Books Read 2021

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freelunch
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Books Read 2021

Post by freelunch »

Another year, another thread. Keeping my goal at 80 this year.

I'll be following this thread but my reviews are still kind of crap so they'r not worth reproducing (they're available on LibraryThing, Goodreads and Amazon.com.au if anyone is interested)

Last year I finished 99 books, up from 94 in 2019

Books Finished in 2021

01. Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
02. Udder Exploitation by Elizabeth Bedlam
03. Eli's Hellcat by Merel Pierce
04. Training Op by Radclyffe
05. The Witch's New Dolly by Regina Watts
06. LesFic Eclectic edited by Robyn Nyx
07. Best Hotwife Erotica: Summer Confessions by Arnica Butler, Ben Boswell, Kenny Wright, Kirsten McCurran, Max Sebastian
--
08. Raw by Seven Rue
09. Drums Of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
10. Finding Jessica Lambert by Clare Ashton
11. One of Those Days by Yehuda Devir & Maya Devir
12. Educating Peter by Arabella Maghri
13. Capturing Beauty by Lilith Adams
14. Two People Who Fall in Love and Bang at the End by Golden Angel
15. Learning To Swimby K J
16. Phoenix by Dierdre Winter
17. Henry the HuCow by R. Phoenix
18. The Playground by Phoebe Alexander
--
19. The Lonely Hearts Club by Radclyffe
20. Cum Inside by Selena Moore
21. The Book of Red by Cari Silverwood
22. The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn Sinclair
23. Kitten by Char Dafoe
24. A Jade's Diamond by Char Dafoe
25. Whiskey Sunrise by Missouri Vaun
--
26. Dawn's Dark Desires by Paul Garland
27. The Secrets We Keep by Donna Jay
28. Her Cookies by Isla Chiu
29. Alone by E. J. Noyes
30. Deadly Love by Tara Devaney-Thompson
31. Knockout by Matthew Lee
32. My Boyfriend's Daddy by Nova Flynn
33. The Victorian by Lydia L Vaughn
34. The Donor by C.A. Zon
35. The Coach's Wife by Kirsten McCurran
36. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
37. Misery Breeds Company by Montgomery Quinn
38. A Mistress For My Wife by Max Sebastian
39. The Assignment by Paris Rivera
--
40. The Maid's Chores by Simone Blue
41. Anyone But Her by Erica Lee
42. Silver & Slay by Billie Stang
43. Taking What's Ours by Alexa Riley
44. Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig
45. Furry Beaver by Rayne Havok
46. The Delivery Guy Delivers by Simone Blue
47. Watching Cars Go By by D.J. Fronimos & Elke Lakey
48. 8nin no Senshi by Ike Reibun
49. Spa Devotional by Archer Tinto
50. Killer Clowns by Jennifer Johnson
--
51. Emily’s Choice by Leandra Summers
52. Bloom Into You Vol. 1 by Nakatani Nio
53. Bloom Into You Vol. 2 by Nakatani Nio
54. Rule of Three by Scarlett Parrish
55. Beastars Vol. 1 by Paru Itagaki
56. Beastars Vol. 2 by Paru Itagaki
57. Die, You Fucking Cunt! by Sean Hawker
58. Bloom Into You Vol. 3 by Nakatani Nio
59. Those Who Wait by Haley Cass
60. Beastars Vol. 3 by Paru Itagaki
61. The Complete Adventures of Amy by Poppy Goodhead
62. Bachelor Party Surprise by Sterling Wilder
63. Fate is a Fickle Fucker by Rayne Havok
64. Heroes Don't Do That by Veritie Strange
65. Bloom Into You Vol. 4 by Nakatani Nio
66. A Party of Clowns by Veritie Strange
--
67. They’re Going All the Way, While Her Parents Watch by Gloria Delacroix
68. This is Pure Fucking Filth! by Sean Hawker
69. Nailed by Angel by Archer Tinto
70. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
71. Her Workplace Humiliation by Ella Ford
72. The Algonquin by Dierdre Winter
73. Lily Learns to Perform by Matthew Lee
74. The Shame Game by Hannah Murray
75. Lockdown and Dirty by Guy White
76. Home Invasion by Suze E Prescot
77. Her Donut Shifters by Mia Harlan
78. Mukbang Princess by Rayne Havok
79. Her Eldritch Secret by Veritie Strange
80. Until I Am Myself Again by Dierdre Winter
81. What They Say About Big Feet by Veritie Strange
82. Punk Princesses by Veronica Lyons
83. She Plays by Matthew Lee
--
84. White Wedding by Chloe Tzang
85. Certain Requirements! by Elinor Zimmerman
86. The People we Trust by Donna Jay
87. Country At Heart by Char Dafoe
Last edited by freelunch on Thu Sep 02, 2021 8:43 pm, edited 11 times in total.
Books I finished in: 2022 | 2021 | 2020

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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

Looking at the past 3 years, last year was lowest in titles read (only 79) but page count close to 2 years ago when I read 104.

