
22) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
23) The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (B-)
24) The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Audiobooks
10) The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton (B)
11) The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G. K. Chesterton (C+)
12) A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (A-)
13) The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (A)
14) The Pearl by John Steinbeck (A-)

August
25) Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (B)
26) Children of Dune by Frank Herbert (B+)

Small tangent on my reading - paused Sun Eater Book 2 to read Grave Peril - Dresden Files Book 3. Came up on my Libby hold so wanted to knock that out before the hold ended.

I wasn't so sure about the Dresden series after the first two books, didn't really grab me but damn book 3 took off. Really enjoyed this one and got me excited to keep reading this series. Thanks for those who recommended this one in the past, excited to see how the story keeps evolving.

2026 Tracking:
1. Strength of the Few
2. Mistborn: The Final Empire
3. Mistborn: Well of Ascension
4. Project Hail Mary
5. 11/22/63
6. Mistborn: Hero of Ages
7. Stormlight Archives: Oathbringer
8. DCC: A Parade of Horribles
9. Stormlight Archives: Rhythm of War
10. Sun Eater Series Book 1: Empire of Silence
11. Stormlight Archives: Wind and Truth
12. Dresden Files Book 3: Grave Peril

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. The untold story of the world's greatest nuclear disaster. It was informative, but nothing really special.

The Fourth Option by Jack Carr and M.P. Woodward -- I enjoyed it but definitely felt like a James Reece knockoff.

A Parade of Horribles (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) by Matt Dinnemon

While this one finally explains what's going on I also found it quite confusing. A glossary of characters would have been very helpful at this point. I've lost track of who's who and everyone's origin.

However, the most confusing part was this:

Carl and team deliberately sent Lucia Mar out of the dungeon to the Kinder Facility to protect other children, but then she shows up a few pages later right back in the dungeon and no one even notices or thinks that's weird. WTH? Seems like a plot hole.

Still highly entertaining. I guess the next book is the finale.

Royal Assassin complete. Time for King Rat.

This is somewhat related to the previous posts about Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, which you all may find interesting.

rhutton125 said:

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Royal Assassin complete. Time for King Rat.

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I read King Rat nearly 50 years ago but only saw a little of the movie. Clavell did a great job and I believe the reader's relationship with the main character could best be described as love/hate. One could make a comparison to the William Holden character in Stalag 17. You really pity anyone that was a Japanese POW in WW2.

LB12MEEN said:

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Just started the 3rd book "Ruin" in the faithful and the fallen series by John Gwynne. The first two books I finished quickly and will do the same with the next two.

Update, on to the 4th book. Wrath!

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Just finished the series. Loved it!

Great character development and Gwynne is excellent at fight/battle sequences.

On to his next series " The Bloodsworn Saga" bc I already have it but I almost thought about starting Robin Hobb's "The Farseer Trilogy. It will be next.

LB12MEEN said:

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LB12MEEN said:

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Just started the 3rd book "Ruin" in the faithful and the fallen series by John Gwynne. The first two books I finished quickly and will do the same with the next two.

Update, on to the 4th book. Wrath!

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Just finished the series. Loved it!

Great character development and Gwynne is excellent at fight/battle sequences.

On to his next series " The Bloodsworn Saga" bc I already have it but I almost thought about starting Robin Hobb's "The Farseer Trilogy. It will be next.

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I just started the Bloodsworn trilogy. It's early but so far so good. Also reading Five Decembers by James Kestrel which had high recommendations and has started off great as well. Love when I have two very different but very good books going.

Recent finishes-

In Between Two Fires by Chris Buehlman. Came with high recommendations and started off strong but felt like I was fighting to finish it the last 1/3. Overall disappointed. B-

Trees by Percival Everett - Had recently finished in his other book I Am Not Sydney Poirtier which I liked. This one was also very good (and two very different books). Quick reads that provided entertainment start to finish. A-

Circe by Madeline Miller - Another that came with high praise. I liked the prose, I like Greek Mythology, but this felt like it didn't offer anything unique while a unique attempt. C

Been doing a slow reread of Red Rising thinking Red God was scheduled for the end of the year. Just looked it up and now they are saying definitely not this year - late 2027 or even 2028.

