Books You’ve Read in 2023

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Levin 8/10
2. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson 9.5/10
3. Yellowface by RF Kuang 7/10
4. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 6/10
5. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson 9/10
6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 8/10
7. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami 10/10
8. Rhythm of War 8/10


Tomorrow was a really good read about growing up and how we look at and interact with friendships of the opposite sex.

Yellowface had interesting things to say about race and appropriation through the lens of the literary/publishing world but I hated the ending.

Didn’t love Demon Copperhead.

Loved Norwegian Wood. Stole the recommendation from someone ITT. Truly a beautiful novel.

Haven’t read as many as I’ve wanted to so far this year because of the 3 Sanderson beasts. But loved all 3 of them.

 

28. The Genius Of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman (9/10)
Super interesting subject matter, but for some reason I could never get fully lost in it. Thought I'd read it in a week but took 2 weeks of smaller sessions. Cliffs: it's bananas how intelligent birds are.

27. Ninety Percent Of Everything: Inside Shipping, The Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes On Your Back, Gas In Your Car, And Food On Your Plate / Rose George (7/10)
Author goes onboard a container ship for a few months and takes you through the whole thing, ports, crime, pirates. Really interesting but the author is not my favorite. Similar to Mary Roach with a fondness for the gross out.

Spoiler

26. The Storyteller: Tales Of Life And Music / Dave Grohl (9.5/10)
25. Saluda County In Story And Scene (2/10)
24. The Birth Of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, And The Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock N Roll / Ian S. Port (10/10)
23. A People's History Of The United States / Howard Zinn (10/10)
22. Center Field Grasses: Poems From Baseball / Gene Fehler (4/10)
21. A Cook's Tour: In Search Of The Perfect Meal / Anthony Bourdain (9/10)
20. Welcome To The Circus Of Baseball: A Story Of The Perfect Summer At The Perfect Ballpark At The Perfect Time / Ryan McGee (7/10)
19. Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey / Nicholas Shaffner (6/10)
18. Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles 1974-2001 / Don Felder and Wendy Holden (8/10)
17. How To Be Perfect: The Correct Answer To Every Moral Question / Michael Schur (6.5/10)
16. High Seas Confederate: The Life And Times Of John Newland Maffitt / Royce Shingleton (6/10)
15. Heart Of Darkness / Joseph Conrad (6/10)
14. Poverty, By America / Matthew Desmond (10/10)
13. The Beach: The History Of Paradise On Earth / Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker (8/10)
12. From Russia, With Love (James Bond #5) / Ian Fleming (5/10)
11. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The American Meal / Eric Schlosser (9.5/10)
10. The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains / Nicholas Carr (7.5/10)
9. Nickel And Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America / Barbara Ehrenreich (9/10)
8. Through The Looking Glass / Lewis Carroll (7/10)
7. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland / Lewis Carroll (6/10)
6. The Gene: An Intimate History / Siddhartha Mukherjee (8/10)
5. Journey Of The Universe / Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker (9/10)
4. The Tao Of Physics / Fritjof Capra (7.5/10)
3. The Corner: A Year In The Life Of An Inner-City Neighborhood / David Simon and Ed Burns (10/10)
2. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto / Chuck Klosterman (7/10)
1. Will In The World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare / Stephen Greenblatt (8.5/10)

 

1. Inhibitor Phase (Revelation Space #5) - Alastair Reynolds (7.5/10)
2. Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10)
3. The Alloy of Law (Mistborn Era 2, #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread)
4. Shadows of Self (Mistborn Era 2, #2) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread)
5. The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn Era 2, #3) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread)
6. The Lost Metal (Mistborn Era 2, #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10)
7. Starfish (Rifters, #1) - Peter Watts (6/10)
8. Maelstrom (Rifters, #2) - Peter Watts (6/10)
9. Behemoth (Rifters, #3) - Peter Watts (8/10)
10. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories - Norman Maclean (9/10)
11. All Fishermen are Liars - John Gierach (7/10)
12. The Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) - James Islington (8.5/10)
13. Trout Bum - John Gierach (8.5/10)
14. The Longest Silence - Thomas McGuane (8.5/10)
15. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
16. The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England - Brandon Sanderson (7/10)

 

1. Operation Paperclip- Annie Jacobson
2. Red Notice- Bill Browder
3. A Course called America- Tom Coyne
4. Hunting Leroux- Elaine Shannon
5.The new confessions of an Economic Hitman- John Perkins
6. Body of Proof- Darrell Brown
7. Helter Skelter-Vincent Bugliosi
8. The Brave Athlete- Simon Marshall
9. The Search for the Green River Killer- Carlton Smith
10. Whoever Fights Monsters- Robert Ressler
11. Gray Day- Eric O Neill
12. The Emerald Mile- Kevin Fedarko
13. Alive- Piers Paul Reed
14. When the Air Hits your Brain- Frank Vertosick
15. Washington: A Life- Chernow
16. Led Zeppelin, The biography- Bob Spitz
17. The River was dyed with Blood- Brian Steel
18. The 12 cesears- Mary Beard
19. The Stone Cold Truth- Steve Austin
20. Tress of the Emerald Sea- Sanderson
21.The Frugal Wizards handbook- Sanderson
22. Not a Diet Book- James Smith

23. Blind Descent- James Tabor
Interesting read about the caving community and a few of the big names wanting to discover the deepest cave.
24. The Lost Village- Camilla Sten
Horror Novel about people from a village going missing. Kinda Blair witch-esque
25. American Prometheus- Kai Bird
Oppenheimer. Really gets into the post WWII stuff
26. The Buried- Peter Hessler
An archeologist live in Egypt the the 2011 Revolution
27. Children of Time- Adrian Tchaikovsky
Very interesting SF novel about humans terraforming other planets and modifying species to evolve quicker.

 

Children of time has been on my list for a while. Everyone raves about it. Only have read 1 book by him but really liked it

 

1. How To Do the Work by Nicole LaPera - 8/10
2. Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel - 8/10
3. In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 9/10
4. Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King - 6.5/10
5. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin - 9/10
6. Call For The Dead by John Le Carré - 8/10
7. A Murder of Quality by John Le Carré - 6/10
8. We Don’t Know Ourselves by Finan O’Toole - 7.5/10
9. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey - 8.5/10
10. The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland - 9/10
11. The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker - 7/10
12. The Measure by Nikki Erlick - 8/10
13. SPQR by Mary Beard - 6.5/10
14. Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber - 8/10
15. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 9.5/10
16. How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell - 6.5/10
17. The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy - 9/10
18. Outlive by Peter Attia - 8/10
19. We Were Once a Family - 7.5/10
20. The Wager by David Grann - 8.5/10
21. Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell - 8/10
22. City of Dreams by Don Winslow - 7/10
23. King: A Life by Jonathan Eig - 9/10
24. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
25. Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley - 5/10
26. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
27. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - 7/10
28. All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby - 8/10
29. Rebel Yell by SC Gwynne - 4/10
30. Drowning by TJ Newman -8/10
31. Dead Wake by Erik Larson - 7/10
32. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin - 9/10

33. The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell - 7.5/10. Overview of the horrors of a warming planet. Author travels to different areas of the world and dives into the science of the impacts of heat, melting glaciers, impacts to food supply, etc. not the most fun read…

34. Red Rising by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10. This was so dope lol. I was so pumped to see 7 books in the series. The reviews in here pushed me to read this.

35. The Militia House by John Milas - 8/10. A type of horror novel where a soldier in Afghanistan stumbles into an abandoned supply house near his station. Enjoyed it.

36. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery - 6/10. I so wanted to love this. The reviews and awards are everywhere for this novel. But I really just couldn’t get into it. A bit scattered for me.