Books Read
Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Taste of Marrow by Sarah Gailey (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Titanic Secret by Clive Cussler (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Kiss the Girls by James Patterson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Holdout by Graham Moore (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Dead Man Dancing by John Galligan (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Dark Continent by Scott Reardon (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
City of Ink by Elsa Hart (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Hell and Other Destinations by Madeline Albright (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Camino Winds by John Grisham (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Truman by David McCullough (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Open Season by C.J. Box (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Last Odyssey by James Rollins (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Triptych by Karin Slaughter (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Hot Ice by Nora Roberts (A) :binky: :binky:
Darwin's Cipher by M.A. Rothman (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
From Scratch by Michael Ruhlman (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes (A) :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Sentinel by Lee Child (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Stop at Nothing by Michael Ledwidge (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Pioneers by David McCullough (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison (A) :binky: :binky:
The Original by Brandon Sanderson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Ancient Dreams by JP Roth (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
What Hath God Wrought - The Transformation of America 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Memory Man by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Last Mile by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Duped by Stephen Maitland-Lewis (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Fix by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America's 16th President--and Why It Failed by Brad Meltzer (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Dark Half by Stephen King (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Cleaning the Gold by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Inn by James Patterson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

The Fallen by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The River Murders by James Patterson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Innocent by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Redemption by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Hit by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Target by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Bullseye by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Guilty by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
End Game by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
If it Bleeds by Stephen King (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

The Simple Truth by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Whole Truth by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Split Second by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Walk the Wire by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
One Good Deed by David Baldacci (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Dune by Frank Herbert (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Devil's Highway - A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Murder Thy Neighbor by James Patterson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Invention of Nature - Alexander von Humbolt's New World by Andrea Wulf (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Everything is Fucked - A Book About Hope by Mark Manson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Harpy by Megan Hunter (A) :binky:
Of Windmills and War by Diane Moody (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Bloodless by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Normandy to Nazi Surrender - A First Hand Account of a P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot by Col. Van H. Slayden, USAF (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939 by Robert Forczyk (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
In The Hurricane's Eye by Nathanial Philbrick (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Fighting the Great War at Sea by Norman Friedman (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Billy Summers by Stephen King (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Reading




---------------------
2021 totals: Books Read: 79 Pages Read: 32, 076 Pages per Day: 89
2020 totals: Books Read: 79 Pages Read: 32,535 2019 Totals [/url]- Books read: 85 Pages Read: 31,678 Pages per day: 87
2018 totals - Books read: 104 Pages Read: 32,646 Pages per day: 89
Last edited by Jeff V on Mon Jan 03, 2022 8:04 pm, edited 36 times in total.
Black Lives Matter
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Holman
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Holman »

(Not listing reading for teaching this time.)

Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars. First in KSR's thoughtful and complex hard-SF colonization trilogy.
James S.A. Corey, Abaddon's Gate. Third book of The Expanse.
Patrik Svensson, The Book of Eels. Compelling blend of memoir and nature writing.
Paul Park, Soldiers of Paradise. Heady out-of-print SF/F concerned with religion, culture, and language. Delany-esque.
Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom. Lovecraftian racism and danger in 1920s Harlem.

Paul Park, Sugar Rain. Sequel to Soldiers of Paradise.
Elwin Cotman, Dance on Saturday. Collection of modern urban SF/F short stories.
Sarah Vowell, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. Vowell's funny-serious take on the American Revolution.
Rick Perlstein, Reaganland. Sequel to Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge, this is Perlstein's history of the Carter years.
Paul Park, The Cult of Loving Kindness. Completion of the trilogy begun w/ Soldiers of Paradise.

George Saunders, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. Based on Saunders' graduate course on Russian short stories.
James S.A. Corey, Cibola Burn. Fourth book of The Expanse.
Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné. Swords & Sorcery & Drugs. Moorcock!
Top Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Absurdist brilliance on the margins of Hamlet.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. "A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all--That is myself."

Louis Menand, The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. Intellectual/cultural history of the 1950s/60s.
H.P. Lovecraft, The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft. Great edition for rereading some favorites.
Harold Coyle, Team Yankee. Iconic 80s Cold War scenario, but not a good novel.
Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One). Frustratingly good low-fantasy debut.
James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son. Searing essays on race and belonging in America.

