Philo B 93 said:

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I finished "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan.

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Coincidentally enough this was a Jeopardy question tonight (but in the context of the photograph).

I really enjoyed Great Train Robbery by Crichton. It was darned good.

I'm reading Project Hail Mary right now and it's very good.

It's nice to take a step back from all the nonfiction/philosophy/spirituality books I've been reading.

Finished both Summer Knight (Dresden Files) and All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries) today.

Dresden files getting better. Not great but vested enough I'll take it to the end. My natural OCD.

Murderbot Diaries. Fun little read. Not great, but find them fun and interesting and great mindless filler books. Glad I started the series.

Finished SPQR by Mary Beard. A non fiction concise history of Rome.

Meh. 3/5.

That's crazy, I just finished Summer Knight too today. Now starting the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series.

Pac1698 said:

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That's crazy, I just finished Summer Knight too today. Now starting the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series.

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I've pushed on with Dresden and now 1/3 way through book 5 (Death Mask). As someone said earlier the dynamic has definitely picked up with the introduction of the Carpenter clan. One thing I question thought is Butcher's need to re-explain everything in the even someone is reading a book from the series for the first time. Usually by book 5 everyone is familiar with the story. Unfortunately the story behind the Blue Beattle, Murphy and SI, etc. is re-explained in detail.

Also doubling it up with book 2 of Murderbot Diaries. Continues to be a surprise fun series.

StinkyPinky said:

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Pac1698 said:

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That's crazy, I just finished Summer Knight too today. Now starting the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series.

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I've pushed on with Dresden and now 1/3 way through book 5 (Death Mask). As someone said earlier the dynamic has definitely picked up with the introduction of the Carpenter clan. One thing I question thought is Butcher's need to re-explain everything in the even someone is reading a book from the series for the first time. Usually by book 5 everyone is familiar with the story. Unfortunately the story behind the Blue Beattle, Murphy and SI, etc. is re-explained in detail.

Also doubling it up with book 2 of Murderbot Diaries. Continues to be a surprise fun series.

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Is he trying to make each book a standalone so someone can grab any book and be up to date?

Backyard Gator said:

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StinkyPinky said:

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Pac1698 said:

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That's crazy, I just finished Summer Knight too today. Now starting the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series.

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I've pushed on with Dresden and now 1/3 way through book 5 (Death Mask). As someone said earlier the dynamic has definitely picked up with the introduction of the Carpenter clan. One thing I question thought is Butcher's need to re-explain everything in the even someone is reading a book from the series for the first time. Usually by book 5 everyone is familiar with the story. Unfortunately the story behind the Blue Beattle, Murphy and SI, etc. is re-explained in detail.

Also doubling it up with book 2 of Murderbot Diaries. Continues to be a surprise fun series.

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Is he trying to make each book a standalone so someone can grab any book and be up to date?

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That would be the conventional thinking. But there is so much other germane detail that isn't repeated so really doesn't work. Not many people puck up well known series in the middle. If they truly wanted them to be stand alone books they would require some major changes in approach. Feels inconsistent in that respect

Last finished - Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi. If you like other Scalzi works, you'll probably like this one. It all takes place on one world, with alien creatures, both predators and non-predators, geological exploration, intrigue, legal wrangling and plenty of humor. It was based on a book written in the 60s called Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper, which I have not yet read.

Finished "From the Streets of Shaolin" which was a neat insight into the history of hip-hop and the formation of the Wu Tang Clan. Author probably could've used a different editor, however.

Up next: "JP: The Lost World"


An aside: I really like this thread. It's kept me honest with my reading goals for the year (at least one book per month). Love seeing everyone's recommendations.

Finished Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. After reading Dark Places, I figured I'd give this a go. Fantastic read and the ending was great.

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

On deck:
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn (kind of figure I need to read it and finish out her trilogy of books)
Red Rising series

Very excited for my next nonfiction audiobook - The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). This is his memoir that the movie was based on, about Lawrence's activities on behalf of England in WWI to pop off an Arab revolt against the ottoman Turks (the more things change, the more they stay the same huh).

Has anyone read or listened to this? Looks like it's been the victim of some light review bombing on Goodreads

Fic heavy start of the year, and there probably aren't many here who share my interests but:


Iron Flame
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Water Moon
Dungeon Crawler Carl 1-3
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

TBR:
The Sunlit Man
Mistborn Era 2
Carl 4
Onyx Storm
Recursion

Jinx said:

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Fic heavy start of the year, and there probably aren't many here who share my interests but:


Iron Flame
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Water Moon
Dungeon Crawler Carl 1-3
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

TBR:
The Sunlit Man
Mistborn Era 2
Carl 4
Onyx Storm
Recursion

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Ummm....first time on a reading thread on the E board?

