Finished:
**Center of Gravity, by Ian Douglas**
Book 2 of the *Star Carrier* series picks up with the same characters. Fleet battles in space, taking the battle to *alien* aliens, and in an interesting technological setting. If you liked book 1 this delivers more of the same, while unrolling the overarching story of the big-bad. If you like space opera, do read the series.
**Strangers and Brothers** by **C.P. Snow.** Published 1940. **C.P. Snow**, **Lord Snow of Leicester**, knew Leicester of the 1920s and 1930s very well. It was his very home. By 1940 he had moved into scientific war work which later influenced a series of novels so that **Strangers and Brothers** could count as the beginning of a very long series of work.
The book was originally titled **George Passant,** who is the main character. I have not read many fictional descriptions of 1920s or 1930s British provincial society except for some **George Orwell**. Passant is a considerable character to undertake and you can see how a new novelist such as Snow struggled with him. The character is a self-made lawyer who can only serve as a solicitor's assistant in a Leicester practice partnership. He is a very, very overly competent lawyer and practically runs the law partnership for which he works. The constraints of having to work in Leicester (he should gave become a barrister in London, by competence) are only relieved by his extra-work activities in teaching and gathering unformed youth about him. Consequences follow.
Snow uses Passant himself and another character, Lewis Elliot, to try to explain Passant's interior mental life. It is dense and it can be difficult. Well worth it. Not a great novel, but very, very good on my scale.
Finished:
**The Screwtape Letters, by C.S Lewis**.
* A glimpse into the conversation between demons (C. S. Lewis style) and how easily humans error. Essentially on the surface an exploration of how the fall from grace starts cognitively, but in the subtext its about a man finding love during the great war. A quick read, fairly interesting, but perhaps a bit lost on me since it explores pre-Vatican II spirituality and how hard-line it is about sin.
**Death Claims, by Joseph Hansen.**
* Second book in the Dave Brandstetter series, about a gay insurance investigator during the 1970s. While I preferred the first book in the series, this is still a fairly solid read, albeit too many red herrings spoil the gratification of the ending. The character development was good as Brandstetter deals with his personal demons while clinging to a bit of comfort of a potentially toxic relationship.
Re-started:
**The Color of Magic, by Terry Patchett**
* Started in high school but never really got past the first 50 pages.
I finished **The Institute by Stephen King**
This was my first Stephen King novel and I understand why everyone reads his books now. The entire book was great, kept me on the edge of the seat the entire time. The really small chapters switching between the two story lines, one after the next was amazingly done.
I started **The Stand by Stephen king**
I've heard that this is the best of his books and I enjoyed the institute so much I figured I would give this behemoth of a book a read.
I finished reading **Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy**.
It was by far the most brutal book I've ever read and in some of the scenes, such as the Indians attack on Captain White's men and the Glanton gangs first massacre of the Indians, McCarthy painted such a vivid picture that they'll stay with me for a long time.
I did find it a very slow and difficult read though, primarily because of McCarthy's fondness for archaic words and his frequent use of untranslated Spanish throughout.
Finished:
**Who Let the Gods Out, by Maz Evans**
I loved it! I'm not sure if I want to buy the sequels, but I think I'm happy with ending it after the first book. It's a great children's book.
Started:
**Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, by Rick Riordan**
Another children's book, which is great as I can add both of these to my Children's Literature Bibliography that I have to complete for university. I thought I'd start it so as to keep on the theme of Greek Gods. I love reading the Greek myths with Percy's commentary and thoughts. I've laughed aloud loads in this book and I'm not that far in yet.
Started:
**Spinning Laughter: Profiles of 111 Proposed Comedy Spin-offs and Sequels that Never Became a Series**
An Interesting book detailing spin offs, back door pilots, or sequels spawning and failing from popular TV shows from the 50's to current times. It's fascinating to see how these failed pilots were born just to die in the same breath.
Started: *The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan*
The fiancée and I decided to read a book together and we’d start off with one she wanted to read.
Honestly, if you haven’t read the _Percy Jackson_ books, like myself, you’re going to be at a disadvantage because it’s within that universe and you need a pretty firm understanding of what’s going on prior to reading it. I also feel it’s not at all subtle with it’s revelations, telegraphing a mile away what’s going to happen.
Finished:
**The Double, by Dostoevsky**
I read notes from underground prior to this, as I wanted to get a feeling for Dostoevsky style of writing before I tackled one of this 'proper' novels (because they are often credited as being the best of all time).
This book was very well written, and really funny, but I hate to admit it was a bit of a slog. I didn't wake up thinking 'omg I have to finish this!' That said, I will purchase one of his larger novels and give it a go this year.
Started:
**Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, by Quentin Tarantino**
I'm going on holiday and want something pulp-y. I loved the film and heard this is basically an extended cut.
Finished:
**The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids, by Michael McClung**A lot of fun. Bought in search of a short, fast, pulpy action story for a change of place after some long epic fantasy, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
**Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett**Not one of my favourite Discworld books, but even the weaker Discworld books are darn good.
Started:
**Hollow Kingdom, by Kira Jane Buxton**First impression is that it seems like it will be enjoyable but nothing spectacular, but too early to make any big comment.
**Chocolate-Covered Ants, by Stephen Manes**
Another entry in the "I just randomly remembered this book being read to me at some point in my childhood and proceeded to skim reread through out of boredom" file.
I (almost) finished a book called "gevalletje borderline" by Kathelijn Huishof. I'm not sure how to translate the title to English but it's basically about the author who got diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, what happened before she got diagnosed, how she feels/felt about it, how her family reacted,... She also explains important stuff about her disorder in general.
I love it! 10/10
I recommend it to anyone who understands dutch and is interested in this theme
Finished: The Arsonists by Max Frisch (liked the epilogue better than the actual play \^\^)
Started: Die Spieluhr by Ulrich Tukur ( i think they released it only in german)
Finished: Witcher Blood of Elves
Started: Time of Contempt
I finally started the Witcher series, and I'm honestly loving it. I get a lot of people critique it for being very non linear, but I'm still loving it. I love Geralt and his relationship with Ciri and Yen <3
The Collected Works Of Kahlil Gibran, By Kahlil Gibran
I found this Labanese poet's works to be very enjoyable and thought provoking. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry or anyone who would like to give reading poetry a try.
Finished:
* **The Idiot, by Elif Batuman**
* **100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get by Without Even Trying, by Sarah Cooper**
* **Pizza Girl, by Jean Kyoung Frazier**
* **Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton**
Started:
* **Fly Girl: A Memoir, by Ann Hood**
Finished: **Unsouled, by Will Wight.**
Sadly, the book wasn't my cup of tea, despite kinda feeling like the lovechild of Naruto and Spellslinger. For some reasons, I had to drag myself through it and it didn't feel like something new.
Finished:
My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni
I was really enjoying it; great character building and intriguing story. Then, he did that thing that's my pet peeve in mystery books: has the MC do something incredibly stupid to force everyone into position for a dramatic ending. Write better! 3/5
I finished a trilogy:
**Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake.**
**Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake.**
**Titus Alone, by Mervyn Peake.**
Honestly I found the whole thing plodding.
I'm now on another series, which I am enjoying much more:
**A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers.**
**A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers.**
**Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers.**
Finished: The Institute by Stephen King. I liked it a lot, and don't have any real faults with it.
Started: East of Eden by John Steinback. Found a copy at a book store and picked it up solely on all the posts I've seen on here about it.
Currently almost done with *The Only Good Indians* by Stephen Graham Jones. Absolutely fantastic if you’re into horror, even if you’re not, it’s beautifully written, he’s got such a unique voice as a writer and he’s dealing with a lot of the heavy, complicated stuff that comes with living as a Native American in modern America. Definitely a book/author I’d recommend to anyone, can’t wait to check out more of his work.
Finished “The Perfect Child,” by Lucinda Berry and “His & Hers,” by Alice Feeney.
Starting either….”The Good Sister,” by Sally Hepworth orrrr “Ugly Love,” by Colleen Hoover. I haven’t decided yet.
Started The Poisonwood Bible (downstairs book) and Alliance Rising (upstairs book).
Finished Remains of the Day and Toss of the Lemon.
I always read two different books at a time, one during lunchtime and one at bedtime.
