I can keep a tally of users and total books they've read, just drop in here and say what you read and what you thought about it, should be a fun discussion I think. Oh, and I guess let me know how many systems you own or something. Maybe you'll win a prize! Probably not. Read books because it's the Chad thing to do on a website about trading videogames.
You know, it never occurred to me that uh, Dexter was a book series. I guess most of the good shows are. I'm definitely gonna read this Apolo Ohno self-bio on my bus trip up north, some time after beating MMX on the Evercade EXP but before beating Breath of Fire. I don't like the vibes so far so it's probably gonna be a hate read but I'll fudgein do it
Well, finished up Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett. Good start to an interesting series. Also, just did a count cause I felt like it, and this actually puts me at 54! Means I passed my goal!!
Fellowship of the Ring is technically broken up into 2 books. I finished the first book before the end of the year, so I'm counting that as my 5th book. I met my 2022 goal! I'll be reading more in 2023.
I finished Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy on 12/29/22. What a brutal experience. McCarthy's writing really paints a picture as he doesn't scrimp with details of violence, gore, and savagery. Slow burn with a few absolute monsters of characters. Loved it but certainly not a book for everyone.
> Fellowship of the Ring is technically broken up into 2 books. I finished the first
> book before the end of the year, so I'm counting that as my 5th book. I met my 2022
> goal! I'll be reading more in 2023.
Good stuff. I'll be doing an archival shift and converting the thread to 2023 sometime this week probably, got a root canal to take care of in a couple hours so probably not today.
My personal goal is 20 books for 2023. I think I can do it. I'm listening to one book when I drive and reading another on my phone -- I got a few physical books I need to get to also.
Down to 4 systems. I expect I will read significantly less with a 1-year old at home. The first 6 or so books I read last year were during her first few months last year where there is a lot of downtime and trying to be quiet between naps and feeds. Even with that 4 books should be pretty manageable.
I finished a short book called The Lightning Tree, by Patrick Rothfuss.
To my knowledge, the book was only printed inside of a larger story book called Rogue, a collection of stories by different authors.
I got that one from the library specifically to read The Lightning Tree. It was entertaining. I wasn't disappointed. It follows the ongoings of a character from Name of the Wind named Bast.
Finally finished the first book of the year (and already half done with another). Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett, book two in the series that I started last year. Good continuation, really upping the stakes. Third book should be interesting
I forgot to post but I finished Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker's Guide #5) last weekend on a flight. Not quite as good as the last few entries. As much as I enjoyed the whole hitchhiker's odyssey I am glad to be finished. I would definitely recommend it to anybody looking for some light humor and nonsense. I had always heard how popular and ingrained in pop-culture it was and am glad I now know where it's coming from.
> Currently working on Neuromancer by William Gibson.
What If? is a lot of fun. Pretty much anything by Randall Munroe is the right level of simple, witty and effective. What If? 2 is something I plan to get to this year and am definitely looking forward to.
I'm interested in your thoughts on Neuromancer. I loved aspects of it but for some reason it dragged at points for me. I appreciate the setting and definitely understand its influence on cyberpunk setting in general. Eventually I'll likely get back to the Sprawl trilogy but it didn't click first time around which surprised me. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the background and name drop reference to Johnny Mnemonic.
I'm very close to finishing the first Lord of the Rings book. I should have that one done this weekend. I'm really enjoying it, and can't wait to read the other 2!
Finished Into Darkness (Terry Goodkind) his last book before his death. Wrapped up the series alright I guess. There were a few sentences in the final chapters that sort of gave me goosebumps because he died not long after, just the wording.
Even though the series was wrapped up ok, it felt like it ended abruptly. Not really a cliffhanger by any means, but just felt unfinished... like ending a book mid sentence.
Thanks Terry for 20+yrs of sharing your world. RIP
I'm starting the final Dexter book. The audio book I'm listening to has like 1200 pages so that's gonna be a while. I am actually aiming for 20 books but we'll see. I got some friends on goodreads doing 50 and 100, that's pretty insane. One girl I think only reads and doesn't sleep/eat/work. lol
I recently finished the audio book for The Terminal List. Pretty good if you like military/political thriller books. I started the Amazon Terminal List show and so far its pretty good as well.
oh dang...already forgot about this thread somehow lol
I have two more done: -Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett; 3rd and in a series. overall liked the whole thing and had some really novel ideas (people are able to edit the world around them by 'scriving', which is just writing on things in a special language) -Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi; 3rd book in another unique series - basically murder is impossible because people come back to life. short stories and are really easy to digest
Finished Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay. It’s the final Dexter book, as you might imagine. I have a love/hate relationship with this book and it’s taken me 24hrs of digesting it to realize it.
Even with the title, part of me hoped Brian and Dexter would ride off into the sunset together. But no happy endings here for really anyone. Dexter being whose brain we’re in the entire time, his thought process abruptly stops when he dies, making the book feel unfinished. In a genius way it sort of makes perfect sense. For if we die instantly, our thoughts likely do the same. Still I had hoped for some reconciliation with Cody and Astor. The way he basically shifts out of dad mode is disgusting but makes total sense for his character also.
Sad to be done with the books and the show. I can only hope more something comes eventually.
Finished up Bel Breaker by Chris Cardenas. really interesting story...set in the distant future where gravity has gone haywire and bodies of water float way up in the air. inevitably travel and things go through them, but so does war/fighting. very interesting but a TON of terms and stuff thrown at you that's really confusing at the start.
I finished Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome last week. Silly and charming. Pretty easy ready, though I'm not sure much of it is going to stay with me.
I started Filth by Irvine Welsh immediately afterward. Really enjoying the first chunk. I love the Trainspotting/Mark Renton series. Seems like I'm eventually going to have to get through everything by Irvine Welsh.
just finished up the first book in a new series: The Queen's Opal by Jacque Stevens. its the first of 5. basic fantasy setting with humans, elves, dwarves, and what not, but with an interesting take on magic. i like it so far, and it has great reviews so i'm excited for the rest.
Perdido Street Station by China Mievielle 4/5 This book was good and bad at the same time. I was gonna give it a 3/5 then the ending sorta pissed me off to a degree, but in a good way to bump it up. The spoiler will describe the whole book in a general overview.
The book starts with Yagharek coming to New Crobuzon City, he's a Garuda which is basically a bird person. He had his wings removed in what he describes as something he did, he "took someone's choice away" and his tribe ripped his wings off. He comes to the city to find a man, Isaac who he thinks can restore his ability to fly.
Isaac is a scientist of sorts, he's a human male. He has a girlfriend named Lin, who's a beetle person. Humanoid otherwise besides a Beetle head, she can understand people who talk but only communicates via Sign Language.
Yagharek hires Isaac to help him fly again. He refuses to be remade to fly again.
There are also Remade usually, but not always, humans who are caught up in the criminal justice system and then forced to undergo a capricious and cruel alteration at the hands of New Crobuzon's bio-thaumaturges.
In the punishment factories, the prisoners' bodies are horrifically altered, limbs and other body parts replaced with steam-powered machinery, heavy mechanical metal parts, or grafted together with human or animal components. Live foxes sewn into chests, torsos attached backwards to a horse, tentacles and pistons and caterpillar treads and eyes and lizard claws fitted wantonly wherever they will go; the sadism of Remaking knows no limits.
Frog people, etc flying bat people, and other sorts of multi-diverse species.
Slake-moths are the main plot point of sorts.
