Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (audiobook).

What can I say other than wow? We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants as Americans. Makes me so sad to see how far we've drifted from Washington's time.

But it was certainly a harbinger of times to come that by the time Washington's second term came around, polite politics was over and it never came back.

Highly recommend this book for all Americans.

BenFiasco14 said:

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BaitShack said:

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I'm not a big reader but recently listened to Black Snow about the firebombing of Japan in WW2.
I was under the impression that General LeMay came up with the idea of firebombing Japan. The idea had already been floated around. He stepped in, implemented it, perfected it, and carried it out with a vengeance.

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Black Snow is an excellent book and I rarely see it mentioned outside of war nerd circles. Good on you. How was the audiobook? Curious which version / who narrated it?

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The version I listened to was narrated by L.J. Ganser. I checked it out from the Harris County library on the Libby App. My Bryan/College Station library card gives me access to Harris county as well.

I enjoyed it. It focused more on the Japanese side than I expected. I was surprised at how much leeway our Generals had to conduct the war as they saw fit. LeMay ordered the initial incendiary raids with little or no approval. As I remember Hap Arnold was laid up at the time and LeMay ordered the strikes.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. I really enjoyed the second Hunger Games prequel novel. In my opinion, The Hunger Games is one of the best series of all time, and I always love it when Collins returns to this universe she created. As with her first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Collins finds a way to add depth to the original trilogy with these backstories.

Atomic Habits by James Clear. Have been slowly reading this over the course of the last few months and finally finished it. Solid advice and suggestions, though didn't contain anything that I really found groundbreaking.

Finished Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang. Lots of people call it a 5 star. I enjoyed it, but more of a 4 star for me. Glad I read it, bit won't be pushing it for others to read.

Still reading 11/22/63. Have enjoyed it so far too, but hasn't taken me over yet as I had hoped (another often said to be one of the best ever). It's good, but its no Lonesome Dove. Only 35% through so suspect things will move to the better. In the meantime need to start another book (I always like to have two books going at once). At a loss which is next. Options -

Assassins Quest (Book 3 of Farseer). Have heard it is slow and worst of the trilogy, and at 750 ish pages might be a wait for later
Iron Gold (book 4 of Red Rising). Loved books 1-3, here this one is a bitt different. Also hear a bit slower paced.
Grace of Kings (Book 1 of Dandelion Dynasty). Also hear great things, but trying to decide if I want to start a new trilogy while I already have the two above plus two more to finish)
The Pines (book 1 of Wayward Pines (loved Recursion and Dark Matter). But same comment as above about starting a new trilogy.

Help!

The pines is an easy read and low commitment. They read like one book, really.

No real help on the other stuff. Love the Red Rosong series, but I would say time it to finish the completed stuff around the time the last one comes out next years.

Hardly remember the Farseer stuff, I read it so long ago. Do remember not loving the last one.

Absolute said:

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The pines is an easy read and low commitment. They read like one book, really.

No real help on the other stuff. Love the Red Rosong series, but I would say time it to finish the completed stuff around the time the last one comes out next years.

Hardly remember the Farseer stuff, I read it so long ago. Do remember not loving the last one.

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Thanks, good input.

I ultimately decided on none of the above and starter The Will of the Many (Islington) on a whim. Geronimo!

Suneater 2 - Howling Dark

Good series so far ; just started Book 3 - Demon in White - hope it picks up a little more here (I am told it does). Some have said this is better than Red Rising - so far I put it below the first 2 books of Red Rising but that is a very high bar for comparison.

I am enjoying it and plan to finish the series.

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Suneater 2 - Howling Dark

Good series so far ; just started Book 3 - Demon in White - hope it picks up a little more here (I am told it does). Some have said this is better than Red Rising - so far I put it below the first 2 books of Red Rising but that is a very high bar for comparison.

I am enjoying it and plan to finish the series.