 

Just finished this last week. Really dense but thorough. He devoted a couple sections to 'Song of the South' and the racist/antisemitism controversy

 

1. Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett - 8.5/10
2. Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin - 9/10
3. Normal People by Sally Rooney - 8/10
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 8/10
5. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh - 2/10
6. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout - 8.5/10
7. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe - 9/10
8. The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth by Matthew Lewis - 8.5/10
9. How to Survive in Ancient Rome by LJ Trafford - 7/10
10. How to Survive in Ancient Greece by Robert Garland - 7/10
11. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson - 8/10
12. Apeirogon, A Novel by Colum McCann - 8/10
13. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann - 8.5/10
14. Family Life by Akhil Sharma - 7/10
15. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid - 8/10
16. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka - 9/10
17. The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family: The Despensers by Kathryn Warner - 7/10
18. Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy - 7.5/10
19. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 8/10
20. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 8/10
21. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - 8.5/10
22. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry - 8/10
23. Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann - 8.5/10
24. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - 8.5/10
25. The Promise by Damon Galgut - 8/10
26. A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam - 8.5/10
27. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - 8/10
I enjoyed this like I have the other Austen novels I’ve read, though the plot was a lot more dragged out than the others I’ve read. You also have most of the book to come to terms with the ever likely possibility of cousin-marriage.
28. Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo - 7.5/10
A novel about a fictional African country that is really Zimbabwe. The book is written as a satire to Animal Farm so all of the characters are farm animals in the form of humans. Given I knew little about Zimbabwe’s history I learned a lot, but the book kind of drags on and is difficult to follow at some points with all of the different character names and nicknames.

 

30. They Wore Garnet And Black: Inside Carolina's Quest For Gridiron Glory / Don Barton (5/10)
One of the saddest stories I've ever read, L.O.L. But really it was pretty dry football biography stuff, mostly focusing on venerating white players from the program's early days.

29. My Career, My Life / Bob Fulton (6/10)
Memoir from the Voice of the Gamecocks from 1950s to 1990s. Some interesting old time stories about college football and basketball, particularly the old ACC days. Could have benefitted from an editor -- published by a small local press and riddled with typos and factual contradictions.

Spoiler

28. The Genius Of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman (9/10)
27. Ninety Percent Of Everything: Inside Shipping, The Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes On Your Back, Gas In Your Car, And Food On Your Plate / Rose George (7/10)
26. The Storyteller: Tales Of Life And Music / Dave Grohl (9.5/10)
25. Saluda County In Story And Scene (2/10)
24. The Birth Of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, And The Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock N Roll / Ian S. Port (10/10)
23. A People's History Of The United States / Howard Zinn (10/10)
22. Center Field Grasses: Poems From Baseball / Gene Fehler (4/10)
21. A Cook's Tour: In Search Of The Perfect Meal / Anthony Bourdain (9/10)
20. Welcome To The Circus Of Baseball: A Story Of The Perfect Summer At The Perfect Ballpark At The Perfect Time / Ryan McGee (7/10)
19. Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey / Nicholas Shaffner (6/10)
18. Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles 1974-2001 / Don Felder and Wendy Holden (8/10)
17. How To Be Perfect: The Correct Answer To Every Moral Question / Michael Schur (6.5/10)
16. High Seas Confederate: The Life And Times Of John Newland Maffitt / Royce Shingleton (6/10)
15. Heart Of Darkness / Joseph Conrad (6/10)
14. Poverty, By America / Matthew Desmond (10/10)
13. The Beach: The History Of Paradise On Earth / Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker (8/10)
12. From Russia, With Love (James Bond #5) / Ian Fleming (5/10)
11. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The American Meal / Eric Schlosser (9.5/10)
10. The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains / Nicholas Carr (7.5/10)
9. Nickel And Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America / Barbara Ehrenreich (9/10)
8. Through The Looking Glass / Lewis Carroll (7/10)
7. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland / Lewis Carroll (6/10)
6. The Gene: An Intimate History / Siddhartha Mukherjee (8/10)
5. Journey Of The Universe / Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker (9/10)
4. The Tao Of Physics / Fritjof Capra (7.5/10)
3. The Corner: A Year In The Life Of An Inner-City Neighborhood / David Simon and Ed Burns (10/10)
2. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto / Chuck Klosterman (7/10)
1. Will In The World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare / Stephen Greenblatt (8.5/10)

 

Will not read

 

1- The Master – Colm Tóibín (1/10)
2- Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky (5/10)*
3- Mao II – Don DeLillo (8/10)*
4- Last Night – James Salter (8.5/10)
5- A Piece of My Heart – Richard Ford (8.5/10)*
6- Cosmopolis – Don DeLillo (5.5/10)*
7- Dusk and Other Stories – James Salter (8.5/10)*
8- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers (10/10)*
9- No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
10- Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
11- Carpenter’s Gothic – William Gaddis (9.5/10)*
12- The Rabbit Hutch – Tess Gunty (8/10)
13- Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell (7.5/10)
14- Fishing the Sloe-Black River – Colum McCann (6.5/10)
15- How to Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia – Mohsin Hamid (6/10)
16- A Thousand Moons – Sebastian Barry (10/10)
17- How German Is It – Walter Abish (8/10)
18- In Paradise – Peter Matthiessen (5.5/10)
19- Foster – Claire Keegan (8.5/10)
20- Life & Times of Michael K – J.M. Coetzee (7/10)
21- Old God’s Time – Sebastian Barry (8/10)
22- TransAtlantic – Colum McCann (6/10)
23- Union Atlantic – Adam Haslett (5/10)
24- Timbuktu – Paul Auster (0/10)
25- Child of God – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
26- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – Shehan Karunatilaka (9/10)
27- The Road – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
28- Goodbye, Columbus – Philip Roth (7/10)
29- Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth (3/10)
30- Trust – Hernan Diaz (8.5/10)
31- Far Tortuga – Peter Matthiessen (8/10)
32- Freedom – Jonathan Franzen (4/10)
33- Moth Smoke – Mohsin Hamid (6.5/10)
34- All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr (9/10)
35- On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan (5/10)
36- That Old Ace In The Hole – Annie Proulx (0.5/10)
37- Outer Dark – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
38- England Made Me – Graham Greene (6/10)
39- Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan (8.5/10)
40- The Last White Man – Mohsin Hamid (6.5/10)
41- Florida – Lauren Groff (8/10)
42- Matterhorn – Karl Marlantes (9.5/10)
43- Remembering Laughter – Wallace Stegner (7/10)
44- As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner (7.5/10)
45- Rabbit, Run – John Updike (8/10)*
46- In the Distance – Hernan Diaz (9/10)
47- The Stonemason – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)
48- Butcher’s Crossing – John Williams (9/10)
49- The Wapshot Chronicle – John Cheever (4/10)
50- All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
51- Train Dreams – Denis Johnson (8.5/10)
52- A High Wind In Jamaica – Richard Hughes (6/10)
53- Warlock – Oakley Hall (4.5/10)
54- Grendel – John Gardner (5/10)
55- Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel (7/10)
56- Hard Rain Falling – Don Carpenter (8.5/10)

57- The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett (6/10)
Published in 1930, it’s a detective novel set in San Francisco. A private investigator is hired by a beautiful woman and drawn into a web of betrayal and murder with a priceless artifact at the center of the drama

58- The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien (5/10)*
Published in 1937, this was required summer reading before 7th grade and I hadn’t read it since then. Very much a children’s novel but there are positive messages and themes which make it mostly enjoyable

59- A Frolic of His Own – William Gaddis (9/10)
Winner of the 1994 National Book Award, this beast revolves around an unhinged old money Long Island family and satirizes post-WWII America by obsessively focusing on the legal system. It’s 500 pages of relentless dialogue that’s never attributed to anyone and barely punctuated. Mixed in there’s stream of consciousness and postmodern narrative techniques like scenes from a play, a deposition transcript, judicial opinions and jury instructions