Slake moths are a species of large, predatory butterfly-like creatures. Slake moths are known to exist in several extra-dimensional planes simultaneously, making them especially difficult to kill. If you look at them directly, you are hypnotized by their wings and they put their large tongue down your mouth, suck out your soul and dreams and leave you basically a zombie. After this, they excrete a pheromone in the sky that gives people nightmare dreams, which then they seek out more prey to soul/dream suck.
Isaac accidentally gets one as a slug, feeds it, and makes one.
Isaac's girlfriend, Lin gets hired by a thug, Motley to make a sculpture of him for a large sum of money she can't refuse. Motley also owns 4 Slake-Moths who produce a very expensive drug called "dreamcrap".
Isaac's Moth escapes and frees the other 4 moths.
Because Isaac had a moth, Motley thinks he wants them to sell dreamcrap so he captures Lin and rips her wings off, sends it to her apartment as a threat to Isaac. Isaac at this point thinks she's dead.
The government is corrupt and useless, but they try to hire a multi-dimensional creature called a Weaver to kill the Slake-Moths.
All this time, Yagharek is helping Isaac with the moth problem, being useful, and helpful.
The only way to fight the moths is with helmets with mirrors fitted, so you can see the moth behind you and not be hypnotized. They only feed or can see sentient things that can dream.
Eventually, a Sentient robot shows up to help them, it's called The Council. It cannot dream or anything. It creates a plan to kill the moths.
They kill the small moth Isaac fed easily with the Council's help. They also kill the other 3 in a convoluted way of sorts.
When they get to the last moth, Lin is there still making the sculpture for Motley as he's obsessed with it being finished. She knows nothing about the moths. She has been tortured, abused, and who knows what else. Isaac tells her not to turn around to look at it, but she does. It sucks her in, but Yagharek manages to free her partway.
The last one dies to massive fire spray in the end.
Lin is still alive, but basically half alive. She still makes sign language but it's random and makes no sense.
Lin, Isaac and Yagharek escape but are wanted so have to hide.
When Yagharek is out one day, another Garuda approaches Isaac and tells him not to create the device to make him fly again. He doesn't want to, but then she tells him she's the one who he "took choice away from". She tells him that in Isaac's world, it is called "rape".
Isaac is conflicted as he promised Yagharek he'd do it, then he thinks about what happened to Lin and leaves a note saying he won't help anymore. If he helps him fly again, he feels like he would be forgiving of the rape.
Yagharek knows what he did was wrong, but still feels like Isaac should have kept his deal.
Yagharek at this point decides to continue living like a wingless garuda and no longer hiding.
So yeah.... The end feels like being slammed by a freight train. The reader sees Yagharek help out, be nice, and then, bam! We find out he raped someone. This book was written before the big Grim-dark boom but does feel grim-dark I suppose. The good guys don't really win, the government is crap and useless and we get slammed into liking this character, then find out he raped someone. The writer is very left-leaning, and the politics sorta show in this book. The ending kinda reminds me of how people were so upset over The Last of Us 2 for killing a character we like when in all reality he wasn't a great person. But in that world, no one is really purely "Good".
His prose is very interesting, people seem to call it "purple Prose". I did like it, but definitely couldn't read two of his books in a row as it seems like he writes next to a dictionary.
What If? 2 - Randall Munroe More of the same as the first book. These are perfect for quick fun reads though I wasn't nearly as engaged or entertained as the first book. Not sure if it's a shift from my side or if the "schtick" has run out. Many of the answers expectedly devolve into inane extreme calculations. The artwork and quick comics are still great though. I'll continue to read anything Randall Munroe puts out almost no matter what the subject matter. His creativity and clear joy in his work is hard to knock.
Filth - Irvine Welsh I've loved everything I've read from Irvine Welsh, most notably the entire Trainspotting/Mark Renton saga. Yet again I was drawn in and really enjoyed another trip through Edinburgh. Filth is seen through the eyes of a crooked cop who has tangential interactions with some of the same characters mentioned in Trainspotting. I don't think I've ever read a book where the main character is a bigger scumbag POS than the main character of Filth, yet despite that you are somehow rooting for him. There's something endearing about a narrator that is both fooling himself and fully aware of his own bullcrap. Either way, another good read. Really curious how they made a movie out of this. Definitely interested to check it out with James MacAvoy as the main role.
Good job. I feel bad, I'm actually considering picking up an old book I never finished and then picking up the book that came after it but since the author's a tool and is too busy arguing with idiots on Facebook and clapping himself on the back for writing Trouble with Tribbles decades after the fact the series will never be finished anyways so why bother I guess...
Dead Silence - this wasn't scary at all. Very predictable ending. It was pretty mid.
Werecage - Very amusing, short read. Here is the description :
Legend says that whoever is bitten by Nic Cage and lives becomes a Nic Cage themselves...
Stanley Miller got bit by Nic Cage in the park. Things got worse from there. If his roommate Cameron and Wilford Brimley are to be believed, the world is now on a fast track to the apocalypse. Unless Stanley can save it. When the moon rises, Stanley feels the change overcome him and Nicolas Cage takes over.
With the first Cage still out there, turning more and more people into raving, angry, Hollywood action stars, can Stanley use his tenuous grasp on his own sense of self to track the source of the infection and stop it once and for all? Or are we all destined to fall victim to the curse?
Finished reading "Unlikely Friendships", I really enjoyed this and I'm on to the sequel title featuring dogs. The book is about unusual inter-species friendships. I love animals, and they even had the story about the lioness and the baby gazelle (spoiler, she doesn't eat it) that I remember seeing on some Nat Geo show over 10 years ago (probably Big Cat Diary).
Heat 2 - This takes place before and after the movie Heat, and is absolutely a worthy follow up. Heat is probably my favorite movie of all time and I was kind of hesitant to give this a try since it was released some 27 years after the movie. Seemed like it this could be a money grab riding the coattails of the movie. Nope, this story is awesome. This is co-authored by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner. I listened to the audio book which is a bit of a challenge at the start because the narrator has a voice similar to lego batman or and action movie trailer guy. There are times in the audio book when the narrator really sounds like the ones are being directed by Vincent Hanna/Al Pacino himself.
Finished Pachinko and loved every second of it. I have been putting off watching the show until finishing the book. Now I'm excited to see the series as I am a huge fan of Lee Min-ho (lead actor) and this sort of storytelling.
I'm almost done with Outlander book 9 and am trying to decide my next reads/listens. Will start something today for sure.
Finished Outlander Book 9 Go tell the Bees that I'm Gone. The title doesn't make much sense to me because I imagined someone would die, or be leaving, but they literally just told gossip to the bees. Anyway 1000 pages of a lot of nothing but being 9 books into a series it had to be dealt with.
I started Daughter of the Moon Goddess the other day and can hardly put it down. I'm going to zip through it and the sequel probably quickly.
Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler - This is basically a Star Wars-esque book. It was really good, got through it in a week and started the next one already.
just finished up the last book in the series that my wife and i listen to while driving: Fate's Ransom by Jeff Wheeler. funny thing is we just realized that this was actually a prequel series to another 6 book series...so at least we didn't have to think long on what to start afterwards lol
Finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess today and onto the second book as it's a duology. Absolutely loving the writing style and characters. (this was book 6 for me for the year, btw)
Someone was just telling me all about a book they're almost done: The Last Watch, by Stephen King.
This book sounds fairly scary/thriller like. From what I heard about the story, the main character sounds pretty messed up, the things he's doing.
he's using something like mind control, via some sort of video game console, in order to persuade people to do bad things and/or kill themselves. Something like that. Messed up stuff.
I finished Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. Brutal glimpse into the life of a few addicts. I saw the movie back in high school with some friends and it definitely stuck with me. If you have any familiarity with the movie you know what you are in for. Glad I finally read the book though I wouldn't casually recommend it to most poeple. Will likely move on to something lighter as a palette cleanser for my next book.