Rachel Kushner, The Hard Crowd. Vivid short essays from a compelling contemporary novelist.
Gene Wolfe, The Fifth Head of Cerberus. Three enigmatic Wolfean novellas set on a colony planet.
Philip Larkin, Collected Poems. Brilliant verse from a problematic and reactionary mid-20th century soul.
Last edited by Holman on Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:12 pm, edited 22 times in total.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Smoove_B »

Currently reading

Frostflower and Thorn by Phyllis Ann Karr

Finished

Strange Weather by Joe Hill - I really liked this. 4 short stories
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks - this was much better than the reviews had me believe
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle - I really liked this
Summer Knight (The Dresden Files Book 4) by Jim Butcher - I continue to enjoy this series
On Immunity: An Innoculation by Eula Biss - this was a real trip to read in 2021 (written in 2014)
Lock In: A Novel of the Near Future by John Scalzi - no idea how this isn't a TV show
The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles Finney - what a odd, unique tale. Not even sure how to describe it...
Marvel Zombies (collected) by Robert Kirkman - not sure if this will be in new Disney+ series, but it was an interesting take
Pointe du Hoc 1944 (Battleground Normandy) by Tim Saunders - excellent lite background on the U.S. Ranger's role in D-Day
Blood, Sweat and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier - pretty lite; nothing earth shattering
The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon by Alex Kershaw - great book; unbelievable valor
Death Masks (The Dresden Files Book 5) by Jim Butcher - still enjoying; wish it was a full TV series...
Books of Blood Vol.1 by Clive Barker - first time I've ever read anything by Clive Barker; it was good

Abandoned

Mystery Walk by Robert McCammon - made it about 20% into the book and it just wasn't grabbing me. Felt like I was reading a few different books instead of one story

American Nations American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard - I'm about 30% through and it's depressing the shit out of me

Full Throttle: Stories by Joe Hill - wanted to like this but it's just not grabbing me

12 books read in 2020
Last edited by Smoove_B on Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:23 pm, edited 20 times in total.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Isgrimnur »

Yo.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by hitbyambulance »

read about 50 books last year, should have kept the list!

carrying over:

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Food of the Gods - H.G. Wells
Islam at the Crossroads - Muhammad Asad (do not know just how committed i am to this one)

finished:

Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
Last edited by hitbyambulance on Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Archinerd
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Archinerd »

Reading;
Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus
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Brian
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Brian »

Finally started reading The Expanse.

I got the first three books for Christmas.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
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Jaymann
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jaymann »

Brian wrote: Fri Jan 01, 2021 9:54 pm Finally started reading The Expanse.

I got the first three books for Christmas.
You have a treat in store. Have you been watching the series? It goes way beyond those.
Jaymann
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Brian »

Yeah, I'm currently all caught up on the series and am really looking forward to the books.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by hitbyambulance »

having finished Dune Messiah, i'm aware this series runs out of spice at some point down the line, but where exactly? do i just finish the destiny of the first trilogy, burrow through books 4 through 6, hit the (shield) wall whenever Brian Herbert takes over, or should have i paid attention to the visions and never have progressed past the first one to begin with?

also, what about his other novels/series? https://io9.gizmodo.com/5-essential-fra ... ne-5980198 i think i might have Destination:Void somewhere - the cover looks really familiar.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Hipolito »

Below are my reads, with links to the reviews I post later in the thread. Alternatively, you can enjoy a clickable gallery of my reads.

Finished
  1. The Land of the Purple Ring by Deborah J. Natelson (4/8)
  2. Earthseed, Book 2: Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (4/8)
  3. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe (6/8)
  4. Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (4/8)
  5. Our First Revolution by Michael Barone (6/8)
  6. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (4/8)
  7. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (7/8)
  8. The Wheel of Time, Book 6: Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan (4/8)
  9. Steel Fear by Brandon Webb and John David Mann (5/8)
  10. Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller (8/8)
  11. Sirgrus Blackmane Demihuman Gumshoe and The Dark-Elf by William Schlichter (4/8)
  12. Uzumaki by Junji Ito (6/8)
  13. What's Your Pronoun? Beyond He and She by Dennis Baron (5/8)
  14. Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar (5/8)
  15. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (6/8)
  16. Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn (6/8)
  17. Anime Impact by Chris Stuckmann (6/8)
  18. Solanin by Inio Asano (6/8)
  19. The Burning, Book 2: The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter (4/8)
  20. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (5/8)
  21. Worldshifter by Paul Di Filippo (5/8)
  22. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (6/8)
  23. Reader's Block by David Markson (1/8)
  24. The Weight of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage in the Sahara by Edith Blais (6/8)
  25. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (4/8)
  26. The Wheel of Time, Book 7: A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (4/8)
  27. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (5/8)
  28. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (4/8)
  29. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (5/8)
  30. Mass Effect: Ascension by Drew Karpyshyn (4/8)
  31. Mass Effect: Redemption by Mac Walters and John Jackson Miller (2/8)
  32. The Wheel of Time, Book 8: The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (5/8)
  33. Gyo by Junji Ito (5/8)
Reading
  1. From Knowledge to Power: The Comprehensive Handbook for Climate Science & Advocacy by John Perona (31% of 250 pg)
  2. An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (33% of 217 pg)
  3. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (48% of 597 pg)
  4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (62% of 215 pg)
  5. The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America by Thom Hartmann (72% of 158 pg)
  6. The Wheel of Time, Book 9: Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan (7% of 656 pg)
To Be Read
  1. Fauci: Expect the Unexpected: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and the Way Forward
  2. High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley
Books read in: 2019 (5) | 2020 (19)
Last edited by Hipolito on Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:30 am, edited 31 times in total.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Hipolito »