60- Stoner – John Williams (8/10)
Published in 1965, it follows the life of a young man from a poor farming family who is sent to the University of Missouri in 1910 to study agriculture. He falls in love with English literature and language and pursues the life of an academic. It’s got some of the clearest prose I’ve read and illustrates the impact higher education can have and the sense of community and purpose one can find in campus life. The story is set against the backdrop of WWI, Prohibition, the Great Depression and WWII and mostly takes place within the confines of Jesse Hall on the Mizzou campus. It became a bestseller in Europe 50 years after its initial publication

61- Antarctica – Claire Keegan (9/10)
Winner of the 2000 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, it’s one of the best collections of short stories I’ve read. Extremely gothic like McCullers and O’Connor. There are 16 stories spread over 200 pages so they’re all quick reads and they mostly get right to the point, which is that life is cruel and painful. Keegan apparently went to college in New Orleans which explains why a few of the stories take place on the Gulf Coast

62- The Siege of Krishnapur – J.G. Farrell (6.5/10)
Winner of the 1973 Booker Prize, it’s part of Farrell’s Empire Trilogy and about a group of British colonists during a siege on a fictional town during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It’s very well written, has humorous insight into the follies of empire, and has lengthy battle scenes. But the story also got bogged down in religion, love and gender roles so there were dry stretches

* = re-read

 

I also enjoyed Stoner

 

1. How To Do the Work by Nicole LaPera - 8/10
2. Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel - 8/10
3. In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 9/10
4. Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King - 6.5/10
5. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin - 9/10
6. Call For The Dead by John Le Carré - 8/10
7. A Murder of Quality by John Le Carré - 6/10
8. We Don’t Know Ourselves by Finan O’Toole - 7.5/10
9. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey - 8.5/10
10. The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland - 9/10
11. The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker - 7/10
12. The Measure by Nikki Erlick - 8/10
13. SPQR by Mary Beard - 6.5/10
14. Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber - 8/10
15. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 9.5/10
16. How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell - 6.5/10
17. The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy - 9/10
18. Outlive by Peter Attia - 8/10
19. We Were Once a Family - 7.5/10
20. The Wager by David Grann - 8.5/10
21. Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell - 8/10
22. City of Dreams by Don Winslow - 7/10
23. King: A Life by Jonathan Eig - 9/10
24. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
25. Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley - 5/10
26. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
27. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - 7/10
28. All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby - 8/10
29. Rebel Yell by SC Gwynne - 4/10
30. Drowning by TJ Newman -8/10
31. Dead Wake by Erik Larson - 7/10
32. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin - 9/10
33. The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell - 7.5/10
34. Red Rising by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10
35. The Militia House by John Milas - 8/10
36. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery - 6/10

37. Golden Son by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10. Awesome

38. Child of God by Cormac McCarthy - 8/10. Not my favorite Cormac. it was surprisingly very funny for a novel that contains one the more fucked up main characters I’ve ever read lol

39. A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell - 6/10. Non fiction about a landed gentry rich guy in Scotland who loses his money and in a robbery kills 2 people with a hammer… author recounts the murder and the guys background and gets interviews with him. Injects himself way too much in the book I thought, lots of his own pontifications.

 

1. The Trees - Perceval Everette (7/10)
2. Stranded - Sarah Goodman (7.5/10)
3. American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis - Adam Hochschild (10/10)
4. Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) - Leigh Bardugo (9/10)
5. Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) - Leigh Bardugo (7.5/10)
6. Age of Vice - Deepti Kapoor (8/10)
7. In the Distance - Hernan Diaz (7.5/10)
8. Myth America: Historians Take on The Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past - Kevin Kruse (6.5/10)
9. Guns of the Dawn - Adrian Tchaikovsky (9/10)
10. Everybody Knows - Jordan Harper (7.5/10)
11. The Light Pirate - Lilly Brooks-Dalton (8/10)
12. The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins (7/10)
13. The Measure - Nikki Erlick (9/10)
14. The Terraformers - Annalee Newitz (6.5/10)
15. The Last Orphan (Orphan X #8) (8/10)
16. The Wolf (Under The Northern Sky #1) - Leo Carew (7/10)
17. The Spider (Under The Northern Sky #2) - Leo Carew (8/10)
18. The Passenger - Cormac McCarthy - 4/10
19. Daisy Jones and The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid (7/10)
20. The Cuckoo (Under the Northern Sky #3) - Leo Carew (8.5/10)
21. Poverty, by America - Matthew Desmond (9.5/10)
22. Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias - Kevin Cook (7.5/10)
23. Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingslover (9/10)
24. Star Wars: The High Republic: Cataclysm - Lydia Kang (9/10)
25. Star Wars: The High Republic: Quest for Planet X - Tessa Gratton (6.5/10)
26. Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time - Ira Katznelson (8/10)
27. Antimatter Blues (Mickey 7 #2) - Edward Ashton (7.5/10)
28. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder - David Grann (8.5/10)
29. The Resort - Sarah Goodwin (5.5/10)
30. The Ferryman - Justin Cronin (8.5/10)
31. Untethered Sky - Fonda Lee (7/10)
32.City of Dreams (Danny Ryan #2) - Don Winslow (8/10)
33. Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army - Stephan Talty (8/10)
34. Yellowface - RF Kuang (8.5/10)
35. Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (8/10)
36. Rubicon - J.S. Dewes (6.5/10)
37. Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 - TJ Newman (8.5/10)
38. The Survivalists -Kaushana Cauley (6/10)
39. Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield (7/10)
40. Star Wars: The High Republic: Path of Vengeance -Cavan Scott (7/10)
41. Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) - James Islington (9/10)
42. All Sinners Bleed - S A Cosby (8.5/10)
43. Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities - Emily Tamkin (7.5/10)
44. King: A Life - Jonathan Eig
45. Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) - Pierce Brown (9/10)
46. Red Rising (Red Rising #1) - Pierce Brown (9/10)
47. Golden Son (Red Rising #2) - Pierce Brown (10/10)
48. Morning Star (Red Rising #3) - Pierce Brown (10/10)
48. Dark Age (Red Rising #5) - Pierce Brown (10/10)
49. Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power - Jefferson Cowie (7.5/10)
50. Star Wars: Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade - Deliliah S Dawson (8/10)
51. The Collector (Gabriel Allon #23) - Daniel Silva (7.5/10)
52. Light Bringer (Red Rising #6) - Pierce Brown (12/10)
53. Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak (6.5/10)
54. Last Summer on State Street - Toya Wolfe (8/10)
55. The Last Ranger - Peter Heller (7.5/10)
56. Portnoy's Complaint - Phillip Roth (8.5/10)
57. Children of Time (Children of Time #1) - Adrian Tchiakovsy (8.5/10)
58. Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2) - Adrian Tchiakovsy (7.5/10)
59. Children of Memory (Children of Time #3) - Adrian Tchiakovsy (6.5/10)
60. Ascension - Nicholas Binge (7/10)


Last Ranger - Novel about a park ranger at Yellowstone tracking down poachers that are killing wolves and bears ect. Peter Heller is one of my faves. Love the outdoorsy thrillers. Love how he writes about nature, the outdoors and the affection he clearly has for it. So different than most things I read. Didnt like this one as much as The River or The Guide, but still a very enjoyable read.

Portnoy's Complaint - Oh man... how to describe this one... About a jew man re-accounting his upbringing, the idiosyncrasy and absurdities of growing up in a jewish home in the 40s though 60s. Admittedly I dont read a lot of humorous novels, but I laughed so damn hard throughout this book. I think anyone who experienced puberty as a young man would. On top of that - I related to so much of growing up in a Jewish household. My parents were not like this at all, but my grandma is basically the mom in this book. Shout out again to Gallant Knight for mentioning it.