"Can you read a book for every system you own in 2023????"
Okay, I admit it. I don't think I can 😅
There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to do everything I want to do. I don't read that often, mainly on weekends, so it can take months to finish even just 1 book.
If only there was a way to add more hours to the day (without sleeping less). Maybe I'll get ahold of a time turner from the Harry Potter series. Yeah yeah, I know. Magic isn't real... Just kidding. I know it is. But time turners are really difficult to find.
I'm with ya brother. Though I'm gonna read at least one anyways. Technically I only own a Switch now, so that should be easy. Should be. But the book I picked was Horus Rising. :O
>> I finished Two Towers. On to Return of the King now!
> I'd plus this twice if I could. Lord of the Rings series. That's a classic. Nice.
>
> I enjoyed the movies, and do want to read the books, but I primarily read on the
> weekends and have other books in middle of. Maybe some day.
>
> How was book 1 and 2?
This is my first time reading the books. I've been wanting to for a while since I love the movies. The first book was really good, but the second is much better IMO. The first book just had too many sections where Tolkien spends 10 pages describing them hiking from point A to point B, with nothing eventful really happening.
After I finished reading the first book, we watched the movie (extended, of course) with the kids because they hadn't seen it yet. Now that I've finished the second book we're going to watch the second movie this coming weekend since we have no plans (isn't that the best?)
I finished up If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell. Pretty light-hearted look at the film industry from an indie and cult-movie actor. Always been a fan of Bruce and hearing some of the antics of his involvement with Sam Raimi and the Evil Dead films is always gonna be fun.
The Power of the Dog - An excellent book about the DEA vs the Mexican cartel, with a little mob stuff mixed in. This is part one of a trilogy, The Cartel and The Border are two and three, but I’m taking a break from the series after half way through the 23 hour audio book for The Cartel.
I've been reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow for the past week or so. I'm not sure if I heard about this book on here or on Reddit or something. I just found out that this was named one of the best books of 2022 and shows up on a bunch of awards lists.
Either way, this is legitimately some of the most cringe-inducing writing I have ever encountered. While the actual storyline is fine, though a little heavy-handed, the prose is full of bullcrap. Nearly all the secondary characters are despicable tropes that sound like they were created by an edgelord internet troll. There are constant references to pop culture items that seem like an attempt for the author to justify their nerd-credit. Overly tragic events and crapty decisions by the main characters sprinkled throughout that would make you wonder why they would ever associate with one another. It's like the author took all the worst aspects of a book like Ready Player Two and dialed it up.
I'm wondering if I'm in the minority on this as it seems like this book is not only praised but apparently is getting a movie.
> Sounds like another Ready Player One type of book. Basically, Twilight for dudes.
>
My first impression of the book was Ready Player One written by a female who wanted to capitalize in the wake of Gamergate. While some of the pressure points she touches are rooted in truth, it makes for an unpleasant read. Many of the characters are thinly veiled misogynist butt-holes and some excerpts of the writing are hilariously bad.
It's not often I literally stop reading to show something to my wife or a buddy but I've had to do this for a handful of passages in this book. Below are just a couple examples of some truly ridiculous passages.
When Dov came down to the apartment to help Sadie set up Ulysses, Marx hated him immediately: the leather pants, the tight black T-shirt, the heavy silver jewelry, the immaculate goatee, the eyebrows permanently in the shape of circumflexes, the topknot. “The poor man’s Chris Cornell,” Marx whispered, referencing the lead singer of the grunge band Soundgarden. “Chris Cornell?” Sam said. “I think he looks like a satyr.” But it was Dov’s cologne that Marx loathed. It wasn’t a cheap cologne, but as soon as he came into the room, his scent was everywhere, and even after he left, and they opened every window in the apartment, Marx could still smell him. The room felt murky and musky, oppressive with pine, patchouli, and cedar. It was, he felt, an aggressively male cologne, a roofie of a cologne.
I remember that she had great hair, though,” Lola said. “That shiny Beverly Hills blowout that all the Jewish Westside girls get.” Sam wasn’t sure if this comment was anti-Semitic or not. “I think her hair just looks that way,” Sam said. No one’s hair just looks that way,” Lola said. She leaned in to kiss him, and he kissed her, and then she put her hand between his legs, wrapping her fingers around the cylindrical chamber of blood sponges that was his (and every) penis. He felt the corpora cavernosa, commanded by nerve messages from his subconscious brain, fill up with blood, and the tunica albuginea membrane, the penis’s straitjacket, trap the blood inside. He pulled away.
I literally just discovered that my local library has Kindle books you can somehow check out. This might end my book purchasing... however when I order on Amazon and don't need something fast I usually get the digital credits. That and there's a beta for some points program. So lately I've not actually paid for any books either. Still might be helpful for some! The app you want to download is Libby... it'll do a search to see if a local library supports it and often times you can set up membership online too.
Just finished up Deadbeat Druid by David R. Slayton. finished up the series
the majority of the book was really good. the ending seemed a bit rushed. like it sounded like they could have almost had a 4th book but then said 'naw, lets just deus ex machina and neatly wrap everything up in the last two chapters"
Finished Heart of the Sun Warrior: (Celestial Kingdom Book 2) by Sue Lynn Tan and was rewarded by finding out book 3 was announced and should come out in February. I loved this 2 book series and can't wait to continue the story. I would love to see the novels brought to life on the screen some day and since they quickly blew up for the new author there's always hope.
> Almost there, presuming I didn't miss any books. Nice work
Yeah you missed one somewhere.
I read Dexter #7, #8 (so probably one of those) Into Darkness: The Children of D'Hara Pachinko Go Tell the Bees That I'm Gone Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior
woohoo. I gotta pick up the pace though if I want to meet my goal of 20 books by end of the year though. But I'm still thrilled to get these 7 read. I'm onto For You and Only You (the You series, book 4)
I finished Flowers for Algernon yesterday. Been on my to-read list for a while so glad that I finally get to check it off. A touching look from the point of view of the main character with mental retardation. Pretty well written.
@sinnie I also just started For You and Only You. My wife still enjoys the Netflix show (I bailed at season 2 but kept reading the books with her). I'd say that that the Joe Goldberg persona has jumped the shark but we still revel in how ridiculous everything gets. I re-read the synopsis for Book #3 before I started and had forgotten how insane the finish to the last book was. I suspect I'll breeze through this and chuckle at how everything works out perfectly at the end despite multiple people going missing and getting murdered in his immediate circle.
> @sinnie I also just started For You and Only You. My wife still enjoys the Netflix
> show (I bailed at season 2 but kept reading the books with her). I'd say that that
> the Joe Goldberg persona has jumped the shark but we still revel in how ridiculous
> everything gets. I re-read the synopsis for Book #3 before I started and had forgotten
> how insane the finish to the last book was. I suspect I'll breeze through this and
> chuckle at how everything works out perfectly at the end despite multiple people
> going missing and getting murdered in his immediate circle.
Oh yeah the show has been awful after season 2.... the books are so so but at this point I'm happy to finish it (and the show when it comes back.) Yes it gets quite insane!
I finished up For You and Only You. Hoping that's the end of the series.
