Both very good. No real drop off in either. One of these years, I'll learn to wait for an entire trilogy, then read/listen to them one right after the other. Since there are ancestors to the original characters, it makes me work to remember too much. That being said, Follett does a good job of subtly jogging your memory.
Recently Read: The Quest - Nelson DeMille Endurance - Alfred Lansing An Officer and a Spy - Robert Harris Agent Zigzag* - Ben Macintyre The Kill List - Frederick Forsyth Wild - Cheryl Strayed Currently Reading - The White Tiger - Aravinda Adiga
Been reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McArthy based on suggestions I read on this forum (I think from the thread about how some actor was trying to get a movie made of it). Anyway, I've seen No Country for Old Men and The Road but I've never read any of his books. It's been interesting so far. Took me a little while to get used to the way he writes the dialogue, without any real punctuation or anything. Is that a normal Cormac staple or was that done somehow to reflect the crudeness of the speech at that time or something?
I just finished this and really enjoyed it. I've now got the second book in the series on the top of my stack.
Death instinct by Jed rubenfield. Good so far halfway thru. Engaging character in the surgeon, Younger.
Just started my first Joe Abercrombie book; the blade itself. Really enjoying his narrative style and the world he is creating
I devoured and enjoyed the hell out of The Expanse series (Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War, Cibola Burn, Abaddon's Gate). The opening trilogy was very well done, but the fourth book didn't work for me quite as much. However, I do think it was just setting the stage for the upcoming books in the series so I'll give it some slack. Thanks again Deckard! I tried to get through the Southern Watch trilogy, but wound up quitting partway into the third novel. The premise had promise, but it was a bit too meandering and I was getting the feeling that the central mysteries of the series weren't going to be resolved. On a friend's recommendation, I just finished The Last Policeman trilogy and had a good fun time reading it. The series is about a detective in New Hampshire in the last nine months before a massive asteroid is set to hit the earth. Ben Winters does an admirable job writing good detective stories with solid investigative techniques with the vivid background of a world descending into chaos and how different folks choose to face their impending doom. Up next: Tex and Molly in the Afterlife. It was recommended by a friend and sounds like it has a fun elements: aging hippies in the spirit world trying to interfere with the goals of corporations.
Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Awe.Some. Can't wait to see the movie now. Now starting How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein.
Hell yeah! Didn't know this was happening. I'm reading The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson. First novel in the Longmire series (tv show on A&E).
The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI by Betty Medsger Good book so far abut a physics professor and buds who stole a bunch of files out of an FBI office during the 1971 Frazier-Ali fight. The files they took showed the FBI was spying and actively undermining the anti-war and civil rights movements. I didn't know about this particular episode before I started reading. The author is one of the newspaper reporters that received the documents and it took her decades to track the burglers down and get them to talk (The FBI never found them.) A well written history built around a single incident. Think of In the Spirit of Crazy Horse but about the FBI with less outrage and overt politics.
This is the next one on my list as well. Should finish Pronto by Elmer Lenard (which features Raylan Givens from Justified FX tv series) this week.
RE The Cold Dish: Craig Johnson lives in Northern Wyoming and does a ton of book signings at the local Barnes and Noble. My mom loves his stuff. Speaking of which...I got a recommendation to read Michael Connelly here and recommended this to my mom. He has become here favorite author now. Thanks Clutchfans!!! Just finished my first Alternate History book called "Himmler's War" by Robert Conroy. Its a 'what if' yarn about Hitler dieing in a lucky bombing strike by the allies just after D-Day and the changes this brings about in the war. A fun read and relatively short. Currently reading "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge. This is one of the novels the HBO mini-series "The Pacific" was based on. Incredible read so far.
I realized this year that I like a lot of action in books. I do appreciate deep writing without action but for entertainment value, give me a lot of explosions and fistfights. Agree 100%. I find his ideas fascinating but his writing dull. Kudos on finishing Cryptonomicon as I couldn't. Diamond Age was great, though.
