Books Read 2026
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Last: 5 hrs ago by lurker76
cmk10 said:
Is east of Eden worth the long read?
Yes. I listened to 80% of it and read 20%. I found it very good! Onions being cut at the very end.
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett - Book 2 of a Sherlock inspired series set in a unique fantasy world where the magic comes from the blood of leviathans.
Scion by James Islington - Super short novel about a sci-fi mercenary. It reminded me a bit of Altered Carbon. It does have a cliffhanger esque ending but the primary arc concludes, it's a side project for the author (Licanius and Hierarchy series).
Scion by James Islington - Super short novel about a sci-fi mercenary. It reminded me a bit of Altered Carbon. It does have a cliffhanger esque ending but the primary arc concludes, it's a side project for the author (Licanius and Hierarchy series).
Completed: The Killing Season by Miles Corwin. Nonfiction about summer 1995 in a South Central LA homicide bureau. Doesn't rise to the heights of David Simon's Homicide and gets a little preachy at times, but still a good read and some of the preachiness is probably warranted. Makes me very glad I wasn't born black or Latino in South Central.
cmk10 said:
Is east of Eden worth the long read?
I read East of Eden this summer. I was looking for an epic fictional history along the lines of Lonesome Dove. East of Eden didn't really come close. There were some interesting plot points that will stick with me for a long time, but it was longer than it should have been. A book that did come close to the epic fictional history of Lonesome Dove was 11.22.63 by Stephen King.
But take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm currenty reading Beach Read by Emily Henry which is found in the Womens' Fiction or Romance section of Barnes and Noble. And I'm enjoying it.
I finished "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa today. Physical hardcover.
What a ride, wow! Truly a masterpiece.
Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and may like to see a realistic peek into early 17th century of Japan at a crucial time, when Tokugawa Ieyasu effectively won control of Japan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
Indeed, this book opens at the Battle of Sekigahara. The battle is over, and a young Takezo, the future Musashi, lies in the mud surrounded by corpses, a common foot man.
Read and watch his journey to master the art of swordsmanship and the Way of the Samurai. Learn that the Way of the Samurai is also a protector of peace. Watch as a man tries to conquer the ultimate goal - self control and mastery of one's self.
Action packed, poignant, and authentically Japanese, this epic is worth the time. While long (970 pages) it moves quickly.
10/10
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102030
What a ride, wow! Truly a masterpiece.
Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and may like to see a realistic peek into early 17th century of Japan at a crucial time, when Tokugawa Ieyasu effectively won control of Japan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
Indeed, this book opens at the Battle of Sekigahara. The battle is over, and a young Takezo, the future Musashi, lies in the mud surrounded by corpses, a common foot man.
Read and watch his journey to master the art of swordsmanship and the Way of the Samurai. Learn that the Way of the Samurai is also a protector of peace. Watch as a man tries to conquer the ultimate goal - self control and mastery of one's self.
Action packed, poignant, and authentically Japanese, this epic is worth the time. While long (970 pages) it moves quickly.
10/10
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102030
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
You've convinced me to order it.
The Red Sea (Book 1 of The Cycle of Galand) by Edward W. Robertson -- This picks up where The Cycle of Arawn left off. There appears to be 10 books in this series.
Claude! said:
You've convinced me to order it.
Enjoy. It's a heck of a ride.
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway. The first of Hemingway's posthumous novels. I found it really good, and always with Hemingway, filled with beautiful prose and dialogue.
The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman
The Magicians
The Magician King
The Magician's Land
Cool series : This isn't a 1 to 1 character translation at all but I'd describe it as morally gray & depressed Kaladin meets Narnia.
The Magicians
The Magician King
The Magician's Land
Cool series : This isn't a 1 to 1 character translation at all but I'd describe it as morally gray & depressed Kaladin meets Narnia.