Children of Time Trilogy - As you can see, I liked the first book quite a bit, and the other two declined in enjoyment. Sci-fi trilogy about Humans trying to terraform and preserve human life after earth is ruined. Told over the course of thousands of years. Super philosophical and interesting. But after the first book, which is great as a stand alone - it's a lot of the same. New stuff happens, but also doesnt. Hard to describe.

Ascension - A mountain 10K feet bigger than Everest suddenly appears in the middle of the pacific. A team of scientists attempt to summit it and investigate. Liked it, didnt love it. Would have been a good book club book. Lots to discuss in terms of plot and themes ect. However, I do think it would also turn a lot of people off. Strictly a vibes book that may not hit w some.

 

32. Daytripper / Fabio Moon (9/10)
Guy at work let me borrow a couple of graphic novels. This one has won lots of awards. By a twin brother duo from Brazil. Awesome art and pretty fantastic story, though it will have you scratching your head with some of the magical realism going on.

31. The Song Of The Machine: From Disco To DJs To Techno, A Graphic Novel Of Electronic Music / David Blot (9/10)
Foreword by Daft Punk! This was a cool way to learn more about electronic music. I know know techno comes from Detroit and house is from Chicago. Still iffy on trance, jungle, drum and bass, vaporwave...

Spoiler

30. They Wore Garnet And Black: Inside Carolina's Quest For Gridiron Glory / Don Barton (5/10)
29. My Career, My Life / Bob Fulton (6/10)
28. The Genius Of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman (9/10)
27. Ninety Percent Of Everything: Inside Shipping, The Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes On Your Back, Gas In Your Car, And Food On Your Plate / Rose George (7/10)
26. The Storyteller: Tales Of Life And Music / Dave Grohl (9.5/10)
25. Saluda County In Story And Scene (2/10)
24. The Birth Of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, And The Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock N Roll / Ian S. Port (10/10)
23. A People's History Of The United States / Howard Zinn (10/10)
22. Center Field Grasses: Poems From Baseball / Gene Fehler (4/10)
21. A Cook's Tour: In Search Of The Perfect Meal / Anthony Bourdain (9/10)
20. Welcome To The Circus Of Baseball: A Story Of The Perfect Summer At The Perfect Ballpark At The Perfect Time / Ryan McGee (7/10)
19. Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey / Nicholas Shaffner (6/10)
18. Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles 1974-2001 / Don Felder and Wendy Holden (8/10)
17. How To Be Perfect: The Correct Answer To Every Moral Question / Michael Schur (6.5/10)
16. High Seas Confederate: The Life And Times Of John Newland Maffitt / Royce Shingleton (6/10)
15. Heart Of Darkness / Joseph Conrad (6/10)
14. Poverty, By America / Matthew Desmond (10/10)
13. The Beach: The History Of Paradise On Earth / Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker (8/10)
12. From Russia, With Love (James Bond #5) / Ian Fleming (5/10)
11. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The American Meal / Eric Schlosser (9.5/10)
10. The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains / Nicholas Carr (7.5/10)
9. Nickel And Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America / Barbara Ehrenreich (9/10)
8. Through The Looking Glass / Lewis Carroll (7/10)
7. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland / Lewis Carroll (6/10)
6. The Gene: An Intimate History / Siddhartha Mukherjee (8/10)
5. Journey Of The Universe / Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker (9/10)
4. The Tao Of Physics / Fritjof Capra (7.5/10)
3. The Corner: A Year In The Life Of An Inner-City Neighborhood / David Simon and Ed Burns (10/10)
2. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto / Chuck Klosterman (7/10)
1. Will In The World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare / Stephen Greenblatt (8.5/10)

 

1. Inhibitor Phase (Revelation Space #5) - Alastair Reynolds (7.5/10)
2. Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10)
3. The Alloy of Law (Mistborn Era 2, #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread)
4. Shadows of Self (Mistborn Era 2, #2) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread)
5. The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn Era 2, #3) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread)
6. The Lost Metal (Mistborn Era 2, #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10)
7. Starfish (Rifters, #1) - Peter Watts (6/10)
8. Maelstrom (Rifters, #2) - Peter Watts (6/10)
9. Behemoth (Rifters, #3) - Peter Watts (8/10)
10. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories - Norman Maclean (9/10)
11. All Fishermen are Liars - John Gierach (7/10)
12. The Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) - James Islington (8.5/10)
13. Trout Bum - John Gierach (8.5/10)
14. The Longest Silence - Thomas McGuane (8.5/10)
15. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
16. The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England - Brandon Sanderson (7/10)
17. The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century - Kirk Johnson (9.5/10)

The story of the theft of the largest collection of rare bird specimens. These birds were used in historical salmon flies for fly fishing and became endangered and protected species. Most were collected by a competitor to Darwin whom developed the theory of evolution at the same time. Goes through that history and why the birds became endangered as well as the theft and search for the birds.

 

1. Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett - 8.5/10
2. Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin - 9/10
3. Normal People by Sally Rooney - 8/10
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 8/10
5. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh - 2/10
6. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout - 8.5/10
7. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe - 9/10
8. The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth by Matthew Lewis - 8.5/10
9. How to Survive in Ancient Rome by LJ Trafford - 7/10
10. How to Survive in Ancient Greece by Robert Garland - 7/10
11. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson - 8/10
12. Apeirogon, A Novel by Colum McCann - 8/10
13. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann - 8.5/10
14. Family Life by Akhil Sharma - 7/10
15. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid - 8/10
16. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka - 9/10
17. The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family: The Despensers by Kathryn Warner - 7/10
18. Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy - 7.5/10
19. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 8/10
20. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 8/10
21. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - 8.5/10
22. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry - 8/10
23. Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann - 8.5/10
24. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - 8.5/10
25. The Promise by Damon Galgut - 8/10
26. A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam - 8.5/10
27. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - 8/10
28. Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo - 7.5/10
29. 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collpased by Eric H. Cline - 8/10
This was a prior year TMB recommendation that I ordered from the library and somehow took like over a year to finally be available for me. I’m not sure why it took that long since it really isn’t that big but better late than never.
Anyway, it’s an interesting book about how civilization collapsed in 1177 B.C., including analysis on the theories about probable causes for the collapse. I had very little knowledge going into the book, so I also appreciated that he spent a lot of time setting the stage on who the players were and the events in the years/centuries prior.

 

1. Leonardo Da Vinci- Walter Isaacson
2. Becoming Dr. Seuss- Brian Jay Jones
3. Manson- Jeff Guinn
4. Destiny of the Republic- Candice Millard
5. Mayflower- Nathaniel Philbrick
6. Travels With George- Nathaniel Philbrick
7. The Escape Artist- Jonathan Freeland
8. Survival In Auschwitz- Primo Levi
9. The Road to Jonestown- Jeff Guinn
10. Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution- Nathaniel Philbrick
11. Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution- Nathaniel Philbrick
12. In The Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown- Nathaniel Philbrick
13. The Library At Mount Char- Scott Hawkins
14. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring- Alexander Rose
15. The Guest List- Lucy Foley
16. All That Is Wicked-Kate Winkler Dawson
17. The Making Of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece- Tom Hanks
18. Walt Disney: The Triump Of American Imagination- Neal Gabler
19. Buying Disney's Land- Aaron Goldberg
20. Peter Pan- JM Barie
21. Countdown 1945- Chris Wallace
22. Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-year Fight to Exonerate An Innocent Man- Lynn Vincent
23. Death On The Nile- Agatha Christie

Making Of Another Motion Picture. Was just meh. Written by Tom Hanks, it's divided into several parts of telling how a movie is made. Starts with a war story influencing a child, to the child becoming an author and the comics being made. Was just boring and tough to get through

Walt Disney- large biography of him. Was really interesting to see how his mind work and how the studio came together

Buying Disney's Land- short book on how Disney bought the land in the Florida.

