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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (3 Viewers)

The Gator said:
What’s this now?
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@The Gator - first can you help with my question?   When you read did you have an intro titled Ravens that was before the Dragonmount prologue?   Like I said, I could have sworn the first time I read book 1 it was Dragonmount and then An Empty Road.   

Anyway, I looked around and found a few pods that I subscribed to and planned on trying.   I did similar with Song of Ice and Fire when I was reading them as well.   1/2 something to listen to and 1/2 helping with stuff I might have missed.   The 3 I put in the queue are:

The Wheel Reads

The Wheel Weaves

Heroes of the Horn

The first two look to be either 1 or 2 chapters/episode.   The other is dividing the book into parts (ie Eye of the World is in 6 parts).   All look to be pretty recent, and not close to being done with the series.  All of these are non-spoiler which is why I picked them, but I think there were similar ones out there that were for people who have read the series and are farther in the series (the farthest the 3 I listed are is Fires of Heaven.     There is one titled Stuck on Arrakis that look to be pretty far in the series (Knife of Dreams?).   

Anyway, I haven't listened to much yet, just 1 each of the first 2 since I was just through the 1st two chapters anyway, so I don't have a strong opinion either way, but seemed to like the husband/wife team of the 2nd one listed a little better.  

 
Finally finished all the Dark Tower books. Not  sure I loved the ending or King writing himself in so much, but not gonna knock a guy who got blasted by a car like that.

Think I could have read a dozen variations of “young” Roland stories or more like Wolves of the Calla though and never got bored.

Will probably nerd out and read the 20 or so Horus Heresy Warhammer 40k books I’ve missed next. Partly because I’m that kind of nerd, and partly because I can borrow them all from a friend, lol. The stuff in that “universe” is hit or miss depending on the authors, but are entertaining enough for me.

 
MindCrime said:
Finished “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir. If you liked The Martian, I highly recommend it. Plenty of humorous one-liners mixed with sci-fi tech.
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Reading this one now. Loved the Martian, this is good so far too. 

 
prosopis said:
I started the new King book Billy Summers. So far so good. I am loving the set up and can't wait to see where it goes. I have hopes of a certain direction but we will see. I love the first few chapters of a book I know nothing about. I purposely avoided any news about this book and it's paying off..
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Surprise! You & I are reading the same book at the same time - again! I'm about 1/2 in. I'd read the blurb before reading, but I'm already past what was outlined there so we'll see where it takes us. Me likey so far.

MindCrime said:
Finished “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir. If you liked The Martian, I highly recommend it. Plenty of humorous one-liners mixed with sci-fi tech.
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I read this a month or two ago. I haven't read The Martian yet, so this is my first Weir novel. I thought it was funny, clever, and kind of sad. I'm a science idiot, so I have no idea if the tech makes sense - I just go with it when it gets too deep for me. Anyway, this is a fun read and I have The Martian in my queue.

I also recently started VanDemeer's (sp?) Hummingbird And Salamander. I set it aside to run through the new King novel, but will go right back to it. He's very good but sometimes his writing is so dense I have to take a break. I have very little clue what's going on and I'm maybe 20% into it.

 
Rustoleum said:
Finally finished all the Dark Tower books. Not  sure I loved the ending or King writing himself in so much, but not gonna knock a guy who got blasted by a car like that.

Think I could have read a dozen variations of “young” Roland stories or more like Wolves of the Calla though and never got bored.

Will probably nerd out and read the 20 or so Horus Heresy Warhammer 40k books I’ve missed next. Partly because I’m that kind of nerd, and partly because I can borrow them all from a friend, lol. The stuff in that “universe” is hit or miss depending on the authors, but are entertaining enough for me.
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I have read the dark tower series  several times and I get you. I to was unhappy with the way King wrote himself in the first time I read it. With subsequent readings I came around to it and I now really like that part. It's heart breaking what happens there. I liked the ending and felt it left it open for more of those Roland tales we all love. There are other Roland tales out there if you do a search.

 
prosopis said:
13 hours ago, Rustoleum said:
Finally finished all the Dark Tower books. Not  sure I loved the ending or King writing himself in so much, but not gonna knock a guy who got blasted by a car like that.