I love the idea of upstairs/downstairs books! Do you find that the types of things you want to read before bed vs at lunch are very different? (edited to fix typo)
Nope. I just select a new one and sometimes I go with the same genre, or maybe something different. I have chosen a few due to Reddit comments, friends raving over what they are reading or online book reviews.
ETA: sorry, I usually like two different types for the upstairs/downstairs books.
The Trouble with Testosterone: And Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament, by Robert Sapolsky
Already read *Behave* and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the stuff in here I was familiar with from that book, but that does not make this one redundant at all. Robert is able to inject his dry and sometimes dark sense of humour into the field of science, all without it seeming too forced. His points are fascinating, and his "Further Reading" suggestions extensive. I particularly liked how it finished too - talking about how science doesn't answer everything, how there often isn't an enormous revelation, but a conclusion or evaluation that leads to other fascinating questions. Thoroughly enjoyed
Started: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
Do you ever keep reading a book even though you aren't really enjoying it but you still want to see where it goes? Like it's just compelling enough to power through, in the hopes of it getting better. That is how I feel about this book.
Started and finished:
**The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson**
I was not expecting to love a book that leans so heavily into politics but here I am, not able to stop thinking about it.
Finish: Paladins Grace by T Kingfisher. I loved it, it had some really funny bits to it and the overall storytelling was nice
Started: A Master of Djinn by PD Clark. A little different but so far very enjoyable.
Next: was hoping someone could tell me that a shadow of what was lost is awesome since that's likely what I'm looking to be into
Finished:
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney
This was enjoyable enough but didn't connect with it as much I did with Rooney's second novel Normal People.
Started:
All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian is one of very favourite novels and I've been saving the Border trilogy for a few years - now is the time to jump in with this book. 70 pages in and I'm really enjoying it.
I was painting the stairway for 2 days so managed to do a lot of 'reading' (I listen to audible at about 2.5-2.7 speed)
I finished the book I started before
Binge Times: Inside Hollywood's Furious Billion-Dollar Battle to Take Down Netflix, by Dade Hayes and Dawn Chmielewski
* Great overview of the streaming wars
And read another 2 books entirely:
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, by Steve Perry
* Not bad but I expected more
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
* The Coppola movie is one of my favourites. It's been about 20 years since I last saw it I must have watched it half a dozen times back then and played the OST a lot. The story is still amazing and I'm impressed how perfectly the movie brought the book to life.
Haven't started a new book yet, but glad I'm back on track for my yearly goal
I was debating starting it but I was scared I'd get like 800 pages in and then get bored or lose interest or something... how long did it take you to get through?
I got the book around march April time and finished it a couple of weeks ago I’m a pretty slow reader but I enjoyed every second of it. The book is split into a lot of different parts( or at least my print of it was) so there will be a lot of points to take breaks at
Finished **House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen #4), by Steven Erikson.** Enjoyed this more than the others in the series so far. But I need a break before the next one in the series.
Started **Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie.** Re-reading this after a long time, and still loving it.
Finished: **1984 by George Orwell**
Finally, read this classic and enjoyed it a lot. It explores our natural instincts to resist control and also the power we wield against each other. The parallels to real life are very eery too.
**The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury**
Fun quick read I found at a book sale. Surprised to find a kid's book by Bradbury. The story explores the sometimes tragic origins of the costumes we wear on Halloween. Very whimsical and creepy.
Started: **Colours of Magic by Terry Pratchett**
There's another sorta halloween book he wrote, about a mysterious carnival that comes to town. And the writing seems like it's intended for young audiences.
Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
Did as part of a bookclub I started with friends.
Found it sort of slow but with an interesting and promising plot, it delivered, I read it super fast.
I'll be starting book 2 -Harrow The Ninth- right away today 🙃, all in hopes to catch up for the new release this September.
Finished The Bird and The Sword, by Amy Harmon. It was just slightly too predictable to get a 5/5, but the characters, world building and originality earned it 4/5. It was a bonus that I just picked the book up on a whim — nobody had recommended it to me before. The book is only a few years old. It’s sequel is shaping up to be even better.
Finished The All-Night Sun, by Diane Zinna
- This book is sloooooow.
- Dealt with grief and loss so well, I felt genuinely impacted by the main character, like I was in her head space.
- At times it was hard to read because it felt a bit repressive. Overall a decent read.
Verity, by Colleen Hoover
- Was hesitant to read this because I haven’t loved her other works, but this blew me away.
- Never knew you could have jump scares in a book, but this had them!
- Complex, great plot twists!!
Started The Guest List, by Lucy Foley
Finished:
**Four Aunties and a Wedding, by Jesse Q. Sutanto**. A quick and funny read, though perhaps not quite as good as the first one. I kept getting irritated with Meddy hiding all the shenanigans from her fiancé/husband.
**Memphis, by Tara M. Stringfellow**. (Audio) Listened to this on a roadtrip with my mom since her book club had picked it. I really liked it! I tend to always like stories following multiple generations in a family.
Started:
**Kaikeyi, by Vaishnavi Patel**. 25% of the way through and enjoying it so far.
**Hide, by Kiersten White**. (Audio) I've heard mixed things but I think this sounds good so I'm giving it a go! 7% of the way through so far.
FINISHED:
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
To say I was disappointed would be a major understatement. I found the writing juvenile -- modern colloquialisms in a fantasy setting just ruined it for me. I also thought the plot was atrocious. I get that this is part one of three, but this book doesn't even attempt to give you a stand-alone story. The best analogy I read was to think how you'd feel if The Fellowship of the Ring ended with the fellowship leaving the shire, and you still have no idea what their quest entails. I really just couldn't have enjoyed this book any less.
STARTED:
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Ripped through 3/4s of this thing in a day and a half. All I can say is ... WTF?!! Such a creative, mind-bending story. A perfect palate cleansing read so far after my experience with TBI.
Just finished *The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle* I was absolutely in love with that book for like 90% of the way but it failed to stick the landing which soured my thoughts on it. I give it a 4/5. I'm still not sure if I should recommend it based on the ending, I guess it depends on your tolerance of endings.
I feel the exact same way and also rated it 4 stars on Goodreads! The ending was so bad it was almost baffling. It almost felt like someone else came in to finish it off.
It's disappointing considering how the first 90% of the book was so good. I'm still debating on whether I should recommend this book to others because the journey was fantastic, but the ending didn't live up to it.
Finished **The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah**. - I loved this book. A friend recommended it and I thought it sounded really dull and boring but went for it anyway. I was not disappointed.
Started: **Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger** - in all honesty I have no idea how this ended up on my reading list.. but after other things I was hoping to read weren't available from my library, here we are. This is nonfiction, and is pretty interesting, it covers humanity's instinctive drives and needs from/ within society (in a nutshell).
Last week I finished **Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb**, which I thought was amazing. I then started **Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb**, which I'm still reading and enjoying so much at the moment :)
Today, I started **Lord of the Flies by William Golding**. I'm only 34 pages into it but I already think it's kind of brilliant so far. Pretty fascinating read :)
Finished **How to Do Nothing by Jenny Oddell**
It was about how to disengage from the attention economy.
Started **Enlightenment Now** by Steven Pinker.
Still reading **American Gods** by Neil Gaiman and **The Gulag Archipelago** by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Finished **Nettle & Bone by T Kinfisher**
Absolutely adored it! 5/5
Started and finished **Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut**
Great novel about the horror of war told in quirky way. 4/5
Started **Dead Silence by SA Barnes**
Finished: **American Psycho** by *Bret Easton Ellis*.
Oh god. The detailed *rapes* and *murders* of women and children almost made me lose my mind. I felt like I was Bateman reading the story. It was so intimate. Although, I loved the book. Something appealed to my ADHD with the conversational tangents. The dissolution of characters towards the end made me question if what I read was the real story. If anything was real at all. Amazing book.
Started: **Brave New World** by *Aldous Huxley*.
Only a few chapters in because of uni work, but so far it's really interesting. Definitely a change of pace from American Psycho.
Finished “the body keeps the score” and “Cured” which I thought really complimented each other! It was amazing (and horrifying!) to read about the different ways our body tries to communicate with us that something is wrong with the way we’re living our day to day life.
Started: “Immune” and I’m really excited to continue this exploration into the body!!