Peter Pan- was my favorite movie as a kid, but I never read the book. I enjoyed it

Countdown 1945- quick read about the 116 days from FDR death to dropping the bombs. I liked it, but if you wanted to read something more in depth on the topic, I'd skip. It's more of an overview of the different parties involved or affected

Indianapolis- loved this book. USS Indianapolis was the battleship that took the bomb to the islands in the Pacific from where they would be launched. A couple days after the delivery, she was sunk by a Japanese sub in the larges loss of naval life since Pearl Harbor. Men were left at sea for 5 days. The captain of the ship was court martial and for the next 50 years his men fight to have him exonerated

Death On The Nile- not much of a fiction person, so I found it ok. Picked it up for $5 at a local bookstore a few months back

 

The sea peoples!!

 

1. A Darker Domain (Karen Pirie #2) - Val McDermid (6/10)
2. An Immense World - Ed Yong (9/10)
3. How to Do the Work - Nicole LePera (8/10)
4. The Investigator (Letty Davenport #1) - John Sandford (7/10)
5. Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt (8/10)
6. A Heart That Works - Rob Delaney (9/10)
7. One Summer: America, 1927 - Bill Bryson (9/10)
8. The Hive - Gregg Olsen (4/10)
9. The Crossing (DI Louise Blackwell #1) - Matt Brolly (6/10)
10. Hide (Detective Harriet Foster #1) - Tracy Clark (7/10)
11. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland - Patrick Radden Keefe (9/10)
12. Exhalation: Stories - Ted Chiang (8/10)
13. Invisible Storm: A Soldier's Memoir of Politics and PTSD - Jason Kander (7/10)
14. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors - Dan Jones (8/10)
15. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself - Michael A. Singer (9/10)
16. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon - David Grann (7/10)
17. The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead (9/10)
18. Shadows Reel (Joe Pickett #22) - C.J. Box (7/10)
19. The Maidens - Alex Michaelides (7/10)
20. Essex Dogs - Dan Jones (8/10)
21. Storm Watch (Joe Pickett #23) - C.J. Box (6/10)
22. Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages - Dan Jones (9/10)
23. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World - Dalai Lama XIV and Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams (9/10)
24. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Kaunatilaka (9/10)
25. The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth's Past #1) - Liu Cixin (8/10)
26. Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism - Jeffrey Toobin (8/10)
27. Age of Vice - Deepti Kapoor (7/10)
28. Two Nights in Lisbon - Chris Pavone (6/10)
29. Sparring Partners - John Grisham (7/10)
30. Righteous Prey (Lucas Davenport #32) - John Sandford (7/10)

31. Lost Empire (A Fargo Adventure #2) - Clive Cussler
32. The Solomon Curse (A Fargo Adventure #7) - Clive Cussler
33. Central Park West - James Comey
34. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation - Kristin Kobes Du Mez
35. Pirate (A Fargo Adventure #8) - Clive Cussler
36. The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club #2) - Richard Osman
37. The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club #3) - Richard Osman
38. Casino Royale - Ian Fleming
39. Yellowface - R.F. Kuang
40. The Kingdom (A Fargo Adventure #3) - Clive Cussler
41. Foundation - Isaac Asimov

 

What did you think of Yellowface?

 

What'd you think of Foundation?

 

It was a page turner for me - I tore through it. It was a little uncomfortable to read - like watching a trainwreck unfold in slow motion. The overarching plot of plagiarism isn't anything new, but I thought it was a good vehicle to touch on the issues of cultural appropriation, white privilege, and social media toxicity. I did appreciate the irony of examining whether a white person has the right to tell Chinese stories by an Asian-American writing from a white perspective. It felt very meta, which I suppose it was meant to. I liked it a lot.

 

Felt the same way. Great social commentary book. Kuang is so good. She's an auto read for me

 

I started reading it after watching much of the show (finished S2 finale last night), so I feel like my opinion towards the book is slanted and probably unfair. It wasn't my favorite. I appreciate it for being groundbreaking and the foundation for much of the genre, but after reading I am definitely more of a show guy. I may continue the series though and that opinion could change.

 

36. The Dharma Bums / Jack Kerouac (10/10)
Reread. Getting myself hype for a backpacking trip next month.

35. A Sand County Almanac And Sketches Here And There / Aldo Leopold (9.5/10)
Must read for nature lovers and #Wisconsin Badgers fans.

34. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
Reread. A different translation than I had read before.

33. Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents / Isabel Wilkerson (10/10)
Did this as an audiobook. A must read for anyone who wants to really understand our American "system." Mostly focuses on the US with a lot of comparisons to India and Nazi Germany. I will look out for anything this author writes; "The Warmth Of Other Suns" is another of the best books I've read on race.

Spoiler

32. Daytripper / Fabio Moon (9/10)
31. The Song Of The Machine: From Disco To DJs To Techno, A Graphic Novel Of Electronic Music / David Blot (9/10)
30. They Wore Garnet And Black: Inside Carolina's Quest For Gridiron Glory / Don Barton (5/10)
29. My Career, My Life / Bob Fulton (6/10)
28. The Genius Of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman (9/10)
27. Ninety Percent Of Everything: Inside Shipping, The Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes On Your Back, Gas In Your Car, And Food On Your Plate / Rose George (7/10)
26. The Storyteller: Tales Of Life And Music / Dave Grohl (9.5/10)
25. Saluda County In Story And Scene (2/10)
24. The Birth Of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, And The Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock N Roll / Ian S. Port (10/10)
23. A People's History Of The United States / Howard Zinn (10/10)
22. Center Field Grasses: Poems From Baseball / Gene Fehler (4/10)
21. A Cook's Tour: In Search Of The Perfect Meal / Anthony Bourdain (9/10)
20. Welcome To The Circus Of Baseball: A Story Of The Perfect Summer At The Perfect Ballpark At The Perfect Time / Ryan McGee (7/10)
19. Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey / Nicholas Shaffner (6/10)
18. Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles 1974-2001 / Don Felder and Wendy Holden (8/10)
17. How To Be Perfect: The Correct Answer To Every Moral Question / Michael Schur (6.5/10)
16. High Seas Confederate: The Life And Times Of John Newland Maffitt / Royce Shingleton (6/10)
15. Heart Of Darkness / Joseph Conrad (6/10)
14. Poverty, By America / Matthew Desmond (10/10)
13. The Beach: The History Of Paradise On Earth / Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker (8/10)
12. From Russia, With Love (James Bond #5) / Ian Fleming (5/10)
11. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The American Meal / Eric Schlosser (9.5/10)
10. The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains / Nicholas Carr (7.5/10)
9. Nickel And Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America / Barbara Ehrenreich (9/10)
8. Through The Looking Glass / Lewis Carroll (7/10)
7. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland / Lewis Carroll (6/10)
6. The Gene: An Intimate History / Siddhartha Mukherjee (8/10)
5. Journey Of The Universe / Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker (9/10)
4. The Tao Of Physics / Fritjof Capra (7.5/10)
3. The Corner: A Year In The Life Of An Inner-City Neighborhood / David Simon and Ed Burns (10/10)
2. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto / Chuck Klosterman (7/10)
1. Will In The World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare / Stephen Greenblatt (8.5/10)

 

Caste is so good. Warmth of Other Suns should be required reading in HS

 

Snagged 35 ty

 

1. How To Do the Work by Nicole LaPera - 8/10
2. Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel - 8/10
3. In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 9/10
4. Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King - 6.5/10
5. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin - 9/10
6. Call For The Dead by John Le Carré - 8/10
7. A Murder of Quality by John Le Carré - 6/10
8. We Don’t Know Ourselves by Finan O’Toole - 7.5/10
9. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey - 8.5/10
10. The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland - 9/10
11. The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker - 7/10
12. The Measure by Nikki Erlick - 8/10
13. SPQR by Mary Beard - 6.5/10
14. Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber - 8/10
15. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 9.5/10
16. How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell - 6.5/10
17. The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy - 9/10
18. Outlive by Peter Attia - 8/10
19. We Were Once a Family - 7.5/10
20. The Wager by David Grann - 8.5/10
21. Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell - 8/10
22. City of Dreams by Don Winslow - 7/10
23. King: A Life by Jonathan Eig - 9/10
24. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
25. Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley - 5/10
26. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
27. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - 7/10
28. All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby - 8/10
29. Rebel Yell by SC Gwynne - 4/10
30. Drowning by TJ Newman -8/10
31. Dead Wake by Erik Larson - 7/10
32. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin - 9/10
33. The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell - 7.5/10
34. Red Rising by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10
35. The Militia House by John Milas - 8/10
36. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery - 6/10
37. Golden Son by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10
38. Child of God by Cormac McCarthy - 8/10
39. A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell - 6/10

40. Holly by Stephen King - 7/10. Thoughts in book club. It was fun, nice fall spooky vibes for the #season

41. How To Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney - 9/10. Loved this book. A neurodivergent kid in elementary school bonds with his woodworking teacher to build a machine to connect with his dead mother. Some fantastic characters and character development in here. Warm novel that I really enjoyed.