The Great Fire: One American's Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide (B+) - The book explores the result of the collapse of the Greek Army in Anatolia following its occupation of the parts of the region after WWI. The first third of the book sets the stage. The second third tells of the fate of Smyrna (a cosmopolitan/multicultural city with Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews as well as European and American business interest) when Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk)'s army enters the city in September of 1922. The city was already a humanitarian nightmare with the flood of refugees into it when Turkish nationalist destroyed the Greek and Armenian sectors through purposely set fires. The last third, the makeshift plan of of Asa Jennings, an American minister working with the YMCA, to prod the powers that be into allowing the evacuation of the survivors . An estimate 250,000 refugees were eventually evacuated women, children and old men (those of military age were not allowed to leave,) The Great Fire uses eyewitness accounts, documents, and survivor narratives to bring the extraordinary brutality as well as heroism of this largely forgotten bit of history to life.
Finally finished a book this month (34th for the year). My reading plan for September was apparently a tad too ambitious, should have known with football season starting up. I'm only a little over a third of the way through Lonesome Dove. Still reading two to three Father Brown short stories a week. On deck for my next non-fiction read, Texian Iliad.
Finally finished a book this month (34th for the year). My reading plan for September was apparently a tad too ambitious, should have known with football season starting up. I'm only a little over a third of the way through Lonesome Dove. Still reading two to three Father Brown short stories a week. On deck for my next non-fiction read, Texian Iliad.
This morning I finished The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Tale of the Wicked by John Scalzi. The LOTR was a reread and just as enjoyable to reread as the other two books in the series. The Tale of the Wicked was more of a short story than a novella.
I then started Monsters of Ohio, also by Scalzi.
I then started Monsters of Ohio, also by Scalzi.
Finished "Kokoro" by Natsume Soseki. Kokoro is best rendered in English as "the heart of things".
Another Japanese classic, but very short - 170 page paperback I read in two sittings. This work is considered one of the best Japanese psychological thrillers/unsettling cerebral stories. Natsume is considered one of, if not the first, modern Japanese novelist. He lived from 1867-1916, and witnessed the Meiji Restoration in Japan. This historical period saw the fall of the Bakufu - the samurai military government known as the Shogunate, and restored real power to the Japanese Emperor for the first time since at least the 16th century (in fact, far longer than that). Incidentally, and irrelevant to the subject book, this period in Japanese history is what led to Imperial Japan, the Axis power in WWII.
This book takes place during the Meiji Restoration, early 20th century Japan, around the time the emperor dies in 1912.
Told in 3 parts, this heart wrenching tale follows a soon to be university graduate who befriends an older, ostensibly wise and grizzled older man. This older man, known only as "Sensei" is a man haunted by betrayal, guilt, and missed opportunities who views life in a cynical and even fatalistic lens.
The story also touches on the students relationship with his parents, including his terminally ill father, and the expectations they have for their son. Finally, we learn the cause of Sensei's sorrow.
The book explores a lot in a short length, in a very authentically Japanese way - mentorship, filial piety, betrayal, selfishness, human cruelty, suicide, and many others.
A moving story that will leave a burn on your soul and not for the faint of heart.
5/5. Bring tissues.
Another Japanese classic, but very short - 170 page paperback I read in two sittings. This work is considered one of the best Japanese psychological thrillers/unsettling cerebral stories. Natsume is considered one of, if not the first, modern Japanese novelist. He lived from 1867-1916, and witnessed the Meiji Restoration in Japan. This historical period saw the fall of the Bakufu - the samurai military government known as the Shogunate, and restored real power to the Japanese Emperor for the first time since at least the 16th century (in fact, far longer than that). Incidentally, and irrelevant to the subject book, this period in Japanese history is what led to Imperial Japan, the Axis power in WWII.
This book takes place during the Meiji Restoration, early 20th century Japan, around the time the emperor dies in 1912.
Told in 3 parts, this heart wrenching tale follows a soon to be university graduate who befriends an older, ostensibly wise and grizzled older man. This older man, known only as "Sensei" is a man haunted by betrayal, guilt, and missed opportunities who views life in a cynical and even fatalistic lens.
The story also touches on the students relationship with his parents, including his terminally ill father, and the expectations they have for their son. Finally, we learn the cause of Sensei's sorrow.
The book explores a lot in a short length, in a very authentically Japanese way - mentorship, filial piety, betrayal, selfishness, human cruelty, suicide, and many others.