Image

The Land of the Purple Ring by Deborah J. Natelson (ebook, LibraryThing Early Review): A clockwork man explorers many whimsical dimensions in this story that's a bit Pinocchio, a bit Alice in Wonderland. This book is at its best when the clockwork man is interacting with the quirky denizens who put various challenges before him. But the clockwork man mostly wanders alone, in passages that are witty and imaginative but also ponderous. Rating: 4 out of 8 malevolent lampposts.

As an aside, this is the 10th book I've reviewed in the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. But so far, I haven't liked any of the books enough to recommend them. So I'm going to stop being a regular LTER participant, though I'll still monitor LTER in case it features any really interesting books. LTER has been great for getting free books and making me read more, and I hope my reviews were helpful to the authors. But I've got plenty of other, assuredly better books to read.
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El Guapo
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by El Guapo »

Aiming for 20 - 25 books this year.

Reading


Upheaval, by Jared Diamond.


Completed

Spy School, by Stuart Gibbs (audio book).
Iron Curtain : The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956, by Anne Applebaum.
Allies, by Alan Gratz
The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic, by Mike Duncan.
Spy Camp, by Stuart Gibbs (audio book).
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney
Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company (audiobook), by Jeff Immelt.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Monroe
Madness Rules the Hour: Charleston, 1860 and the Mania for War (audiobook) by Paul Starobin.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, by Erik Larsen (audiobook).
Max and the Midknights, by Lincoln Peirce
Max and the Midknights: Battle of the Bodkins, by Lincoln Peirce
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis (audio book)
Footloose - Charlie Smith's Offshore Chronicles, by Fred Sharp
Liar's Poker, by Michael Lewis (audio book)
One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger, by Matthew Yglesias (audio book)
A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John Barry (audiobook)
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution, by Mike Duncan
Speeches That Changed the World, by Alan J. Whiticker.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson (audiobook).
Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink. (audiobook)
The Jewish State, by Theodor Herzl

Amish Vampires in Space,
by Kerry Nietz
Freedom by Sebastian Junger.
Dune - book 1 (Graphic Novel) by Brian Herbert and Frank Anderson
D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II by Stephen Ambrose (audiobook)
Last edited by El Guapo on Mon Jan 03, 2022 6:36 pm, edited 48 times in total.
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Archinerd
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Archinerd »

hitbyambulance wrote: Sat Jan 02, 2021 8:10 am having finished Dune Messiah, i'm aware this series runs out of spice at some point down the line, but where exactly? do i just finish the destiny of the first trilogy, burrow through books 4 through 6, hit the (shield) wall whenever Brian Herbert takes over, or should have i paid attention to the visions and never have progressed past the first one to begin with?
I may in the minority, but I like all of the original Frank books.
I've only read one of the Brian books and found it to be lacking.

If you do proceed through Chapter House: Dune, be warned that there is no tidy ending.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Zarathud »

Frank’s books are overly complex. Brian’s are overly streamlined. The universe shines in both.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jolor »

:clap: Brilliant. Recommended for fans of any genre.
:shhh: Library borrow.

Finished
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai - Beaulieu
Fortune - Hamilton
The Dark Archive (An Invisible Library Novel) - Cogman
Gideon the Ninth - Muir
With Blood Upon the Sand - Beaulieu
The Library at Mount Char - Hawkins
A Veil of Spears - Beaulieu
The Casebook of Newbury and Hobbes - Mann

Newbury & Hobbes: The Undying - Mann, Boultwood
A Thousand Ships - Haynes :clap:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Harrow :clap:
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman - Goss :shhh:
The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl - Goss :shhh:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Schwab :clap:
Goldilocks - Lam
The Children of Jocasta - Haynes

Alice Payne Arrives - Heartfield
Alice Payne Rides - Heartfield
The Midnight Library - Haig
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 - Clark
The Near Witch - Schwab
Ready Player Two - Cline
Gods of Jade and Shadow - Moreno-Garcia
Good Omens - Pratchett, Gaiman