@sinnie Curious on your thoughts when you wrap it up. I think the books continue to get worse as the series progresses. Joe's superpower of conveniently figuring out ways to kill people without casting any suspicion is pretty comically on display at this point. This only pales to his other super ability to only meet females with ridiculous names. I've never met nor heard of a single person named Love, Sly, Wonder, Peach, Guinevere, OK, etc.
finished The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler. another one of my wife and i's driving books. likely going to finish up the next book in the next week or so as well
plus, will likely finish up another book tomorrow :)
Lonesome Dove - I never thought I’d enjoy a western but this was great. The tv series from 1989 was maybe the most accurate book to show/movie I’ve ever seen. But the show was a lot softer than the book. Augustus McCrae is now near the top of my list for favorite all time book characters.
City on Fire - Pretty good Boston crime mafia book. A but too short for me but Don Winslow was probably saving stuff for books 2 & 3.
Now I’m on to Killing Floor (Jack Reacher book 1).
i just added it to my wishlist. sounds pretty interesting. LitRPGs are hit or miss for me. They can be done really well though, and like you said, it has crazy good reviews
others that i really like are: -The Gam3 (3 books, and i'm not sure if he'll ever finish the series) -Ben's Damn Adventure
I just finished Hilarity Ensues by Tucker Max. My friends and I found these stories hilarious when we were teenagers in college and he was still updating his webpage. This is his 3rd book so it's more of the same drunken debauchery. While some of situations are still humorous it is crazy to read these stories from a different perspective 15+ years older.
I give Tucker Max credit for monetizing his lifestyle and essentially creating a new genre of writing. There is no doubt he knows how to tell a compelling story. However, so much of it comes off as a desperate douche trying to justify being a rude and selfish person. It's hard not to imagine a lot of the stories are embellished and that the actual situation was actually just an unpleasant ride for everyone involved (including Tucker most of the time).
>> finished up Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. already have the next two books in the
>> series so i'll be starting the next one this afternoon
>>
>> also, about half an hour left in the latest book i'm listening to with my wife,
> so
>> the next time we take a trip we'll be finishing that one too
> Have you read other books by him? I've read several and was wondering how Skyward
> compares.
Only a handful so far. Elantris and The Reckoners Series (4 so far). Stormlight Archive and Mistborn are also on my list. Same feel of the Reckoners books (kid with a grudge learns that they know nothing from competent adults) with good world building and character development. Going through this book and the first couple chapters of the second book so far, I'm definitely interested in where things are going and looking forward to going through it all.
Finished up Starsight by Brandon Sanderson, book two in the Skyward series. Seems to me like all of the books in this series are going to have a completely different feel to them, while making the world bigger and bigger. definitely recommend
I think next, I'm actually gonna tackle all the Berserk Hardcover volumes I got and maybe read something else since I'm not bringing Berserk into work with me on the days I have to go in.
There was a library on the ship I was on, so I read Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, which was quite good. (It's like Hogwarts for murder training.) Here's the super weird part: when I looked up the author to see if he'd written anything else, I discovered that he wrote one of the worst songs ever: Escape (The Pina Colada Song).
Sorry. I could have described that better. No magic. Everything that happens is technically possible. I just meant that the school is like Hogwarts in the sense that it's a secret, exclusive school that only certain people are allowed to know about that is expensive and fancy. Without giving too much away, the book is basically a guide for people who can't attend the school but tells the story of three people who attended as examples of what to do and what not to do. There's a twist ending as well that's logical within the world the book creates but still took me a bit by surprise. I would recommend it if you like dystopian fiction.
nonamesleft wrote:
> Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:
>> There was a library on the ship I was on, so I read Murder Your Employer: The
> McMasters
>> Guide to Homicide, which was quite good. (It's like Hogwarts for murder training.)
>> Here's the super weird part: when I looked up the author to see if he'd written
>> anything else, I discovered that he wrote one of the worst songs ever: Escape
> (The
>> Pina Colada Song).
> Haven't heard of it. In what way is it like Hogwarts? There's magic?
I read six pages and I'm like PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I WANT TO DO ANYTHING ELSE
It's rare that a book actually hooks me. Last book was Win, this one has a lot of names to remember. It's nauseating trying to keep them separate, plus I know some of the lore and there's Horus and there's Little Horus but are they the same person or two different people, it's hard to say because these are ALL THE OFFSPRING OF THE EMPEROR SO IT'S LIKE... IT GETS CONFUSING. Especially if you're like, 80% present while reading it. I'm fudgeed that if I do decide to continue on with the series, it just fudging goes on forever and ever.
so the premise of this book is silly, but the actual book is just awful.
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.
When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.
But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.
As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
I thought it would be a silly and cool premise kinda like The Library at Mount Char but no. The blurb is more interesting than the content.
The main character, Katrina is trans. M - F. Identifies as female. Okay, fine. Parents hate her for being trans, beat, her etc. Wears makeup to cover the beatings. One of the other characters, Satomi sees her as a girl. Every time Satomi refers to Katrina as being a she, Katrina's only response is "BUT I'M TRANS" as if this lone statement is a personality trait. Satomi is recognizing you as a girl, yet "BUT I'M TRANS" seems to be the only thing Katrina can ever say if anyone calls her a girl. I'd like to find out how many times this phrase is used, but I don't want to bother finding an ebook and searching. I really hope all trans people aren't this annoying and think being trans alone is a personality trait.
But I guess the worst part of the book is the paragraph breaks. There could be two sentences with one character, then a clear break and it goes to another. The longest, if that writing prompt of one POV is maybe 2 pages. It's awful. I have no idea how this has such high ratings, I was gonna power-hate my way through it but at page 208 I had to stop. It's awful. There's this other weird alien storyline going on as well that's really fudging dumb.
just finished up The Secrets of Master Brewers by Jeff Alworth and Stan Hieronymus. always fun to read more about how different bears are made around the world. just needed a bit of a palate cleanser before i jumped into the next huge series.
going to be another 16 book series like I did last year where each book will take an average of like 3.5 hours. its actually a continuation/offshoot of that series following a couple of the characters that broke off from the main group at the very end. it was a fun world with a weird relationship between magic and technology, and it'll be fun to read more into it
again, you all need to step it up. i forgot to update after two books ago because nobody else is reading
Finished up: -Eye of the Pharaoh: Black Ocean: Mercy For Hire, Mission 8 by J.S. Morin -Ship with no name: Black Ocean: Mercy For Hire, Mission 9 by J.S. Morin
Work, kids, Baulders Gate 3 has consumed my life. I have so many things to read too. The struggle is real. I just need to get another audio book for my commute.
I've been reading a super long book, for example Eye of the Pharaoh, that's only 185 pages according to Good Reads. If I were reading books that short I'd be way over my goal of 25 books.
Finished Callahan's Crosstime Saloon yesterday. It's a series of humorous sci-fi adjacent vignettes that take place entirely in a bar with a lot of the same barflies involve. What a charming read. Never heard of this book or author previously which surprised me since it has such a fun setting. Apparently there are 9 more of these. Probably something I'll sprinkle in over the next few years when I need something light.
I'm most of the way through 2 other books so I'll be posting again within the next couple weeks.
Started Lockwood and Co book 1. Loved the Netflix series (boo they canceled it) and the book has been fantastic so far. I'm listening to it on my commute.
What Is This Thing Called Love? - Gene Wilder - Series of short stories centered on love/romance. Some are relatively tender, some are humorous, some appear to semi-biographical. Each story is pretty light and the book is a breeze to get through. Gene Wilder is charming as ever the more I read him.
I finished up Milky Way Coalition by GameTZ very own Yoda5. Humorous sci-fi romp. Influence from Hitchhiker's Guide is very evident.
I am giving this book away to the first user on here who posts that they are interested. The only requirement is that you guarantee that you will read it and pass it on once completed.
