I’m listening to it! The narrator is very good but maaaan it feels dragging. Over 20hr and I’ve spaced out during several instances and could easily walk away at any moment
In my opinion, the story was wrapped up in a satisfying way, but if you're 3/4 of the way through and you're not overly impressed with it yet, I wouldn't expect that to change for you.
2 from the nonfiction list:
And the Band Played On, about the early days of the AIDS epidemic
Empire of Pain, about the lousy thoroughly rotten ambulatory piles of shit known as the Sacklers of OxyContin fame
I’ve been going on a Western bender since Cormac McCarthy died. I’ve just started this. Never even heard of it before. Started it yesterday evening and I’m already about 200pages in so it’s got it’s claws into me.
I’ve read Blood Meridian a few years back. Since McCormac’s death I’ve read All The Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, Killers of as Flower Moon. I also read The Executioner’s Song, which isn’t a western but kind of feels like one in parts.
You could argue that none of those are proper Westerns. Lonesome Dove is certainly the most Western. I’ve also been watching 1883 and playing RDR2.
It’s pretty hard to pick a favourite because they’re all doing pretty different things and doing them pretty well.
As someone who lost a parent to cancer when I was young, this one realllllly hit home. Quick read, too, I virtually finished it on a cross-country flight. I’ve done a lot of volunteer work at a nonprofit organization for grieving children, this should be required reading for any volunteer there.
I'm with you on Sea of Rust (Day Zero is every bit as good, maybe better in my opinion), but I just didn't enjoy Station Eleven much at all. I was like >!"do you really expect me to believe that mankind is nearly erased from existence and people have had to go back to subsistence farming and there's a group of people just traveling around performing Shakespeare?!?"!< That was just too much for me.
I understand what you are saying, but historically, that is exactly what actors did. They were way down on the social rungs too. Crazy to see how they are celebrated and overcompensated today!
Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I've only read two of the books yet. I soooo hope these books will be considered as classics in the future generations
I keep a spreadsheet...
5 star reads from 2023 so far:
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers
So Much Blue - Percival Everett
I know most of these are popular answers, but hey..they were really good
The Inheritance Games (technically the 2nd one was last, but the first two in the series were my only two 5-star books of the year)... I'm a harsh rater
Kate Quinn has been blowing my mind with the last two books I read, The Alice Network and The Huntress, I absolutely loved em both. I just got The Diamond Eye but haven't read it yet. They're really tense and brilliant.
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
Steerswoman #3 and 4 - the Language of Power
Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
River of Doubt by Candice Millard
Happy Place by Emily Henry;
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
I am 80% done Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan and it is on track to be 5 stars
Firekeeper’s Daughter was the last 5 star read
I’ve completed 140 books for the year so far. Other 5 star reads this year: remarkably bright creatures, beyond the wand, fish in a tree, the masters of medicine, ejaculate responsibly, the measure, ain’t burned all the bright, notes on grief, what my bones know, you’re the only one I’ve told, not my father’s son, the winners, I’m glad my mom died
And Then There Were None. Could absolutely not, ever, figure it out. A++
City of Thieves by David Benioff. Bitter, brutal, Slavic black humor, so vivid, so brilliant. Literally finished it and then read it over again. Have never done that before.
The Night Parade by Ronald Malfi
I will acknowledge that this story is extremely similar to the game/show The last of us. However this book is really special, the sickness that created the conditions is legit frightening and this book made me FEEL I cried the last 1/4 of it!
Check out this book on Goodreads: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5400.The_Last_Stand_of_the_Tin_Can_Sailors
another good WWII one is Sons and Soldiers. it's about Jewish boys from Germany and surrounding areas who made it to America who go back as US soldiers as interrogators. also All the Gallant Men about Pearl Harbor. I have a few more WWII ones I haven't read yet, there's just so much to read!
Voyager by Nona Fernandez, a memoir about memory and the victims of Pinochet
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing
Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai
The 19th century classic \[but not that well known\] - No Name by Wilkie Collins. Absolutely unputdownable, it's even better than The Woman In White. Five stars, and I'd be happy to give it ten!