42. Morning Star by Pierce Brown - 9/10. Running through these

 

1. Golden Son (Red Rising 2) 7/10
2. Morning Star (Red Rising 3) 7/10
3. The Last Kingdom 6/10
4. Dark Matter 8/10
5. The Measure 5/10 (TMB book club)
6. The Passenger 2/10 (TMB book club)
7. Mr. New Orleans - 6/10
8. Demon Copperhead - 7/10 (TMB Book Club)
9. City of Thieves - 7/10
10. The Ferryman - 8/10 (TMB book club)
11. Small Mercies - 6/10
12. Iron Gold (Red Rising 4) 8/10

13. Dark Age (Red Rising 5) 7.5/10
14. Light Bringer (Red Rising 6) 10/10

Next up: I'll join the TMB Book club party almost a month late: Holly

 

I went 10/10, but 12 may be a more accurate rating.

 

Give us some thoughts in the Red Rising thread !

 

Sounds like this Pierce Brown guy has a shot at being a billionaire by the time he's done writing books. Sci-Fi/Fantasy dudes got a good thing going

 

1. Inhibitor Phase (Revelation Space #5) - Alastair Reynolds (7.5/10)
2. Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson (8.5/10)
3. The Alloy of Law (Mistborn Era 2, #1) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread)
4. Shadows of Self (Mistborn Era 2, #2) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10) (reread)
5. The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn Era 2, #3) - Brandon Sanderson (8/10) (reread)
6. The Lost Metal (Mistborn Era 2, #4) - Brandon Sanderson (9.5/10)
7. Starfish (Rifters, #1) - Peter Watts (6/10)
8. Maelstrom (Rifters, #2) - Peter Watts (6/10)
9. Behemoth (Rifters, #3) - Peter Watts (8/10)
10. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories - Norman Maclean (9/10)
11. All Fishermen are Liars - John Gierach (7/10)
12. The Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) - James Islington (8.5/10)
13. Trout Bum - John Gierach (8.5/10)
14. The Longest Silence - Thomas McGuane (8.5/10)
15. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson (9/10)
16. The Frugal Wizard's Handbook For Surviving Medieval England - Brandon Sanderson (7/10)
17. The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century - Kirk Johnson (9.5/10)
18. At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman - John Gierach (8.5/10)

 

1- The Master – Colm Tóibín (1/10)
2- Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky (5/10)*
3- Mao II – Don DeLillo (8/10)*
4- Last Night – James Salter (8.5/10)
5- A Piece of My Heart – Richard Ford (8.5/10)*
6- Cosmopolis – Don DeLillo (5.5/10)*
7- Dusk and Other Stories – James Salter (8.5/10)*
8- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers (10/10)*
9- No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
10- Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
11- Carpenter’s Gothic – William Gaddis (9.5/10)*
12- The Rabbit Hutch – Tess Gunty (8/10)
13- Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell (7.5/10)
14- Fishing the Sloe-Black River – Colum McCann (6.5/10)
15- How to Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia – Mohsin Hamid (6/10)
16- A Thousand Moons – Sebastian Barry (10/10)
17- How German Is It – Walter Abish (8/10)
18- In Paradise – Peter Matthiessen (5.5/10)
19- Foster – Claire Keegan (8.5/10)
20- Life & Times of Michael K – J.M. Coetzee (7/10)
21- Old God’s Time – Sebastian Barry (8/10)
22- TransAtlantic – Colum McCann (6/10)
23- Union Atlantic – Adam Haslett (5/10)
24- Timbuktu – Paul Auster (0/10)
25- Child of God – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
26- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – Shehan Karunatilaka (9/10)
27- The Road – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
28- Goodbye, Columbus – Philip Roth (7/10)
29- Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth (3/10)
30- Trust – Hernan Diaz (8.5/10)
31- Far Tortuga – Peter Matthiessen (8/10)
32- Freedom – Jonathan Franzen (4/10)
33- Moth Smoke – Mohsin Hamid (6.5/10)
34- All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr (9/10)
35- On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan (5/10)
36- That Old Ace In The Hole – Annie Proulx (0.5/10)
37- Outer Dark – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
38- England Made Me – Graham Greene (6/10)
39- Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan (8.5/10)
40- The Last White Man – Mohsin Hamid (6.5/10)
41- Florida – Lauren Groff (8/10)
42- Matterhorn – Karl Marlantes (9.5/10)
43- Remembering Laughter – Wallace Stegner (7/10)
44- As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner (7.5/10)
45- Rabbit, Run – John Updike (8/10)*
46- In the Distance – Hernan Diaz (9/10)
47- The Stonemason – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)
48- Butcher’s Crossing – John Williams (9/10)
49- The Wapshot Chronicle – John Cheever (4/10)
50- All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy (10/10)*
51- Train Dreams – Denis Johnson (8.5/10)
52- A High Wind In Jamaica – Richard Hughes (6/10)
53- Warlock – Oakley Hall (4.5/10)
54- Grendel – John Gardner (5/10)
55- Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel (7/10)
56- Hard Rain Falling – Don Carpenter (8.5/10)
57- The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett (6/10)
58- The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien (5/10)*
59- A Frolic of His Own – William Gaddis (9/10)
60- Stoner – John Williams (8/10)
61- Antarctica – Claire Keegan (9/10)
62- The Siege of Krishnapur – J.G. Farrell (6.5/10)

63- Heart Songs and Other Stories – Annie Proulx (3/10)
This was Proulx’s first fiction book. Published in 1988, the stories are mostly set in rural New England and revolve around blue-collar people who feel threatened by second-home types from Boston and NYC. There wasn’t a standout story and all the old-time tropes prevented me from taking it as seriously as intended

64- Women with Men – Richard Ford (7/10)
Published in 1997, it’s a collection of three stories set in Montana, Paris, and the Chicago suburbs. Two revolve around men who’ve seen their marriages fall apart and the other a teenager staring down adulthood in the wake of his parents’ estrangement. It’s an introspective and emotionally nuanced book that makes it easy to appreciate Ford’s writing

65- Falling Man – Don DeLillo (8.5/10)*
Published in 2007, it’s a 9/11 novel that starts at Ground Zero just after the planes hit the towers. DeLillo then introduces characters who show what it was like to live through that day in NYC and how their lives were altered in the immediate aftermath

66- Walk the Blue Fields – Claire Keegan (8/10)
Published in 2007, it’s a collection of short stories that shine a light on life in rural Ireland. They revolve around an array of wild women and there’s gothic undertones throughout. Yet another wonderful book by Keegan, who writes as clearly as any living author