Think I could have read a dozen variations of “young” Roland stories or more like Wolves of the Calla though and never got bored.

Will probably nerd out and read the 20 or so Horus Heresy Warhammer 40k books I’ve missed next. Partly because I’m that kind of nerd, and partly because I can borrow them all from a friend, lol. The stuff in that “universe” is hit or miss depending on the authors, but are entertaining enough for me.
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I have read the dark tower series  several times and I get you. I to was unhappy with the way King wrote himself in the first time I read it. With subsequent readings I came around to it and I now really like that part. It's heart breaking what happens there. I liked the ending and felt it left it open for more of those Roland tales we all love. There are other Roland tales out there if you do a search.
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I've typed this before on this board, but that ending was absolutely perfect in my opinion.  Maybe the one ending King has ever really NAILED.  LOST should have done a version of it to end that series.  They had King references throughout the show and it would have been a lot better ending than what they did.

 
KarmaPolice said:
@The Gator - first can you help with my question?   When you read did you have an intro titled Ravens that was before the Dragonmount prologue? 
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Found this on reddit-

EDIT: Important info for newbies, and possibly some veterans:

At some point, The Eye of the World was split into 2 separate novels in an attempt to market the series towards young adults. When this happened, an additional prologue, titled Ravens was added to the first book. It is meant to be read after the first prologue and before Chapter 1.
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They don't go into more detail in that post, but thought of your post when I saw it. 

 
MindCrime said:
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Fun mystery/whodunnit type of book with a Quantum Leap/Groundhog Day type of twist. At times i felt like i needed to take notes to keep track of everything, but i’d recommend it.

Not sure what I’m in the mood for next, will update when I’m done scrolling through my library app.
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My daughter just gave me this book, which led me to search here.   Looking forward to it.

 
Don Quixote said:
Started Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet last night. Historical novel about the life and death of Shakespeare's son, Hamnet.  It made a lot of best of 2020 book lists.
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Hamnet was really good. Maybe sits outside my top 5 of best of 2020 books, but still solid. It has a couple of different storylines in focus: one is the death of Hamnet, and the other about the life of Shakespeare's wife. For anyone looking for references to Shakespeare's plays, there are very little and not really the focus of the book.

New one that I'm starting is Cara Black's Three Hours in Paris.  Thriller-type novel about an American woman sent to Paris to try to kill Hitler. My wife read it and it was lying around; thought I'd give it a whirl. I'll see how far I get into it though -- thrillers not normally my thing, but the historical twist of interest.

One reason that I might not get through it is I have my new order of The Sweetness of Water on the way. Lots of buzz as one of the best books of 2021. Another historical fiction, based around the end of the Civil War, with a pair of recently freed slaves that are brothers experiencing their new life after emancipation. 

 
The Gator said:
Chapter 37: The Last Battle  9h3m  :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

ok
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Oh, now I get how you are getting through these so fast.  You aren't actually reading them??! ;)  

I have been thinking about trying audiobooks yet again.  I have 0 clue what my disconnect is with that format.  

 
KarmaPolice said:
Oh, now I get how you are getting through these so fast.  You aren't actually reading them??! ;)  

I have been thinking about trying audiobooks yet again.  I have 0 clue what my disconnect is with that format.  
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Yeah, I wouldn't have the time for this series otherwise. I'm on the road 2-3 hours a day so I get in big chunks. Also like to listen with my airpods while cooking.  

 
The Gator said:
Yeah, I wouldn't have the time for this series otherwise. I'm on the road 2-3 hours a day so I get in big chunks. Also like to listen with my airpods while cooking.  
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@The Gator - what do you use for an app?  you pay for these or use a library system somehow?