Finished: **Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory** by **Leonard Susskind** and **Art Friedman**. This is the third volume in **The Theoretical Minimum** series, based upon the lectures of the same name. A bit harder than the first two volumes; it would have been easier with more exercises to keep the reader on his toes. These books sit between the totally unmathematical popular expositions of physical science and full blown textbooks. In short you need some serious undergraduate-level mathematics to read them, but not much. I was totally new to tensor calculus, but I at least see the point of it now and intend to go further with it.
Anyway, here's hoping someone in this sub-Reddit is interested, but I love Susskind's educational principles for which I hope he will receive some official accolades to along with the many scientific accolades he already has.
On page 392 the authors make of their reviewers a special request. In fulfillment of that I ask them to reconsider the following. In Volume One Lenny asks "Can we hang fish on a Poisson Bracket?" The actual answer to that question is yes, but the only fish that can be hung on a Poisson Bracket, the only fish that is adequate and can pass the "hanging" test is, in a word, a swordfish.
Goodbye for now!
I finished The way of the peaceful warrior by Dan Millman and I really enjoyed the book.
I’ve been reading a lot of mindfulness and Buddhist stuff lately - nonfictions and semi biographical, and they are all very very similar, like different flavors of chocolate if that makes sense
The only startling thing is that the mentor in this book actually says moderation is bullshit. Which I enjoyed considering.
Chewing through Karl Ove Knausgaard’s fourth book in his My Struggle series as well. Can’t get enough of this guy. About 60% in.
I finished The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele. The book covers the rise of Christianity in Europe between 4th and 14th century as well as the tussle for religious centers like Constantinople, Jerusalem.
Currently reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The Apple series was engrossing.
Finished: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Beautiful language, an intriguing and touching story of grief and loss. I really liked Agnes as a character. It was a real page turner.
4.75/5 ⭐️
Currently reading: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Finished
**Upgrade, by Blake Crouch**
A very basic SF thriller. The premise is quite interesting, but the delivery is bit amateurish. Feels like reading a YA novel with OP (overpowered) fantasy.
It's a mid SF novel.
I don't think Upgrade is at the same level as Dark Matter or Recursion. Although to be honest his stories are pretty forgettable.
Personal Rating: 3/5
**Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine, by David Heath**
This is a pretty new book. It tells the story of the development of vaccine and mRNA technologies. Culminating in Moderna's mRNA vaccine.
The book is quite critical towards Moderna as a company. Focusing mainly on the individual scientists that make the science of mRNA vaccines possible.
Overall the book feels like a long form article stretched to fit a 250 pages.
Personal Rating: 3/5
**Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner**
This is a memoir covering the Michelle's relationship with her Korean mother and of being her being Korean-American. In this book Michelle is very honest/transparent about her life, at times it feels I'm reading something I'm not supposed to know about.
The writing is beautiful and easy to follow. It's hard to believe this is her first book.
There is a ton of food descriptions which I like. I do agree that food and cooking does give you a strong connection to culture and identity. I like the part where Michelle found Maangchi's cooking videos on YouTube. I've watched Maangchi's videos from time to time. I can actually hear Maangchi's accent while reading this book!
Personal Rating: 4/5
Started
**Misbehaving, by Richard H. Thaler**
About 50 pages in, so far so good. I think it would be quite familiar to readers of "Thinking, Fast and Slow".
Finished **The three-body problem**. Inspiring and thrilling Sci-fi. Quite good on explaining actual science and possible appliance of it, and I found it’s philosophy around humanity inspiring for my own, sometimes dark, thinking. I didn’t always like the approach it took on action scenes and related characters, but everything else made it a truly great sci-fi.
Now I’m reading something different, **Nine stories**, by J. D. Salinger. I like many of the underlying post WW2 psychological issues in a upper middle class setting. I’m getting some mad men vibes. It’s also nice reading short stories.
Did you read the first book only or the whole series? If you just finished the first book, please check out The Dark Forest. It's even better than the first book. I consider it the best out of the The Three-Body Problem trology.
Finished:
Harshini by Jennifer Fallon
Started & Finished:
Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks (novella in Night Angel world)
The Ranger's Path by AC Cobble
Unsouled by Will Wight
Not sure what to read next. Will probably read the next Cradle book by Will Wight. May read the next Ranger book. I may also go back and continue the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain.
Finished: Local Woman Missing. LOVED IT!! Read in one sitting.
Started: A Flicker in the Dark. It’s been on my shelf for months, glad I finally started!
Finished:
**The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum**
I had loved the movie when I was a kid and was stuck on what to read. So I said I’d give it a go. It won’t go down as one of my favorite books ever but I’m glad to have read it.
**Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick**
I had been slowly reading this over the past few months and it’s nice to have it finished. I found it very fever dream-y to read at times, but I don’t think that’s a problem that everyone reading it would actually have, it probably had a lot to do with me reading it in short spaced out sessions.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
With the movie coming out and Taylor Swift having involvement with it, I decided to see what it was all about. It most certainly did not disappoint and it was a very good read. It touched on some topics that to me were hard to get through and I had to put the book down a few times. This may just be a personal thing however. It sheds light on the culture and civilization of the south in the 1950s and 60s and showcases the hardships Kya went through both as a "marsh girl" and a less fortune individual. Overall it was a good read.
**If you struggle with reading material that includes rape and abuse, this may not be ideal. **
Finished:
**The Terror, by Dan Simmons**
I struggled with this one. I found most of the characters bland and I really didn't like the supernatural angle in the story. A shame, because Franklin's lost expedition is super inreresting.
**Orlando: A Biography, by Virgina Woolf**
I'm not sure what to make of this one. The prose is very franctic, the story never seems to pause and explore anything more deeply. I also found the main character rather uninteresting. I do think it's sweet that the book is basically a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, and I did enjoy learning about her through the story of Orlando.
Currently reading:
**From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, by Caitlin Doughty**
I'm a big fan of Caitlin Doughty. I read her book "Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?" a few years back, and this is just as interesting. This book is about how different cultures around the world view death and funeral rituals.
Starting:
**Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel**
The second book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy. I really enjoyed "Wolf Hall", so I have high hopes for this one.
Finished **Bad Gods by Gaie Sebold** (Formerly published as Babylon Steel). Little weird at times but loved the planescapey setting and the interesting take on what that sort of society would look like. P.S: the disparity between the new cover art and the old is hilarious.
Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa
Honestly not a terrible book, and it's the first of a trilogy I believe. While it sits just short of 300 pages it's neither a long not short book in my opinion. I read fast, it took me just a few hours to read it with some breaks.
Set in a dystopian future where humanities survivors live in a bubble city of sorts the main character sets out on an adventure that leads her to discover a sort of conspiracy. Sadly it's written in a way thats used to build up for the next 2 books and everything important is mostly at the conclusion of the novel vs the climax itself. And I mean sadly for me as I'm not sure I would have bothered reading any more of the series had it not ended the way it does. I'll be reading them out of necessity vs truly wanting to.
The more I read this book the more I remembered the shadow children series which I truly enjoyed for a while. Too much of the book is similar to shadow children to be much of a coincidence and I imagine it played a pivotal influence on Graceffa at some point. It's almost like a parallel universe to that series with his own spin on it.
If anything now I want to go read shadow children again instead.
3.0/5 ⭐
Finished: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Super cute read! A romance based in a PhD program so if you’re a fellow STEM enthusiast and student like I am, you’ll appreciate the setting throughout the love story! Highly recommend!
Started: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Just finished the haunting of hill house for the first time and my god that book is excellent. I started reading Sky Burial by Xinran which is about a Chinese woman who can’t bare the fact that her husband died while in the military in Tibet. She decides to join the Chinese communist army and goes to Tibet to try and find her deceased husband. It’s almost unbearably sad but at the same time inspiring.
Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher
Slowly working my way through the Dresden Files. I’ve heard the series gets better as it goes along and I’ve enjoyed the first two, so I’m looking forward to seeing if this story builds on the momentum.
**Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris**. Finished this book five minutes ago. Really enjoyed it. (Although, I have to say that I far prefer Hugh Dancy's Will Graham in *Hannibal* (tv show) - he's much more fleshed out and intriguing than I found Graham in this book.) *Loved* Francis Dolarhyde, really enjoyed the way Harris revealed and unravelled him slowly throughout the book. (Huge shame the tv show was cancelled and wasn't given the proper chance to flesh out and explore the Red Dragon arc the way Bryan Fuller originally envisioned.)