67- The Stars at Noon – Denis Johnson (7.5/10)
Published in 1986, it revolves around an unreliable unnamed American woman working as a journalist and prostitute in Nicaragua in 1984. She gets involved with a British oil executive and they desperately try to flee to Costa Rica in hopes of escaping the Contras/Sandinistas. It’s got the alcoholism, fever dreams, and sex of a Hunter S Thompson book with the espionage and political commentary of a Graham Greene story

68- The Promise – Damon Galgut (8/10)
Winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, it tells the story of a white South African family clinging to their farm amid widespread social and political upheaval. It’s broken into four long chapters with each focusing on the death of one of the family members as a broken promise proves to be a curse of sorts. It reflects the nation’s atmosphere from the end of apartheid up to the disappointment of Jacob Zuma’s presidency

* = re-read

 

Checked out Chuck klosterman’s The Nineties for reading during my travels but I forgot it in the car. Luckily the bookstore at the airport had heat 2

 

1. Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett - 8.5/10
2. Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin - 9/10
3. Normal People by Sally Rooney - 8/10
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 8/10
5. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh - 2/10
6. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout - 8.5/10
7. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe - 9/10
8. The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth by Matthew Lewis - 8.5/10
9. How to Survive in Ancient Rome by LJ Trafford - 7/10
10. How to Survive in Ancient Greece by Robert Garland - 7/10
11. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson - 8/10
12. Apeirogon, A Novel by Colum McCann - 8/10
13. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann - 8.5/10
14. Family Life by Akhil Sharma - 7/10
15. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid - 8/10
16. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka - 9/10
17. The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family: The Despensers by Kathryn Warner - 7/10
18. Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy - 7.5/10
19. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 8/10
20. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 8/10
21. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - 8.5/10
22. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry - 8/10
23. Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann - 8.5/10
24. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - 8.5/10
25. The Promise by Damon Galgut - 8/10
26. A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam - 8.5/10
27. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - 8/10
28. Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo - 7.5/10
29. 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collpased by Eric H. Cline - 8/10
30. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell - 8/10
A historical fiction novel about Lucrezia de’Medici. It opens with a historical note that she was married as a teenager and dies a year later, and the novel tells a story about how that may have happened, along with early childhood flashbacks. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Hamnet (by the same author) but it was still an interesting enough read.
31. Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout - 8/10
I had read the previous book in the series and this carries on the story into the pandemic. Like the previous book it is very well written, but the pandemic setting kind of dampens the mood while reading.

 

1. The Trees - Perceval Everette (7/10)
2. Stranded - Sarah Goodman (7.5/10)
3. American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis - Adam Hochschild (10/10)
4. Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) - Leigh Bardugo (9/10)
5. Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) - Leigh Bardugo (7.5/10)
6. Age of Vice - Deepti Kapoor (8/10)
7. In the Distance - Hernan Diaz (7.5/10)
8. Myth America: Historians Take on The Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past - Kevin Kruse (6.5/10)
9. Guns of the Dawn - Adrian Tchaikovsky (9/10)
10. Everybody Knows - Jordan Harper (7.5/10)
11. The Light Pirate - Lilly Brooks-Dalton (8/10)
12. The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins (7/10)
13. The Measure - Nikki Erlick (9/10)
14. The Terraformers - Annalee Newitz (6.5/10)
15. The Last Orphan (Orphan X #8) (8/10)
16. The Wolf (Under The Northern Sky #1) - Leo Carew (7/10)
17. The Spider (Under The Northern Sky #2) - Leo Carew (8/10)
18. The Passenger - Cormac McCarthy - 4/10
19. Daisy Jones and The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid (7/10)
20. The Cuckoo (Under the Northern Sky #3) - Leo Carew (8.5/10)
21. Poverty, by America - Matthew Desmond (9.5/10)
22. Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias - Kevin Cook (7.5/10)
23. Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingslover (9/10)
24. Star Wars: The High Republic: Cataclysm - Lydia Kang (9/10)
25. Star Wars: The High Republic: Quest for Planet X - Tessa Gratton (6.5/10)
26. Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time - Ira Katznelson (8/10)
27. Antimatter Blues (Mickey 7 #2) - Edward Ashton (7.5/10)
28. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder - David Grann (8.5/10)
29. The Resort - Sarah Goodwin (5.5/10)
30. The Ferryman - Justin Cronin (8.5/10)
31. Untethered Sky - Fonda Lee (7/10)
32.City of Dreams (Danny Ryan #2) - Don Winslow (8/10)
33. Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army - Stephan Talty (8/10)
34. Yellowface - RF Kuang (8.5/10)
35. Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (8/10)
36. Rubicon - J.S. Dewes (6.5/10)
37. Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 - TJ Newman (8.5/10)
38. The Survivalists -Kaushana Cauley (6/10)
39. Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield (7/10)
40. Star Wars: The High Republic: Path of Vengeance -Cavan Scott (7/10)
41. Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) - James Islington (9/10)
42. All Sinners Bleed - S A Cosby (8.5/10)
43. Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities - Emily Tamkin (7.5/10)
44. King: A Life - Jonathan Eig
45. Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) - Pierce Brown (9/10)
46. Red Rising (Red Rising #1) - Pierce Brown (9/10)
47. Golden Son (Red Rising #2) - Pierce Brown (10/10)
48. Morning Star (Red Rising #3) - Pierce Brown (10/10)
48. Dark Age (Red Rising #5) - Pierce Brown (10/10)
49. Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power - Jefferson Cowie (7.5/10)
50. Star Wars: Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade - Deliliah S Dawson (8/10)
51. The Collector (Gabriel Allon #23) - Daniel Silva (7.5/10)
52. Light Bringer (Red Rising #6) - Pierce Brown (12/10)
53. Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak (6.5/10)
54. Last Summer on State Street - Toya Wolfe (8/10)
55. The Last Ranger - Peter Heller (7.5/10)
56. Portnoy's Complaint - Phillip Roth (8.5/10)
57. Children of Time (Children of Time #1) - Adrian Tchiakovsy (8.5/10)
58. Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2) - Adrian Tchiakovsy (7.5/10)
59. Children of Memory (Children of Time #3) - Adrian Tchiakovsy (6.5/10)
60. Ascension - Nicholas Binge (7/10)
61. The Republic of Pirates - Colin Woodward (8.5/10)
62. Holly - Stephen King (6.5/10)
63. Gods of the Wyrdwood (The Forsaken Trilogy) - RJ Barker (9.5/10)

Republic of Pirates - Non fiction history about the rise and fall of the golden age of pirates in the Carribean. Was very good. Learned lots. Right up my alley.

Holly - Book club pick - thoughts in the book club thread

Gods of the Wyrdwood - Loved this book. I honestly dont know how to describe it. Its unlike anything Ive read. High Fantasy about many warring factions. It was a pretty challenging read for me. It's not a genre or style I normally read. I think some of my enjoyment comes from doing something different. But the plot and character building, world building was so damn good. The first 25% of the book is really good, but also tough to get through because there are a lot of names and places thrown at you, with weird fantasy names. The author just dumps you into the story without any exposition or hand holding. Just trusts the reader to figure it out. But after you get the lay of the land, so to speak - it's a pretty quick read. Cant wait for the next one

 

I'll add it to the list, but definitely need some easier reads for a bit lol

 

Anybody gonna hit 100 this year? I'm on pace for 50 which I'm pumped about.