A moving story that will leave a burn on your soul and not for the faint of heart.
5/5. Bring tissues.
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
I just started Silent Bones-Val McDermid. It's book 8 in the DCI Karen Pirie series.
...
...
The Conquest of the Incas, by John Hemming. Audiobook.
Balanced look at the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and subjugation of modern day Peru.
Balanced look at the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and subjugation of modern day Peru.
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
Well, much to my surprise, Monsters of Ohio was a preview of the book due to come out in November. The only saving grace is that the preview was free. Not sure what I'm going to next.
Mark of the Fool (Book 1 Mark of the Fool series) by J.M Clarke -- It almost reads as a Young Adult book and reminds me of a slightly harsher Two Necromancers book. It was okay and a time filler but I won't be spending straight up credits on it. Glad this one was free. It wasn't horrible by any stretch, just not as good as some other series.
GramAggies96 said:
I just started Silent Bones-Val McDermid. It's book 8 in the DCI Karen Pirie series.
...
One of my favorite series! I am a huge Tartan Noir fan and McDermid is hard to beat. I also really like JD Kirk's DCI Jack Logan series (22 books) and Daniel Seller's DI Lola Harris series.
If you like Val McDermid, her Allie Burns series is good and I really like her nonfiction Forensics The Anatomy of Crime. It dives into the science and forensics she has learned along the way while writing crime novels.
Hit my goal of 52 for this year.
Best book was Theo of Golden!
Best book was Theo of Golden!
Just completed this historical fiction feat. a young Julias Caesar... youth years and when he was a lawyer. As a selected prosecutor taking on corruption and other criminal acts by Dolabella (an underling of dictator Sulla).
Written by a Spaniard, translated to English.
Learned some interesting things about how Rome "worked" ... politics and back-stabbing.
Good stuff.
Written by a Spaniard, translated to English.
Learned some interesting things about how Rome "worked" ... politics and back-stabbing.
Good stuff.
BenFiasco14 said:
The Conquest of the Incas, by John Hemming. Audiobook.
Balanced look at the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and subjugation of modern day Peru.
If you want something else Peru-related: Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. Really fun read.
Been traveling for work a lot, so lots of audio time. What a series, can't wait for the final book
Listened:
- Project Hail Mary
- The Martian
- DCC: Book 1
- DCC: Book 2
- DCC: Book 3
- DCC: Book 4
- DCC: Book 5
- DCC: Book 6
- DCC: Book 7
- DCC: Book 8
Read
- The Hobbit
- TBD
Listened:
- Project Hail Mary
- The Martian
- DCC: Book 1
- DCC: Book 2
- DCC: Book 3
- DCC: Book 4
- DCC: Book 5
- DCC: Book 6
- DCC: Book 7
- DCC: Book 8
Read
- The Hobbit
- TBD
Finished East of Eden today - solid book and i can see why its a "classic". Very deep, but it could have been shorter!
Finished The Names by Florence Knapp
Interesting - not something I would normally read but I was intrigued by the time I figured that out.
Three different story lines of a family with an abusive father - each based on how a different name given to their baby boy could have influenced that path.
Interesting - not something I would normally read but I was intrigued by the time I figured that out.
Three different story lines of a family with an abusive father - each based on how a different name given to their baby boy could have influenced that path.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In this year of mostly staying in the universe of Dune, I just finished Hunters of Dune. If we can consider Frank Herbert to be a master wordsmith, world-builder, and story teller, then his son and co-writer are children writing at a middle school level. Herbert presented ideas to propel his plot, giving just enough detail to let the reader consider the meaning behind the words and ideas presented. The son and co-writer spell out all of the details. They tell rather than suggest.
Was this book and its sequel truly from ideas that Frank Herbert had before his passing? The son and co-writer say it was. I can't really dispute that, but I can say that Herbert would have delivered another classic rather than this teen reader volume.
Next up - Sandworms of Dune.
The only non-Dune books I have read this year are The Martian and Red Storm Rising.
Was this book and its sequel truly from ideas that Frank Herbert had before his passing? The son and co-writer say it was. I can't really dispute that, but I can say that Herbert would have delivered another classic rather than this teen reader volume.
