IN.

Aiming to finish the Old and New Testament, along with the Koran this year along with some philosophical reading.

Aiming for about 20 books by year end.

Reasonable goal. Good luck.

Just finished Mickey Haller (aka The Lincoln Lawyer) #3, The Reversal. Jason Jessup has been incarcerated for 24 years for the abduction and murder of a 12 year old girl when an advocacy group has DNA from the original crime scene analyzed (an analysis not available in the 80's when the original trial was conducted) which appears to exonerate Jessup. Defense attorney Mickey Haller is contracted by the city as an independent PROSECUTOR.

This book combines the universes of Haller and Harry Bosch.

Good book: 9/10.

Spoiler!

9. 3001: Final Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
Final in the series

10. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
Classic book about the greasers and socs rivalry

Update:
Theophrastus - Characters - 3/5 - Fairly short ancient text by Theophrastus (Aristotles favorite student). It essentially lists a bunch of different types of 'types of people', such as "The Sycophant", "Newshound" etc and is quite satirical, and also shows how people really haven't changed that much.
Robert P Crease - The Quantum Moment - 3.5/5 - Decent enough account of the development of quantum mechanics, and also of the charletons hijacking the terminology of quantum mechanics to sell chit (quantum yoga, anyone?)
Phillip Matyzak - Mithridates the Great: Rome's Indomitable Enemy - 4/5 - Probably about as good as it gets for a widely available, somewhat scholarly book on Mithridates VI. Pretty inresting, scrutinizes the sources well and comes with a good appendix.
Adrienne Mayor - The Poison King - 4/5 - Another biography of Mithridates which i enjoyed. It was more detailed than Matyzak, but at the same time it wasn't anywhere near as critical of the source material and ran with a lot of things that aren't exactly established truth among historians but fall into the area of legend/myth. Still thoroughly enjoyable though, and it also pushes a theory that i haven't heard before but apparantly is out there that Mithridates faked his death (the conditions of his death are very poorly understood and happened in Pontus away from Roman eyes, so certainly possible in collusion with his son, Pharnaces), went North and lived with the Scythians, and would later become the inspiration for the Nordic myth of Odin. (I believe this is inspired by Wordsworth who wrote something along the lines)
Robert Graves - The Golden Fleece - 5/5 - I have a lot of Robert graves books on my shelves, but this was the first i've read. It was a long book (much, much longer than the original golden fleece), but it painted an extremely vibrant picture of the world, and Robert Graves interpretaed parts of the Mythology with his own, historical spin which is really interesting. Highly recommended to anyone who just enjoys reading an extremely vivid, well written narrative rooted in mythology.

Currently reading:
Gino Segré - The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age
Gareth C Sampson - Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the Invasion of the East

Spoiler!

Just finished reading The Great Gatsby, been looking at reading the books that were assigned reading in HS through adult lens Gatsby was my first.

Spoiler!
13. Random in Death (In Death series) by J.D. Robb
14. Crosshairs (Michael Bennett series-last one as of now) by James Patterson
15. Missing Persons (Private series- last one as of now) by James Patterson
16. NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority (#7 NYPD Red) by Marshall Karp- This series was James Patterson and Marshall Karp co-writing until this book. Now it's taken over by Karp.

Currently listening to The Expectant Father by Armin Brott…

Just finished The Fifth Witness (The Lincoln Lawyer #4). This storyline was used in Netflix's Mickey Haller Season 2, and they did a good job of following the storyline but with a few twists. Have you ever read a book where you get so mad at the characters for their actions? That's how I felt towards his client at the end of the book, but Mickey gets back at her.

Solid 9/10 read.

Just wrapped up Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

8. Christian Cameron – Marathon 4.5/5
9. Christian Cameron – Tom Swan and the Head of St George – 4/5
10. Christian Cameron – Tom Swan and the Siege of Belgrade – 4.5/5
11. Christian Cameron – Tom Swan and the Last Spartans 4.5/5


Christian Cameron is my new favorite historical fiction author. The Killer of Men series is written from a Greek point of view and takes place about the period of time around 500 - 480 BC and the battle at Marathon, Salamis and other prominent battles.

The Tom Swan series covers medieval Europe and roughly the 15th century period. It is a bit more light hearted than the Killer of Men series, but still full of plenty of violence.

Saving this list for later.

Spoiler!

9. Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory

I was looking for Idylls of the King but found this described as the inspiration for the King Arthur stories that became more popular, so went to this one first instead. Lots of fighting and chivalry, the fighting over whose queen stuff was comical and kind reminded me of middle school and fighting over whose gf was prettier with your friends. Sir Lancelot retiring to the monastery and people following him there was a surprise for me and something I don’t think has been done in the Hollywood adaptations.

