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Books You've Read 2014 (1 Viewer)

mattCR

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I tried searching for this thread, didn't find it.. just the 2013 one.. went back a few pages didn't see one. I can't believe it's march and we don't have a current thread.

Several books on my list, but I'm just making my way through "Influx" Damn. This is some great/fun SciFi.
 

DaveF

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Last book I listened to was "Hexed", the second in the Iron Druid series. It's fun, in the vein of The Dresden Files. Not as strong, but I've got a thing now for these modern wizard solving mysteries. I've stalled again on Wise Mans Fear.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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I just finished George Adam's Constitutional History of England. This somewhat dry work was written by Yale professor Adams in 1921 and revised several times since. A lot of pre-requisite reading is needed to get through this work - I went to law school and recently have done lots of reading on UK history. But the book is fascinating in its explanation of the slow rise of the English common law and form of government, explaining the background of the complex rules for real property law and other topics.

Certainly it helps to understand Tolkein. It confirms my view that much of the vocabulary of Lord of the Rings comes from this history, confirming my view that hobbits are "little Englishmen" of historic times. For example, the evolution of shires into counties, and the power of the shire reeves - sheriffs. Also the evolution of a gathering of King's advisors to parley (talk things over) - parliament.

https://archive.org/details/constitutionalh00adamgoog
 

Stan

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Just started "The Martian". It's about an expedition to Mars, the crew is hit by a dust storm, thinking one guy had died, they evacuate and leave him behind. Nobody knows he's still there. Barely into it, but the guys' writing style is very natural, excellent story teller, looking forward to the rest of it.
 

DavidJ

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I'll try to catch up with this thread when I have more time, but Stan, I have The Martian on my table as my next in line.
 

Bob_S.

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Just finished Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Now reading The Silmarillion. Also reading my Batman comics from the early '80s.
 

Brian McP

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One book I'm certain to read is this new biography on Sharon Tate by her sister Debra -- with the thought that another Manson movie will be out before the end of the year, my one hope is this book will 'even up the score', so to speak. It is the very first highlighting only Sharon's life and career.Here's a link to the book's website:http://www.sharontaterecollection.com/
 

mattCR

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Just finished Influx. The book gets off to a roar.. it's phenomenal.. the last two chapters and ending are way, way, way too abrupt and hurt the story. Still, it's OK. Too bad when with about another 4 chapters (or really another book) this could have been fantastic
 

Adam Gregorich

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Read the Divergent Trilogy, the first three Magic Kingdom for Sale books and just finishing Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life
 

mattCR

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Adam Gregorich said:
Read the Divergent Trilogy, the first three Magic Kingdom for Sale books and just finishing Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life
I really enjoyed the first book.. "Divirgent" The second book was "OK" the third book was just a disaster (IMHO)..
 

Dheiner

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Re-re-reading "The Foundation" series. I still fing it very entertaining.

This might be heresy, I tried reading Blood Meridian, and hated it I understand that the endless repititious descriptions of the landscapes were intentional. I just found it boring. I stopped reading it.

PS. and off topic: I didn't like "No Country", either.
 

ponset

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Just finshed DOC SAVAGE: THE PHANTOM LAGOON by Will Murray.

Plan on starting the new NERO WOLFE mystery by Robert Goldsborough,
MURDER IN THE BALL PARK.
 

Steve Tannehill

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Just finished A Dance With Dragone: A Song of Ice and Fire Book Five.Now I am waiting like everyone else for George R.R. Martin to finish book six. And seven.
 

DaveF

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I haven't been reading in the conventional meaning. I started A WIse Man's Fear and got nowhere. Too much TV and Tivo and boardgames. But I listen to my monthly Audible book, so here's my reading from the past nine months or so."Skin Game: A Novel of the Dresden Files, Book 15" by Jim Butcher"American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition (A Full Cast Production)" by Neil Gaiman"The Rook: A Novel" by Daniel O'Malley"Hexed" by Kevin Hearne"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline"Ender's Game Alive: The Full Cast Audioplay" by Orson Scott Card"Dust", "Silo", and "Wool" by Hugh Howey"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank BaumI'm listening to:"Hammered: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 3" by Kevin Hearne
 

frik

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Another Stephen King fan here. I recently finished his latex, Mr Mercedes (decent thriller, not one of his best, but certainly worth checking out) and can't wait for Revival his second 2014 novel, coming in November.

sk (my initials as well....)
 

David_B_K

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I am a history buff, so I primarily read non-fiction. Books I have read this year include:

Colonel Roosevelt - the third volume of Edmund Morris' massive 3-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt.

That book included lots of info on WWI. I have never read much on this conflict, and as 2014 is the centennial of the start of the war, I finally got around to reading this coffee table book -

The American Heritage History of World War I. Really just an over-view, but a good overview of the conflict.

The Inextinguishable Symphony - Martin Goldsmith is one of the hosts on Sirius/XM's Symphony Hall channel. I heard him mention this book while he was plugging his newest book. It tells the story of the Jűdischer Kulterbund in Nazi Germany. This was an organization that produced music and theater for Jews in Germany after they were denied employment in the arts after the Nazis began passing discriminatory laws like the Nuremburg laws. Goldsmith's parents were orchestra members in the Kulterbund, and that membership is probably what enabled them to escape Nazi Germany just before all the Jews were taken to the death camps.

After reading that, I wanted to read something that could explain how such a barbarous regime came to power. I don't know if it can ever make sense, but a good summation was found in -

The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans. He has written two follow-up volumes - The Third Reich in Power and The Third Reich at War. I will probably read those two eventually; but it is depressing to read several books on the Nazis (or the Communists under Stalin) in succession.

John Wayne: American - a good biography of The Duke.

Rising Phoenix - by Kyle Mills. My favorite author of thrillers was Vince Flynn, who tragically died last year in his mid-40's of prostate cancer.One of the Vince Flynn newsletters mentioned that Kyle Mills was hired to finish the last Mitch Rapp book that Flynn was working on. So, I decided to try one of his books to see if he would be a worthy successor. Rising Phoenix reminded me a bit of Flynn's first novel. Not great, but held my attention.

I'm not sure what to read ext. Right now I'm reading some of my old comic books.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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David,
I haven't found a standard history of WWI. Even Winston Churchill's The World Crisis isn't up to the quality of his later history of WWII. Alexander Solzhenitsyn's August 1914 is a good book but partially fiction: it covers the opening battles of the Eastern Front.

The two biggest secrets of WWII were the atomic bomb and the code-breaking of Ultra. We disclosed the first by dropping a pair of them. But Ultra wasn't declassified until about 1973. Any history of WWII written before then has to be examined in light of the Ultra disclosures. A good book on Ultra is Ultra Goes To War by Ronald Lewin. You won't know how close we came to losing WWII until you come to grips with Ultra's contribution.
 

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