You'll fit in jussssst fine here.

Jinx said:

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Fic heavy start of the year, and there probably aren't many here who share my interests but:


Iron Flame
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Water Moon
Dungeon Crawler Carl 1-3
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

TBR:
The Sunlit Man
Mistborn Era 2
Carl 4
Onyx Storm
Recursion

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Did you think the end of Iron Flame was a little predictable?

I enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy, but that ending irritated me.

Never have read Tolkien but all his books were on sale for $1.99 on kindle today so I grabbed the hobbit, lotr trilogy, lost tales 1&2 and simerillian or however tf you spell it. Idk when I'll start though

G.I.Bro said:

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Never have read Tolkien but all his books were on sale for $1.99 on kindle today so I grabbed the hobbit, lotr trilogy, lost tales 1&2 and simerillian or however tf you spell it. Idk when I'll start though

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Don't start with the Silmarillion.

G.I.Bro said:

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Never have read Tolkien but all his books were on sale for $1.99 on kindle today so I grabbed the hobbit, lotr trilogy, lost tales 1&2 and simerillian or however tf you spell it. Idk when I'll start though

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Make it easy and start with The Hobbit, then follow with the LOTR trilogy. Don't get discouraged with The Silmarillion; it may be different for you, but it took at least three tries for me to finish it, and I've only read it once. I can't remember how many times I've read the Hobbit and LOTR, but I bet it's twenty at least.

2/3 through Atlas Shrugged. Will return later or bump some threads with hot takes.

Mega Lops said:

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2/3 through Atlas Shrugged. Will return later or bump some threads with hot takes.

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It's tough and a slog at times but overall that book left a lasting impression on me. I know it's controversial but one of my favorite reads ever.

The Indifferent Stars Above

Fantastic retelling of the Donner Party. The author blends in the perfect amount of historical material with great storytelling to relive this tale of the doomed expedition. Have had this book for years and just got around to it and upset it took that long.

It was, but I wouldn't say it bothered me too much. There are a lot of books I read for what I call the "popcorn factor" - a fun way to pass the time but no expectation of literary excellence

I finished "Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson. This is the longest book I've ever read, with 1137 pages or 45 hours of audible.

I've read three Brandon Sanderson books recently, and I'm done with his books. They're good, but world-building just isn't my thing. I liked Way of Kings, and if he could do it in half the pages I'd continue with the series. The story is epic. Does this sound familiar: young warrior/slave boy finds out he may have special powers that can defeat evil and save the world with the help of an old Jedi warrior? I love the idea, but when I read real-world news feeds and start wondering how the Parshendi and Alethi are reacting to Trumps tarifs, its time to move on. Hmmm, I dunno, maybe I'm in too deep already. Just typing this makes me want to move on to the next million page book in the series.

Anyway.... "Way of Kings" - very good book, just very long for those of us with attention deficit disor...

Philo B 93 said:

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I finished "Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson. This is the longest book I've ever read, with 1137 pages or 45 hours of audible.

I've read three Brandon Sanderson books recently, and I'm done with his books. They're good, but world-building just isn't my thing. I liked Way of Kings, and if he could do it in half the pages I'd continue with the series. The story is epic. Does this sound familiar: young warrior/slave boy finds out he may have special powers that can defeat evil and save the world with the help of an old Jedi warrior? I love the idea, but when I read real-world news feeds and start wondering how the Parshendi and Alethi are reacting to Trumps tarifs, its time to move on. Hmmm, I dunno, maybe I'm in too deep already. Just typing this makes me want to move on to the next million page book in the series.

Anyway.... "Way of Kings" - very good book, just very long for those of us with attention deficit disor...

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I've wrestled with reading this. Have heard great things, but also read that 80% of it is filler and causes fatigue. They pay off is only about 20% of the book. I love to be engrossed in a book. 800+ pages of filler material scares me.

I finished Basil's War by Stephen Hunter, of the Bob Lee Swagger books yesterday and started Lock In: A Novel of the Near Future (Lock In series book 1) by John Scalzi.

Aren't there 14 books in the series too?

Curious what other two of his you have read? Sanderson actually has several writing styles IMO. His Stormlight Archives is absolutely the sweeping grand epic with soooo many moving parts. It's a lot for sure.

But I feel like his other books are much tighter in scope and scale and in line with everything else really out there in the fantasy landscape. He even does whimsical one offs in his secret projects that are actually pretty great and even wholesome. At least the ones I've read so far.

Philo B 93 said:

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I finished "Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson. This is the longest book I've ever read, with 1137 pages or 45 hours of audible.

