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jwcarlson
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My wife suggested The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater a couple of years ago, and I finally dedicated myself to finishing it. I like the concept. It's fictional Earth, relatively modern era, focused on a tiny island with very Celtic scenery, climate, and lore. There are magical "water horses", the only place in the world where they can be found. They're bloodthirsty, but of course people race on them once a year for bragging rights and a decent haul.

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I'll be on vacation next week, where I plan to spend a lot of time relaxing and reading.  I'm trying to decide what books to take.  It's been quite a while since I read any John D. MacDonald, so I might revisit the Travis McGee books.

A bunch of Louis Lamour or Elmer Kelton westerns is another option, and I'm keeping an open mind in case anything else occurs to me.

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On 9/14/2022 at 8:15 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'll be on vacation next week, where I plan to spend a lot of time relaxing and reading.  I'm trying to decide what books to take.  It's been quite a while since I read any John D. MacDonald, so I might revisit the Travis McGee books.

A bunch of Louis Lamour or Elmer Kelton westerns is another option, and I'm keeping an open mind in case anything else occurs to me.

I went to a used book store yesterday and picked up a few books to take on vacation.  The one on top is by an author I'm not familiar with, but it looked interesting.  The others are all from authors I've read before.

I don't think I've read a book before that Steve White wrote solo, but I've read a number of them where he collaborated with other authors, and I liked all of them.  Hopefully I'll like this one, but I also like books that Linda Evans collaborates on, and I didn't much care for the one I read that she wrote by herself.

I think I have all of Elmer Kelton's novels, but this book is a collection of some of his short stories.  I couldn't stand waiting and started on it last night.  As I believe I mentioned in a post earlier in this thread, in my opinion he's the best ever to write westerns, with Elmore Leonard a close second, and then Louis L'Amour.

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Enjoy your vacation, @JettsPapa!

Nice haul from the local shop too!  I need to do better locating local book stores, there are a few around, but one of them is mostly dedicated to paper back romance books that I've never seen a living person read, but that apparently exist in droves.  Their prices are also not particularly great.

 

I'm over halfway through The Wheel of Time #5 The Fires of Heaven.  I am actually enjoying this one more than maybe the other four so far.  Either that or I'm just learning better what I enjoy about it.  They sure are long son-of-a-guns though!

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I think I have a Sean Carroll book, but haven't read it.  The Big Picture, I believe.

I listened to his podcast "Mindscape" when it first started about four years ago.  Didn't click with me for very long, but I did always enjoy him as a guest on other podcasts.  Hope you enjoy the book!  I've been on a pretty hard break from non-fiction and I am not feeling pulled back to it at all.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I finished The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time #5) and I think it might be my favorite one so far.  I struggled a bit with 3 and 4.  Putting 10 books or so between these beefcakes might be the key. 

 

Onto Vinland Saga 3 and then will either pick up Stephen King's new Fairy Tale or the last of The Fall of Babel (Books of Babel #4). 

Probably the king book because it's spooky season, of course! 

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I just finished reading "The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy" by Kliph Nesteroff.  The writing style was unusual, with loads of quotes.  I ended up liking that once I got accustomed to it.  It had a weird intro and end that felt tacked on, as if some editor somewhere wanted it all tied together with a bow.  And the end also felt a bit like a love letter to a single comedian; and awkward one at that.  Still, if you like comedy, the subject matter is so compelling and the quotes bring it to life.  I really enjoyed this book, and it gave me a new perspective on a topic I like. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I read Uzumaki and it was... OK, I guess.  I didn't find anything contained within horrific in any way, but I guess it was semi-interesting.  

After that I read The End of Alice by A.M. Homes.  This was one of the most disturbing/"messed up" books I have ever read.  It was unsettling.  I purchased it after hearing it was a very disturbing book and I like disturbing.  I thought it was about an eating disorder and that is not at all what it was about.

Then I read Vinland Saga #4 - I am really liking this series and other than Uzumaki it's the only manga I have ever read.  

Currently reading The Fall of Babel (Books of Babel #4) by Josiah Bancroft - I've enjoyed 1-3 quite a bit and am curious to see how it ends!

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Within the last year or so I found John Scalzi (science fiction author), and really like his books.  A few days ago I finished his "Agent to the Stars".  It's a first contact novel different from any other one I've ever read, and also one of the funniest books I've ever read.

There is some adult language, but not a great deal, and is otherwise is okay for a broad audience.

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Finished Scorpio Races a while ago, I thought it was good. Currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (The Road). It's still weird reading dialogue with no quotation marks, but it works. It's a gristly story, but I needed a change of pace. 

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On 11/9/2022 at 8:00 PM, jwcarlson said:

I did not like Blood Meridian at all and I absolutely love The Road.  I listen to the audiobook once or twice a year (and read it in print originally).  I think I donated Blood Meridian. 

Not done with it yet, but it is an entirely different experience. I think the main character is less relatable. I get why he may have wanted to delve into that side of humanity, but yea. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

About Face, by colonel David H. Hackworth. pretty good bio from one of the most decorated soldiers in US history, from joining the merchant marine under age in the end of WWII all through post vietnam where he calls out US military policy. lots of soldier talk, killing, etc, so not a book for those who dont care for that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished Vinland Saga 5, I'm really enjoying the series.

Vinland Saga: Vinland Saga, Book 5 (Series #05) (Hardcover) - Walmart.com

Then read Red Rising by Pierce Brown, which was quite enjoyable.

Red Rising: 8601422201284: Pierce Brown: Books - Amazon.com

Starting Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman.  It's a "spin-off" from his Arc of the Scythe series, which was pretty good.

Gleanings: 9781529509540: Amazon.com: Books

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I've been having some major reading slumps lately. I went about a month and a half without finishing anything that wasn't for a book club, and I didn't even like that book very much. So I started getting 4+ books at a time from the library, chosen at random from my 800+ book tbr. Storygraph will give me a selection of 6ish books from my list every time I log in, not just whatever was added most recently, and I'll just put holds on the first 4 that show up that my library actually has. Lots of flops this way, which clears my list, but I also ended up with 2 long winners fairly close together. The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting (which has a sequel I'll probably read at some point) and The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. I'm almost 700 pages into this one and loving it.

Edited by Katherine
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