PleaseBlitz Posted December 14, 2022 Share Posted December 14, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 10:31 AM, The Evil Genius said: Anyone read The Island by Adrian McGinty? Both Stephen King and Don Winslow have been hyping it.. Just picked this up. Looks pretty good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted December 14, 2022 Author Share Posted December 14, 2022 (edited) 17 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said: Just picked this up. Looks pretty good. It's a good read. Reading this now on vacay. Edited December 14, 2022 by The Evil Genius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted December 14, 2022 Share Posted December 14, 2022 Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix. Plot summary is real easy for this one: Haunted IKEA. It’s horror comedy, which means it starts off making a lot of jokes and ends with lots screaming. Satirizes IKEA and retail work in general. It’s a short (~250 pages) and easy read. Not great but it’s fun. The Peripheral and Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires are up next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 On 10/28/2022 at 9:56 PM, The Evil Genius said: Granted I'm only a few chapters in but when books start with a lot of made up tech jargon with no backstory of its meaning I feel like I'm reading in a foreign language and only getting about 60% of what is being said. Maybe it's just me though. you weren’t lying. This is loaded down with vaguely described tech nonsense and terrible dialogue. Not sure if this one will get better but the start is rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted December 18, 2022 Author Share Posted December 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Destino said: you weren’t lying. This is loaded down with vaguely described tech nonsense and terrible dialogue. Not sure if this one will get better but the start is rough. Yeah I probably should give it another try. Finished The Spare Man on the flight back Friday nighr and started Book of Night. Maybe I'll go back to the Peripheral after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 I've only read 1 of these (Sea of Tranquility) this year.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) On 12/18/2022 at 12:37 AM, Destino said: you weren’t lying. This is loaded down with vaguely described tech nonsense and terrible dialogue. Not sure if this one will get better but the start is rough. I've been reading quite a few Sci-Fi classics recently based on Gary Wolfe's series of talks 'How great science fiction works', and the good ones manage to introduce their made up names for things in a context where you can work out what it is without explaining it explicitly. The bad ones don't and so it's as much fun as being asked to remember a list of words in Portuguese but don't know why. Edited December 23, 2022 by Corcaigh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 Fairy Tale. Stephen King 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyJ Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 I've been extremely bogged down in my reading and am still slogging my way through Dune (it's a good book, but my reading time has deteriorated), but I just wanted to drop in to say that as a fan of the original All Creatures Great and Small television series about a 1940s British veterinarian, I've always been curious about the books it was based on. Google Play Books has put three of the author's books into a bundle and are temporarily on sale for $5 instead of $50. Snapped it up in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted December 29, 2022 Share Posted December 29, 2022 Since reading Five Decembers, I’ve been reading the other books that publisher, Hard Case Crime, has put out. I read Max Allan Collins’ The Big Bundle which was a historical fiction book surrounding the 1953 Greenlease kidnapping. Collins inserts his fictional character into a very real kidnapping that happened and works to solve the crime. Along the way he bumps into Jimmy Hoffa, Robert Kennedy and others. It was well done, he got into the details of the case, specific places that it occurred in STL and other items. Then I read his book Killing Quarry and enjoyed it more than The Big Bundle. And I’ve started Quarry’s Deal which is even better. His character, Quarry, is a hitman who’s found a niche in identifying other hitman’s targets, warning them that they’re being targeted and getting paid to kill the hitman before he can strike. These are entertaining, easy and fun reads. None as good as Five Decembers but still really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball Security Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Had one of my more productive reading years in 2022. Just wrapped up Gaining Ground which was recommended upthread. My list for 2022: 2022 books Last Best Hope - George Packer Train Dreams — Denis Johnson Conversations with Friends—Sally Rooney The Leftovers- Tom Perrotta Five Decembers - James Kestrel Mrs. Fletcher- Tom Perrotta The Night Gardener - George Pelacanos Tracy Flick Can’t Win - To Perrotta The Island - Adrian McGintey Comedy, comedy, comedy, drama - Bob odenkirk The Judge’s List - John Grisham Our Towns - James and Deborah Fallows The Hard Sell - Evan Hughes Gaining Ground - Forrest Pritchard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 (edited) I've been hit or miss the last few months with reading..but here is what I finished this year. I've bolded my favorites this year. Half the World - Joe Abercrombie Five Decembers - James Kestrel The Cartographers - Peng Shepherd The Last Policemen - Ben Winters Countdown City - Ben Winters Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel The Match - Harlan Coben City on Fire - Don Winslow The Island - Adrian McKinty The Last Apothecary - Sarah Penner Recursion - Blake Crouch Upgrade - Blake Crouch Fairy Tale - Stephen King Babel - R.F. Kuang The Butcher and the Wren - Alaina Urquhart The Last Werewolf - Glen Duncan The Spare Man - Mary Robinette Kowal I'd recommend if you want to read Sea of Tranquillity, to first read The Glass Hotel as the author's characters reoccuur in many of her books. Edited December 31, 2022 by The Evil Genius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Ended the year with a surprise. Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires was far better than expected. It’s more about sexism and racism than it is about vampires. Probably more infuriating than scary too. Loved this book. 2022’s reading list: Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie Ancillary Sword by Anne Leckie Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks The Burning White by Brent Weeks Ancillary Mercy by Anne Leckie The Devil You Know by Mike Carey I, Robot by Isaac Asimov Vicious Circle by Mike Carey Dead Men’s Boots by Mike Carey Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Thicker Than Water by Mike Carey The Naming of The Beasts by Mike Carey Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Five Decembers by James Kestrel Later by Stephen King Billy Summers by Stephen King Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells Frankenstein by Mary Shelly The Island of Dr. Moreau by HG Wells Moby Dick by Herman Melville Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman Dance Hall of The Dead by Tony Hillerman The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman The Night People by Ronald Malfi Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine Ringworld by Larry Niven Boneshaker by Cherie Priest The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Bone White by Ronald Malfi Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix The Island by Adrian McKinty Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball Security Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Wow, @Destino. That is quite a prolific list. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 18 minutes ago, Ball Security said: Wow, @Destino. That is quite a prolific list. Well done. Most I’ve read in a year, I think, though there were more shorter books in there than usual. I thought it was an lot until I talked to my kids teachers. They average 100 a year. Im not sure how the hell that’s possible. They must read much faster than I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 5 minutes ago, Destino said: Most I’ve read in a year, I think, though there were more shorter books in there than usual. I thought it was an lot until I talked to my kids teachers. They average 100 a year. Im not sure how the hell that’s possible. They must read much faster than I do. The Tony Hillerman books jump out at me. He's a legend in NM, stuff named after him and all. Great books and a small insight into Navajo culture. They really liked him. Figured you would might find interest in his obit from the Navajo Times. https://www.navajotimes.com/entertainment/2008/1108/110608hillerman.php 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 I think a few of you read My Heart is a Chainsaw... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Just started this. Original, funny and thought-provoking. Enjoying it so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball Security Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I read McKinty’s The Island last year based on this thread’s recommendation. I just now wrapped up The Chain. Both are great. Someone will make a movie out of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 The Island was a fun horror thriller. I tend to prefer my thrillers closer to the mystery side of things but I enjoyed The Island. this year I’ve read Nueromancer by William Gibson. The book is entirely too dreary for my liking. Some people really like that oppressive lack of joy and optimism of any kind but these stories feel like corpses to me. Intact but inert without the spark of life giving it purpose or connection. There were some interesting ideas and some unintentional humor, like including pay phones in a book about cyber crimes with sentient AIs. Overall though I found myself unable to care if the main characters succeeded or failed. They hardly seemed to care. currently reading The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. Haven’t finished it yet but I’m really enjoying it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Skins Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Five Love Languages: Men's Edition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) On 1/11/2021 at 1:47 PM, PleaseBlitz said: You have accurately restated the most-common criticism of Gladwell's like 8 books. Good work. Malcolm Gladwell is a very good story teller and an easy read. But most of it is just stories, just like the rest of ‘social science’. I’m currently enjoying Forever War by Joe Haldeman. Military SciFi. Edited February 6, 2023 by Corcaigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 The Cartel, by Don Winslow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball Security Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 20 minutes ago, Skinsfan1311 said: The Cartel, by Don Winslow. Cool. I just picked up Power of the Dog. Plan to go through the trilogy this spring. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 23 minutes ago, Ball Security said: Cool. I just picked up Power of the Dog. Plan to go through the trilogy this spring. I "discovered" Don Winslow, earlier this year, at the suggestion of a similar thread on another board. I read The Force, and couldn't put it down. After that, I devoured Power of the Dog, and started The Cartel, yesterday. It's tough to put them down... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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