 

1. How To Do the Work by Nicole LaPera - 8/10
2. Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel - 8/10
3. In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 9/10
4. Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King - 6.5/10
5. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin - 9/10
6. Call For The Dead by John Le Carré - 8/10
7. A Murder of Quality by John Le Carré - 6/10
8. We Don’t Know Ourselves by Finan O’Toole - 7.5/10
9. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey - 8.5/10
10. The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland - 9/10
11. The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker - 7/10
12. The Measure by Nikki Erlick - 8/10
13. SPQR by Mary Beard - 6.5/10
14. Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber - 8/10
15. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - 9.5/10
16. How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell - 6.5/10
17. The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy - 9/10
18. Outlive by Peter Attia - 8/10
19. We Were Once a Family - 7.5/10
20. The Wager by David Grann - 8.5/10
21. Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell - 8/10
22. City of Dreams by Don Winslow - 7/10
23. King: A Life by Jonathan Eig - 9/10
24. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
25. Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley - 5/10
26. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - 9.5/10
27. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - 7/10
28. All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby - 8/10
29. Rebel Yell by SC Gwynne - 4/10
30. Drowning by TJ Newman -8/10
31. Dead Wake by Erik Larson - 7/10
32. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin - 9/10
33. The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell - 7.5/10
34. Red Rising by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10
35. The Militia House by John Milas - 8/10
36. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery - 6/10
37. Golden Son by Pierce Brown - 9.5/10
38. Child of God by Cormac McCarthy - 8/10
39. A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell - 6/10
40. Holly by Stephen King - 7/10
41. How To Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney - 9/10
42. Morning Star by Pierce Brown - 9/10

43. American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 - 9/10. Basically a biography of the gun. Depressing as you’d expect. Introduces the development of the gun by a tinkerer who was trying to help soldiers in Vietnam. Fast forward to an almost dizzying page by page examination of shootings using the gun and a complete absence of any action. But well written and I learned a lot

44. When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut. - 8.5/10 A “historical fiction” book covering 5 world famous scientists and mathematicians. As the chapters progress, the author takes more liberties with their inner and outer monologues. Fascinating.

 

Added both of these to my "want to read"

 

I'd have to really ramp it up, probably gonna be around 85-90

Gallant Knight might already be there

 

I’m at 135 lol. Need to post an update in here soon

 

Beast

 

John Adams by David McCullough 9.5/10
A Tale or Two Cities by Charles Dickens 7/10
The Marquis; Lafayette Reconsidered by Laura Auricchio 8/10
The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington 10/10
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 10/10
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 9/10
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews 9.5/10
Palace of Treason by Jason Matthews 9.5/10
The Kremlin's Candidate by Jason Matthews 9/10
Call for the Dead by John le Carre 6.5/10
Empire of Lies by Raymond Khoury 8.5/10
Taking Paris by Martin Dugard 7/10
Less by Andrew Sean Greer 3/10
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe 9/10
Don't Eat the Bruises by Keith Mitnik
The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury 8/10
At Risk by Stella Rimington 8/10
The Sign by Raymond Khoury 7.5/10
Secret Asset by Stella Rimington 7/10
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis 9/10
City of Thieves by David Benioff 8/10
The Measure by Nikki Erlick 6.5/10
Illegal Action by Stella Rimington 7.5/10
Present Danger by Stella Rimington 7.5/10
Rip Tide by Stella Rimington 8/10
The Templar Salvation by Raymond Khoury 8/10
The Picture of Dorian Gray 6.5/10
The Geneva Trap by Stella Rimington 8/10
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth 9.5/10
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 10/10
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 7/10
The Devil's Elixer by Raymond Khoury 6.5/10
The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic 9/10
Close Call by Stella Rimington 7/10
Breaking Cover by Stella Rimington 8/10
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles 10/10
Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger 5/10
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain 7.5/10
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 8.5/10
The Moscow Sleepers by Stella Rimington 7/10
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 8.5/10
Dead Line by Stella Rimington 7/10
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson 8.5/10
George III by Christopher Hibbert 8/10
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev 9.5/10
The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth 8.5/10
Zuckerman Unbound by Philip Roth 8/10
The Expats by Chris Pavone 7/10
The Late George Apley by John Marquand 9.5/10
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara 7.5/10
The Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth 6/10
The Paris Diversion by Chris Pavone 7/10
The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth 8.5/10
Your Turn, Mr. Moto by John Marquand 8/10
First Love by Ivan Turgenev 8/10
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson 9/10
H.M. Pulham, Esquire by John Marquand 9.5/10
Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson 6.5/10
Gorsky Park by Martin Cruz Smith 7.5/10
Thank you, Mr. Moto by John Marquand 7.5/10
The Financier by Theodore Dreiser 8.5/10
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami 8.5/10
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh 8.5/10
A Hero of our Time by Mikhail Lermontov 6/10
Rudin by Ivan Turgenev 5.5/10
Wickford Point by John Marquand 9/10
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 7/10
Think Fast, Mr. Moto by John Marquand 7.5/10
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion 9.5/10
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 8.5/10
Trilby by George Du Maurier 2/10
Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe 7.5/10
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene 8.5/10
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis 7.5/10
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 9.5/10
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh 6.5/10
After Dark by Haruki Murakami 6.5/10
Point of No Return by John Marquand 10/10
The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai 6.5/10
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster 4.5/10
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh 7.5/10
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote 10/10
The Titan by Theodore Dreiser 9/10
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham 9/10
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 8/10
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham 8/10
The Magnificent Ambersons 8/10
The Counterlife by Philip Roth 7/10
The Able McLaughlins 4.5/10
Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh 7.5/10
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder 6.5/10
The Devil's Bargain by Stella Rimington 7.5/10
Up at the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham 8.5/10
Paradise by Donald Barthelme 6.5/10
The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West 8.5
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 7.5/10
Officers and Gentlemen by Evelyn Waugh 5.5/10
Mr. Barnes of New York by Archibald Clavering Gunter 7.5/10
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore 6/10
Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles 5/10
The Moon and Sixpence by W. Someret Maugham 7/10
Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder 8/10
Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson 3/10
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh 8/10
Parade's End by Ford Maddox Ford 10/10
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene 8.5/10
The End of the Battle by Evelyn Waugh 7.5/10
The Man of Feeling by Henry Mackenzie 1/10
Grantchester Grind by Tom Sharpe 7.5/10
The Quiet American by Graham Greene 8/10
Of Human Bondage by W. Someset Maughan 10/10
A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell 7.5/10
A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell 6.5/10
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 6/10
On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev 7.5/10
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene 8/10

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller 8.5/10
Mr. Moto is so Sorry by John Marquand 5/5/10
The Acceptance World by Anthony Powell 8.5/10
The Stoic by Theodore Dreiser 8/10
At Lady Molly's by Anthony Powell 8.5/10
Goodby to All That by Robert Graves 8.5/10
A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene 6/10
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler 6.5/10
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami 9.5/10
Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell 5.5/10
Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene 8.5/10
The Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell 7.5/10
Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth 4.5/10
The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell 7.5/10
Melville Goodwin, USA by John Marquand 8.5/10
The Soldier's Art by Anthony Powell 7.5/10
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene 5.5/10
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 10/10
Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham 8.5/10

Haven't really updated here in awhile. Only got through 5 books in September because I am an idiot and went to watch Arkansas lose four games in person.

As I mentioned in another thread, War and Peace is probably one of the best things I've ever read. Centers on Russian aristocracy during the Napoleonic wars in the early 1800s. Just a fascinating look at that time. I thought it would be a tough read because of it's reputation, but it's not. It's just long. I read online that it takes an average person like 35-40 hours to finish it, and that's probably about right. It took me a little less than two weeks.

I'm not sure how I never read Catch 22 growing up. It's really funny.

The Anthony Powell books, as I think i've mentioned here before, are part of a 12 part series. I doubt many of yall would enjoy it.

I don't think I've seen many mentions of Haruki Murakami on here. He's probably the most popular living novelist in Japan. I think I come away smarter and with deeper meaning of life after I read every one of his books. Yall should check him out.

Somerset Maugham is also great. He's such a good story teller. There isn't much like... deeper meaning in his works. They're all just really interesting page turners. Cakes and Ale is sort of a companion to Of Human Bondage, which is widely regarded as his masterpiece.

Currently reading Box 88, which Truman recommended. It's fun.