I just finished You Can't Win by Jack Black. Overall, I thought it was an excellent read. Great bird's eye view of the criminal underworld of the 19th/early 20th century. Now onto James by Percival Everett, I think that one should be good too, @Elodin .By the way, have you heard of his other book 'The Trees ? I heard about it earlier and it sounds like it would be worth reading also.
Finished Snakehead(Goodreads page), the fourth book in Peter May's "China Thrillers" series. While nowhere near as good as his "Lewis Trilogy", they are nonetheless an entertaining and easy read, and this entry is no exception. Moving the action from China to the USA for this novel hurts it somewhat, as what made this series somewhat different disappears to a degree, but it's still a good read and I gave it three and a half stars in my Goodreads review.
Next up is the new novel from Stuart Turton, The Last Murder at the End of the World (Goodreads page), not to be confused with the similarly named recent TV series.
Turton impressed me with his debut novel, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle* (Goodreads page) which I loved due to it being a fun twist of the Groundhog Day formula combined with a "murder in a mansion" mystery, so expectations for this new novel are high
(* was released as "7 Deaths [..]" in certain markets).
@Elodin I finished James by Percival Everett. Thanks for the recommendation. I found it a thoroughly riveting and mind-expanding read, Gonna try Telephone, by the same author, at some point in the future, but onto a Jungian work of literature directly , The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies.
I finished Jurassic Park, fantastic book, noticed while reading the book that the sequels have scenes from the book reworked to fit those stories. Will get on to The Lost World soon.
Next up Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. @FuriousMachine I recently picked up the China series for cheap and gave Firemaker to a colleague since I got a brand new copy. Can't wait to crack open the 2nd book!
@Black_Swordsman glad you enjoyed it. I'm almost done with The Living Force. It's quite good. John Jackson Miller has really honed his craft. Ill be interested when he comes out with his Batman Returns book. A first shot at the DC universe for him. That will be set between the first 2 Tim Burton Batman films. My next read I think I might try Knife by Salman Rushdie.
@MightyDemon82 Nice! I think the quality waned a bit with the third and fourth entries, but they were still good reads even if they don't quite match up with the first two. Hoping it picks back up for the final two entries, which I should get to some time later this year
Picked up a copy of The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski and looking forward to diving into the world of the Witcher. Been a dreadful year so far on the reading front so I’m hoping this kickstarts some enjoyment and I actually finish it.
@MightyDemon82 Oh mate, I’ve been scouring my local library for interesting non fiction. I brought home and subsequently returned one by James O’Brien, another on the history of the Israel Palestine conflict and one about the history of the fight for a republic in the UK. All of them made me depressed, angry or both at the same time. I’ve decided I need some escapism in my reading so I’m hoping to find some in a fantasy epic.
@Bundersvessel I had a good time with the Witcher novels, with The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny being my favourites. They are more like a collection of short stories about Geralt's adventures than the huge, sweeping story the later books present. I enjoyed the rest of the series as well, though the geopolitical aspect of it had just too many players involved so I struggled to keep up with them all (it helped when I found the online map and I could see how the various regions connected to each other).
I do feel quite certain that it will be a lighter and more enjoyable fare than what you encountered in your previous reads this year. Hope you'll have good time with them
Just finished reading Stuart Turton's The Last Murder at the End of the World (Goodreads page) and Turton is now 2 for 2 with me. Sticking with a murder mystery, the setting this time is a small island where a small group of survivors of the apocalypse are eking out a life for themselves, when the murder of a high-ranking elder throws the entire community into turmoil, threatening the very existence of the last remains of humanity.
Turton knows how to weave a compelling mystery and create engaging characters in an interesting setting and this one was very difficult to put down. I gave it four and a half stars in my Goodreads review.
Next up, I'm returning to the world of Krynn, with Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Goodreads page), the first new Dragonlance novel I've read in probably close to 30 years.
The very first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, holds the distinction of being not only the first fantasy novel I ever read, but also the first book I ever read in English at age 11. As such, the Chronicles trilogy has held a special place in the nostalgia chamber of my heart and I've read them several times since. I stopped reading new Dragonlance material some time in the 90's, so I'm curious to see if I'll enjoy these new stories. If so, I will continue to explore the various Dragonlance trilogies available out there
Very amusing incidents in The Deptford Trilogy thus far, all set in Canada, dunno if Robertson Davies was mandatory reading in your neck of the woods, @Jimmer-jammer ?
"Man is the pie that bakes and eats himself, and the recipe is separation." - Alasdair Gray
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