Has anyone read House of Leaves?
My copy is staring at me from the book shelf lol. My gf loved it, I have yet to actually read it because of how involved it is
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My husband said the same thing. Lol. Anyway, my mail app says that my books are supposed to arrive today. They werenāt supposed to until Friday so I started another book. Gonna either have to slam through that or just put it aside so I can start these. I should probably finish it in case I love these new ones. Then Iāll just want to keep reading through them and never finish the one I started. Side note, Iām a Koontz fan as well. Only problem is, once youāve read a few, they get a bit predictable.
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Whatever youāre reading now, put it aside and just read the first 10-20 pages of your John Sanford āpreyā novelā¦I promise you, youāll end up reading 50+ pages when you realize that you were just going to āgive it a shotā. 
I enjoyed Koontz but fully agree, pretty predictable.
Iām kinda bummed lately because John Camp (John Sanford is his pen name) is 81 I think and heās thinking of retiring and thus Lucas Davenport will be retiring too. But itās been a great ride over the decades, watching Davenport evolve over the time. But, thatās what happens when you allow your main character to actually age naturally over time as opposed to them staying the same age forever. But, Camp has provided his fans with a massive amount of great reading material and for that Iām thankful.
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Pendergast: The Beginning scheduled for release Jan 27 -just saw this!
@meastlake1 The difference is that I wouldnāt mind being Pendergast, but Iād take a sharp stick in the eye over being Dave Robicheaux lol.
Iāve also read all the spinoff Nora Child books as well.
Read a bunch of Cornwell books back in the day. A little bit ādryā, not bad but canāt see myself reading double digit books from the series.
@BethB Havenāt started Rules of Prey yet because I was finishing Red Rising, 1st book of a 3 part (just checked -like they always do, books get added when the fans love them, up to 7 now, supposedly the last LOL) SciFi series recommended by @Bauber Excellent.
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Involved is an interesting way to put it. There were points when I was reading it the first time that it freaked me out that someone like the author lived among us.
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Itās on my hold list. Waitingā¦
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@BethB Hooray! Now Iām starting to give serious consideration to maybe going back and reading a few of the prey series books. Well, I say that, but Iām not usually the type to re-read most novels because, IMO, whereās the fun if you already know whodunnit? But, itās a thoughtā¦I canāt wait to hear what your thoughts are on those books. If you donāt enjoy them Iām gonna be bummed.
@punnyguy hmm, not sure if Iāll add Patricia Cornwell to my list just yet.
Iām not quite sure what you mean about Robicheaux, but when I get started on him in a day or so I guess Iāll figure it out. I assume you are referring to what some reviews described him as ābeing a tortured soul, with a lot of deep emotional pain and turmoilāā¦.so, Iāll have to feel him out. Again, I like my protagonists gritty, and I guess with some demons, but not at a level 10. Iāll keep that sharp stick in the eye in mind though, but I hope I donāt feel THAT strongly haha.
And finally, dammit, this thread is a bad[jk] influence on me, I just now grabbed the first 3 of the preston and childs books - The Relic - The Reliquary - The Cabinet of Curiosities. Well, Iāve got my work cut out for me. I think Iāll read one Robicheaux book, and by the time Iām done, read āThe Relicā and see which direction I want to go. If I donāt like them, I live across the street from a public library that has a used bookstore attached, Iām sure i could sell them or trade them in, but I hope I like them all.
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Oh, and an interesting little factoidā¦.Apparently, Stephen King, John Sandford, AND James Lee Burke must all be fans of one another, maybe even friends in real life, because in at least Kingās and Sanfordās books, they mention their characterās reading a book by the other author, which is kinda cool. In the Virgil Flowers book I just read, Flowers stopped by a bookstore to by the latest James Lee Burke book, and in the Stephen King book ānever flinchā Iām reading now, a character was reading āToxic Preyā (a Sandford book, obviously). And both King and Sandford often have little quotes/reviews on the outsides of each othersā books praising that particular novel.
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Scythe
by Neal Shusterman (Autor),
The Huntress by Kate Quinn. Long winded in places but definitely worth a read if you like historical fiction.
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My booklist for year 2026. Itās not finished, but these are the books I aim to read this year. Itās a collection of books/authors Iāve been recommended over and over again, books I have been trying to read a while and books about subjects Iāve found recently interesting.