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Have also heard good things. On my list. Enjoy

Books 2025
Read:
1. The Innocent- David Baldacci. Book 1. Will Robie
2. The Hit- David Baldacci. Book 2. Will Robie
3. Forever, Interrupted -Taylor Jenkins Reid
4. Split Second- David Baldacci. Book 1. King & Maxwell
5. An Affair of Spies: Ronald Balson
6. Agent to the Stars: John Scalzi
7. After I do: Taylor Jenkins Reid
8. Traitors Gate:Jeffrey Archer William Warwick book 6
9. Lucky: Marissa Staple
10. When the Moon Hits your Eye: John Scalzi
11. Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way into Our Hearts: Jeremy Egner
12. The women: Kristin Hannah
13. Strangers in Time: David Baldacci
14. South of Nowhere: Jeffrey Deaver
15. Maybe in Another Life: Taylor Jenkins Reed
16. Unlocked: John Scalzi
17. An Eye for an Eye. Jeffery Archer. Book 5. William Warwick.
18. The Goddess of Warsaw
19. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
20. The Nightingale: Kristin Hannah
21. The Life we Bury: Allen Eskens (max Rupert and Joe Talbert book 1)
22. Verity: Colleen Hoover
23. The Guise of Another: Allen Eskens
24. Elsewhere: Gabrielle Zevin
25. The Heavens may Fall- Allen Eskens book 3
26. The Deep Dark Descending. - Allen Eskens Book4.
27. Number of the Stars: Lois Lowry
28. The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah
29. Murderbot All Systems Red: Martha Wells
30. Some of Tim's Stories: SE Hinton
31. Lloyd McNeils Last Ride: Will Leitch
32. Rules of Prey: John Sanford.
33. The Widow: John Grisham
34. The Little Liar: Mitch Albom
35. The Shadows we hide: Alan Eskens
36. The Mars Room: Rachel Kushner-in progress

Listened:
1. Over my dead body: Jeffery Archer. Book 4 Willam Warwick
2. Next in Line: Jeffrey Archer. Book 5. William Warwick
3. Long Road: Stephen Hyden
4. Slay book 3. Scott Sigler
5. The Target: David Baldacci. Will Robie book 3
6. The Guilty: David Baldacci Will Robie book 4
7. The End: David Baldacci Will Robie book 5
8. Split Second. David Baldacci: King and Maxwell book 1
9. Hour Game: David Baldacci: King and Maxwell book 2.
10. Zero Day: David Baldacci. Will Puller book 1
11. Simple Genius: David Baldacci Book 3
12. First Family: David Baldacci. King and Maxwell book 4
13. Sixth man. David Baldacci King and Maxwell book 5
14. Atmosphere: Taylor Jenkins Reid
15. King and Maxwell: David Baldacci. Book 6
16. The Forgotten: David Baldacci. John Puller Book 2
17. The Escape: David Baldacci. John Puller Book 3
18. A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Addams
19. The Stench of Honolulu: Jack Handey
20. The Uncool: Cameron Crowe
21. Going Home: A American.
22. Nash Falls: David Baldacci -inc(Spotify only has half the book. Grrrr)
23. 11/22/63: Stephen King-inc

I just read the 1st Suneater and it seemed like a Dune ripoff for quite a bit of the book. I did get hooked more at the end though and am looking forward to getting off planet for a while (hopefully).

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Suneater 2 - Howling Dark

Good series so far ; just started Book 3 - Demon in White - hope it picks up a little more here (I am told it does). Some have said this is better than Red Rising - so far I put it below the first 2 books of Red Rising but that is a very high bar for comparison.

I am enjoying it and plan to finish the series.

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I'm looking forward to your feedback on book 3. There are parts of the first two books that are very good, but to me, a lot of slogging to get through for them to be enjoyable enough to continue. I've held off on 3 because of that.

Finished Treasure Island this morning and started a new book called The Worst Ship in the Fleet by Skyler Ramirez. It is part of a series called Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes, and only cost a buck or two.
If anyone is familiar with the series, please let me know your opinion.

I too made the dune connection to the sunbather series. That fades some as you go. He does pull ideas from a lot of different popular stories.

I am on book 4, listening on audible. Taking a break currently. Personally, I would not put it on par with red rising. But I do like it and plan to finish it.

rhutton125 said:

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Tai-pan. I thought it was pretty badass but unfortunately it just kinda ends. Though it seems as though it may be just the beginning for this overall Saga.

I'd read Shogun before many years ago. Do the other books in the saga compare well to these two? I'm down for more…

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As may gather from my handle but fan of his books.

More recent historically, but really liked "Nobel House". Takes place in Hong Kong.