Heir to the Empire (book 1 of the the Thrawn Trilogy). This takes place about 5 years after Return of the Jedi and has Luke, Leigha, Han, etc starting another adventure against the Empire. Came out in 1991, I first read it around 2008, and just listened to the Audible version which is awesome because there are plenty of sound effects added in.
Heard a lot o good things about heir to the empire recently with Mandalorian and Ahsoka touching quite a bit on that vein.
Also, i finished up: -Magic's Little Helper: Black Ocean: Mercy For Hire, Mission 11 by J.S. Morin -Mortanian Rhapsody: Black Ocean: Mercy For Hire, Mission 12 by J.S. Morin
[Citation Needed] The Best of Wikipedia's Worst Writing - Conor Lastowka Didn't enjoy this at all. I'm all for snarkiness and poking fun where its due, but this fell completely flat for me. None of the jokes/quips landed. Some of the Wikipedia entries had obvious reasons for some of the info. I'm usually a fan of Lastowka among rifftrax, podcasts etc. but this was a complete miss for me.
Lockwood and Co The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud. Onto book 2....
I am listening to them from audible while I drive to and from work. The voice work on book 1 was fantastic... the person doing book 2 annoys me because she makes a nasaly female voice for George and sometimes it's hard to tell who is speaking because she doesn't really change her voice. Man I hope she doesn't do more of these... I will probably look before buying the audible version of book 3 unless I somehow get used to it.
I'm counting myself up two books, I don't even care crap was over a thousand pages. Bleach 3-in-1, picked up the first two collections, takes you up to Rukia getting arrested by Soul Society. Honestly... I thought the manga would be a bit faster paced than this? This is basically Episode 1-15 of the show, so for six volumes, was pretty surprised. Still, you can finish that in a couple evenings without feeling like a slug, so it's probably still the best way to check out the story. And the price is right, 15 bucks a book, sometimes they go on sale and obviously if you're turning bing points into amazon bucks it's even better. That's all I use that credit for now, taking a third of the price off these, even better than Kindle Rewards bonus bucks.
Haven't been online much recently...but finished up another couple:
Stuck in the Astral with You: Black Ocean: Mercy For Hire, Mission 14 by J.S. Morin Lair of the Dog: Black Ocean: Mercy For Hire, Mission 15 by J.S. Morin
only one left in this series and I'm already half way through it. After this is over, i think i'll try to do knock out a one off book before jumping to another series
Comedy Bang! Bang! The Podcast: The Book - Scott Aukerman Fun, silly and completely ridiculous. I'm a fan of the show so I definitely enjoyed it and found myself laughing out loud at some items. Some really great formats/ideas for some of the well-known characters. Loved the involvement from many of the show regulars as multiple characters. If' you aren't familiar with the show/characters I imagine this would be a mess of random nonsense.
Finished Lockwood and Co Book 2. I might take a break and listen to the Harry Potter series. I read them years ago, but supposedly the narrator who does the books is amazing and I keep seeing all these raves about it.
1746 more pages. The last two pages of Naruto was Naruto hunched over in furry mode and he's like "I'll kill you", I was like sick, that's three words in two pages, I'm not fluffing my page count at all with this crap. I was gonna start buying up Ranma 1/2 but three strikes; one, it's 2-in-1 instead of 3 at the same price as the 3-in-1s. Two, half of it's out of print and digital only. Three, and most importantly
While I might have beaten my goal here, I forgot I had set a goal of 20 books for 2023 on Goodreads. So I am only about halfway there, lol. I ended up starting Finding Me: Viola Davis. I love her so much as an actress and I'm currently 1/3 of the way through the book and it's apparent her upbringing is why she has such a range and can play so many hard/damaged characters so well but also STRONG characters.
It reminds me of part of an interview about Woody Harrelson and why he was chosen to play Mickey Mallory in Natural Born Killers. Supposedly it relates to people "having" a demon, which is a common theme in the movie. Woody's dad was a character (supposedly an assassin and super abusive. I need to look for a book on that dude I think.) So coming from that sort of upbringing puts a taint or mark on a person. While Viola doesn't quite have it to that extent, she has a lot of abuse (including racial) from her childhood that resonates with me, simply because "that's how it was in those times." I find that I cannot ever understand fully if people hated me just because of the color of my skin, but I absolutely can understand extreme poverty she speaks of and physical and emotional abuse from family members. Having that sort of thing in your life from an early age tends to fudge you up for life, whether you can hide it well or not. I find myself thinking about my mother and the deep dark family secrets I learned after she died and I'm glad she never knew of them.
Finished Finding Me by Viola Davis. Man I just love her. I'm gonna have to re-watch some of her stuff. I listened to the audio book (read by her so that was nice) but was surprised to see color photos at the end of the book. Nice touch.
On to Stephanie Land's Maid -- loved the Netflix series so I'm gonna read her books.
Finished up The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn. an interesting Sci-Fi space whodunnit. I guessed the 'who did it' pretty early on, but they threw another twist at the end that I didn't see coming, so that was cool.
finished Mission Clockwork by Arthur Slade; book one of a new series
historical fiction in Victorian era London with some sci-fi/fantasy elements. interesting concepts and I can see this really jumping the shark by the last book
>> 3600 give or take a few hundred pages into my picturebook, very proud
> How's the manga?
>
> I might or might not have skipped to the very last episode of Bleach recently. I
> didn't intend on watching it anyway. Figured might as well.
I plan on watching Thousand Year War or whatever the new show is so I need to actually start to finish it, either by anime or manga. Manga is great! Awesome art, OKAY pacing, still not done with Soul Society by volume 12 (fourth 3-in-1) but I think it'll be over in the next one. Action is very, very well represented in this manga, in opposition to say Demon Slayer which is nearly incomprehensible. I have no idea what I'm looking at in that series on paper. Interesting to see quite a bit of the filler in the show is also filler in the manga. Bleh
I love these 3-in-1s! Great value, tied with Microsoft points rewards each three volumes is down to like $10 as singles, which outside of occasional full set sales from Amazon (just got Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man for $130, that's about four bucks a book). Great way to read it if you're interested. Probably gonna finish Bleach and Dragon Ball with these.
> |>> 3600 give or take a few hundred pages into my picturebook, very proud
>> How's the manga?
>>
>> I might or might not have skipped to the very last episode of Bleach recently.
> I
>> didn't intend on watching it anyway. Figured might as well.
>
> I plan on watching Thousand Year War or whatever the new show is so I need to actually
> start to finish it, either by anime or manga. Manga is great! Awesome art, OKAY
> pacing, still not done with Soul Society by volume 12 (fourth 3-in-1) but I think
> it'll be over in the next one. Action is very, very well represented in this manga,
> in opposition to say Demon Slayer which is nearly incomprehensible. I have no idea
> what I'm looking at in that series on paper.
>
> I love these 3-in-1s! Great value, tied with Microsoft points rewards each three
> volumes is down to like $10 as singles, which outside of occasional full set sales
> from Amazon (just got Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man for $130, that's about four bucks
> a book). Great way to read it if you're interested. Probably gonna finish Bleach
> and Dragon Ball with these.
I wasn't sure if I'd watch thousand year war. But now that I saw the ending of the original, maybe.
Interesting what you mentioned about the action being representated well. I'm actually in middle of reading Demon Slayer. I don't find it to be particularly confusing, but I also haven't watched much of it, so it's not like I can compare watching it vs reading it.
I thought $10 a book was standard pricing, no?
$4 per book is amazing, especially if it's brand new. Good deal.
> $4 per book is amazing, especially if it's brand new. Good deal.
