So I’m loving my Anne Tyler. I read a bunch of her books years ago, probably finished her library to that point, then she dropped off my radar. She’s won buckets of awards, including a Pulitzer, and reading her is like being outside on the first warm, sunny day of spring. But without being treacly in the least.
In case anyone was wondering.
I may have missed it, but has anyone read The 5th Wave series by Rick Yancey. It’s YA thing. My wife has read all three books in 3 days (of couse, she has time on her hands) and swears they are great and wants me to read them. I read very slowly, so I need to know something is worth it before I commit.
Which one? I recently listened to Three Days in June and really liked it! I love me some Anne Tyler too!! I’ve read/listened to quite a few of hers and have enjoyed all of them.
Clock Dance. I finished it yesterday and am sad that it’s over. I just want to go back to that shabby little house in Baltimore!
I finally finished Never Let Go. Fantastic book. I’m willing to bet I will read it again.
Im sure they wont be anywhere near the quality of say a Tolkein … Asimov … Arthur C. Clark or Frank Herbert. My son has got my intrest peaked regarding the Warhammer 40k world. Hopefully if I decide to indulge it wont be complete garbage.
I just finished a book I started the day before yesterday, which hasn’t happened for me in years, and particularly not a 480 page literary thing. Wally Lamb’s The River Is Waiting. It was…grim. And fantastic. I’m not sure I’m glad I read it because it’s knotted my stomach a bit and I don’t know that I need that given all the other stuff knotting my stomach at present, but I’d definitely recommend it.
It came from Libby, so I put down the Emily Henry book I’d started (and like, @QuadQueen) to read it. I’ll happily return to the rom-com now.
Disclaimer: I have not read a single WH book in my life, even though the games and lore are familiar to me. But here’s my two cents:
They probably wont get up to that level, but I heard that some books are decent. Eisehorn is apparently some very grimdark detective/noir stuff, and some books in the ridiculously long Horus heresy are good. There also some are other series which are well liked, but I don’t remember their names.
There’s a ton of books and authors writing the stuff, so the quality will vary. Even here often mentioned Adrian Tchaikosvky has done some 40k short stories.
I have not, but I am writing that down on my “to read” list now.
Have you, or anyone else, read any novels by James Lee Burke…specifically the Dave Robicheaux series? I’ve done some internet research and there seems to be a pretty good concensus that they are very good books (murder/mystery gritty crime thriller genre) but just wanted to see if anyone here had read these.
I’ve finished all of the John Sandford books now, all of his “prey” series and all of the Virgil Flowers series, and I’m finishing up Stephen King’s latest one, Never Flinch. It’s pretty good, but I prefer King when he writes horror.
From what I understand there are over 40 books covering the heresy. From every possible prospective.
I read the first three. Imo they’re well written. Atmospherically (should that be a word lol) very well written.
Stopped because the books are a little too dark/gritty for me personally.
(I just borrowed the first “prey” book to try.)
I’m still waiting for mine to arrive. 
Let me know what you think.
Well, I am on book 3 (audiobooks) … Eyes of Prey
And, finished the first Virgil Flowers book.
So far so good.
The Life We Bury
I started this one last year and didn’t even make it the chapter. Took another crack at it and glad I did, ended up being a good one. The autistic brother Jeremy reminds me so much of Jed.
@ChickenLittle @BethB You’ll really enjoy working your way through the Prey series books. And the best part is…….I believe there are like 38 novels in that series, so you will have a long time of entertaining reads.
I took 2 weeks off around Christmas and I finished off the last 9 Virgin Flowers books. I enjoyed them, but I prefer the Prey series simply because I prefer Davenport as the detective over Virgil Flowers, but only because I like Davenport’s grittier, meaner personality. The last Flowers novel I read, Bloody Genius, was written in 2019….so, I’m not sure if he just ran out of steam writing those or what, but there was no “end” of Virgil Flowers in that novel, he just stopped writing them. But, both series are great.
I’m now about 120 pages from finishing that Stephen King book, Never Flinch, and then I’ll start on the Dave Robicheaux series. Now that @punnyguy you tell me you had to stop reading them for being too dark/gritty, that makes me want to read them more as that’s right up my alley! Of course, I’m a little bit of a weirdo in that I like dark/ gritty, blood, gore, etc. For instance, I greatly enjoyed the Terrifier movies with Art the clown, most people were thoroughly disgusted but I just laughed and enjoyed myself.
Aww, thanks for the kind words in that fight thread. I would have posted this there, but by the time I just now saw it today, that thread has gotten hundreds of posts longer with everyone discussing their fighting skills or whatever.
Yeah, it’s corny but true, with age comes wisdom and at 45, I’m old enough to have learned that a grown adult man shouldn’t be fighting like a kid in the schoolyard, especially over idiotic things. Not to mention, I’ve got too many books to read to bother with that nonsense.
I’m still making progress with “Never Flinch” (Stephen King), I’m at about page 230 out of 440. Harder to make progress during the work week, but still I’m aiming to finish it by Friday. Then get started with James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series.
General question: I’ve heard that Patricia Cornwell[sp?] is a pretty good author, with her books centering around some medical examiner who helps to solve murders. Has anyone ready any of her books? Are they worth reading? I wanted to hear some real world reviews before pulling the trigger on getting some of her books.
I haven’t read anything recently but listen to several years ago. They are good stories, maybe not as dark as you like.
Have tried any of the Pendergast series by Preston and Childs? They are definitely not conventional crimes but @punnyguy and I are definitely fans!
Thanks for the recommendation! I just read a few quick summaries for The Relic, and 2 or 3 of the others following this book and they looked right up my alley! I’ll be adding these to my list for sure, but they do appear pretty dark, macabre, horror-like, but I thought you didn’t like that style of books? Cabinet of curiosities, with all the bodies found, seems particularly interesting.
Now I’m gonna have to pump the brakes as my to do reading list has gotten pretty full, and unlike my mom, I cannot just perpetually add to it forever (lol, my mom probably has like 25,000 books on her “to read” list).
I’ve got all the James Lee Burke books (24 in the Dave Robicheaux series), then this Pendergast series, and one or two others that I can’t recall right now..
I’m a book whore, anything goes as long as something is “happening” solving a mystery, going to kill the bad guys, etc…
I have read my share of King, Koontz, Joe Hill.
I think it depends on my mood. Sometimes I like King, sometimes I like kitty cat mysteries but, I always like adventure thrillers like Clive Cussler, Andrews and Wilson, Tom Clancy etc…
What I don’t like is romance. I don’t mind romance in the storyline, I just don’t want it to BE the storyline.
I read a few of Cornwell, they are okay. Have read 3-4 of Burke, I liked him too. I also liked Robert Crais.