Even before our exchange, I thought about how little I have been able to read, but how much I liked the book so I tried an Audible 30day free trial to attempt to listen to book 1.   Despite how many hours a day I listen to podcasts, I have realized that evidently I don't focus enough to pick up all the details and sometimes get lost when listening to a novel.   That I will try to work on, but my other couple of hesitations were:

1.  Audible seems to be a bit of a ripoff - 1 book a month for $15?  

2.  Despite my comment in #1, I realize that they are expensive usually, and don't really want to pay $30-40/book when the paperbacks are 3 for $21 or something like that.  

3.  I do have the Libby app on my phone, but waiting lists for popular books like this are sometimes almost a year.  Very hard to time that out, and I have tried in the past and get books out of order in a series.  

 
@KarmaPolice
 

Yes I’m on audible, they’re not cheap, but I had some credits built up from deals/specials so that helps. 
 

I totally understand what you mean about losing focus while listening. I’ve had to go back a few minutes here and there when I realized I had missed something. It is a practice in concentration. 

 
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@KarmaPolice

there a nice app I use called WoT Compendium, it is a list of characters and a brief, spoiler free, summary of them. You can sort by the book that you’re on, so there’s no info in the character page from book 8 if you’re on book 4. Really helped out

 
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Finished The Fireman by Joe Hill.  About a pandemic that causes people to spontaneously combust.  Overall enjoyed it, a good horror/post-apocalyptic story, although I think it was a bit too long.  Some interesting parallels to what the world is going through now.

 
For sure getting more into the groove with the audiobook on The Eye of the World.   Got through about 15 chapters in the last 2 days.  0 chance I do that reading.   Since I have the paperback for this one too, I did both today and brought the book along as the kiddo splashed around in the pool at the park today.  

 
KarmaPolice said:
For sure getting more into the groove with the audiobook on The Eye of the World.   Got through about 15 chapters in the last 2 days.  0 chance I do that reading.   Since I have the paperback for this one too, I did both today and brought the book along as the kiddo splashed around in the pool at the park today.  
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Right on. 
 

Finished Memory of Light, definitely listening to that final battle chapter again before New Spring. 
 

I think this meme is especially apt for the audio book people

 
Wasn’t sure what to read next, went with  “ The Bone Collector “ by Jeffrey Deaver. (1st in the Lincoln Rhyme series) I blew through it and loved it. Any insight on the rest of the series? I think theres 12 total? Worth continuing on?

 
MindCrime said:
Wasn’t sure what to read next, went with  “ The Bone Collector “ by Jeffrey Deaver. (1st in the Lincoln Rhyme series) I blew through it and loved it. Any insight on the rest of the series? I think theres 12 total? Worth continuing on?
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Also you might check out the "Pendergast Series."  Similar, but not the same.  A better overall series, imo.

 
shuke said:
Finished The Fireman by Joe Hill.  About a pandemic that causes people to spontaneously combust.  Overall enjoyed it, a good horror/post-apocalyptic story, although I think it was a bit too long.  Some interesting parallels to what the world is going through now.
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I liked this one quite a bit. I did the audiobook narrated by Captain Janeway from Star Trek who's voice I remember hating but i got through it ok after a bit.

 
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Not sure I am even 1/2 way through Eye of the World, but it seems like there are 100s of things introduced already that are nuggets for books 10+, but I will forget about long before then.   My head is swimming with the mythologies, stories, and prophecies.   I am guessing a lot of them have nuggets of info in them.  

 
Finished up Eye of the World yesterday.   Overall really liked it and looking forward to book 2.  Still have the feeling there are a ton of little nuggets I am missing though.  

 
Finished “Coffin Dancer” (second in the Lincol Rhyme series). Loved it, and will definitely continue on in that series.

Taking a turn to something different- Devolution by Max Brooks (World War Z). About 1/4 way into it and so far I’m liking it. It’s in the same style as WWZ ( journal entries, interviews that piece together the story) and I wish that there were more varied points of view, as thus far most of it has come from one narrative.