Next up - Sandworms of Dune.
The only non-Dune books I have read this year are The Martian and Red Storm Rising.
Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
In this year of mostly staying in the universe of Dune, I just finished Hunters of Dune. If we can consider Frank Herbert to be a master wordsmith, world-builder, and story teller, then his son and co-writer are children writing at a middle school level. Herbert presented ideas to propel his plot, giving just enough detail to let the reader consider the meaning behind the words and ideas presented. The son and co-writer spell out all of the details. They tell rather than suggest.
Was this book and its sequel truly from ideas that Frank Herbert had before his passing? The son and co-writer say it was. I can't really dispute that, but I can say that Herbert would have delivered another classic rather than this teen reader volume.
Next up - Sandworms of Dune.
The only non-Dune books I have read this year are The Martian and Red Storm Rising.
Great reading selections for the year.
Your analogy between Frank and the writing pair that succeeded him is spot on. As to Herbert's son and his writing collaborator, I couldn't agree more. After reading Chapterhouse Dune, I went on to read The Butlerian Jihad, was not as enthused, and tried the three "House" books for the main houses. Each one was as disappointing as the previous and that was it for me. They just don't hit the level that Frank did.
The Sealed Citadel (Book 1 of The Cycle of the Scour) by Edward W. Robertson -- This is a prequel series to The Cycle of Arawn and is the back story of Dante's mentor Cally. There appears to be 4 books in this series. So far, I have enjoyed all three series in this "universe". I definitely recommend.
started Lonesome Dove - 115 pages in. Solid so far!!!!
Just finished The Stand. M-O-O-N - that spells what an amazing book. I was completely enthralled - what a rollercoaster. I saw there were a couple adaptions that got made - any of them worth the watch?
Also finished the first Percy Jackson book with my oldest. Great book - going to watch the movie now and have him compare.
Not sure what to start next - probably Sun Eater book 3.
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
13. Sun Eater Series Book 2: Howling Dark
14. The Stand
15. Percy Jackson Book 1: The Lightening Thief
Also finished the first Percy Jackson book with my oldest. Great book - going to watch the movie now and have him compare.
Not sure what to start next - probably Sun Eater book 3.
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
13. Sun Eater Series Book 2: Howling Dark
14. The Stand
15. Percy Jackson Book 1: The Lightening Thief
I'd continue reading the Percy Jackson books. The lore behind those books, the fact that he wrote them because he wanted his kids to see their ADHD not as a disability but as a superpower, it's awesome.
Quote:
Just finished The Stand. M-O-O-N - that spells what an amazing book. I was completely enthralled - what a rollercoaster. I saw there were a couple adaptions that got made - any of them worth the watch?
I watched both. I'd have to say no. The more recent version was a better attempt, but I think that I have no desire to ever rewatch it says something about its quality as an adaptation of one of my favorite books (which I have read 3 times since the first time in the 80s).
A really, really good Director needs to devote their career to making the entire Dark Tower universe into a collection of films and series ala MCU. Like Denis Villanueva maybe. He needs to quit being selfish and do this for us. (This would include The Stand, obviously.)
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Mass
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick
Murder at the ABA by Isaac Asimov
Blacktail by Scott Hawkins
The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke in-progress
Blacktail was decent but not quite as good as The Library at Mount Char. It had some of the "wtf" vibe like his first book and definitely had some interesting parts, but overall it was just okay. Just a word of warning to anyone that is sensitive to animal stuff, this one may not be from you (it's from the perspective of animals).
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick
Murder at the ABA by Isaac Asimov
Blacktail by Scott Hawkins
The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke in-progress
Blacktail was decent but not quite as good as The Library at Mount Char. It had some of the "wtf" vibe like his first book and definitely had some interesting parts, but overall it was just okay. Just a word of warning to anyone that is sensitive to animal stuff, this one may not be from you (it's from the perspective of animals).
Just finished the first trilogy of Robin Hobb's Farseer books. Great character building and she wrapped up the series very nicely. Going to move on to the next trilogy.
Gig ‘Em Baby!
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