Beneath the Twisted Trees - Beaulieu
Hallowdene - Mann
The Gilded Wolves - Chokshi
When Jackals Storm the Walls - Beaulieu
Wychwood - Mann
The Hidden Palace - Wecker
Black Sun - Roanhorse
Network Effect (A Murderbot Novel) - Wells :shhh:

Mexican Gothic - Moreno-Garcia :shhh:
Indians on Vacation - King :shhh:
Armed in Her Fashion - Heartfield :shhh: :clap:
Children of Blood and Bone - Adeyemi :shhh:
A Desert Torn Asunder - Beaulieu
7 Devils - Lam, May
Lampedusa - Price :shhh:
This Is How You Lose the Time War - El Mohtar, Gladstone (reread) :clap:

Eagle and Empire - Smale :shhh:
Velvet Was the Night - Garcia :shhh: :clap:
The Book of Accidents - Wendig :shhh:
A Spindle Splintered - Harrow :shhh: :clap:
Harrow the Ninth - Muir
The Sultan of Sarawak - Hamilton

Reading
The Untold Story - Cogman

TBR
Piranesi - Clarke
By Gaslight - Price
Jade Legacy - Lee
The Tensorate Series - Yang
The Silvered Serpents - Chokshi
Last edited by Jolor on Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:46 pm, edited 77 times in total.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by ImLawBoy »

Bad year for reading last year. I blame lack of train reading time due to working from home, but I'll still try to pick things up for 2021.

Books Finished
This Storm - James Ellroy (paper)
Boy's Life - Robert R. McCammon (Kindle)
If It Bleeds - Stephen King (paper)
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke (Kindle)
Wings of Fire - The Dragonet Prophecy - Tui T. Sutherland (Libby/Kindle)
Later - Stephen King (Libby/Kindle)
The Best American Noir of the Century - edited by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler (Kindle)
Infinite - Brian Freeman (Kindle)
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (Kindle)
Under Color of Law - Aaron Philip Clark (Kindle)
Wild Dog - Serge Joncour (paper)
Talk to Me - T.C. Boyle (Kindle)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - F. Scott Fitzgerald (Kindle)
Singularium - Jason J. Hancock (Kindle)

Currently Reading
Five Decembers - James Kestrel (Kindle)
Dune - Frank Herbert (paper)

2020 - 13 Books Read
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El Guapo
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by El Guapo »

ImLawBoy wrote: Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:00 pm
Books Finished
Give me a break! The year is just starting!
Listen, I don't want your excuses.
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xenocide
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by xenocide »

Audio:

For We Are Many (Bobiverse 2) by Dennis E Taylor
All These Worlds (Bobiverse 3)
One Man's War by Steven Savile
The Two Week Curse (The Ten Realms 1) by Michael Chatfield
The Second Realm (Ten Realms 2)

The Third Realm (Ten Realms 3)
The Fourth Realm (Ten Realms 4)
A Hero Born by Jin Yong
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Divine Dungeon 1 by Dakota Krout

Divine Dungeon 2
Divine Dungeon 3
Divine Dungeon 4
Ritualist (The Completionist Chronicles 1) by Dakota Krout
The Completionist Chronicles 2

The Completionist Chronicles 3
The Completionist Chronicles 4
The Completionist Chronicles 5
The Completionist Chronicles 6
Bibliomancer by James Hunter (Author), Dakota Krout

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow
Clans War by Vasily Mahanenko
Equalize (Ether Collapse Book 1) by Ryan DeBruyn
Ether Collapse Book 2

Ether Collapse Book 3
One More Last Time (The Good Guys Book 1) by Eric Ugland
The Good Guys Book 2
The Good Guys Book 3
The Good Guys Book 4

The Good Guys Book 5
The Good Guys Book 6
The Good Guys Book 7
The Good Guys Book 8
The Good Guys Book 9

The Good Guys Book 10
Clear Sky (Painting the Mists 1) by Patrick Laplante
Painting the Mists 2
Painting the Mists 3
Painting the Mists 4

Painting the Mists 5
Painting the Mists 6
The Tiger's Fate (Chronicles of An Imperial Legionary Officer Book 3) by Marc Alan Edelheit
Chronicles of An Imperial Legionary Officer Book 4
The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice 2) by John Flanagan

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries 1) by Martha Wells
The Murderbot Diaries 2
The Murderbot Diaries 3
The Murderbot Diaries 4
The Murderbot Diaries 5

The Murderbot Diaries 6
The Paths Between Worlds (This Alien Earth Book 1) by Paul Antony Jones
This Alien Earth Book 2
This Alien Earth Book 3
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Stuff and Nonsense (Threadbare Volume 1) by Andrew Seiple
Threadbare Volume 2
Threadbare Volume 3
A Fallen Empire Omnibus: Books 1-3 by Lindsay Buroker
Rogue Dungeon (The Rogue Dungeon Book 1) by James Hunter

