As stated in my last update, a break from the dystopian world of 1984 and Brave New World was in order. Light easy reading followed, and these are the latest completed books:

The Trail to Restoration and The Trail to Revolution, books 3 and 4 or The Plainsman Western Series by B. N. Rundell. Some years ago, there was a poster on here that recommended a western series with a similar name, if not the same. I went looking for it and found this one, but the tone of this one does not feel like the tone they discussed. If anyone knows what series that was, please let me know. This one isn't bad, but it isn't great either.

Rapport - Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy: A Murderbot Diary novella by Martha Wells. That took no time to read, as it is only about 40 pages. If you read the Murderbot books/novellas, It isn't a spoiler by telling you it takes place immediately after Murderbot leaves ART for the first time.

So, with the light reading out of the way, it's now on to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This will be the first time I've read it. Somehow it wasn't on my required reading for high school.

Read F-451 about 10 years ago and really enjoyed it. Similar to you, I had done a re-read of 1984, which led me to my first read of Brave New World and into F-451. It also wasn't a book that was required in school. May need to do another run through all of those books as well!

Thunder18 said:

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ECC said:

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Do y'all prefer a certain type of reading on a Kindle?

I really like interacting with a physical book (taking notes, underlining, etc), especially when it's more of a learning type of book.

I could see enjoying the Kindle when reading more for entertainment.

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You can highlight text in a kindle

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And it also has a note taking function as well. The xray feature also is a Godsend.

Been awhile since I updated on this thread so halfway through the year seemed like a good point.

White Hot Hate-Dick Lehr
The Big Man Upstairs-JD kirk
A Death Most Monumental-JD Kirk
Blood and Treachery-JD Kirk
A Snowball's Chance in Hell-JD kirk
Ahead of the Game-JD kirk
Colder Than the Grave-JD kirk
The Shortlist-Andrew Raymond
An Isolated Incident-JD kirk
A Dead Man on Staffin Beach- JM Dalgliesh
Come Hell or High Water-JD kirk
Cue the Sun-Emily Nussbaum
Hells Half Acre-Susan Jonusas
Bite-Bill Schutt
Still midnight-Denise Mina
Black AF History-Michael Harriot
Tokyo Vice-Jake Adelstein
Bind Torture Kill-Roy Wenzel
Among the Bros-Max Marshall
End of the Wasp Season-Denise Mina
The Drunken Botanist-Amy Stewart
Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths-Suzie Edge

Mortal Monarchs was surprisingly good. It goes through the death of all the English Monarchs (Queen Elizabeth II excluded) and talks about how they died. It gets in very specific detail like what happens to the body when you die of tuberculosis or take an arrow to the chest. The author is a medical historian and really comes across as knowledgeable and a little humorous at times.

What other two were your favorites?

Reading those two back to back would make me suicidal.

1984 was the most horrific, depressing book I've ever read.

Bite and Drunken Botanist.


Bite: An Incisive History of Teeth, from Hagfish to Humans takes a similar approach to Mortal Monarchs in that it talks about the science and history of teeth and the role they have played in our development as a species as well as impact on society.


The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks
It talks about the plants behind the the booze and drinks we know and love. Everything from how we came to use the ingredients, their importance in culture, etc. It also goes into some pretty obscure alcohols from various cultures and societies. She also kindly gives recipes at the end of every section.

Finished Sphere by Michael Crichton. Thought this was a great read and kept me interested all the way through. I would have liked a little more out of the ending…some bigger twist…but overall this was a solid A.

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
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

July
The Lost World - Michael Crichton
Sphere - Michael Crichton

Has anyone read The Great Train Robbery by Crichton? I was looking at that one as one to possibly read in the future, so I am curious about any thoughts from those who have read it.

Ag12thman said:

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Has anyone read The Great Train Robbery by Crichton? I was looking at that one as one to possibly read in the future, so I am curious about any thoughts from those who have read it.

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Yes, that one is pretty short but very entertaining

Yeah, he's been absolutely solid. Probably starting Andromeda Strain tonight.

Thoughts on Congo? Thinking I might as well if it's recommended.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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Yeah, he's been absolutely solid. Probably starting Andromeda Strain tonight.

Thoughts on Congo? Thinking I might as well if it's recommended.

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I also really enjoyed both of those! Andromeda Strain is probably one of his best, in my opinion.

All this MC talk is making me think it might be time to revisit. Been decades

I thought Congo was a good read. The only book of his that I didn't like was Eaters of the Dead. It just never hit with me. Everything else he wrote that I've read was really good. Timeline, Prey, and State of Fear, to me, were outstanding.

lurker76 said:

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I thought Congo was a good read. The only book of his that I didn't like was Eaters of the Dead. It just never hit with me. Everything else he wrote that I've read was really good. Timeline, Prey, and State of Fear, to me, were outstanding.

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I may have to turn back to Crichton soon too.... that's a shame on Eaters of the Dead, the 13th Warrior is one of my favorite movies...

SpreadsheetAg said:

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lurker76 said:

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I thought Congo was a good read. The only book of his that I didn't like was Eaters of the Dead. It just never hit with me. Everything else he wrote that I've read was really good. Timeline, Prey, and State of Fear, to me, were outstanding.