 
KarmaPolice said:
Finished up Eye of the World yesterday.   Overall really liked it and looking forward to book 2.  Still have the feeling there are a ton of little nuggets I am missing though.  
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The Great Hunt is quite a bit better than EotW imo. Maybe one of my favorite chapters or two in it also. 
 

 
MindCrime said:
Taking a turn to something different- Devolution by Max Brooks (World War Z). About 1/4 way into it and so far I’m liking it. It’s in the same style as WWZ ( journal entries, interviews that piece together the story) and I wish that there were more varied points of view, as thus far most of it has come from one narrative.
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Be interested in hearing your thoughts on this one when you're done. 

 
Sailing to Sarantium by GGKay. It was good but never gripped me.  Book 2 is supposed to be better so I'll finish the story.

Shadow and Bone. picked up based on Netflix buzz. No reason to continue with the series. 

 
Underground-Airlines

The bestselling book that asks the question: what would present-day America look like if the Civil War never happened?

This has been on my list since I finished "The Last Policeman" series. 

It's an altered history story, about a bounty hunter who chases runaway slaves in modern day America. It starts a little slow, but picks up nicely. 

I would recommend this 

 
Don Quixote said:
New one that I'm starting is Cara Black's Three Hours in Paris.  Thriller-type novel about an American woman sent to Paris to try to kill Hitler. My wife read it and it was lying around; thought I'd give it a whirl. I'll see how far I get into it though -- thrillers not normally my thing, but the historical twist of interest.

One reason that I might not get through it is I have my new order of The Sweetness of Water on the way. Lots of buzz as one of the best books of 2021. Another historical fiction, based around the end of the Civil War, with a pair of recently freed slaves that are brothers experiencing their new life after emancipation. 
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I did finish "Three Hours in Paris."  I was kind of indifferent to it, but, as I mentioned, thrillers not ordinarily my thing. Characters are all pretty thin and stereotypical -- fast-moving for anyone more into the thriller genre, and interesting history angle.

The Sweetness of Water was great. Well-written with interesting characters. It has moved to the top of my 2021 release list so far.  It was the author's debut novel and I'm excited to see where his career goes from here.

A couple of new ones coming out today that I'm stoked about. I should be getting my copy of Mike Duncan's Hero of Two Worlds later today (pre-ordered) -- biography of Marquis de Lafayette. I've listened to both Duncan's A History or Rome and Revolutions podcasts, and also read Duncan's prior book, The Storm Before the Storm. Duncan has given me so much free entertainment over the years, I'll support any way that I can.

Today is also the release day of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.  Ron Charles of the Washington Post is probably the book critic that I see eye-to-eye with the most, and his review leads off with this: "Whatever must be said to get you to heft this daunting debut novel by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, I’ll say, because “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” is the kind of book that comes around only once a decade. Yes, at roughly 800 pages, it is, indeed, a mountain to climb, but the journey is engrossing, and the view from the summit will transform your understanding of America." Sold.

 
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The Terminal List

First book in a 5 part series by Jack Carr. Big fan Jack, listen to his podcast and have heard a few times on other podcasters. Figured I should read the series before the Amazon Prime series comes out.

On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government.

Now, with no family and free from the military’s command structure, Reece applies the lessons that he’s learned in over a decade of constant warfare toward avenging the deaths of his family and teammates. With breathless pacing and relentless suspense, Reece ruthlessly targets his enemies in the upper echelons of power without regard for the laws of combat or the rule of law.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Be interested in hearing your thoughts on this one when you're done. 
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I really enjoyed it. At first i was hesitant because so much of it came from one perspective (unlike World War Z, which had many different stories intertwined around the main story). In the end, it worked because the story was centered in a small community in which the main storyteller interacts with all of the key characters, while sprinkling in some external interviews to round everything out. 
 

Solid characters and good story overall.

 
KarmaPolice said:
@The Gator - what do you use for an app?  you pay for these or use a library system somehow?

