Finished Season of the Dead, a zombie apocalypse book. It's basically the end of the world told through four different viewpoints. Very well done.

I just finished Project Hail Mary.
Since my last update: High Adventure, Midnight Black, Undaunted Courage, and Project Hail Mary.

I enjoyed Project Hail Mary. I forgot about Andy Weir's goofy writing style. It's very easy to read. I liked this book more than The Martian and I had no idea what it was about or where it was going. My only gripe is some of the problem solving and solutions became very redundant the last hundred pages or so. That said, it's probably my second favorite read of the year following Shogun.

arrow said:

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I just finished Project Hail Mary.
Since my last update: High Adventure, Midnight Black, Undaunted Courage, and Project Hail Mary.

I enjoyed Project Hail Mary. I forgot about Andy Weir's goofy writing style. It's very easy to read. I liked this book more than The Martian and I had no idea what it was about or where it was going. My only gripe is some of the problem solving and solutions became very redundant the last hundred pages or so. That said, it's probably my second favorite read of the year following Shogun.

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I've been trying to find the right word and goofy is it. It drove me nuts and took away from a great story, imo

arrow said:

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I just finished Project Hail Mary.
Since my last update: High Adventure, Midnight Black, Undaunted Courage, and Project Hail Mary.

I enjoyed Project Hail Mary. I forgot about Andy Weir's goofy writing style. It's very easy to read. I liked this book more than The Martian and I had no idea what it was about or where it was going. My only gripe is some of the problem solving and solutions became very redundant the last hundred pages or so. That said, it's probably my second favorite read of the year following Shogun.

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The redundancy part is what scares me. I don't do well with repetition when reading. Starts to feel like work. Its what made me tire of Murderbot by the end of book 4.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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arrow said:

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I just finished Project Hail Mary.
Since my last update: High Adventure, Midnight Black, Undaunted Courage, and Project Hail Mary.

I enjoyed Project Hail Mary. I forgot about Andy Weir's goofy writing style. It's very easy to read. I liked this book more than The Martian and I had no idea what it was about or where it was going. My only gripe is some of the problem solving and solutions became very redundant the last hundred pages or so. That said, it's probably my second favorite read of the year following Shogun.

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I've been trying to find the right word and goofy is it. It drove me nuts and took away from a great story, imo

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I find these observations to be fascinating, because I've personally never noticed anything weird about his writing style. Guess everyone sees everything differently.

I may have using "writing style" incorrectly there. Both Weir books I've read have a lot of first person narrative and inner monologue (for obvious reasons). A lot of this comes across as the character desperately trying to be likeable to the reader. In the case of Ryland Grace, he IS a corny schoolteacher, so it's not unnatural and keeps him in character. It just seems goofy at times while I'm reading.

arrow said:

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I may have using "writing style" incorrectly there. Both Weir books I've read have a lot of first person narrative and inner monologue (for obvious reasons). A lot of this comes across as the character desperately trying to be likeable to the reader. In the case of Ryland Grace, he IS a corny schoolteacher, so it's not unnatural and keeps him in character. It just seems goofy at times while I'm reading.

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In much of The Martian and PHM, he's the only character for extended bits of time. I think it's somewhat a trope of necessity, at least in these two particular stories .

Picked this up today and plan to start tonight!

I think Andy Weir is probably a dork and he's writing what he knows. I probably don't mind it because I'm also a dork so I don't notice anything amiss.

I love The Martian and PHM. Audiobooks for both are great and I've listened to each of them more than a few times.

I've read all three of Weir's books, and I'm not surprising the comments above leave out the middle book, Artemis. It also has the goofy first-person narration, but the main difference is that the protagonist is sarcastic, annoying, and just not very likable. Anyone else read that one?

I just finished a reread in the last week or so. I was thinking the same thing, that all three have a lot of first person dialogue. The main character of Artemis is extremely snarky, self centered and obnoxious, but it seems to work for her.

I also don't have a problem with his style.

rynning said:

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I've read all three of Weir's books, and I'm not surprising the comments above leave out the middle book, Artemis. It also has the goofy first-person narration, but the main difference is that the protagonist is sarcastic, annoying, and just not very likable. Anyone else read that one?

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Started it and didn't finish. Didn't really care what happened to the main character so I bailed.

BenFiasco14 said:

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Didn't stick to my plan and did something random - read Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Loved it. Beautiful prose. Suspenseful. Terrifying. Thought provoking. A classic, what else can be said.

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My wife just read this and loved it.

Anyway....


Old Country by Matt Query
Good but not great malevolent spirit story. I picked this up because I wanted to read a horror book since I so rarely read that genre anymore other than the zombie apocalypse genre. Plus, I loosely connected to the couple in the story who up and left the corporate rat race and moved out of the city to a rural area (which we did IRL).

I thought the couple was written very well who seemed like real people you could identify with in real life, but the story itself just didn't have enough meat to it. I was expecting more horror elements, but this is really a personal cathartic story at its core. The horror aspect was really there to move things along for the couple, and I guess I was just looking for a straight horror novel.

Ever read Watchers by Dean Koontz? That's a really good one

Wow - thanks for this!! This is an excellent post to say the least and it helps me a lot since I am interested in a lot of books on your list.

I actually just read Pines by Blake Crouch and blew right through it. I also give it an A+, like you did. I think I want to read either Recursion or Dark Matter next, but actually haven't decided just yet. Thanks again!!!

Recursion was fantastic!