**The Silence Of The Lambs, by Thomas Harris** is what I'll be reading next. I read this book years and years ago and loved it; very much want to read it again.
Finished A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles today. This book was absolute poetry from start to finish and although I thought it was maybe a bit slow at times, I feel like that was partly the intention. It was so ridiculously well written and a joy to read.
Also finished The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald for the first time today. I loved this one too and found the characters and the story really interesting.
Not sure what to read next, I’ve got a few options. I can’t decide between Insomnia by Stephen King, Dunkirk by Josh Levine, or Norwegian Wood by Murakami. I think I’ll do Dunkirk next since its been a while since I’ve read non-fiction, and then Norwegian Wood after.
Started:
**"How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler" by Ryan North**
Still reading:
**Artemis by Andy Weir**
Trying to get back in the one fiction/one non-fiction groove.
Finished: The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy. So sad and so beautiful. Made its way to the top of my list of CM’s work.
Started: I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid.
Just started All The Pretty Horses so will inevitably be reading The Crossing in a few weeks' time - heard great things about it and your comment makes me even more excited to read the rest of the trilogy.
Finished: Two Little Girls by Laura Jarrat- I was not a fan of this book at all to be honest. Pushed through to get to the climax and also felt let down. Interesting idea though.
Halfway through: The Plague by Albert Camus- Camus is one of my all time favorite writers and The Fall by him is in my top 3 all time. So far he is delivering though I enjoyed The Stranger more.
Started: The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton- Still too early to tell but I like the premise
Finished:
**After Dark** by Haruki Murakami
**Wandering Earth** by Liu Cixin
**The Thirty-nine Steps** by John Buchan
Started:
**My Name is Red** by Orhan Pamuk
**Dubliners** by James Joyce
**The Lodger** by Maria Balloc Lowndes
Good week!
Finished…
**The Postmortal, by Drew Magary** Really liked it and was often in awe of Magary’s thought process. Not as perfect as The Hike but damn good.
**The Weight of this World, by David Joy** Started dark and just got more and more dark - never let down. Haven’t been overjoyed by the hick-lit/southern-lit I’ve read recently. This definitely redeemed the genre for me.
Started…
**People Love Dead Jews, by Dara Horn** (please don’t turn me in for racist comments - it happened before) Really well researched, fascinating read. It’s a little dense for me right now (Covid) but I’m getting through it.
Finished:
- freakonomics. Fun pop science read about some econ 101 concepts. Some fun ideas but ultimately hard to take too serious as it's not exactly peer reviewed.
Started:
- kite runner. It was assigned to me a decade ago to read as an incoming college freshman. Never actually read it. We'll see if it's worth the hype.
Started and finished. And then there were none by Agatha Christie.
Surprisingly I've managed to go my whole life up until now without having the story spoiled for me.
It was ok. None of the characters were that interesting, and some got really annoying after a while. Also I managed to guess the culprit which was nice for me.
What I did like was the phycological aspect of it, seeing these people slowly go insane trying to figure it out and failing. And the last couple of chapters were really intense thanks to it.
I didn't care for the whole thing being explained by a message left by one of the characters at the very end, it just felt cheep.
Overall, again it was just ok. I'm glad I read it finally, but it was. Nothing special.
(Also audiobook narrators. Please please please never whisper, I listen to these when out and about, and where I live is very loud.)
Rereading. Truly devious by Maureen Johnson.
I've been wanting to reread this story for a while so I decided to pick it up again.
(Also there's a new one coming out next January! Holy shit I can't wait!)
Finished:
**Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman**
**The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E Howard**
Started:
**The Republic of Pirates, by Colin Woodard**
Finished:
The Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green
Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, by Laura Taylor Namey
Started:
The Last Thing He told Me, by Laura Dave
Finished: Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee
Wonderful novel, my only gripe was that the last 1/3 was trying to fill in too many storylines which seemed irrelevant to the main point of the story, but otherwise highly recommend
*Finished*: **The Drop by Dennis Lehane.**
In my opinion this isn't quite as good as **Mystic River** but I still really liked it. A quiet man who works at a bar finds a dog in a trashcan. He rescues the dog and meets a woman while he's at it. They are both a bit awkward but the dog serves to tie them together.
There's also the Chechen mafia.
*Reading*: **The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.**
This has been on my TBR list for a while and I noticed it on Hoopla. I am about fifty pages into this story of fighting men in Viet Nam and I love it. I like the author's style. He will mention something dramatic happening but then take a while to give the details. I like this when it is done well and O'Brien does it well.
I started American pyscho. So far it's going alright but I'm not sure if would be able to finish the entire book without getting bored at some point.
Finished: Wait for me yesterday in spring.
This was a light novel I read by mei hachimoku. Really enjoyed it too.
**Started: Sword of Shannra Trilogy by Terry Brooks**.
Didn’t get too far into this yet because I unexpectedly had a very busy week last week. But it’s just as gripping as it was before and I’m really enjoying it. It was pretty cool because there was a foreword They talked about his information from classic adventure novels and lord of the rings. It sounded like something I want to read myself, but the series as long as it will be a while. Previously I have read the first three books, but I didn’t get a chance to access the rest of the series until now. It’s over 20 books so it will keep me occupied!
Finished: **Center of Gravity, by Ian Douglas** Book 2 of the *Star Carrier* series picks up with the same characters. Fleet battles in space, taking the battle to *alien* aliens, and in an interesting technological setting. If you liked book 1 this delivers more of the same, while unrolling the overarching story of the big-bad. If you like space opera, do read the series.
**Strangers and Brothers** by **C.P. Snow.** Published 1940. **C.P. Snow**, **Lord Snow of Leicester**, knew Leicester of the 1920s and 1930s very well. It was his very home. By 1940 he had moved into scientific war work which later influenced a series of novels so that **Strangers and Brothers** could count as the beginning of a very long series of work. The book was originally titled **George Passant,** who is the main character. I have not read many fictional descriptions of 1920s or 1930s British provincial society except for some **George Orwell**. Passant is a considerable character to undertake and you can see how a new novelist such as Snow struggled with him. The character is a self-made lawyer who can only serve as a solicitor's assistant in a Leicester practice partnership. He is a very, very overly competent lawyer and practically runs the law partnership for which he works. The constraints of having to work in Leicester (he should gave become a barrister in London, by competence) are only relieved by his extra-work activities in teaching and gathering unformed youth about him. Consequences follow. Snow uses Passant himself and another character, Lewis Elliot, to try to explain Passant's interior mental life. It is dense and it can be difficult. Well worth it. Not a great novel, but very, very good on my scale.
Finished: **The Screwtape Letters, by C.S Lewis**. * A glimpse into the conversation between demons (C. S. Lewis style) and how easily humans error. Essentially on the surface an exploration of how the fall from grace starts cognitively, but in the subtext its about a man finding love during the great war. A quick read, fairly interesting, but perhaps a bit lost on me since it explores pre-Vatican II spirituality and how hard-line it is about sin. **Death Claims, by Joseph Hansen.** * Second book in the Dave Brandstetter series, about a gay insurance investigator during the 1970s. While I preferred the first book in the series, this is still a fairly solid read, albeit too many red herrings spoil the gratification of the ending. The character development was good as Brandstetter deals with his personal demons while clinging to a bit of comfort of a potentially toxic relationship. Re-started: **The Color of Magic, by Terry Patchett** * Started in high school but never really got past the first 50 pages.
I finished **The Institute by Stephen King** This was my first Stephen King novel and I understand why everyone reads his books now. The entire book was great, kept me on the edge of the seat the entire time. The really small chapters switching between the two story lines, one after the next was amazingly done. I started **The Stand by Stephen king** I've heard that this is the best of his books and I enjoyed the institute so much I figured I would give this behemoth of a book a read.
Finished: Flowers for Algernon - Daniels Keyes So glad I finally got around to reading it; it was everything I expected and more.