Even before our exchange, I thought about how little I have been able to read, but how much I liked the book so I tried an Audible 30day free trial to attempt to listen to book 1.   Despite how many hours a day I listen to podcasts, I have realized that evidently I don't focus enough to pick up all the details and sometimes get lost when listening to a novel.   That I will try to work on, but my other couple of hesitations were:

1.  Audible seems to be a bit of a ripoff - 1 book a month for $15?  

2.  Despite my comment in #1, I realize that they are expensive usually, and don't really want to pay $30-40/book when the paperbacks are 3 for $21 or something like that.  

3.  I do have the Libby app on my phone, but waiting lists for popular books like this are sometimes almost a year.  Very hard to time that out, and I have tried in the past and get books out of order in a series.  
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Does audible not offer the premium subscription any longer? I've been on that for years so maybe I grandfathered in. I think it is like $240/year for 24 books. IMO, $10/audio book is a pretty damn good deal. The only complaint I have is it used to be that you could rollover credits from year to year but now it is a use it or lose it scenario.

As far as the WoT - the series starts off strong but IMO finishes pretty weak. Jordan went off the rails then died. Sanderson picked things up where Jordan left off and gave us an mediocre final book. It is worth finishing if you have already committed/finished to 4-5 books already but there are plenty of other series I find way better than WoT - with the caveat that most of them are unfinished series. 

 
rcam said:
Does audible not offer the premium subscription any longer? I've been on that for years so maybe I grandfathered in. I think it is like $240/year for 24 books. IMO, $10/audio book is a pretty damn good deal. The only complaint I have is it used to be that you could rollover credits from year to year but now it is a use it or lose it scenario.

As far as the WoT - the series starts off strong but IMO finishes pretty weak. Jordan went off the rails then died. Sanderson picked things up where Jordan left off and gave us an mediocre final book. It is worth finishing if you have already committed/finished to 4-5 books already but there are plenty of other series I find way better than WoT - with the caveat that most of them are unfinished series. 
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@rcam - what do you think is better?

Honestly, I am usually not a big fantasy guy.   Loved Song of Ice and Fire.   Couldn't get through more than 2 books of Dark Tower.  0 chance I get through Lord of the Rings.   About the only other that I started, really liked and need to get back to was The Name of the Wind.  But I would prefer the final book come out before getting back to that one since it's been forever since book 2.  

As far as WOT goes, I am only about 6 chapters into book 2.  I am trying to give it an honest go of about 2-3 books.   I like it ok, but it's not something that I am dying to get to every night, if that makes any sense.  A little bit is the way the characters are.  It feels like they are 18-20 years old, but act like kids.  Basically the opposite of GOT where everybody was 8-12 and were grossly sexualized and acted more like adults.  

I will say that 

 
beer 30 said:
The Terminal List

First book in a 5 part series by Jack Carr. Big fan Jack, listen to his podcast and have heard a few times on other podcasters. Figured I should read the series before the Amazon Prime series comes out.

On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government.

Now, with no family and free from the military’s command structure, Reece applies the lessons that he’s learned in over a decade of constant warfare toward avenging the deaths of his family and teammates. With breathless pacing and relentless suspense, Reece ruthlessly targets his enemies in the upper echelons of power without regard for the laws of combat or the rule of law.
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I just started the second book in the series. I like it.

 
KarmaPolice said:
@rcam - what do you think is better?

Honestly, I am usually not a big fantasy guy.   Loved Song of Ice and Fire.   Couldn't get through more than 2 books of Dark Tower.  0 chance I get through Lord of the Rings.   About the only other that I started, really liked and need to get back to was The Name of the Wind.  But I would prefer the final book come out before getting back to that one since it's been forever since book 2.  

As far as WOT goes, I am only about 6 chapters into book 2.  I am trying to give it an honest go of about 2-3 books.   I like it ok, but it's not something that I am dying to get to every night, if that makes any sense.  A little bit is the way the characters are.  It feels like they are 18-20 years old, but act like kids.  Basically the opposite of GOT where everybody was 8-12 and were grossly sexualized and acted more like adults.  

I will say that 
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They are annoying kids in the beginning, for sure. Many twists and turns in their arcs though. 
 

 
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