>
Yep, one of those things where I was like "Well, l want Demon Slayer and I want Chainsaw Man, so." It's funny, they both had their own plastic bags and they like, taped them together and delivered it within 4 hours of me placing the order, like they had it in town just for me or something haha :|
>> Finished up The Last Novel by David Markson. I can't say I've ever read anything
>> like this. Not sure I understood what he was going for.
> Different how? What's it about?
Kinda hard to explain without looking at the actual book. The entire thing is a collection of 1-2 sentence quips and anecdotes about historical figures/actors/painters. It's almost like a stream of conscience of random non-sensical facts that ever so gradually outline the thoughts of the so-call "Narrator". It's a really strange 150 pages and I'm not really sure why I read it.
Below is an excerpt taken from a completely random page:
Vermeer died in 1675. At which time one of his largest debts was, in fact, to a Delft baker.
For bread to feed a family of thirteen.
In November 1919, after a solar eclipse had irrefutably verified Einstein’s concept of relativity, British physicists convened a major press gathering to announce it. The New York Times assigned the story to a man named Henry Crouch — a golf reporter.
An eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar. Oblivion lurks in the immediate neighborhood.
Said Thomas Bailey Aldrich of Emily Dickinson.
The William Sakspere of Gloucestershire — who was hanged as a thief in 1248.
Along with a letter of homage, Berlioz sent copies of the score of The Damnation of Faust to Goethe.
finished up Dark Deeps by by Arthur Slade. two books in and they're already bringing in some fantastical elements. still expecting it to be way over the top by the end, and looking forward to it lol
I realized I finished up Youth In Revolt by CD Payne a couple weeks ago and failed to post. Fun, enjoyable if not a little frustrating in how short-sighted the main character. It gets a little played-out but I can't help but feel like they captured the combination of capability and helplessness of early high school teenagers. Probably going to read the next 2 books to finish up the original run.
I remember seeing the movie 10 years ago when it came out. Michael Cera is a pretty spot-on cast for the weaselly, angsty teenager. I might have to give this a re-watch down the line.
also, i finished off a couple...lot of car time this weekend again: -Island of Doom by Arthur Slade - last in that series -The Forsaken Throne by Jeff Wheeler - also the last in my wife and I's driving books
Finished A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My employee got obsessed with this series and it sounded interesting so I gave it a try and I am hooked. It's a fantasy/love story of course but has some very brutal themes, doesn't pull any punches. The dude who produced/directed the TV adaption of Outlander is supposed to make this a series and I cannot wait. Huge fan of both.
Onto book 2... (there's 5 in the series I think, but more being written.)
Youth in Bondage (Youth in Revolt #2) The main character Nick Twisp is more of a weasel piece of crap than I thought possible. Always doing what's best for himself, ignoring all common sense and inevitably digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole. Definition of a teenage dirtbag. The book is obnoxious and charming in the way any pubescent teenage angst filled drama is.
I didn't realize but apparently the author kept the series going through 11 books including moving on to his illegitimate child from a one night stand and eventual grandchild. I don't plan to ever read past the original 3-book run. I can imagine the whole thing will have run its course for me by the end of book 3.
My wife and I have been reading (mostly listening to audio books) the "Murderbot Diaries" series. We got the first one ("All Systems Red") for kindle. Then found the next 4 as audio books on Libby (an app that lets you borrow books digitally through your local library). We're about halfway through "Network Effect" (#5 which is a longer novel--the first 4 are novellas). There are 2 more novella after too, though not yet available through our library app.
It's hard sci-fi with space ships, AIs, bots, wormholes, planets, colonies, hacking, augmented humans, and lots of tactical combat. It's also funny in clever ways that make it really enjoyable. The main character (Murderbot) is a sec-unit trained for deadly combat, but also loves to watch TV shows in its head and is struggling with humans in amusing ways (hard to explain but it's well written). They've won multiple Hugo/Nebula awards. They remind me a little of Iain Banks Culture novels.
Sounds interesting. Last non-Warhammer Sci-Fi I read was Live Free or Die, interesting book that sets up a series that's loosely based on the universe of a webcomic where aliens who were to invade Earth instead become enamored with maple syrup or something benign like that, turns out it's basically Space Ambrosia... someone sets up essentially a monopoly, and we use it to buy our way into the intergalactic big leagues, the struggle of course being that we've got a lot of catching up to do, but you know us humans! Been so long since I read it I don't really remember much of it other than the general beats. They cooked up a huge curved mirror to mine asteroids to make even more money, basically a space Paperclip to Ferrari story
I think I tried reading the second book but it's a big ole time jump if I'm remembering, not the same crew or anything, so I didn't feel super attached to anything, got distracted and put it down. I'll have to try again at some point
I finished Bossypants by Tina Fey. I found her autobiography/memoir really empty and uninteresting. I have nothing against her as an actor/writer, she has just never been my cup of tea. I applaud her success in improv and through SNL. I recognize 30 Rock as a successful show, but the few episodes I've caught just don't do anything for me. Not sure why that's the case as I feel like I'm part of the target demographic. Either way, the book was pretty short and easy to get through. I came out on the other end shrugging my shoulders why I bothered with it.
Youth in Exile (Youth in Revolt #3) - C.D. Payne This wraps up the original book that was later split into 3 novels. More of the same in a good way. The main character digs himself deeper and deeper into more ridiculous situations. It's fun and endearing but has definitely played itself out. I can understand how the author and readers would continue to travel with the main character but I don't think I'll continue the series. Nick Twisp is an idiot in the best way. He makes for a great main character that you simultaneously root for and can't wait for his inevitable comeuppance. Solid read, ready to move on to the next thing.
Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist - A random short novel I found at a cheap used book event near me. It's the story of what happened to him after he was pardoned instead of Jesus. It's Swedish and popular there when it came out in the 50s. Movies were made of it in the past as well. The author won a Noble Prize for his writing and this was his most famous work. It's hard for me to say what it's about, but good and evil in a sense; also faith and lack of faith. It's not a Christian book per se (also not anti-religious), more philosophical. I can't say I liked it, but it was interesting.
My last read of 2023. Finished book 2 from Sarah J. Mass, A Court of Mist and Fury. This series is quickly becoming a fast favorite of mine. Onto book 3!
Was on my phone but I need to fully explain my love for that Sarah J Mass series.
Yeah it starts out a bit like Faeries meets Twilight and it's just alright but quickly, by the end of book 1 turns pretty savage. Very explicit but not constant sex, actual character development, clever story line that has hints WAY back. The 2nd book is just brutal and the leading lady of the story just turns dark and savage when it comes to revenge. Anyway, I'm obsessed and will probably read everything else she has as fast as I can and hope the TV series gets up soon.
I don't do bodice rippers often, but that was pretty nice. Recommended to me by my wow guild leader, I think she saw herself in the titular character, minus the vampire sex
but being a dude it's more of a distinction without a difference if you will. LK Hamilton doesn't really hold back on descriptions of graphic sex. I liked it at first, around the fourth book I got lost at some point and never picked it up again
yea those covers are so cringe/gross. Can't hold my interest without some other good plot, character development, etc. The violence is just icing on the cake with fantasy.
I remember in the early 90s finding some of those books at rummage sales and without the internet it was pretty much sex education. And none of it accurate at all obviously, lol.
Toyman: The Dumarest Saga Book 3 (of 33) by E.C. Tubb - Space-wanderer Earl Dumarest is on the planet Toy to consult the giant computer which may contain information on the whereabouts of Earth, his lost home-world. He gets caught up in some intrigue and must use his wits and skill to fight his way out. I've been reading books in this series between other stuff as a "quick read".