Bummer. But I can wait for him to get it right. Can imagine it is tough to wrap it up the right way.

Absolute said:

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Been doing a slow reread of Red Rising thinking Red God was scheduled for the end of the year. Just looked it up and now they are saying definitely not this year - late 2027 or even 2028.

Bummer. But I can wait for him to get it right. Can imagine it is tough to wrap it up the right way.

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George R. R. Martin says hold my manuscript.

He should be easy to find. Just hit up your local buffet. You're bound to run into him.

YouBet said:

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Apparently, George RR Martin lives in same town as I do so if I ever run across him, I will ask him for an update. There is a local nerd bookstore that only carries sci-fi/fantasy nerd stuff, and they have entire walls of just Martin's books. I was perplexed by this until I realized he actually lived locally and I think he owns a building next door or something.

In addition, I talked to the absolute dork that was running this shop and asked him if they carried in Warhammer because you would think a place like this would be the perfect Warhammer shop...and he had no idea what it was. I've never been so disappointed in a sci-fi/fantasy book dork in my life.

And then I realized...I am the dork.

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I read once that Martin will only work on Winds of Winter in Santa Fe in a specific room on a specific old school type writer. Because he created this restriction, he never works on it, cause he travels constantly.

FL_Ag1998 said:

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BenFiasco14 said:

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YouBet said:

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Apparently, George RR Martin lives in same town as I do so if I ever run across him, I will ask him for an update. There is a local nerd bookstore that only carries sci-fi/fantasy nerd stuff, and they have entire walls of just Martin's books. I was perplexed by this until I realized he actually lived locally and I think he owns a building next door or something.

In addition, I talked to the absolute dork that was running this shop and asked him if they carried in Warhammer because you would think a place like this would be the perfect Warhammer shop...and he had no idea what it was. I've never been so disappointed in a sci-fi/fantasy book dork in my life.

And then I realized...I am the dork.

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I read once that Martin will only work on Winds of Winter in Santa Fe in a specific room on a specific old school type writer. Because he created this restriction, he never works on it, cause he travels constantly.

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I'm pretty sure anything like that self-imposed "restriction" is just an excuse because the guy is 1) lazy with all of the fame he's garnered, and 2) scared that he'll never meet fan expectations.

We're not going to get a conclusion that's written by him. The best we can hope for is that after he's dead his estate will let someone else finish it.

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He's also about 400 pounds. He won't be long for this world anyway.

FL_Ag1998 said:

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BenFiasco14 said:

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YouBet said:

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Apparently, George RR Martin lives in same town as I do so if I ever run across him, I will ask him for an update. There is a local nerd bookstore that only carries sci-fi/fantasy nerd stuff, and they have entire walls of just Martin's books. I was perplexed by this until I realized he actually lived locally and I think he owns a building next door or something.

In addition, I talked to the absolute dork that was running this shop and asked him if they carried in Warhammer because you would think a place like this would be the perfect Warhammer shop...and he had no idea what it was. I've never been so disappointed in a sci-fi/fantasy book dork in my life.

And then I realized...I am the dork.

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I read once that Martin will only work on Winds of Winter in Santa Fe in a specific room on a specific old school type writer. Because he created this restriction, he never works on it, cause he travels constantly.

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I'm pretty sure anything like that self-imposed "restriction" is just an excuse because the guy is 1) lazy with all of the fame he's garnered, and 2) scared that he'll never meet fan expectations.

We're not going to get a conclusion that's written by him. The best we can hope for is that after he's dead his estate will let someone else finish it.

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Oh, 100%. Just artsy fartsy BS. I also agree he will never finish Winds, let alone A Dream of Spring.

I also read somewhere (no clue how true) that his will specifically forbids his estate from continuing the series with a different author.