I've read three Brandon Sanderson books recently, and I'm done with his books. They're good, but world-building just isn't my thing. I liked Way of Kings, and if he could do it in half the pages I'd continue with the series. The story is epic. Does this sound familiar: young warrior/slave boy finds out he may have special powers that can defeat evil and save the world with the help of an old Jedi warrior? I love the idea, but when I read real-world news feeds and start wondering how the Parshendi and Alethi are reacting to Trumps tarifs, its time to move on. Hmmm, I dunno, maybe I'm in too deep already. Just typing this makes me want to move on to the next million page book in the series.

Anyway.... "Way of Kings" - very good book, just very long for those of us with attention deficit disor...

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I recently finished this and then dove straight into Words of Radiance and now I'm on Oathbringer lol… I got straight up addicted. About halfway through Oathbringer and finally taking a breather.

I suggest sticking with it. You got through way of kings which had a ton of the early world building.

TheVarian said:

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Aren't there 14 books in the series too?

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No. Stormlight Archive has 5 books out right now. The 5th is fairly new. There are also 2 very short novellas called edgedancer and dawnshard that take place between books 2-3 and 3-4 respectively (I think - I read edgedancer but haven't gotten to dawnshard yet). And when I say short it's short. Edgedancer was 8 hours on audible I think.

I got about 15% into "The Way of Kings" and dropped it. After reading so many positive reviews about Sanderson, I wanted to try it but just couldn't get into it.

Wheel of time is what I was thinking, 15 books.

TheVarian said:

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Wheel of time is what I was thinking, 15 books.

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Lol yep, and Sanderson wrote the last 3 after the Jordan wrote himself into a corner and then had the nerve to die.

Sanderson is a machine with releasing content.

Philo B 93 said:

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I finished "Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson. This is the longest book I've ever read, with 1137 pages or 45 hours of audible.

I've read three Brandon Sanderson books recently, and I'm done with his books. They're good, but world-building just isn't my thing. I liked Way of Kings, and if he could do it in half the pages I'd continue with the series. The story is epic. Does this sound familiar: young warrior/slave boy finds out he may have special powers that can defeat evil and save the world with the help of an old Jedi warrior? I love the idea, but when I read real-world news feeds and start wondering how the Parshendi and Alethi are reacting to Trumps tarifs, its time to move on. Hmmm, I dunno, maybe I'm in too deep already. Just typing this makes me want to move on to the next million page book in the series.

Anyway.... "Way of Kings" - very good book, just very long for those of us with attention deficit disor...

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I'm right there with you. I read the previous 4 and liked them, but felt that all of them were at least 50% longer than they needed to be. I would struggle with them to varying degrees and then the end would be good enough to bring me back.

I started WoKs and got a few chapters in and stopped because I wasn't in the mood to constantly read about depressed personal inner dialogue struggles, trying to remember what happened in the previous books from however many years ago, and I figured it would be like the previous four - slogging through all the boring stuff to stay with the story.

I have read most all of Sanderson's books. I liked the earlier stuff better, I think. As he has gone more and more into the Cosmere integration stuff, They are harder for me to like as someone who just wants a good book, not a research project.

Honestly no positive I will go back and finish WoK.

1st Quarter Reads:
1) "Shadowland" by Peter Straub - just ok (C+)
2)-4) "The Island of Dr Moreau", "The Food of the Gods", and "The First Men in the Moon" by H. G. Wells - they were ok, but don't think held up (B-)
5) "The Magic Circle" by Katherine Neville - Interesting, but threw in just too many different old stories and attempt to connect just too much (B)
6) "The White House Years" by Henry Kissinger. First of 3 memoirs that covered 1st Nixon Administration (late 68 to early 73). I was 8-12 yrs old during this period and while I knew the stuff was going on, not how they were all related. Quite a period - Vietnam, SALT talks, opening with China, Israel/ME, India/Pakistan, etc. Trump has it easy compared to Nixon (State Department, Media, College demonstrations). Like him or not, Kissinger understood the world much better than those around him. It was about 2250 pages, but I certainly learned a lot and much that still resonates today. (A)
7) "The Ferryman" by Justin Cronin. Really enjoyed his vampire trilogy that started with "The Passage". This was quite different, but he is a good writer. (A-)
8) -9) "Paris" and "Munich" (Shadowseer #2 & #3) by Morgan Rice - light quick read fantasy series (B)

Throwing this out there for you and other high fantasy fans. AI is a huge help especially at first with remembering character names, connections etc. used it a lot for way of kings. Didn't need it by the time I got into the meat of words of radiance.