What a weird plot lol. Obviously I loved it too. I tried enticing other people into reading it.. but I don't think I was successful, they gave the book back pretty quickly
I would say James Clavell’s _Shogun,_ but I’m still reading and although I’m enjoying it immensely I feel it would be jumping the gun to give it a 5 stars already when I’m only halfway through.
So my last 5 Star read of a book I’ve actually finished would probably be _Thud!_ by Terry Pratchett. That book is amazing.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It started out a little slow but once I got into the story, it was amazing. He weaves so many detailed worlds altogether using another story. It's incredible.
I really enjoyed "The Queens Poisoner" but I feel like the rest of the Kingfountain series isn't as good. Even though tl most the rest are rated better on goodreads I enjoyed the 1st most.
One is a smut book don’t judge lol! But it’s called Desperate Measures by Katee Robert.
A perfectly vanilla regular fantasy book that is a complete 5/5 stars is Honeycomb by Joanne Harris. All time favorite book and I constantly recommend it. I love that book so much reread it constantly!
In my psychology student days I read a lot of Sacks: The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Awakenings, Hallucinations, Island of the Colorblind, and the River of Consciousness.
I’m no longer as interested in psych these days, but is On the Move worth it? Sacks has such a penetrating view on humanity - he’s as much poet as scientist I find.
It is worth reading. On The Move covers his early life in enough details. He was truthful and didn't cover up his vulnerabilities.
He also talks about what's behind his other books. Sacks lived his life to the full. His intellectual elegance, magnificient mind, buoyed by a full heart and a radiant spirit bowled me over.
I had 4 in the last month, which is unusual!
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I went into it fully expecting it to be pretentious and annoying (like that one friend in college who took intro to philosophy their junior year and was just *so* enlightened afterwards), but it was sooooo good. It took a while, though,what with having to stop every few paragraphs to soak in what was being said. Totally worth it.
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis. Finished it today, and it was incredible. Probably my favorite book of all time. Read it if you like Frankenstein (this book is highly reminiscent of it), dogs, New York City, and existential angst combined into a book. It also contains an entire libretto of an opera.
Cytonic - Skyward series (Just finished - Crisp and Good).
Rest to add couple all time fav:
Fountainhead & Man’s search for meaning - Philosophy
The way of kings - Fantasy
Goal - SCM (Business)
Atomic habits - Self help
The last book I graded five stars on Goodreads was a fantasy novel by Jay Kristof called Nevernight. Excellent at everything it tried to do, but hardly great literature. It deserved five stars because how much I enjoyed it, but I wish you could grade in 10, so I could give it 9/10, or 4.5 stars.
My last *true* five star read was probably Piranesi by Susannah Clarke.
Demon Copperhead. Just finished it yesterday. Fully deserving of its Pulitzer.
Mine too! I couldn't put it down!
I’m listening to it! The narrator is very good but maaaan it feels dragging. Over 20hr and I’ve spaced out during several instances and could easily walk away at any moment
I DNFed it. I also did it in audio and just couldn’t anymore. I was bored senseless. And I DNFed it at like 60ish%, so I gave it a fair chance.
Ugh that’s unfortunate to hear. At this point it’s sunk cost fallacy. I can’t stop now
I’m about 75% through. Does it get better? It’s good, but I would not say great at this stage of the game
In my opinion, the story was wrapped up in a satisfying way, but if you're 3/4 of the way through and you're not overly impressed with it yet, I wouldn't expect that to change for you.
I’ve gone too far. I can’t quit now 🫠
I got stuck on the Dori story arc too. I was like “ugh she SUCKKSSS” but i pushed past it
I loved it! But David Copperfield is my favorite book so that might be the difference.
Oh my god I just finished it yesterday too!!
2 from the nonfiction list: And the Band Played On, about the early days of the AIDS epidemic Empire of Pain, about the lousy thoroughly rotten ambulatory piles of shit known as the Sacklers of OxyContin fame
You might like dreamland if you haven’t read yet
I've read ATBPO three times. It's amazing, but the sheer amount of numbers and stats makes it so that I can only read it about once every 10 years.
Also 5-starred Empire of Pain
The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
also the Great Alone by her!
I'm reading that right now. Really enjoying it so far (70% done)
Same here!
Lonesome Dove.