10. Pascendi Dominici Gregis: Encyclical on the Doctrine of Modernists by Pope Pius X

“ Modernists do not deny, but actually maintain, some confusedly, others frankly, that all religions are true.” Interesting encyclical evaluating the issues with the heresy of modernism, diagnosing the problems with it and that it would lead to, and prescribing solutions to combat. With the hindsight of over 100 years the analysis was spot on and the prescriptions were sufficient for a while but of course we’re chipped away at and have led us to where we are today, sadly.

Update
Gino Segré - The Pope of Physics - 3.5/5 - Pretty interesting biography of Encrio Fermi, paying special attention to his explanation for beta decay, and his early experiments with nuclear reactors (with a lot of detail about CP-1). What seems to set Fermi apart from other physicists, is the ease of which he can see things and seamlessly move from theory to experiment. Something Hiesenberg, for all his theoretical genius failed utterly at during WW2.
Gareth C Sampson - Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the invasion of the East - A book about the infamous defeat of ~40-50,000 Romans by 10,000 Parthians (9,000 mounted archers & 1,000 cataphracts) of Caesars triumvir colleague, and primary benefactor Marcus Crassus . Quite interesting in the detail, but it also highlights the Parthian perspective; Crassus was no Caesar or Pompey, but he wasn't totally incompetent as a commander as we're often left to believe, he was unfortunate to be up against a very well prepared general, and possibly Parthias greatest general, Surenas.
Soren Kierkegaarde - The Sickness unto Death - 4.5/5 - Even though i'm not a Christian, i really enjoyed this book. In some ways it reminds me of Nietszche, despite the fact Kierkegaarde is a strong Christian. A lot of the book is about overcoming despair and integrating God into your life, but it can be read psychologically, and has a lot in common with Jungs process of individuation.
Epicurus - The art of happiness - 4/5 - Having spent a lot of time on Greek philosophy, and having recently read Lucretius i already knew a lot of what was here. However, it also includes letters by Epicurus himself which are fascinating to read. I believe the 'Letter to Pythocles' is of questionable authorship and may be written by a student of his like Metrodaurus, but 'Letter to Herodotus' is meant to be genuine. Despite the scientific conception of Epicureanism, Epicurus is clearly not actually that concerned with science, rather he's concerned with finding any causal, rational explanations for phenomena to remove the anxiety and fear of the Gods and damnation that plagues human kind, especially in Epicurses day (during the Diadochi wars)

Next:
Victor Davis Hansen - A War Like No Other: How the Athenians & Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
Phillip Matyszak - Sertorius and the Struggle for Spain


Spoiler!

I'm going to take a break from non-fiction and academic style reading for a bit and get back into some fiction.





I've heard good things about this one. I might get into this. Or start on my own fantasy novel, the one I've been worldbuilding for for years now.

How are you reading so much books? Been trying to get into it but I find it hard to sit down and just read lol.

Dunno really, just practise i guess. I started at around 50 a year and it's just ramped up lol, i could probably read a fair ammount more if i just read fiction or similar.

Ultimately i am generally passionate about what i'm reading which helps.. but i'd say it's just like any other skill that needs practise. I myself used to get quite distracted at times after sitting down for ~ 30 mins, but over the years of reading that seems to not be an issue anymore. If you're struggling, probably reading at the same time each day so it's an engrained part of your routine will be helpful at first too.

I've seen from other threads that you're not a fan of audiobooks either, and they help me to read more as i listen to them at times it would be impossible to read a book, but i am also extremely selective regarding what i listen to, and prefer to listen to areas i already know very well, or are not very technical. Probably ~20% of my books are audiobooks and ~80% physical books (of the 4 above, only the Gino Segre was an audiobook).

Got a list of all time must reads?

I do but it would be long, and i don't really wanna spam the thread lol. If you have specific genres or topics of interest i'll advise best i can given what i've read.

Slow going this year, but I actually knocked a few out the past two weeks
up to 5 done now.

I've been ready for a break from Dean Koontz, but I had a few there were easy to grab and read, so a picked up Watchers then barely read any for over a month. It was actually a really good book, once I got into it I blasted through it.

Four Noble Truths of Love was a really good read. it's about applying buddhist philosophies to modern relationships. Very insightful good for self reflecting on previous relationships and things to think about currently.