Finished "How Music Works" by David Byrne.

I was looking so forward to the insights of a quirky, famous pop music maker. But that was a freaking slog! It might have been a decent article in some music magazine with about 370 pages edited out of the total 384. I don't even want to read anymore because of that book.

I'm also half way though "The Running Man" by Stephen King. That's no picnic,either. I didn't know there was a movie coming out at the same time.

I'm going to take off the rest of December after "Running Man" and see if I can find something decent for January. I'm craving one of those cheesy looking self-published books that pop up on facebook. "The Hula Island Detective" or "The Escaped Prisoners in post-apocolyptic New Mexice" or something like that.

Have you seen the original Running Man movie from the 80's with Arnold Schwarzenegger? I was just wondering how close to the book that movie was.

The 80s Running Man movie is almost unrecognizable from the book. It looks like the 2025 movie is a lot closer to the book. I look forward to watching the current version after I finish reading. I enjoyed the 80s movie when it came out, too.

took my kid to the movie last week. Don't remember the book so can't say how faithful it is, but the movie is pretty awful.

In order:
Malazon Book of the Fallen (X2)

• Gardens of the Moon
• Deadhouse Gates
• Memories of Ice
• House of Chains
• Midnight Tides
• The Bonehunters
• Reaper's Gale
• Toll the Hounds
• Dust of Dreams
• The Crippled God

The Kharkanas Trilogy (X1)

• Forge of Darkness
• Fall of Light

Novels of the Malazan Empire (X1)

• Night of Knives
• Return of the Crimson Guard
• Stonewielder
• Orb Sceptre Throne
• Blood and Bone
• Assail

Path to Ascendancy (X1)

• Dancer's Lament
• Deadhouse Landing
• Kellanved's Reach

Diggity said:

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took my kid to the movie last week. Don't remember the book so can't say how faithful it is, but the movie is pretty awful.

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I'm not surprised by this. The book is not exactly "The Stand". The 80s movie was decent for its time because it was an action movie with Schwartzenegger at the peak of his Schwartzenegger-ness.

Stephen King used his alias, Richard Bachman, as the author of the book. Seems like that's a sign of his confidence in the story. It was written in 1982 and takes place in 2025. Its intersting to see what he got right about the future. We still don't have flying cars (landspeeder-type air cars), but he was pretty close on some of the media stuff. We don't have The Running Man tv show yet, but we have a lot of reality tv and some American Ninja Warrior and Amazing Race type stuff that is getting close.

If I'm writing a book about the world with the same gap in time, it would take place in 2068. If we don't have flying cars by then, I'm gonna be one pissed off centenarian. I'll have all new organs, skin tissue, and bones by then. I'm stockpiling Viagra now.

Finished The Firm by John Grisham. My first Grisham book. Thought it was really good but was a bit disappointed in the ending as it seemed rather abrupt.

About halfway through I thought it was going to take a more psychological thriller turn, ala the movie Ricochet, where all his talk of a secret FBI mission was going to get him labeled as crazy and paranoid, leading to him having to prove himself. When it didn't take that turn, I think that took some of the wind out of the ending for me.

Either way, a very good read. I picked up 4 Grisham books (A Time to Kill, Pelican Brief, and Runaway Jury) for $2 a couple of months ago, so I'll likely stick with them to finish out the year.

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
The Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton
Pet Sematary - Stephen King
The Martian - Andy Wier

August
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris

September
Red Dragon - Thomas Harris

October
womp womp

November
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

December
The Firm - John Grisham

Philo B 93 said:

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Diggity said:

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took my kid to the movie last week. Don't remember the book so can't say how faithful it is, but the movie is pretty awful.

---

I'm not surprised by this. The book is not exactly "The Stand". The 80s movie was decent for its time because it was an action movie with Schwartzenegger at the peak of his Schwartzenegger-ness.

Stephen King used his alias, Richard Bachman, as the author of the book. Seems like that's a sign of his confidence in the story. It was written in 1982 and takes place in 2025. Its intersting to see what he got right about the future. We still don't have flying cars (landspeeder-type air cars), but he was pretty close on some of the media stuff. We don't have The Running Man tv show yet, but we have a lot of reality tv and some American Ninja Warrior and Amazing Race type stuff that is getting close.