I'm reading Dark Matter right now and, if it gives you any indication, I started it last night and I'm already 100 pages in. It started hot and hasn't slowed down.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing more about Recursion and Dark Matter. I am going to go with one of these after I read Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, which is really short at just over 100 pages. I already had this one on my bookshelf, so I might as well read it first before moving on.

Thanks again.

Finished Blacktop Wasteland (SA Crosby). Enjoyable read. Didn't love it but found it entertaining and a quick read. On the fence it I'll try some of his other offerings (All The Sinners Bleed and Razorblade Tears are suppose to be good). Starting Recursion (Crouch) after prompts here loved Dark Matter and also want to read the wayward Pines books.

I have "The Road" coming by Cormac McCarthy, anyone read that?

texsn95 said:

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I have "The Road" coming by Cormac McCarthy, anyone read that?

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Tremendous but devastating read

Cool thanks. I've been on a kind of survival / end of the world kick lately, I have 1 left in the 12 (soon to be 13) book series from A. American "The Survivalist", and just finished book 1 of the "EMP: Equipping Modern Patriots, A story of Survival" series by Hollerman.

You need to read the series by Will Forstchen, the first book is called "one second after". I couldn't put the series down and finished it in a week

Yep I read those too, enjoyed them for the most part, but the ending of the final book just seemed rushed and a little unbelievable. But still worth the read definitely.

Has anyone read this monster survivalist series? 36 books by Ahern.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CGP6HM?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_awt_sb_pc_tpbk

The Marksman said:

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texsn95 said:

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I have "The Road" coming by Cormac McCarthy, anyone read that?

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Tremendous but devastating read

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I am still haunted by the ending and other parts of this book. It is extremely well-written and very depressing.

texsn95 said:

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Has anyone read this monster survivalist series? 36 books by Ahern.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CGP6HM?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_awt_sb_pc_tpbk

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Never heard of it. Will definitely give it a look. Thanks for sharing

Started the Fourth Wing cuz my wife is reading it... here goes

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Started the Fourth Wing cuz my wife is reading it... here goes

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Looking forward to the book report on this.

StinkyPinky said:

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SpreadsheetAg said:

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Started the Fourth Wing cuz my wife is reading it... here goes

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Looking forward to the book report on this.

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Especially The Chapter.

Finished Drezzy book 5 (Death Masks). I wiki'd 2 and intended on reading 3, but 3 and 4 were checked out so I wiki'd and skipped to 5.

Comparing 5 to 1, both the narration and the writing seems better. More assured. I'll probably keep going, but now it's Golden Son time.

The Trouble With Peace(Age of Madness Book 2) by Joe Abercrombie. Excellent middle book of his second trilogy, possibly my favorite of his books.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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Red Rising - Pierce Brown - A
Golden Son - Pierce Brown - A+
Morning Star - Pierce Brown - A+
As a collective trilogy, I would even push this to an A++ - Red Rising was a great intro book and did a great job of setting up the world and the characters and the direction of the story - lighting the fuse without immediately detonating the bomb, so to speak. Golden Son and Morning Star take the seeds that were planted in Red Rising and let them flourish. If you like this genre, drop whatever you're reading and pick this up. I've still got books 4, 5, and 6 to go, but I'm thinking of waiting until next year so that I can time it with the release of book 7. Read it.

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Just finished these myself - absolutely captivating. I get all the hype and would recommend them to anyone. The fact this hasn't been picked up by the likes of HBO for a series is mind boggling - would be epic to see in action.

Just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. What a ride. I'm fascinated by the idea of the multiverse, so books like this (and Recursion) really draw me in. He did a great job taking a complex theory and building a story around it. It had to be both fun and unbelievably difficult to keep himself on the rails with, literally, an infinite number of possibilities at his fingertips. I've been pumping up Recursion in this thread, but I might have liked this one better.

Up next, I start my books that became movies series with Jurassic Park.

Also - lol at my "on deck" section…I should probably just remove that bc it's meaningless at this point

Books read in 2025:

January
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut (re-read)
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (re-read)
The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
Project Hail Mary - Andy Wier
Pines - Blake Crouch
Wayward - Blake Crouch

February
The Last Town - Blake Crouch

March
Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

April
Red Rising - Pierce Brown
Golden Son - Pierce Brown

May
Morning Star - Pierce Brown
Echos of Reckoning - Ron Shaw

June
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
Still Alice - Lisa Genova
Dark Matter - Blake Crouch

On deck:
Broken Reflections - Ron Shaw
Iron Gold - Pierce Brown
Light Bringer - Pierce Brown
Dark Age - Pierce Brown

htownag08 said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Red Rising - Pierce Brown - A
Golden Son - Pierce Brown - A+
Morning Star - Pierce Brown - A+
As a collective trilogy, I would even push this to an A++ - Red Rising was a great intro book and did a great job of setting up the world and the characters and the direction of the story - lighting the fuse without immediately detonating the bomb, so to speak. Golden Son and Morning Star take the seeds that were planted in Red Rising and let them flourish. If you like this genre, drop whatever you're reading and pick this up. I've still got books 4, 5, and 6 to go, but I'm thinking of waiting until next year so that I can time it with the release of book 7. Read it.

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Just finished these myself - absolutely captivating. I get all the hype and would recommend them to anyone. The fact this hasn't been picked up by the likes of HBO for a series is mind boggling - would be epic to see in action.

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I had never heard of this series but will give the first one a try