I finished up Make Love* * The Bruce Campbell Way. The whole thing is a fictionalized story of transitioning from a B-movie actor to landing a supporting role in a Richard Gere/ Renee Zelwegger rom-com directed by Mike Nichols. Everything goes topsy turvy in increasingly ridiculous ways. Silly and enjoyable.
A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote - a short book of 3 short stories. All seemingly true stories from his childhood growing up in Alabama in the 1930s. Not bad. Capote's In Cold Blood was great.
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers - I listened to this audiobook with my wife (via Libby). It was narrated by Bronson Pinchot who was quite good with all the character voices. It's a wild, enjoyable pirate/voodoo adventure book. Apparently it was adapted into one of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, but it seemed quite different to me.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - an award-winning cozy solarpunk sci-fi novella about a tea monk and a robot. It basically doesn't have a plot but is more character driven and is especially not about dystopia but a future earth (I think) where things worked out more or less and people (and robots) are good to each other. I liked it.
yeah I'm halfway through my next. I would have finished it had I had time in 2023! I didn't add any new systems but I would love to hit 20 books this year.
I finished Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux. A fascinating ride through the crypto timeline over the past couple of years. Definitely helped to simultaneously serve as a crash course on how the whole system operates. It always seemed like an elaborate scam that was destined to crash once the initial rush had ended to me. I had no idea of the insane scale on which everything happened. While I understand there are still useful applications for crypto-currency some of the more elaborate jumps that were taken are truly staggering.
hobbes21 puts one on the board, officially the first of the new year.
It's really a shame that people still think random coin #385572 is gonna make it to the moon. The vast majority of these coins have no basis in life or any real application. It's pretty easy to spot the scams nowadays; by the time you hear you can get rich quick, you're probably too late.
A lot of it is dumb luck unless you got some sort of inside track. I have had my crypto invested ever since I was "too late" and am considering cashing it out because it's finally back up to where I would break even, lol.
I wanna get in on tracking my reads here. I started a goodreads account to track my reads too, so I wanna keep myself doubly accountable. I’ve been chewing through books lately. I’ll count up my consoles and share thoughts on the books I’ve finished up since the start of the year and post those later today when I put the kiddos down for naps.
Alrighty. Totted up consoles, and I've gone with "families" of consoles rather than counting variants (ie. 2DS/3DS will be together, as will GBA/SP). I suppose I'll list those out first - NES mini, SNES mini, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, Switch/Lite, Gameboy, GBC, GBA, DS/Lite, 2DS/3DS, Mario and Zelda Game&Watch Handhelds, Xbox Series S, PS5, PSP GO, Turbo-grafx 16 Mini, Commodore 64 mini, Anbernic 35xx. Unless I did my counting wrong (highly likely) that should bring me to 20!
I've managed to work through 8 books this year already and will likely close out a 9th today. Been cruising through some smaller books that I've never actually read and always wanted to, so several of these have been really fast reads. I'm sure I'll slow waaaaaay down as the year progresses because I'm wanting to get into some hefty books this year as well. (Looking at you, The Way of Kings.) I asked for family member's favorite books for Christmas this year, so I'm also branching out to some stuff I typically wouldn't pick up.
Here we go, in order of reading:
1. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) (a re-read) - I re-read Hitchhiker's every couple of years because it's an absolute delight and hilarious to boot. This year, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry and it will forever be the way I hear it in my head as I read it in the coming years. Only read the first book this go around, as I'd borrowed it on Libby to listen to as I was driving back home at the beginning of the year following holiday travels.
2. A Time to Kill (John Grisham) - A gift from my sister-in-law. She and my brother are both lawyers. This is a book that I typically wouldn't read, and yet, it was really engaging and I absolutely blasted through it once I'd opened it up. Grisham's writing of Brigance does create this flawed but lovable character that you kind of admire despite yourself. The opening chapter is the exact reason that I steer clear of this genre usually, but I can't argue its efficacy in embedding an immediate visceral hatred for the antagonists as the narrative begins unfolding.
3. The Batman Who Laughs (Scott Snyder) - First time dipping my toes into any of the Dark Multiverse business. I thought it was an interesting take on Batman and Joker. I don't really go wild for much that could be described as "bleak", but I did think this was great. Also ironic considering another read coming up shortly. Maybe I do like bleak stories, I just don't want to haha. The art was great. Will revisit several times just to pour over the panels too.
4. The Last Ronin (Eastman, Laird, and Waltz) - Another bleak one that I actually enjoyed too... I love the flashback chapters in the visual vernacular of the original Turtles. I wouldn't say the story was groundbreaking, but growing up with the Turtles, I still really did enjoy this one.
5. No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy) - A gift from my brother. Another bleak one, but I'll whole-hog say that I loved this one. I watched the movie years ago when it came out and it really blew me away how closely the Coen brothers kept to the book. I think they did an incredible job with the movie and I'll re-read this one before the years out, if I hit my goal. An engaging narrative of the classic theme of good versus evil and the reconciliation of past, present, and future.
6. The Magician's Nephew (CS Lewis) - My mom tried to read the Chronicle's of Narnia books to us when we were little, but I don't think she ever actually made it beyond the Magician's Nephew. I I grabbed the old box set off the bookshelf in the basement when I was home for the holidays and I'll be reading through them this year. Obviously, loaded with Biblical imagery and themes (which isn't everyone's cup of tea), but I'm really enjoying them as quick little pickups that are fantastical and light-hearted in between some of these heavier themed books. I'll likely finish off The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe this evening.
7. How Do You Live? (Genzaburo Yoshino) - Grabbed this one after reading that Miyazaki's Boy and the Heron was inspired by this book. (Still haven't been able to watch the film, but hot dang, I really love this book.) I love slice-of-life stuff and this is that in spades. A short read that follows the events of a young Japanese school boy and his three friends, interspersed with writings from his uncle's notebook that are responses to conversations that they've had. A high recommend from me on this one.
8. The Pearl (John Steinbeck) - Good Lord. Talk about bleak again. Wanting to read through "classics" this year that I've overlooked and passed by and I read this one over the weekend. The story of a poor man finding inexplicable and unobtainable wealth and the fallout of what his discovery has upon his family. Brilliant writing. Truly heartbreaking.
And that's where we're at so far. I'm sure there's grammatical issues galore within the above, but I promise to take posts a book-at-a-time from here onward.
9. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis) - You know, I'm not quite sure where it's come from, but the ending of this one actually made me quite sad as I finished it. Something about the time discrepancy between Narnia and the real world and to have complete lives lived in one place, only for the Pevensies to wind up back where they were at the beginning - I don't know. It's kind of bummed be out for some reason. This is where my familiarity with this series ends though - gonna go ahead and start The Horse and His Boy while I've got a few minutes left on my lunch break.
> Oh yeah, I forgot to roll this over. Bogo of course OP AF.
>
> Same rules as before! 2023 stunk, maybe 2024 can convince me we should switch to
> games.
😅 It wasn't so bad. I read a couple of books in 2023 which, for me, is a victory. I used to read a ton. Now, not so much. Feels like the wind was taken out of my reading sails. Though, if we ever get Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss, I'm hoisting up those reading sails immediately. Instant pre-order. (Book 3 in the Kingkiller Chronicles. Name of the Wind; Wise Man's Fear; Doors of Stone)
How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe -
Not great. I feel like if someone at Nintendo read this, they'd be hiring some lawyers. It's very, very similar to Ocarina of Time/Zelda to a fault. Not an homage at all like it's described in the acknowledgments. Luckily this was short and free since I did a month of Kindle Unlimited.
> Did you like it? I see it's 200 pages. I like shorter books and I see it has a
> lot of excellent ratings.