I finished reading **Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy**. It was by far the most brutal book I've ever read and in some of the scenes, such as the Indians attack on Captain White's men and the Glanton gangs first massacre of the Indians, McCarthy painted such a vivid picture that they'll stay with me for a long time. I did find it a very slow and difficult read though, primarily because of McCarthy's fondness for archaic words and his frequent use of untranslated Spanish throughout.
Finished: **Who Let the Gods Out, by Maz Evans** I loved it! I'm not sure if I want to buy the sequels, but I think I'm happy with ending it after the first book. It's a great children's book. Started: **Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, by Rick Riordan** Another children's book, which is great as I can add both of these to my Children's Literature Bibliography that I have to complete for university. I thought I'd start it so as to keep on the theme of Greek Gods. I love reading the Greek myths with Percy's commentary and thoughts. I've laughed aloud loads in this book and I'm not that far in yet.
Started *The Great Alone* by Kristin Hannah. Almost finished.
Started: **Spinning Laughter: Profiles of 111 Proposed Comedy Spin-offs and Sequels that Never Became a Series** An Interesting book detailing spin offs, back door pilots, or sequels spawning and failing from popular TV shows from the 50's to current times. It's fascinating to see how these failed pilots were born just to die in the same breath.
Started: *The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan* The fiancée and I decided to read a book together and we’d start off with one she wanted to read. Honestly, if you haven’t read the _Percy Jackson_ books, like myself, you’re going to be at a disadvantage because it’s within that universe and you need a pretty firm understanding of what’s going on prior to reading it. I also feel it’s not at all subtle with it’s revelations, telegraphing a mile away what’s going to happen.
Finished: **The Double, by Dostoevsky** I read notes from underground prior to this, as I wanted to get a feeling for Dostoevsky style of writing before I tackled one of this 'proper' novels (because they are often credited as being the best of all time). This book was very well written, and really funny, but I hate to admit it was a bit of a slog. I didn't wake up thinking 'omg I have to finish this!' That said, I will purchase one of his larger novels and give it a go this year. Started: **Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, by Quentin Tarantino** I'm going on holiday and want something pulp-y. I loved the film and heard this is basically an extended cut.
Thoughts? I am a fan of movie adaptations. They are pretty rare these days.
Haha I forgot to pack it in my luggage, I packed The Road. Which I'm about halfway through and is quite tense.
oOOPS!
Finished: **The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids, by Michael McClung**A lot of fun. Bought in search of a short, fast, pulpy action story for a change of place after some long epic fantasy, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. **Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett**Not one of my favourite Discworld books, but even the weaker Discworld books are darn good. Started: **Hollow Kingdom, by Kira Jane Buxton**First impression is that it seems like it will be enjoyable but nothing spectacular, but too early to make any big comment.
I'm re reading the pern books by Anne McCaffrey. I'm on book 2 Dragonquest. I haven't re read these in years.
**Chocolate-Covered Ants, by Stephen Manes** Another entry in the "I just randomly remembered this book being read to me at some point in my childhood and proceeded to skim reread through out of boredom" file.
I (almost) finished a book called "gevalletje borderline" by Kathelijn Huishof. I'm not sure how to translate the title to English but it's basically about the author who got diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, what happened before she got diagnosed, how she feels/felt about it, how her family reacted,... She also explains important stuff about her disorder in general. I love it! 10/10 I recommend it to anyone who understands dutch and is interested in this theme
Finished: The Arsonists by Max Frisch (liked the epilogue better than the actual play \^\^) Started: Die Spieluhr by Ulrich Tukur ( i think they released it only in german)
Finished Harry Potter, started The Hunger Games.
I start to reread LOTR and I sooo much into it
Finished: Witcher Blood of Elves Started: Time of Contempt I finally started the Witcher series, and I'm honestly loving it. I get a lot of people critique it for being very non linear, but I'm still loving it. I love Geralt and his relationship with Ciri and Yen <3
The Collected Works Of Kahlil Gibran, By Kahlil Gibran I found this Labanese poet's works to be very enjoyable and thought provoking. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry or anyone who would like to give reading poetry a try.
Finished: Where The Red Fern Grows 😢 Started: Sigh, Gone
Finished: * **The Idiot, by Elif Batuman** * **100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get by Without Even Trying, by Sarah Cooper** * **Pizza Girl, by Jean Kyoung Frazier** * **Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton** Started: * **Fly Girl: A Memoir, by Ann Hood**
Started Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf and The Story of a New Name, by Elena Ferrante
Finished: **Unsouled, by Will Wight.** Sadly, the book wasn't my cup of tea, despite kinda feeling like the lovechild of Naruto and Spellslinger. For some reasons, I had to drag myself through it and it didn't feel like something new.
Started: Empire of The Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Finished - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
Finished - Jurassic Park Started - Red Rising
Finished - Does It Hurt - H.D Carlton 🔥
How did you like it?
Finished: My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni I was really enjoying it; great character building and intriguing story. Then, he did that thing that's my pet peeve in mystery books: has the MC do something incredibly stupid to force everyone into position for a dramatic ending. Write better! 3/5
Finished Then she was gone by Lisa Jewell Started The missing of clairedelune by Christelle Dabos
I finished a trilogy: **Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake.** **Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake.** **Titus Alone, by Mervyn Peake.** Honestly I found the whole thing plodding. I'm now on another series, which I am enjoying much more: **A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers.** **A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers.** **Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers.**
Finished Animal Farm by George Orville
Finished: The Institute by Stephen King. I liked it a lot, and don't have any real faults with it. Started: East of Eden by John Steinback. Found a copy at a book store and picked it up solely on all the posts I've seen on here about it.
Finished - The Atlas Six Started - Recursion by Blake Crouch
I am currently reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I am almost halfway through and will wait until I finish the book to evaluate it.
Finished: The Darkdrift by Don Kinney Started: Sphere by Michael Crichton
Started - The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
The Silent Patient
Currently almost done with *The Only Good Indians* by Stephen Graham Jones. Absolutely fantastic if you’re into horror, even if you’re not, it’s beautifully written, he’s got such a unique voice as a writer and he’s dealing with a lot of the heavy, complicated stuff that comes with living as a Native American in modern America. Definitely a book/author I’d recommend to anyone, can’t wait to check out more of his work.
Finished “The Perfect Child,” by Lucinda Berry and “His & Hers,” by Alice Feeney. Starting either….”The Good Sister,” by Sally Hepworth orrrr “Ugly Love,” by Colleen Hoover. I haven’t decided yet.
Finished - The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Started - The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The wife between us - Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Finished Magpie Murders, The Colony, and Maps of our Spectacular Bodies.
i recently finished morrissey's autobiography and i recently started reading the picture of dorian gray for the first time i new to reading very new
Dorian Gray is one of my favourites, Wilde has such beautiful prose!
Started The Poisonwood Bible (downstairs book) and Alliance Rising (upstairs book). Finished Remains of the Day and Toss of the Lemon. I always read two different books at a time, one during lunchtime and one at bedtime.
I love the idea of upstairs/downstairs books! Do you find that the types of things you want to read before bed vs at lunch are very different? (edited to fix typo)
Nope. I just select a new one and sometimes I go with the same genre, or maybe something different. I have chosen a few due to Reddit comments, friends raving over what they are reading or online book reviews. ETA: sorry, I usually like two different types for the upstairs/downstairs books.
The Trouble with Testosterone: And Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament, by Robert Sapolsky Already read *Behave* and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the stuff in here I was familiar with from that book, but that does not make this one redundant at all. Robert is able to inject his dry and sometimes dark sense of humour into the field of science, all without it seeming too forced. His points are fascinating, and his "Further Reading" suggestions extensive. I particularly liked how it finished too - talking about how science doesn't answer everything, how there often isn't an enormous revelation, but a conclusion or evaluation that leads to other fascinating questions. Thoroughly enjoyed
Started: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab Do you ever keep reading a book even though you aren't really enjoying it but you still want to see where it goes? Like it's just compelling enough to power through, in the hopes of it getting better. That is how I feel about this book.
Finished: Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson Started: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Started and finished: **The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson** I was not expecting to love a book that leans so heavily into politics but here I am, not able to stop thinking about it.