Thereās somewhat big emphasis on islamic history, since itās starting to interest me more. But thereās much more besides.
Not going to promise Iāll read every book during this year, and there will be books outside of this list, but itās a good frame to follow.
2026:
Haruki Murakami: Norvegian Wood
Haruki Murakami: 1Q84
Haruki Murakami: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Kazuo Ishiguro: Clara and the Sun
Yukio Mishima: The Sea of Fertility -series
Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun -series (reread)
Houellebecq: Atomised
Houellebecq: Submission
Erikson: Gardens of Moon
Halil Inalcik: Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age
Caroline Finkel: Osmanās Dream: The History of Ottoman Empire
Hannah Arendt: Birth of Totalitarianism (never read this one!)
David Foster Wallace: Infinite jest
Maurice Lombard: Golden Age of Islam
Raymond Ibrahim: The Sword and the Scimitar
David Nicolle: The Moors: The Islamic West 7thā15th Centuries AD
The bible
The quran
James Michener - The Source
Simon Schama: Citizens: A Chronicles of the French Revolution
Michael Carrol: Envisioning Exoplanets: Searching for Life in the Galaxy
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Have you read All The Light We Cannot See? If not, you should add it.
For when you have a moment after having torn through the rest of the books.
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Iāve heard about that one. I donāt really have any historical novels in that list currently, (althought Iām not sure about Mishima), so itāll make a nice addition. Iāll add that in. 
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Itās a Pulitzer prize winner and for good reason. I had to stop reading several times to justā¦take it in.
Iāve read two others - I think - of Doerrās, and didnāt love them. That one, though, was perfect.
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I finished Stephen Kingās āNever Flinchā - donāt waste your time on it. It wasnāt anywhere near Kingās best, & quite frankly I am not sure why he was trying to write a murder/thriller novel. He should stick to horror. In fact, it was so āblahā that when I had finished reading the last line, I closed the book, stood up, and said aloud āwell, that sucks, I just wasted all that timeā, which I never usually do when finishing a book.
I also just finished James Lee Burkeās āNeon Rainā last night. It was okay, but Iām probably still just getting adjusted to Burkeās writing style as it is more āstream of consciousnessā that what Iām used to reading. But I also have to remind myself that A) This novel was written all the way back in 1987 and B) That this was his very first novel in the Dave Robicheaux series, so the author himself is still feeling out how he wants to shape the main character, so I will give it some time. I have the second novel in the series āHeavenās Prisonersā and will read that shortly.
But thanks to a tip I received here, I purchased and started reading āThe Relicā by Preston & Child last night. Iām only about 40 pages in, so I canāt really comment on it. I will say, I wish I had bought the hardcover edition, as the paperback has maybe size 3 font and the book STILL is almost 490 pages! I definitely had to use my readers for this book. I have the second and third books by Preston & Child also; The Reliquary & The Cabinet of Curiosities.
Thanks again for the recommendation for Preston & Childā¦ @punnyguy was that you who recommended these books?
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I had a very similar reaction to the third book in the girl with a dragon tattoo books. The first was great. The second got weird. The third I actually got irritated halfway and read the last 5 pages to give myself closer and just be done. Lol
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It was @ChickenLittle who recommended the Pendergast series to me.
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Iām almost always a grinder when it comes to a book series. I have had to amend that now because so many authors start adding books due to popularity (i.e. money) when it becomes obvious that the Arc is completed and done. I donāt consider stuff like, for example, the detective genre āa seriesā because I feel like theyāre pretty stand alone books.
The Dune series was my firstā¦ I thought the first book was awesome, but by the time I got to God Emperor of Dune (the 4th), my eyes started glazing over, my brain started to fogā¦I just couldnāt do it and it was the first time I gave up on a series.
Iirc, Game of Thrones was supposed to be a trilogy but then the money rolled in so it kept goingā¦until the money got so great that George Martin is so flush that he has zero desire to finish LOLLL. I grinded throught the entire Wheel of Time series (in one of the books, the plot did not advance one iota!!!), but the author Rober Jordan IMO hit a mental road block which he could not overcome, started writing tangential! stuff even while dying of a terminal illness, and Brandon Sanderson (very popular SF author and fan of the series) had to come in, use RJās ānotesā and finished the series; which I still havenāt read lol.
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