Oh, yes was pretty good. It was free with my free Kindle Unlimited month which is partially why I did that. I basically wanted to read some shorter things before going back to the next Sun Eater which is around 500 pages.
Finished Book 4, A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah Maas. Onto book 5 (which is much longer, book 4 was only about 6 hours worth of audio compared to most that have been 12-30hrs.)
>> Finished Book 4, A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah Maas. Onto book 5 (which
>> is much longer, book 4 was only about 6 hours worth of audio compared to most
> that
>> have been 12-30hrs.)
>>
> How is that series?
Really good. It's compared a lot to Twilight in some aspects but does have a lot more violence, fantasy monsters and top notch sexy scenes (though not a ton of them.) There have been some big reveals that were hinted at in the beginning and have you go "oh man, that was planned for 3-4 books."
Anyway, Maas has built a fantasy world and there's 2 other series I'll move onto after this because the world is linked so that's exciting.
I read quite a bit of Anne Lamott during grad school and am circling back to some I missed now. These were two short ones, but they're both going to stick with me for a while, just like her other books on healing, spirituality, and writing. (Bird by Bird is incredible). Might not be for everyone, but I love Lamott's writing in the same way that I love to dip into Mary Oliver's poetry. It's incredibly human and honest, often laced with humor and insightful observations and patience. Anne was on an episode of Midnight Gospel and her voice is also incredibly calming and charming and I always read her work in her voice now.
> I read The Count of Monte Cristo recently. It's 1,276 pages. I didn't like it.
> Ouch.
>
I read the abridged version a long time ago. Less than 200 pages. Was pretty good.
I used to read abridged versions of books by a series called Great Illustrated Classics. Hardcover books with some pictures in them. Easy reads. Pretty enjoyable.
I'd still recommend them. More for kids or young adults, but great for adults too if you want an easy read and the gist of the stories, without going for the full 1000+ page versions.
Edit: the word "read" seems interesting to me because although the spelling remains the same, the pronunciation changes based on past or future tense. You can say "last week I read a book," and that is past tense for "read," and is pronounced like "red," but if you say "tomorrow I will read a book," then it's future tense and pronounced like "reed."
I know it's just the start of the year, but I think I'm throwing in the towel. I don't think I can read a book for every system I own, unless you count manga. I just don't read nearly as often these days as I used to.
But I read the whole Demon Slayer series last year. Combined, that's gotta count for several books, right? Right?! Plus I read some other manga too.
I got halfway through a book by Brandon Sanderson, but lost steam and stopped completely. I then asked someone to spoil the ending for me.
What I really need is a fantastic book to get back into reading.
But I don't know anything other than Doors of Stone (Patrick Rothfuss) that I really want to read.
I'm somewhat hopeful. Keeping it in mind just in case. If it comes out, it will be a nice surprise. If not, well it's been 10 years already anyway. Gotta move on to other things. (But doesn't hurt to keep it in mind)
> I'm somewhat hopeful. Keeping it in mind just in case. If it comes out, it will be
> a nice surprise. If not, well it's been 10 years already anyway. Gotta move on to
> other things. (But doesn't hurt to keep it in mind)
From what I've read about book 2, it does absolutely nothing to advance the main plot setup in book 1 so not sure how book 3 would be unless it would be very absurdly long.
12. Small Victories - Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace (Anne Lamott) - Shot through another Lamott today via audiobook while working. There's a particular story in here where she's writing about the passing of her dog, Sadie, and it legitimately stopped me in my tracks and had a couple gentle tears flowing out of me. Same notes as yesterday really, some really beautiful and heartbreaking writing here as well. Now I gotta switch it back up a bit for the next book. Maybe I'll find a short Stephen King book and give him another whirl. While they've been few and far between, I've yet to read a Stephen King book that I LOVE beyond his book about writing, so named "On Writing". That's a banger of a book.
Jake Rivers is the only non-liberal snowflake at his College. Former Army, he's great at everything. Beats up 4 guys at once on separate occasions. But when liberals plant bombs everywhere and threaten the school with gun violence unless all the kids' families pay 100 million dollars into an offshore bank account, who's there to stop them? That's right, Jake Rivers. This book is basically "just stop the terrorists with their own guns after overpowering them" fantasy book. I managed to read it during downtime at work and yeah, it's bad.
13. Elevation (Stephen King) - Found and blasted through a short Stephen King last night, probably stayed up a touch too late finishing it, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed this one. Centers around acknowledging we're on borrowed time and making amends in the face of that fact. I think I'll keep giving King more of my reading time this year.
great story so far with at least two more books to go. i've shifted to primarily work from home, so my driving time has severely dropped. don't think i'm going to come close to my 50 books these last couple years.
"Livability: Stories" by Jon Raymond - a well-written slice-of-life short story collection. Notably, 2 of the stories were made into independent films I liked ("Old Joy" and "Wendy and Lucy" both directed by Kelly Reichardt). Not much plot or action in these, but lots of attention to what is on people's minds and subtle aspects of living.
>> great story so far with at least two more books to go. i've shifted to primarily
>> work from home, so my driving time has severely dropped. don't think i'm going
> to
>> come close to my 50 books these last couple years.
>
> This is on my TBR. Hopefully it's good cause I couldn't stand his other 2 popular
> series
Only other one that I have read is the broken empire books. Two different trilogies, one pretty good one not so much. I would definitely say this is better in general but you really got to pay attention because the world building is...a lot lol
14. On the Fox Roads (Nghi Vo) - This can barely be considered a book proper - it was really a short story, but I've heard loads about Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune, which is rather short itself, and I wanted a tiny taster of what her writing was like and - hot dog - I'm really excited. Fantasy and mystery all wound together, rather poetically told, with writing that also doesn't feel the need to overstay its welcome and spell every. single. thing. out for you. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Vo's work.
I finished We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Very enjoyable dystopian sci-fi from Russia. Didn't realize it was such an influence on so many well-known dystopian novels. Relatively quick and easy read. Worth checking out if you are a fan of 1984, Brave New World, etc.
15. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) - Somehow managed to make it out of public education having never read Pride and Prejudice. I'm not gonna lie. I straight up loved it. I'm not typically into the whole Regency thing within British history but I guess I just picked this up at the right time because I thought it was an absolute riot. Austen wrote with plenty of intended humor, but so many of the characters are written so well that their very existence on the page was hilarious to me. Elizabeth's mother's nerves being shot every single time she was in a scene reminded me so much of my late grandmother before she deteriorated from Alzheimer's. Granny's nerves would be so on edge when she watched the Titans play football. I miss her.
On a lighter side, if you get a kick outta uppityness and the baffling formalities that encroached on seemingly everything during the Regency Period, you might actually have a good time with Pride and Prejudice.
16. Outliers (Malcom Gladwell) - Listened to the audiobook while working today. I'm (maybe) a backwards stumbler onto Gladwell via becoming familiar with and enjoying Revisionist History before cracking into any of his books. (Dude's voice is choice though and I'll probably opt for listening through the audiobooks for some more of his writing.) I thought this was really interesting though. I could see how some folks reading through this and taking a defeatist mindset up, but I thought it was rather heartwarming to hear so many stories regarding how success so correlates to one's community. I love the dispelling of the idea that any individual claiming singularity in their achievements succeeds only in deluding themselves.
> Gladwell is intriguing but he has many critics too.
I can understand a level of criticism if folks go down the rabbit hole of buying out on him as an infallible academic resource. Wasn't he initially a journalist? I think the dude's a great storyteller, but I wouldn't bank anything on him personally haha.
And I picked up Livability based on your comments the other day. I'm about a quarter of the way through and am really enjoying my time with it.