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I may have to turn back to Crichton soon too.... that's a shame on Eaters of the Dead, the 13th Warrior is one of my favorite movies...

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Big Crichton fan here. I liked both the book and movie, but I feel like the book is pretty short and you can breeze through it quick. Another one of his lesser known ones that I really liked was Pirate Latitudes.

The Marksman said:

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Ag12thman said:

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Has anyone read The Great Train Robbery by Crichton? I was looking at that one as one to possibly read in the future, so I am curious about any thoughts from those who have read it.

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Yes, that one is pretty short but very entertaining

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Thanks so much for the comments. This one sounds like one I'd really like. I don't know much about Victorian London at all, though. Is there any historical (understanding) prerequisites before reading it? Thanks again.

Well I finally finished all three novels of the Wool series by Hugh C. Howey. These, of course, are the basis of the Apple TV+ "Silo" series.

Much like the TV series, the world-building is terrific as you learn more and more about "what's really going on" and why 10,000 people have been stuck in a 130+ story underground silo for generations with an uninhabitable world above.

Nothing above is a spoiler you don't get out of the first couple of chapters of the first novel. I really can't say much about the next two without giving it away. What I can say is that he does a good job of taking the premise and exploring some interesting personal, social, and political possibilties.

Since I read it on my Kindle, I was surprised that the third novel ended at 85%. It was followed by several short stories in the same universe, exploring some other potential plot lines that may have happened along the way. Good stuff.

Ag12thman said:

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The Marksman said:

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Ag12thman said:

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Has anyone read The Great Train Robbery by Crichton? I was looking at that one as one to possibly read in the future, so I am curious about any thoughts from those who have read it.

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Yes, that one is pretty short but very entertaining

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Thanks so much for the comments. This one sounds like one I'd really like. I don't know much about Victorian London at all, though. Is there any historical (understanding) prerequisites before reading it? Thanks again.

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It's been a few years since I re-read that one, but I don't recall being too confused about anything. I read more literature set in Victorian England than most people though I think. I'm sure you'll be fine, though, because Crichton usually writes historical novels in an easy to read manner.

The Marksman said:

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You can't go wrong with any of Crichton's books

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I read one Stephen King book and one Michael Crichton book every year, even if it's a re-read. For Crichton, this year was Jurassic Park, which was my third time to read it, starting in the mid-90s. Last year was "Eruption" which was posthumously released with James Patterson. Now I'm thinking about adding The Great Train Robbery because of you guys. Next year I'll revisit Timeline, which I've already read twice, even though the movie was not very good.

I've always thought of Michael Crichton as the gold standard of writers, but I'll admit the last few books or re-reads haven't grabbed me as hard as they did back in the 90s and early 2000s.

If you like the Wool trilogy, look into Sand and the sequel, Across the Sand. They both seemed well written to me.

I really enjoyed Michael Crichton's Airframe. It's probably been 15 years since I read it.

I always also liked James Rollins early one off books. They reminded me of MC. Great character development, cool science based plots. Worth checking out.

Quote:

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It's been a few years since I re-read that one, but I don't recall being too confused about anything. I read more literature set in Victorian England than most people though I think. I'm sure you'll be fine, though, because Crichton usually writes historical novels in an easy to read manner.

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Thanks so much for your comments and recommendations. I think I'm going to put it down as a "to read" on my list. Especially since he's so highly recommended here, I need to read a lot more or Crichton's works as I haven't even read Jurassic Park or Timeline.

Start with Jurassic Park and you'll be hooked

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Re-read my third favorite Dickens novel. David Copperfield is semi-autobiographical and was Dickens' favorite of his works, and I really loved re-reading this one.

This may be an unpopular take, while I am a fan of Crichton and read many of his books imo his books read more like great screen plays. Plots and ideas are A+ and can almost visualize the great action scenes described, but would give his character developments a C. Just don't feel he spends much time there.

Books read:
Jurassic Park
Disclosure
Congo
Timeline
State of Fear
Airframe
The Andromeda Strain
Rising Son
Easy Go (written as John Lange)

The last book I read was "A Darkness More Than Night" by Michael Connelly.

In 2021.

I just started on my first book since then - "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa" by Adam Hochschild.

I'm a big Crichton fan, and I'd call that an accurate I take. His books are fun reads, that's about all to really take away from them.

Lol, true, true.

Finished four this past week:

A study in scarlet (first Sherlock story) - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of Four (second) - same
A Wind in the Door (second in A wrinkle in time series) - L'engle's
Le Morte Darthur - Mallory

The Sherlock mysteries were fun with the kids. We audiobooked the Stephen Fry versions and he has good intros. These two novels created the idea of the modern detective. The first actually involves Mormonism of all things.

The Wrinkle in Time series is ok but I find it less compelling. I'm not sure why the series is as loved as it was when I grew up, but whatever. Meg returns but has to rescue her younger brother in this one, as he deals with a secret illness that can only be cured by…singing? Have fun with that summary.

Mallory's Arthur novel finishes solidly. It starts out with Arthur's rise and deeds before focusing on the story of two knights not named Lancelot before it pivots to the grail, guenevere, and Arthur's death in a solid finish. You've got tragedy, romance, death, and penance, if not redemption. It's very satisfying after what feels like meandering tales of little to no import through the middle.

Just started Farrar's The Genius of Desperation

Good so far