The Rogue Dungeon Book 2
I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N. Elrod
The Second Sect (A Thousand Li Book 5) by Tao Wong
Human Resourse (Life Reset Book 4) by Shemer Kuznitz
Something: Full Murderhobo by Dakota Krout

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Harry Potter 1
Harry Potter 2
Harry Potter 3
Harry Potter 4

Harry Potter 5
Harry Potter 6
Harry Potter 7


Non Audio:

The System Apocalypse Book 4 by Tao Wong
The System Apocalypse Book 5
The System Apocalypse Book 6
Silver Fox & The Western Hero (Warrior Reborn 1) by M.H. Johnson
Last edited by xenocide on Thu Oct 28, 2021 3:05 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by hitbyambulance »

hitbyambulance wrote: Fri Jan 01, 2021 8:58 pm
Islam at the Crossroads - Muhammad Asad (do not know just how committed i am to this one)
actually looks like i was committed, and finished that one last night
Zarathud wrote: Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:09 pm Frank’s books are overly complex. Brian’s are overly streamlined. The universe shines in both.
what i like about Frank's books is how multi-layered (or overly complex) they are.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Pyperkub »

Currently reading :

The Night Circus (got this on kindle from the library because in like 9 years on my wishlist it almost never dropped below $10.99- once to 8.99 seemed the best I remember. So far it's very good)

Finished :

Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!

Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by hitbyambulance »

started Edgar Allan Poe's _Tales of Mystery and Imagination_, but this collection looks interesting:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/262 ... _Allan_Poe
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by ImLawBoy »

Finished This Storm by James Ellroy. This is the second book of his planned second LA Quartet. The first LA Quartet was The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, and White Jazz. The first book of the second LA Quartet was Perfidia. There's also a USA Underworld Trilogy out there. All of these books deal with the same themes (although the Underworld Trilogy takes it to a national level instead of focusing on LA) and have many overlapping characters. Chronologically, the second Quartet precedes the first. Ellroy's MO is to take true life historical events, and then fictionalize and sensationalize them with corruption, drugs, booze, and conspiracies.

This Storm starts on New Year's Eve 1941, shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and covers about the next five months. The country is already gearing up for war, and there are tensions between German sympathizers and those who favor the Allies. Tensions obviously get higher after the bombing. Two police detectives are found murdered along with a Mexican-American man in a house known for drugs and sex (which gets dubbed the klubhaus). Unsurprisingly, these cops were not good men, but the police need to solve this and make the department look good. Things get wild from there with a typically complex Ellroy plot that relies on intricate plotting along with coincidence and logical leaps to tie everything together. Ellroy's prose is his usual stacatto with short sentences and prolific alliteration. It's a fun read, but not for the faint of heart. Ellroy's characters tend to be less than model citizens, and they use a lot of racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language, so be warned if you don't want to read that kind of stuff. Thus far I don't think the second Quartet stands up to the first Quartet (or the Underworld Trilogy, for that matter), but it's still good stuff if you're an Ellroy fan.

Up next is If It Bleeds, Stephen King's latest four novella compilation.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by hitbyambulance »

added:

Alan Moore - Voice of the Fire
Edmond Rostand - Cyrano de Bergerac
John Milton - Paradise Lost
Ken Kesey - Sometimes a Great Notion
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jaymann »

MMORPG gold farmers of the world unite in For the Win by Cory Doctorow. This gets into the gritty, sweaty world of hard core gamers that Ready Player One couldn't touch. Set mostly in the Pacific Rim and India, broken English and gamer slang is the universal language. Then the "bosses" of the games crack down hard...

I give it 6.5/8 uber items.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

First 10 done in 2021.

Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
A protégé of Aloysius Pendergast gets her own story, possibly the first of many. Character development was a little light, and the plot not too focused but based on a manuscript by a Donner party casualty pointing to the existence of a treasure now worth millions. Somehow, researchers and ne'er-do-wells simultaneously catch wind of it and clash.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
The Taste of Marrow by Sarah Gailey (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

These two books can be described as a western, set in the south, with hippos instead of horses. You see, shortly before the Civil War broke out, Martin Van Buren bought into the notion that converting the southern swamps into hippo ranches was the perfect solution to a meat shortage. What follows is a drama set in this world where ranchers ride tame (and loyal) hippos and fight against anarchists who would destroy the barriers keeping wild hippos bottled up (think of it as if someone was actively trying to release Asian carp into the Great Lakes). If you like your settings to be strange, this might do it for you.