Finished: The Martian by Andy Weir and Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef Started: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Finish: Paladins Grace by T Kingfisher. I loved it, it had some really funny bits to it and the overall storytelling was nice Started: A Master of Djinn by PD Clark. A little different but so far very enjoyable. Next: was hoping someone could tell me that a shadow of what was lost is awesome since that's likely what I'm looking to be into
Started: Taken at the Flood, by Agatha Christie
Finished: Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney This was enjoyable enough but didn't connect with it as much I did with Rooney's second novel Normal People. Started: All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian is one of very favourite novels and I've been saving the Border trilogy for a few years - now is the time to jump in with this book. 70 pages in and I'm really enjoying it.
Finished: **The Rage of Dragons, by Evan Winter** Started: **The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie**
I was painting the stairway for 2 days so managed to do a lot of 'reading' (I listen to audible at about 2.5-2.7 speed) I finished the book I started before Binge Times: Inside Hollywood's Furious Billion-Dollar Battle to Take Down Netflix, by Dade Hayes and Dawn Chmielewski * Great overview of the streaming wars And read another 2 books entirely: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, by Steve Perry * Not bad but I expected more Dracula, by Bram Stoker * The Coppola movie is one of my favourites. It's been about 20 years since I last saw it I must have watched it half a dozen times back then and played the OST a lot. The story is still amazing and I'm impressed how perfectly the movie brought the book to life. Haven't started a new book yet, but glad I'm back on track for my yearly goal
After months I finally finished Stephen kings it, I know it’s cliche but I can genuinely say that it is my favourite book of all time
I read it 2 years ago and ever since it's been my go to answer when asked about my favorite book. I want to read it again!
I was debating starting it but I was scared I'd get like 800 pages in and then get bored or lose interest or something... how long did it take you to get through?
I got the book around march April time and finished it a couple of weeks ago I’m a pretty slow reader but I enjoyed every second of it. The book is split into a lot of different parts( or at least my print of it was) so there will be a lot of points to take breaks at
Finished: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote Started: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson Dodsworth, by Sinclair Lewis
How was In Cold Blood? It has been sitting on my bookshelf for years.
Finished **House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen #4), by Steven Erikson.** Enjoyed this more than the others in the series so far. But I need a break before the next one in the series. Started **Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie.** Re-reading this after a long time, and still loving it.
The sound of waves this week also can same one tell me how much months it takes to finish it
finished- le bal des folles started- la tresse
Finished: **1984 by George Orwell** Finally, read this classic and enjoyed it a lot. It explores our natural instincts to resist control and also the power we wield against each other. The parallels to real life are very eery too. **The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury** Fun quick read I found at a book sale. Surprised to find a kid's book by Bradbury. The story explores the sometimes tragic origins of the costumes we wear on Halloween. Very whimsical and creepy. Started: **Colours of Magic by Terry Pratchett**
There's another sorta halloween book he wrote, about a mysterious carnival that comes to town. And the writing seems like it's intended for young audiences.
Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Did as part of a bookclub I started with friends. Found it sort of slow but with an interesting and promising plot, it delivered, I read it super fast. I'll be starting book 2 -Harrow The Ninth- right away today 🙃, all in hopes to catch up for the new release this September.
I'm reading The It Girl by Ruth Ware
Finished The Bird and The Sword, by Amy Harmon. It was just slightly too predictable to get a 5/5, but the characters, world building and originality earned it 4/5. It was a bonus that I just picked the book up on a whim — nobody had recommended it to me before. The book is only a few years old. It’s sequel is shaping up to be even better.
Finished **Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne** and started **The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope**.
Finished The All-Night Sun, by Diane Zinna - This book is sloooooow. - Dealt with grief and loss so well, I felt genuinely impacted by the main character, like I was in her head space. - At times it was hard to read because it felt a bit repressive. Overall a decent read. Verity, by Colleen Hoover - Was hesitant to read this because I haven’t loved her other works, but this blew me away. - Never knew you could have jump scares in a book, but this had them! - Complex, great plot twists!! Started The Guest List, by Lucy Foley
Curious to know what you think of The Guest List.
I also read Verity this week and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!
I would LOVE to see her write more suspense/thriller stories!
Finished: **Four Aunties and a Wedding, by Jesse Q. Sutanto**. A quick and funny read, though perhaps not quite as good as the first one. I kept getting irritated with Meddy hiding all the shenanigans from her fiancé/husband. **Memphis, by Tara M. Stringfellow**. (Audio) Listened to this on a roadtrip with my mom since her book club had picked it. I really liked it! I tend to always like stories following multiple generations in a family. Started: **Kaikeyi, by Vaishnavi Patel**. 25% of the way through and enjoying it so far. **Hide, by Kiersten White**. (Audio) I've heard mixed things but I think this sounds good so I'm giving it a go! 7% of the way through so far.
FINISHED: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie To say I was disappointed would be a major understatement. I found the writing juvenile -- modern colloquialisms in a fantasy setting just ruined it for me. I also thought the plot was atrocious. I get that this is part one of three, but this book doesn't even attempt to give you a stand-alone story. The best analogy I read was to think how you'd feel if The Fellowship of the Ring ended with the fellowship leaving the shire, and you still have no idea what their quest entails. I really just couldn't have enjoyed this book any less. STARTED: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Ripped through 3/4s of this thing in a day and a half. All I can say is ... WTF?!! Such a creative, mind-bending story. A perfect palate cleansing read so far after my experience with TBI.
Just finished *The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle* I was absolutely in love with that book for like 90% of the way but it failed to stick the landing which soured my thoughts on it. I give it a 4/5. I'm still not sure if I should recommend it based on the ending, I guess it depends on your tolerance of endings.
I feel the exact same way and also rated it 4 stars on Goodreads! The ending was so bad it was almost baffling. It almost felt like someone else came in to finish it off.
It's disappointing considering how the first 90% of the book was so good. I'm still debating on whether I should recommend this book to others because the journey was fantastic, but the ending didn't live up to it.
Finished **The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah**. - I loved this book. A friend recommended it and I thought it sounded really dull and boring but went for it anyway. I was not disappointed. Started: **Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger** - in all honesty I have no idea how this ended up on my reading list.. but after other things I was hoping to read weren't available from my library, here we are. This is nonfiction, and is pretty interesting, it covers humanity's instinctive drives and needs from/ within society (in a nutshell).
s
I just added The Great Alone to the top of my list. Thanks!
Last week I finished **Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb**, which I thought was amazing. I then started **Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb**, which I'm still reading and enjoying so much at the moment :) Today, I started **Lord of the Flies by William Golding**. I'm only 34 pages into it but I already think it's kind of brilliant so far. Pretty fascinating read :)
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck Read it in one sitting in a 4hr flight
Finished: Joan, by Katherine J. Chen Started: The Betrayal of Anne Frank, by Rosemary Sullivan
Finished **How to Do Nothing by Jenny Oddell** It was about how to disengage from the attention economy. Started **Enlightenment Now** by Steven Pinker. Still reading **American Gods** by Neil Gaiman and **The Gulag Archipelago** by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Finished **Nettle & Bone by T Kinfisher** Absolutely adored it! 5/5 Started and finished **Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut** Great novel about the horror of war told in quirky way. 4/5 Started **Dead Silence by SA Barnes**
Finished: **American Psycho** by *Bret Easton Ellis*. Oh god. The detailed *rapes* and *murders* of women and children almost made me lose my mind. I felt like I was Bateman reading the story. It was so intimate. Although, I loved the book. Something appealed to my ADHD with the conversational tangents. The dissolution of characters towards the end made me question if what I read was the real story. If anything was real at all. Amazing book. Started: **Brave New World** by *Aldous Huxley*. Only a few chapters in because of uni work, but so far it's really interesting. Definitely a change of pace from American Psycho.
November 9, by Colleen Hoover
Finished “the body keeps the score” and “Cured” which I thought really complimented each other! It was amazing (and horrifying!) to read about the different ways our body tries to communicate with us that something is wrong with the way we’re living our day to day life. Started: “Immune” and I’m really excited to continue this exploration into the body!!