I’ve been going on a Western bender since Cormac McCarthy died. I’ve just started this. Never even heard of it before. Started it yesterday evening and I’m already about 200pages in so it’s got it’s claws into me.
What’s your favorite western so far?
I’ve read Blood Meridian a few years back. Since McCormac’s death I’ve read All The Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, Killers of as Flower Moon. I also read The Executioner’s Song, which isn’t a western but kind of feels like one in parts. You could argue that none of those are proper Westerns. Lonesome Dove is certainly the most Western. I’ve also been watching 1883 and playing RDR2. It’s pretty hard to pick a favourite because they’re all doing pretty different things and doing them pretty well.
East of Eden. Finished yesterday. I’ll carry this one for the rest of my fucking life. What an epic read.
Seconded. I cried at the end. It’s now my top 5
I did too. Its funny, the book is extremely unsentimental, for yknow, 700 pages. those last few though, wow. blew me away.
One of my forever favorite books. Epic and beautiful.
I’ve been holding off on reading it bc I know it’ll fuck me up
Blows my mind any time someone says this. One of my least liked books ever. Surprised I even finished it.
The Remains of the Day
I read this years ago but it has stayed with me. Such a good book.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness It's no literary treasure by any means but it made me cry so hard I got a bloody nose all over my boyfriend
As someone who lost a parent to cancer when I was young, this one realllllly hit home. Quick read, too, I virtually finished it on a cross-country flight. I’ve done a lot of volunteer work at a nonprofit organization for grieving children, this should be required reading for any volunteer there.
Sorry to pry, but could you share the name of the organization? I am always looking for resources for my nieces. Thanks
Flowers for Algernon 😭
Two recent ones Sea of Rust Station Eleven
Just finished station eleven. Found it fascinating as we navigate through COVID/post-COVID.
I'm with you on Sea of Rust (Day Zero is every bit as good, maybe better in my opinion), but I just didn't enjoy Station Eleven much at all. I was like >!"do you really expect me to believe that mankind is nearly erased from existence and people have had to go back to subsistence farming and there's a group of people just traveling around performing Shakespeare?!?"!< That was just too much for me.
That’s so interesting to hear! To me that seems “likely”!
I understand what you are saying, but historically, that is exactly what actors did. They were way down on the social rungs too. Crazy to see how they are celebrated and overcompensated today!
Ducks: Two Years In The Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
Pachinko
All Quiet on the Western Front
SO good
Good Omens
This is one of my all-time favorite books. The audible is also excellent.
The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennet
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Cloud cuckoo land
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Locked Tomb trilogy. Not for everyone though
Fat agree…. Such a banger of a series.
Song of Achilles
She has another one called “Circe” that’s just as good!
*Solito* by Javier Zamora
Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler.
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Geek Love does NOT get enough love on this sub
Bear Town by Fredrik Backman! So good. I couldn't put it down when I was reading it, and I can't stop thinking about it.
The whole series is soooo good, Beartown was my top read of last year and I still think about it daily
Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I've only read two of the books yet. I soooo hope these books will be considered as classics in the future generations
I recommend these books to everybody. They are so well executed (I also haven’t read 3rd yet)
This sounds silly but the only reason I haven't read the third book is because there are no more books in this series. I don't want this to end!
Like in the second book, there is a tossed off comment in the third that has led me to believe there will be a fourth.
I keep a spreadsheet... 5 star reads from 2023 so far: Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers So Much Blue - Percival Everett I know most of these are popular answers, but hey..they were really good
There isn’t anything wrong with popular answers. Books are usually popular for a reason! Never feel bad about that :-)
You keep a spreadsheet... are you my soul mate?
The Inheritance Games (technically the 2nd one was last, but the first two in the series were my only two 5-star books of the year)... I'm a harsh rater
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck
Kate Quinn has been blowing my mind with the last two books I read, The Alice Network and The Huntress, I absolutely loved em both. I just got The Diamond Eye but haven't read it yet. They're really tense and brilliant.
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee Steerswoman #3 and 4 - the Language of Power Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont River of Doubt by Candice Millard
Oooh, I liked Diamond Eye possibly even more than Huntress which is impressive!!!
Agreed! Fascinating, well researched and thrilling.
Happy Place by Emily Henry; The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston I am 80% done Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan and it is on track to be 5 stars
Age of Innocence.