The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Set in the 1913 miner's strike, this well-researched historical novel brings up class issues, race issues, and women's suffrage all i an emotionally charged book recounting a period when labor struggled to rise in the face of corporate despots who exerted supreme authority on not only their operations but the entire community surrounding it. Reminded me a lot of one of my favorite novels of all time, Frank Norris' The Octopus.

The Titanic Secret by Clive Cussler (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Issac Bell story that is framed by a modern day discovery featuring Dirk Pitt and NUMA. Oddly enough, it also involves mistreated miners and is set around the same time as the Russell book above.

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Remember Robert Heinlein's The Number of the Beast? This is similar, but with less sexy alternate earths.

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Alex Cross novel where his niece is among those kidnapped by one of a pair of symbiotic serial killers. The killers operate on opposite ends of the country, but conveniently arrive at the same place so Cross can get them both.

The Holdout by Graham Moore (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
A legal thriller where a decade old case is brought up for reenactment by a cable TV show. The case involved the disappearance and presumed murder of a 15 year child of a wealthy businessman, and one of her teachers was acquitted in her disappearance even though they apparently had an inappropriate relationship. When the jury (mostly) arrives at a hotel prior to the show, one of the jurists and instigators of this reinvestigation is suddenly dead, and another jurist, the only one to initially vote not-guilty, becomes the prime suspect. Decent enough story, not Grisham-level, but a quick read.

Dead Man Dancing by John (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Set in a Trumpian Wisconsin, the sheriff of a once-enlightened small county is faced with a murder and has
The Dark Continent by Scott Reardon (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Alex Cross novel where his niece is among those kidnapped by one of a pair of symbiotic serial killers. The killers operate on opposite ends of the country, but conveniently arrive at the same place so Cross can get them both.

The Holdout by Graham Moore (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
A legal thriller where a decade old case is brought up for reenactment by a cable TV show. The case involved the disappearance and presumed murder of a 15 year child of a wealthy businessman, and one of her teachers was acquitted in her disappearance even though they apparently had an inappropriate relationship. When the jury (mostly) arrives at a hotel prior to the show, one of the jurists and instigators of this reinvestigation is suddenly dead, and another jurist, the only one to initially vote not-guilty, becomes the prime suspect. Decent enough story, not Grisham-level, but a quick read.

Dead Man Dancing by John (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
Set in a Trumpian Wisconsin, the sheriff of a once-enlightened small county is faced with a murder and has to delicately navigate an investigation in an environment rife with empowered deplorables.

The Dark Continent by Scott Reardon (K) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
If Justin Cronin's turning death row inmates into super human zombies didn't work, why would turning the same into super soldiers be any better? Spoiler alert: it doesn't. Not quite as apocalyptic as a world where only a handful of uninfected remain, but this small band of augmented badasses manages a massive amount of destruction.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by geezer »

Currently reading: Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:
City of Ink by Elsa Hart (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

If you like the Brother Cadfael stories, these are more of the same, except set in China shortly after the Manchu take-over, these are murder mysteries featuring a librarian (rather than a monk). Like most period novels set in this region, the amount of parables gets tiresome after awhile. It's like the author swallowed a tome of Confucius and crapped out Lao Tzu. These stories would have been a lot shorter had they all just got to the point. As mysteries go, all of the diversion, flowery descriptions, and misdirection doesn't exactly keep one on pins and needles to the end.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by hitbyambulance »

hitbyambulance wrote: Thu Jan 14, 2021 3:29 am Edmond Rostand - Cyrano de Bergerac
got this beat up school edition paperback from a LFL and started reading it the same night, so i didn't even bother doing my usual 'best English translator' research before reading (as i usually do). this was a 1972 Lowell Blair translation - apparently i should have gone with the 1923 Brian Hooker one.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Starting in Bruges, Belgium and moving to Poland and Slovakia, this book might have got a bonus tentacle for setting. Our hero, Cotton Malone isn't threatened as badly as other books in the series, but the president of Poland shoots and kills some asshats so there's that. What I really appreciate about this series is the research Berry puts in (he travels to the locals and studies the history for what he writes about). Makes me want to be Steve Berry, even if he does sound exactly like a former boss.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

Hell and Other Destinations by Madeline Albright (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

Madeline Albright is a poster child for why we need strong women involved in politics. This is more of a general memoir, with commentary on the Trump administration. Previous books have detailed her tenure as Secretary of State in more detail, but this is a little more personal, as she talks about her childhood -- born in what was Czechoslovakia, but then moved to England when Hitler came to power. A fascinating part of the book told the story how she was completely unaware that a grandmother (and a few dozen relations) were actually Jewish and were disappeared under the Nazi regime.

Not sure if it's 20/20 hindsight or if it really happened, but she discusses how in 2016 the far right radicals were identified as a threat and there was a grave need for a president who could unify the country. She was a long time supporter of HRC, and saw this potential in her, but the narrative conveniently dovetails into the ascension of Trump. the embodiment of everything she warned against.