Tao Te Ching is a short read, but I think it's a good one to pick up and go through every few years.


Spoiler!

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet

This guy wrote my favorite heist books, foundryside and founders trilogy. He decided to write a murder mystery series this time thats in a biopunk world setting. It's in a fantasy world where they have an empire that battles against these leviathons, giant monstrous beasts that come from ocean side and they have several walls and gates to protect against them. The main character is someone who underwent alterations for having exceptional perfect memory when it comes to details. You read from his perspective. He reports to a crazy investigator who solves the crimes. What I loved most about this book was the biopunk element. There is a lot of fungi and plants in this book. Spores are important. Growing limbs is possible. Alterations to allow you to have heightened senses. These heightened senses and abilities are used for investigations or perhaps crime. It's the first of a three book series. It was my first murder mystery to read so I give it a 8.5/10.

The Gods Of Guilt (Lincoln Lawyer #5). This is definitely my favorite book in the series. 10/10! Excellent with lots of great action up until the last few pages.

Spoiler!

11. Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This was a more concise and more well written version of Le Morte d’Arthur. It was interesting to see how he communicated the same idea with significantly less writing. It’s also interesting that he painted Arthur as more virtuous and Lancelot and Guinevere’s betrayal seemed more salacious and he focused on the shame of her betrayal when he forgives her and orders her protected despite her betrayal. Very good book.

Update
Victor Davis Hansen: A War Like No Other: How the Athenians & Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War - 4.5/5 - This took a different approach to usual history books (& Thucydides) and approached the peloponesian war in kind of 'categories' rather than chronologically. I wasn't sure about it first, but i actually quite liked it, it gave new insights; although i think it would be a bad format for people already not quite familiar with the defining events of the conflict.

Phillip Matszak - Sertorius and the struggle for Spain - 4/5 - Sertorius is probably the greatest Roman general most have never heard of, since it was not so popular among Romans to glorify their rebel generals. He was a Marian rebel who ended up holding the Iberian peninsula and fighting Rome in a variety of battles using guerilla tactics. He dispatched many generals sent to deal with him, and eventually Metellus Pius & Pompey were sent to deal with him, and were both constantly embarassed when fighting him (although often won against his subordinates). Hard to know just how good he could've been, but he was clearly several tiers above Pompey (who was seen as one of the foremost generals of his day) & Pius, and was quite hannibal-esque. He even beat Pompey 3x in pitched battles, and Pompey from then took to actively avoiding facing Sertorius in battle, and Sertorius would refer to Pompey as 'sullas pupil', and Metellus Pius as 'the old woman' (when he refused to face Sertorius in single combat). In the end, he was undone by treachery rather than militarily defeated.

Next:
Vincent B Davis II - The Man With Two Names (The Sertorius Scrolls, #1)
Aristotle - Poetics


Spoiler!

Watchers, Lightning and Strangers are my all time fave Koontz books.

Spoiler!
16. NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority (#7 NYPD Red) by Marshall Karp- This series was James Patterson and Marshall Karp co-writing until this book. Now it's taken over by Karp.
17. 12 Months to Live (first in Jane Smith series) by James Patterson
18. The Black Book (first in series) by James Patterson
19. The Red Book (2nd in series) by James Patterson- just started

Been slacking a bit on reading lately, lots of projects around the house to be done.

Spoiler!

Already read this book, "Shop class as soulcraft" 2 years ago, decided to re-read it last week. Still a 5/5 slam dunk book IMO. Reading it again I absorbed so much more that I missed the first time.

I have a hard copy and intend to read several more times over the coming years.

I know at least one miscer has also read it, and he agreed with me on this.

Be sure to check it out.

I'm assuming the lower rating for it on Goodreads are the females who attempted to read it and hated it LOL.

Spoiler!

12. The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

This is a collection of short stories about crimes solved by a priest. However, the stories are somewhat connected and have characters feature in multiple chapters and evolve—even going into the next book in the series. If you like mysteries, it’s a good quick read.

My daughter loves this series.

My current progress on the year.

1. A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War - Amanda Foreman
2. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance - Ron Chernow
3. Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 - Eric Foner
4. The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forest - Brian Steel Wills
5. The High Walls of Jerusalem: A History of the Balfour Declaration and the Birth of the British Mandate for Palestine - Ronald Sanders
6. From Beirut to Jerusalem - Thomas Friedman
7. Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land - David Shipler
8. The Transfer Agreement - Edwin Black
9. Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd Russia 1917 - Helen Rappaport

Currently Reading:

Voices of Revolution, 1917 - Mark Steinberg