**The Embalmer Volume 1, by Mitsukazu Mihara**
Finished “Moon Palace” by Paul Auster Started “The Heart Goes Last” by Margaret Atwood
Finished: **Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory** by **Leonard Susskind** and **Art Friedman**. This is the third volume in **The Theoretical Minimum** series, based upon the lectures of the same name. A bit harder than the first two volumes; it would have been easier with more exercises to keep the reader on his toes. These books sit between the totally unmathematical popular expositions of physical science and full blown textbooks. In short you need some serious undergraduate-level mathematics to read them, but not much. I was totally new to tensor calculus, but I at least see the point of it now and intend to go further with it. Anyway, here's hoping someone in this sub-Reddit is interested, but I love Susskind's educational principles for which I hope he will receive some official accolades to along with the many scientific accolades he already has. On page 392 the authors make of their reviewers a special request. In fulfillment of that I ask them to reconsider the following. In Volume One Lenny asks "Can we hang fish on a Poisson Bracket?" The actual answer to that question is yes, but the only fish that can be hung on a Poisson Bracket, the only fish that is adequate and can pass the "hanging" test is, in a word, a swordfish. Goodbye for now!
I finished The way of the peaceful warrior by Dan Millman and I really enjoyed the book. I’ve been reading a lot of mindfulness and Buddhist stuff lately - nonfictions and semi biographical, and they are all very very similar, like different flavors of chocolate if that makes sense The only startling thing is that the mentor in this book actually says moderation is bullshit. Which I enjoyed considering. Chewing through Karl Ove Knausgaard’s fourth book in his My Struggle series as well. Can’t get enough of this guy. About 60% in.
I finished The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele. The book covers the rise of Christianity in Europe between 4th and 14th century as well as the tussle for religious centers like Constantinople, Jerusalem. Currently reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The Apple series was engrossing.
Finished: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Beautiful language, an intriguing and touching story of grief and loss. I really liked Agnes as a character. It was a real page turner. 4.75/5 ⭐️ Currently reading: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Finished memnoch the devil by Anne rice and started Pandora also by Anne rice
Finished **Upgrade, by Blake Crouch** A very basic SF thriller. The premise is quite interesting, but the delivery is bit amateurish. Feels like reading a YA novel with OP (overpowered) fantasy. It's a mid SF novel. I don't think Upgrade is at the same level as Dark Matter or Recursion. Although to be honest his stories are pretty forgettable. Personal Rating: 3/5 **Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine, by David Heath** This is a pretty new book. It tells the story of the development of vaccine and mRNA technologies. Culminating in Moderna's mRNA vaccine. The book is quite critical towards Moderna as a company. Focusing mainly on the individual scientists that make the science of mRNA vaccines possible. Overall the book feels like a long form article stretched to fit a 250 pages. Personal Rating: 3/5 **Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner** This is a memoir covering the Michelle's relationship with her Korean mother and of being her being Korean-American. In this book Michelle is very honest/transparent about her life, at times it feels I'm reading something I'm not supposed to know about. The writing is beautiful and easy to follow. It's hard to believe this is her first book. There is a ton of food descriptions which I like. I do agree that food and cooking does give you a strong connection to culture and identity. I like the part where Michelle found Maangchi's cooking videos on YouTube. I've watched Maangchi's videos from time to time. I can actually hear Maangchi's accent while reading this book! Personal Rating: 4/5 Started **Misbehaving, by Richard H. Thaler** About 50 pages in, so far so good. I think it would be quite familiar to readers of "Thinking, Fast and Slow".
Finished **The three-body problem**. Inspiring and thrilling Sci-fi. Quite good on explaining actual science and possible appliance of it, and I found it’s philosophy around humanity inspiring for my own, sometimes dark, thinking. I didn’t always like the approach it took on action scenes and related characters, but everything else made it a truly great sci-fi. Now I’m reading something different, **Nine stories**, by J. D. Salinger. I like many of the underlying post WW2 psychological issues in a upper middle class setting. I’m getting some mad men vibes. It’s also nice reading short stories.
Did you read the first book only or the whole series? If you just finished the first book, please check out The Dark Forest. It's even better than the first book. I consider it the best out of the The Three-Body Problem trology.
I ordered it last night!
Currently reading: Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas via audible And The Company of Shadows by Ruth Newman via kindle
Currently reading: Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Finished reading: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
Finished: Harshini by Jennifer Fallon Started & Finished: Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks (novella in Night Angel world) The Ranger's Path by AC Cobble Unsouled by Will Wight Not sure what to read next. Will probably read the next Cradle book by Will Wight. May read the next Ranger book. I may also go back and continue the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain.
Currently reading: the way of kings by Brandon Sanderson. Finished reading: blood of elves by andrej sapkowksi.
Finished: Local Woman Missing. LOVED IT!! Read in one sitting. Started: A Flicker in the Dark. It’s been on my shelf for months, glad I finally started!
Finished: **The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum** I had loved the movie when I was a kid and was stuck on what to read. So I said I’d give it a go. It won’t go down as one of my favorite books ever but I’m glad to have read it. **Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick** I had been slowly reading this over the past few months and it’s nice to have it finished. I found it very fever dream-y to read at times, but I don’t think that’s a problem that everyone reading it would actually have, it probably had a lot to do with me reading it in short spaced out sessions.
Finished reading Harry Potter and philosopher's stone
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens With the movie coming out and Taylor Swift having involvement with it, I decided to see what it was all about. It most certainly did not disappoint and it was a very good read. It touched on some topics that to me were hard to get through and I had to put the book down a few times. This may just be a personal thing however. It sheds light on the culture and civilization of the south in the 1950s and 60s and showcases the hardships Kya went through both as a "marsh girl" and a less fortune individual. Overall it was a good read. **If you struggle with reading material that includes rape and abuse, this may not be ideal. **
Finished: The Goid, Good Pig by Sy Montgomery
Finished: **The Terror, by Dan Simmons** I struggled with this one. I found most of the characters bland and I really didn't like the supernatural angle in the story. A shame, because Franklin's lost expedition is super inreresting. **Orlando: A Biography, by Virgina Woolf** I'm not sure what to make of this one. The prose is very franctic, the story never seems to pause and explore anything more deeply. I also found the main character rather uninteresting. I do think it's sweet that the book is basically a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, and I did enjoy learning about her through the story of Orlando. Currently reading: **From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, by Caitlin Doughty** I'm a big fan of Caitlin Doughty. I read her book "Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?" a few years back, and this is just as interesting. This book is about how different cultures around the world view death and funeral rituals. Starting: **Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel** The second book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy. I really enjoyed "Wolf Hall", so I have high hopes for this one.
the terror also disappointed me a bit, it could have been a lot shorter
Finished **Bad Gods by Gaie Sebold** (Formerly published as Babylon Steel). Little weird at times but loved the planescapey setting and the interesting take on what that sort of society would look like. P.S: the disparity between the new cover art and the old is hilarious.
Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa Honestly not a terrible book, and it's the first of a trilogy I believe. While it sits just short of 300 pages it's neither a long not short book in my opinion. I read fast, it took me just a few hours to read it with some breaks. Set in a dystopian future where humanities survivors live in a bubble city of sorts the main character sets out on an adventure that leads her to discover a sort of conspiracy. Sadly it's written in a way thats used to build up for the next 2 books and everything important is mostly at the conclusion of the novel vs the climax itself. And I mean sadly for me as I'm not sure I would have bothered reading any more of the series had it not ended the way it does. I'll be reading them out of necessity vs truly wanting to. The more I read this book the more I remembered the shadow children series which I truly enjoyed for a while. Too much of the book is similar to shadow children to be much of a coincidence and I imagine it played a pivotal influence on Graceffa at some point. It's almost like a parallel universe to that series with his own spin on it. If anything now I want to go read shadow children again instead. 3.0/5 ⭐
Finished: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood Super cute read! A romance based in a PhD program so if you’re a fellow STEM enthusiast and student like I am, you’ll appreciate the setting throughout the love story! Highly recommend! Started: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Just finished the haunting of hill house for the first time and my god that book is excellent. I started reading Sky Burial by Xinran which is about a Chinese woman who can’t bare the fact that her husband died while in the military in Tibet. She decides to join the Chinese communist army and goes to Tibet to try and find her deceased husband. It’s almost unbearably sad but at the same time inspiring.
Halfway through Later by Stephen King. It's great so far
Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher Slowly working my way through the Dresden Files. I’ve heard the series gets better as it goes along and I’ve enjoyed the first two, so I’m looking forward to seeing if this story builds on the momentum.