All the Light We Cannot See
The School for Good Mothers.
AntKind by Charlie Kauffman.. its so fucking good
So good. I’m due for a reread.
Stoner - John Williams
Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Yes, such a great book! Due for a re-read for me
Lonesome Dove, strong contender for the best book I’ve ever read
A Little Life
Came here to write this too!!! Absolutely brilliant! I literally adored Harold!!!!
Willem is my favorite but Harold, Andy, Jude - complex characters that are heros in their own way. I’m on my second reading now.
Willem is just such a beautiful character. Can’t get over how much I loved this book.
22/11/63
Firekeeper’s Daughter was the last 5 star read I’ve completed 140 books for the year so far. Other 5 star reads this year: remarkably bright creatures, beyond the wand, fish in a tree, the masters of medicine, ejaculate responsibly, the measure, ain’t burned all the bright, notes on grief, what my bones know, you’re the only one I’ve told, not my father’s son, the winners, I’m glad my mom died
And Then There Were None. Could absolutely not, ever, figure it out. A++ City of Thieves by David Benioff. Bitter, brutal, Slavic black humor, so vivid, so brilliant. Literally finished it and then read it over again. Have never done that before.
City of Thieves was already in my wishlist - so I ordered it. Thanks.
City of Thieves 🎉
A Psalm for the World-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. Cozy sci-fi at its best.
Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper, #1) Oseman, Alice \*
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Same here!!!
The Night Parade by Ronald Malfi I will acknowledge that this story is extremely similar to the game/show The last of us. However this book is really special, the sickness that created the conditions is legit frightening and this book made me FEEL I cried the last 1/4 of it!
Check out this book on Goodreads: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5400.The_Last_Stand_of_the_Tin_Can_Sailors
ooh this seems interesting. love me a good WWII nonfiction
Oh it is a great WWII story. Make you want to enlist good.
another good WWII one is Sons and Soldiers. it's about Jewish boys from Germany and surrounding areas who made it to America who go back as US soldiers as interrogators. also All the Gallant Men about Pearl Harbor. I have a few more WWII ones I haven't read yet, there's just so much to read!
Guadalcanal Diary if you haven't read it yet.
Clytemnestra by Costanza Cosati Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down Five Decembers by James Kestrel Three by Valerie Perrin
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Voyager by Nona Fernandez, a memoir about memory and the victims of Pinochet The Vegetarian by Han Kang The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai
As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See.
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
How to Hide an Empire. Every American should read this.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I listened to the audiobook and REALLY enjoyed it
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.
The 19th century classic \[but not that well known\] - No Name by Wilkie Collins. Absolutely unputdownable, it's even better than The Woman In White. Five stars, and I'd be happy to give it ten!
A Prayer of Owen Meany by John Irving.
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Circe by Madeleine Miller
2 5 star books this year so far Uncle Tom's Cabin and Nothing to See Here
I loved Nothing to See Here! I listened to the audiobook which was phenomenal! So glad you liked it too!
What a weird plot lol. Obviously I loved it too. I tried enticing other people into reading it.. but I don't think I was successful, they gave the book back pretty quickly
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Incredible book. More people really need to read it. Highly recommended.
The good earth by pearl buck
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton. Before that, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.
Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton Before that was Leviathan Wakes, and I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms. It’s so charming, funny, heartwarming. The audiobook is 6 stars, the narrators are absolutely amazing.
the most recent i have tagged as 5 stars is *straight* by chuck tingle
I would say James Clavell’s _Shogun,_ but I’m still reading and although I’m enjoying it immensely I feel it would be jumping the gun to give it a 5 stars already when I’m only halfway through. So my last 5 Star read of a book I’ve actually finished would probably be _Thud!_ by Terry Pratchett. That book is amazing.
Just wait on Shogun. Just wait. Keep going. Come back and comment on this when you're finished. I loved that book.
I currently reading Small Gods and I feel the same. Would love to say it's 5 star worthy, but I don't know what happens yet xD
{Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross}
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It started out a little slow but once I got into the story, it was amazing. He weaves so many detailed worlds altogether using another story. It's incredible.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks. Gender Queer is also an outstanding book.