If I'm writing a book about the world with the same gap in time, it would take place in 2068. If we don't have flying cars by then, I'm gonna be one pissed off centenarian. I'll have all new organs, skin tissue, and bones by then. I'm stockpiling Viagra now.

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He wrote the Bachman books under the Richard Bachman pseudonym as a test to see if his stories would still sell without his name behind it. He wanted to see if people were buying his work because he was a best-selling author, or because his stories are good.

The Long Walk was also written under the Bachman name, as was Rage and Roadwork.

Rage has been taken out of print, because it featured a school shooting (although I think it is a mistake, only one person was shot (a teacher), and the whole story was a critique on society and growing up more than anything).

As far as I know, there are no plans to make Roadwork into a movie. I doubt any government would support it.

Man, Grisham is a ton of nice easy reading. I could crank out 3 books a week if all I read was Grisham.

Rudyjax said:

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Man, Grisham is a ton of nice easy reading. I could crank out 3 books a week if all I read was Grisham.

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I loved The Firm and need to read more of his books. Please let me know what others of his works are worth the read if you suggest any. A Time to Kill maybe? The Pelican Brief? (I think I saw this movie a long time ago, but don't remember it too well.) Any others?

Just go in order. There's the sequel to the firm that came out last year.

My favorite though is Sooley.

Backyard Gator said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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Diggity said:

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took my kid to the movie last week. Don't remember the book so can't say how faithful it is, but the movie is pretty awful.

---

I'm not surprised by this. The book is not exactly "The Stand". The 80s movie was decent for its time because it was an action movie with Schwartzenegger at the peak of his Schwartzenegger-ness.

Stephen King used his alias, Richard Bachman, as the author of the book. Seems like that's a sign of his confidence in the story. It was written in 1982 and takes place in 2025. Its intersting to see what he got right about the future. We still don't have flying cars (landspeeder-type air cars), but he was pretty close on some of the media stuff. We don't have The Running Man tv show yet, but we have a lot of reality tv and some American Ninja Warrior and Amazing Race type stuff that is getting close.

If I'm writing a book about the world with the same gap in time, it would take place in 2068. If we don't have flying cars by then, I'm gonna be one pissed off centenarian. I'll have all new organs, skin tissue, and bones by then. I'm stockpiling Viagra now.

---

He wrote the Bachman books under the Richard Bachman pseudonym as a test to see if his stories would still sell without his name behind it. He wanted to see if people were buying his work because he was a best-selling author, or because his stories are good.

The Long Walk was also written under the Bachman name, as was Rage and Roadwork.

Rage has been taken out of print, because it featured a school shooting (although I think it is a mistake, only one person was shot (a teacher), and the whole story was a critique on society and growing up more than anything).

As far as I know, there are no plans to make Roadwork into a movie. I doubt any government would support it.

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And don't forget Thinner!

Thanks! I am assuming you mean publication order. In this case, A Time to Kill was his first novel, I believe.

Ag12thman said:

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Thanks! I am assuming you mean publication order. In this case, A Time to Kill was his first novel, I believe.

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No you're right. I'd go in chronological except for the books that are related.

And with Time to Kill, it was published first, it wasn't until the success of The Firm it was re-released.

I think it was originally self published with 1000 copies or something.

The reading speed that many of you guys have is astounding. I'm lucky to get through one novel a month!

Malachi Constant said:

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The reading speed that many of you guys have is astounding. I'm lucky to get through one novel a month!

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Pffft. I'm beginning to doubt that I'll finish Project Hail Mary this year. I am about half way through after starting it last summer.

A Time To Kill is a must, as is the sequel Sycamore Row.

Pelican Brief was good, as was The Rainmaker.

Ag12thman said:

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Rudyjax said:

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Man, Grisham is a ton of nice easy reading. I could crank out 3 books a week if all I read was Grisham.

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I loved The Firm and need to read more of his books. Please let me know what others of his works are worth the read if you suggest any. A Time to Kill maybe? The Pelican Brief? (I think I saw this movie a long time ago, but don't remember it too well.) Any others?

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Read a ton of his stuff back int eh day, then it dropped off my radar for some reason. May have to revisit. Wife is not a huge reader berceuse she will only binge read. But she reads all his books.