There is a lot of humor and interesting anecdotes. I've long been a fan of hers and her activity as an 80-something leaves my 50-something carcass exhausted just thinking about it.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

I was wondering what was going to become of this series after Rene Auberjonois' death last year - he was the perfect Pendergast, so much so it seemed the character was written specifically for him. My fears were unfounded, the new reader does a spot-on copy, but additionally has a greater range of voices (including without Rene's affectations). The story was bizarre as Pendergast stories tend to be, and idyllic Florida beach becomes awash in footwear flotsam, 57 in fact, and all containing feet. Our hero likes the super weird, and his boss practically shoves him into representing the FBI in an investigation run by the Coast Guard. Hanging out in the autopsy room, expert-at-everything Pendergast leads the coroner into an unusual finding -- the feet it seemed were hacked off by their owners.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Scuzz »

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

This is book one of a new trilogy, and it takes place in the same world as his previous trilogy only about 25 years later. The main characters in this book are basically the next generation, and since they are younger Abercrombie seems to have approached it with a young adult cast doing very grown up things. Much more sex and angst in this book than the previous ones, unless I have just forgotten, but I did just read the First Law trilogy. It's not that the others didn't have sex, but I don't remember it being this much.

Also the world has moved into the age of machinery, which seems a bit of a jump but possibly it's just that Abercrombie hadn't spent much time discussing that type thing before. It feels like time has jumped ahead more than a generation.

So after all that how did I like the book. It is still fun, graphic and violent. It takes a while to adapt to the new characters but they are a charming group, and the book ends with the return of a character who dominated the first trilogy. To this point there doesn't seem a plot, which isn't really a weakness as there is a lot going on, but you do get the feeling that something is about to happen.

I am looking forward to July when book 2 comes out in paperback.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jaymann »

Book 2 is already out! And indeed something happens...

Edit: I see you said paperback. I like the used hardcover option.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

Camino Winds by John Grisham (A) :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

This is the second novel set on an island off the coast of Florida. The most implausible part of the book isn't the hurricane that provided for the title, nor the murder that occurred during the storm. Not even the root of the murder plot involving a drug that helps keep comatose dementia patients alive seemingly forever. No, the most implausible part of the book is the main character who runs a thriving book store where authors still conduct major book tours and draw huge crowds. Now that's just crazy talk.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Scuzz »

I had to quit reading Grisham years ago when as a supposedly serious author he went off the deep end of silly.

Not that lots of authors don't do that, but his stuff was so big at the time and his writing seemed to be so bad.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Jeff V »

Scuzz wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 6:50 pm I had to quit reading Grisham years ago when as a supposedly serious author he went off the deep end of silly.

Not that lots of authors don't do that, but his stuff was so big at the time and his writing seemed to be so bad.
I've enjoyed most of his stuff, like Stephen King he can be quite good at character development. I'm willing to forgive a lot in the plot developement department if the characters are something I can care about. Grisham also isn't afraid to let bad things happen to good people, and I really do appreciate the emotional angst when he does that -- really, raising any emotion at all is what all of my favorite writers have in common.
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Hipolito »

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Earthseed, Book 2: Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (ebook): Earthseed, a new religion based in science, rational thought, and the concept of God as change, struggles to survive in America's worsening dystopia. Eerily, though published in 1998, this book predicted that a "tired, gray shadow of a man" would run for President against a Christofascist demagogue whose slogan is "Make America Great Again." The latter's supporters burn some non-Protestants ("witches") at the stake and enslave others with high-tech slave collars.

I liked Book 1 but find this sequel disappointing. It's more plot-driven and not as fresh and thought-provoking. Though it does have some interesting observations on:
  • How to spread a religion that promises no salvation or comfort
  • How to run a survivalist community
  • How love works in a broken family
  • Society's biggest problems are usually caused by failing to do anything about them when they're small but obvious and manageable.
  • War is not just a failure of diplomacy, but of stupid leaders who don't know what else to do. It's an easier path than peace.
  • Prayer works. It's not talking to God; it's self-talk. It gives you a feeling of control so you can get things done.
The author died before writing the third book, but this second book gives closure. The closure feels rushed, but in it I felt influences of Heinlein and Card.

Rating: 4 out of 8 gun trucks.
Torfish
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Re: Books Read 2021

Post by Torfish »

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey :binky: :binky: :binky:

I wanted a really good Zombie book to read and this turned up in my google research. It's not very good. Begins very well but falls into bad writing and same old zombie situations. Nothing new. I barely finished it.

I've read a few Zombie books, probably the more popular ones. Amazingly I haven't found a golden nugget yet. If you know of any, please recommend!
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