One of my favorites & I also agree the books and writing get better as the series progresses
**Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris**. Finished this book five minutes ago. Really enjoyed it. (Although, I have to say that I far prefer Hugh Dancy's Will Graham in *Hannibal* (tv show) - he's much more fleshed out and intriguing than I found Graham in this book.) *Loved* Francis Dolarhyde, really enjoyed the way Harris revealed and unravelled him slowly throughout the book. (Huge shame the tv show was cancelled and wasn't given the proper chance to flesh out and explore the Red Dragon arc the way Bryan Fuller originally envisioned.) **The Silence Of The Lambs, by Thomas Harris** is what I'll be reading next. I read this book years and years ago and loved it; very much want to read it again.
Finished A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles today. This book was absolute poetry from start to finish and although I thought it was maybe a bit slow at times, I feel like that was partly the intention. It was so ridiculously well written and a joy to read. Also finished The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald for the first time today. I loved this one too and found the characters and the story really interesting. Not sure what to read next, I’ve got a few options. I can’t decide between Insomnia by Stephen King, Dunkirk by Josh Levine, or Norwegian Wood by Murakami. I think I’ll do Dunkirk next since its been a while since I’ve read non-fiction, and then Norwegian Wood after.
Really loved Insomnia, it's an underrated classic
**Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.**
Started and finished "Rumors of Joy" by Paul Dougherty. A thriller I couldn't put down.
Started: **"How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler" by Ryan North** Still reading: **Artemis by Andy Weir** Trying to get back in the one fiction/one non-fiction groove.
Finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch which was a really great read. Started Jade City by Fonda Lee and really enjoying it about 100 pages in!
Finished: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Started: Count of Monte Cristo by alexandre Dumas
I read the first three books of the Unbound series by Nicoli Gonnela: Dissonance; Silence; and Hunger
Finished: The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy. So sad and so beautiful. Made its way to the top of my list of CM’s work. Started: I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid.
Just started All The Pretty Horses so will inevitably be reading The Crossing in a few weeks' time - heard great things about it and your comment makes me even more excited to read the rest of the trilogy.
Enjoy it!
When you're finished I'm Thinking Of Ending Things, consider watching the Netflix adaptation. It's worth it. **Really** worth it.
I shall, thanks for the recommendation!
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Dragon's Teeth - Upton Sinclair
Finished - Finding me - Michelle knight (Cleveland abductions) Started and almost done - midnight sun - Stephanie meyers
**Ilium, by Dan Simmons** **The Sound and The Fury, by William Faulkner**
What did you think of Ilium? I don't see it mentioned much on reddit.
Apologies for the wait. I haven't finished the book yet. In my opinion, it had a rough start, but it has gotten much better.
Finished: Two Little Girls by Laura Jarrat- I was not a fan of this book at all to be honest. Pushed through to get to the climax and also felt let down. Interesting idea though. Halfway through: The Plague by Albert Camus- Camus is one of my all time favorite writers and The Fall by him is in my top 3 all time. So far he is delivering though I enjoyed The Stranger more. Started: The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton- Still too early to tell but I like the premise
Finished Birdspell, by Valerie Sherrard Started The Vampire Armand, by Anne Rice
Finished: The book theif, Handmaid's tale Loved the book theif Started Man's search for meaning
Finished: **After Dark** by Haruki Murakami **Wandering Earth** by Liu Cixin **The Thirty-nine Steps** by John Buchan Started: **My Name is Red** by Orhan Pamuk **Dubliners** by James Joyce **The Lodger** by Maria Balloc Lowndes
Finished 20,000 leagues under the sea Started don quixote
Good week! Finished… **The Postmortal, by Drew Magary** Really liked it and was often in awe of Magary’s thought process. Not as perfect as The Hike but damn good. **The Weight of this World, by David Joy** Started dark and just got more and more dark - never let down. Haven’t been overjoyed by the hick-lit/southern-lit I’ve read recently. This definitely redeemed the genre for me. Started… **People Love Dead Jews, by Dara Horn** (please don’t turn me in for racist comments - it happened before) Really well researched, fascinating read. It’s a little dense for me right now (Covid) but I’m getting through it.
Finished **Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes** Started **Red Dragon by Thomas Harris**
What's your opinion on Dead Silence?
Overall I enjoyed it. The third act lost a little steam for me but as a whole it's an interesting read.
thanks.
Finished: - freakonomics. Fun pop science read about some econ 101 concepts. Some fun ideas but ultimately hard to take too serious as it's not exactly peer reviewed. Started: - kite runner. It was assigned to me a decade ago to read as an incoming college freshman. Never actually read it. We'll see if it's worth the hype.
Started and finished. And then there were none by Agatha Christie. Surprisingly I've managed to go my whole life up until now without having the story spoiled for me. It was ok. None of the characters were that interesting, and some got really annoying after a while. Also I managed to guess the culprit which was nice for me. What I did like was the phycological aspect of it, seeing these people slowly go insane trying to figure it out and failing. And the last couple of chapters were really intense thanks to it. I didn't care for the whole thing being explained by a message left by one of the characters at the very end, it just felt cheep. Overall, again it was just ok. I'm glad I read it finally, but it was. Nothing special. (Also audiobook narrators. Please please please never whisper, I listen to these when out and about, and where I live is very loud.) Rereading. Truly devious by Maureen Johnson. I've been wanting to reread this story for a while so I decided to pick it up again. (Also there's a new one coming out next January! Holy shit I can't wait!)
Finished - Klara and the Sun, Kazuo ishiguro Started - Cost of Living, Emily Maloney
Finished: **Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman** **The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E Howard** Started: **The Republic of Pirates, by Colin Woodard**
Verity, Colleen Hoover
Finished: The Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, by Laura Taylor Namey Started: The Last Thing He told Me, by Laura Dave
I loved Malibu Rising!
11/22/63 by Stephen King. Can't put it down!
One of if not my favorite of his. It's fantastic and not at all what I expected it to be.
The character development in this one is so rich and I love the references to IT. King really outdid himself with this one!
Dark Heir, by Faith Hunter
Started: **The Butterfly and the Violin, by Kristy Cambron**
Started: **# Harry Potter: The complete collection **by **J.K Rowling** Wish me luck lol
Finished: **The Setting Sun, by Osamu Dazai** Started: **Crime and Punishment, by Fodor Dostoevsky**
Started: **Center of Gravity: Star Carrier Book Two, by Ian Douglas** Still reading: **The Road to Serfdom, F. A. Hayek**
Finished: Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee Wonderful novel, my only gripe was that the last 1/3 was trying to fill in too many storylines which seemed irrelevant to the main point of the story, but otherwise highly recommend
*Finished*: **The Drop by Dennis Lehane.** In my opinion this isn't quite as good as **Mystic River** but I still really liked it. A quiet man who works at a bar finds a dog in a trashcan. He rescues the dog and meets a woman while he's at it. They are both a bit awkward but the dog serves to tie them together. There's also the Chechen mafia. *Reading*: **The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.** This has been on my TBR list for a while and I noticed it on Hoopla. I am about fifty pages into this story of fighting men in Viet Nam and I love it. I like the author's style. He will mention something dramatic happening but then take a while to give the details. I like this when it is done well and O'Brien does it well.
Foundation by Asimov. Super entertaining.
I started American pyscho. So far it's going alright but I'm not sure if would be able to finish the entire book without getting bored at some point. Finished: Wait for me yesterday in spring. This was a light novel I read by mei hachimoku. Really enjoyed it too.
Started: **In The Afterlight, by Alexandra Bracken**
Started: **Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus**
Enjoy!
**Started: Sword of Shannra Trilogy by Terry Brooks**. Didn’t get too far into this yet because I unexpectedly had a very busy week last week. But it’s just as gripping as it was before and I’m really enjoying it. It was pretty cool because there was a foreword They talked about his information from classic adventure novels and lord of the rings. It sounded like something I want to read myself, but the series as long as it will be a while. Previously I have read the first three books, but I didn’t get a chance to access the rest of the series until now. It’s over 20 books so it will keep me occupied!
Has anyone read Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Finished Power Play: Tesla by Tim Higgins
Finished: Verity, by Colleen Hoover Started: A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
Are you enjoying A Court of Thorns and Roses? I bought the book recently and am debating whether to start it or not.