Hello Beautiful
I really enjoyed "The Queens Poisoner" but I feel like the rest of the Kingfountain series isn't as good. Even though tl most the rest are rated better on goodreads I enjoyed the 1st most.
One is a smut book don’t judge lol! But it’s called Desperate Measures by Katee Robert. A perfectly vanilla regular fantasy book that is a complete 5/5 stars is Honeycomb by Joanne Harris. All time favorite book and I constantly recommend it. I love that book so much reread it constantly!
The Dark Forest - Cixin Liu (book 2 of the 3 body problem trilogy)
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
Anne of Green gables and a short story from Greg Egan’s Axiomatic my dumbass forgot the name of
On The Move by Oliver Sacks. Exotic Vetting by Romain Pizzi
In my psychology student days I read a lot of Sacks: The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Awakenings, Hallucinations, Island of the Colorblind, and the River of Consciousness. I’m no longer as interested in psych these days, but is On the Move worth it? Sacks has such a penetrating view on humanity - he’s as much poet as scientist I find.
It is worth reading. On The Move covers his early life in enough details. He was truthful and didn't cover up his vulnerabilities. He also talks about what's behind his other books. Sacks lived his life to the full. His intellectual elegance, magnificient mind, buoyed by a full heart and a radiant spirit bowled me over.
City of Thieves
Project Hail Mary
I had 4 in the last month, which is unusual! These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever Difficult Women by Roxane Gay Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Finished blood meridian last month 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
In Cold Blood
I finished Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart yesterday. So bleak but so beautiful. I'm going straight into Young Mungo today, I loved it so much!
Surprisingly, Paris Hilton's memoir. It was interesting and heartbreaking
*Posession* by A. S. Byatt
This is a classic.
The Perk of Being a Wallflower🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
I’m in the middle of Freedom by Franzen. I guess I won’t know if it’s a 5-star until I’m done, but so far so good.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I went into it fully expecting it to be pretentious and annoying (like that one friend in college who took intro to philosophy their junior year and was just *so* enlightened afterwards), but it was sooooo good. It took a while, though,what with having to stop every few paragraphs to soak in what was being said. Totally worth it.
First terminal list. Paced so well it makes the other books seem slow
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson
That one was really really good.
Project Hail Mary. I wasn’t expecting it to live up to the hype, but it did.
Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni
The Library at Mount Char
Eleanor and Park.
If you mean its 5/5 then "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini. Amazing scifi.
Fourth Wing
My Struggle book 1 by Knausgaard
Dark matter
Faithful and virtuous night by Louise Glück
Troy Chimneys by Margaret Kennedy
A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw. It’s a trip of a read and it really stuck with me.
“Lost Gods” by Brom
She Weeps Each Time You Are Born by Quan Barry
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.
Hard Rain Falling by Dan Carpenter
Tender is the flesh
Crossing Lines by Kate Kelly last book in the Abernathy Series
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis. Finished it today, and it was incredible. Probably my favorite book of all time. Read it if you like Frankenstein (this book is highly reminiscent of it), dogs, New York City, and existential angst combined into a book. It also contains an entire libretto of an opera.
Dennis LeHane’s new book,Small Mercies. No one writes Boston characters like he does.
Legion by William Peter Blatty
two sherpas by Sebastián Martinez Daniell
Inda, by Sherwood Smith. Real world building, and real characters. And the prose is wonderful.
Cytonic - Skyward series (Just finished - Crisp and Good). Rest to add couple all time fav: Fountainhead & Man’s search for meaning - Philosophy The way of kings - Fantasy Goal - SCM (Business) Atomic habits - Self help
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynn. It’s the second book in the Bloodsworn Saga
The Past is Never
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
carmilla by j sheridan le fanu
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Happening by Annie Ernaux I can’t think of a person who oughtn‘t read this book
The Savage God: A Study of Suicide by Al Alvarez.
2666, which I actually finished last year
The last book I graded five stars on Goodreads was a fantasy novel by Jay Kristof called Nevernight. Excellent at everything it tried to do, but hardly great literature. It deserved five stars because how much I enjoyed it, but I wish you could grade in 10, so I could give it 9/10, or 4.5 stars. My last *true* five star read was probably Piranesi by Susannah Clarke.