rokob

108 posts tagged with "fiction"

The Border 19 June, 2022

The Border is the last in the Power of the Dog trilogy. Maybe not as good as the others, but it was great to have an ending and was good…

The Committed 15 April, 2022

The Committed is the sequel to The Sympathizer . Both are very good.

Dream Park 02 December, 2021

I listen to the A16Z podcasts and one of them is One on One with A and Z which is pretty good. I think it is just recording a Clubhouse show…

Klara and the Sun 07 November, 2021

I took a pretty serious hiatus from reading. Part of it is the move, part is just being generally busy with work and the rest of life. I…

The Talented Mr. Ripley 16 April, 2021

I am really glad I decided to read The Talented Mr. Ripley . I was thinking that I had seen the movie but after reading it I don't think I…

Black List 26 March, 2021

Black List is yet another Scot Harvath novel by Brad Thor. It was still fun to read but they keep getting worse. This was did quite a bit…

Full Black 22 January, 2021

Full Black is the next installment in the Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor. I have read all of them so far. They are pretty much all the…

The Athena Project 14 June, 2020

The Athena Project is the next installment in the Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor. Once again not much to talk about. I like these books…

Ghost Wall 12 May, 2020

Ghost Wall is very short and quite good. It starts off a little slow, but once it pulled me in I couldn't put it down until I found out how…

The Stand 04 May, 2020

We are in a pandemic so I decided to pick up The Stand and give it a shot. This was a good book although not really that relevant to the…

The Three-Body Problem 20 January, 2020

I think I heard about The Three-Body Problem on the A16Z podcast, but I do not exactly recall. This was an enjoyable read, even more…

The Fireman 02 January, 2020

I really like Joe Hill and the latest novel of his for me was The Fireman . The idea is great, the story was good, but I didn't really care…

The Forever War 20 December, 2019

I forget how I came across The Forever War , but I read it rather quickly when I did get around to it and it is pretty good. Similar to…

Old Man's War 27 November, 2019

I picked up Old Man's War after hearing about it a few times. It is a fun and somewhat thought provoking science fiction book. It has some…

Less 21 June, 2019

Halfway through reading Less I came to the conclusion that I don't think I have read a novel before with a gay protagonist. That says…

Munich 16 June, 2019

From the author of An Officer and a Spy comes Munich yet another wonderful piece of historical fiction. This is a fictional spy thriller…

2001: A Space Odyssey 02 June, 2019

2001: A Space Odyssey is a classic science fiction novel as well as a classic movie. I have seen the movie several times, but didn't really…

Pale Fire 14 April, 2019

I could not stand Pale Fire . I barely read it to tell the truth. Or I should say I had a lot of trouble so I just forced myself to get…

Armada 03 April, 2019

I enjoyed Ready Player One so much that I knew I was going to read Armada eventually. A great idea, executed okay, resulting in a good…

The Illustrated Man 23 March, 2019

The first I had heard of The Illustrated Man was in a reference on a tv show about a dead body covered in tattoos. Little did I know that…

The Silent Wife 04 March, 2019

Taya had a book club with some friends, and for some reason they decided to read The Silent Wife . As we share Kindle books, I decided to…

Asymmetry 27 February, 2019

Winner of a few awards and top of quite a few lists, Asymmetry is a book that defies a normal categorization. The book has three parts…

Foreign Influence 17 February, 2019

Foreign Influence is the next entry in the Scot Harvath series from Brad Thor. An indulgent page turner from the get go, this one falls in…

Ice 10 February, 2019

Sometimes a book comes along where I'm convinced it is either horrible or amazing and I vacillate between the two. Typically the process…

In a Dark, Dark Wood 31 January, 2019

In the same general genre as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train , In a Dark, Dark Wood is a thriller with some violence and a few…

Iron Gold 21 January, 2019

Iron Gold is the fourth book in the Red Rising series which I originally thought was intended to be a trilogy. It has been a while since…

The Apostle 09 December, 2018

The Apostle is book eight in the Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor. Not much to say about this one, it was about on par with the other books…

Heart-Shaped Box 30 October, 2018

I enjoyed all the other Joe Hill books I have read so far, and Heart-Shaped Box is no exception. This was a engaging and actually somewhat…

The Martian Chronicles 10 October, 2018

A classic sci-fi (although I think he classified it as fantasy) novel, The Martian Chronicles , is one that has always been on my list but…

The Last Patriot 29 August, 2018

The Last Patriot is the next installment in the Scot Harvath series after The First Commandment . Not much to say here, the books in this…

A Brief History of Seven Killings 11 August, 2018

A Brief History of Seven Killings , winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize, is a challenging read spanning several decades centered on the…

The Shining 12 July, 2018

The Shining is yet another Stephen King book that made it on to my list. I have seen the movie more than a few times over my life but never…

American Gods 14 June, 2018

American Gods made its way on to my reading list again for some unknown reason. I think someone asked me if I liked Neil Gaiman and as…

NOS4A2 18 May, 2018

After reading Horns , I put NOS4A2 on my list and was excited to get to it. The dark comedy genre really fits my personality for some…

The Dispossessed 30 April, 2018

Taya recommend another Ursula K. Le Guin book, The Dispossessed , which is set roughly in the same scifi universe as The Left Hand of…

Authority 22 April, 2018

Authority is the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, the first being Annihilation . I would classify these both as literary science…

Artemis 06 April, 2018

From the author of The Martian , Artemis is a great heist story set on the moon in the future. Once again he strikes just the right…

Station Eleven 20 March, 2018

Another suggestion from Amazon's list of best books, Station Eleven is a story about humanity and civilization. The setting is before…

Dark Matter 15 March, 2018

In trying to keep the sources of my books diverse I pull from some lists periodically just to keep an eye on what other people are reading…

Horns 09 March, 2018

Horns is a wonderful dark comedy by Joe Hill. This one was recommended to me by my wife while we were walking in Washington D.C. and came…

The Left Hand of Darkness 01 March, 2018

The Left Hand of Darkness was recommended to me by Taya after she read this as well as The Dispossessed which I understand to be in the…

Annihilation 18 January, 2018

Part of being married is experiencing new things that you would otherwise have not because of your partner. I can't say that I always…

11/22/63 15 January, 2018

A recommendation from Taya led me to pick up 11/22/63 , yet another Stephen King book that she said I would enjoy. It turns out that I…

The First Commandment 31 December, 2017

Yet another Scot Harvath book from Brad Thor, The First Commandment was just as good as the rest. These books are a bit of my guilty…

Nausea 08 December, 2017

Nausea was not that good. In some sense I feel bad saying that, especially when the Amazon tagline is "Sartre's greatest novel — and…

The Cartel 30 November, 2017

The Cartel is the sequel to Don Winslow's The Power of the Dog which blew me away when I read it in January of last year. I immediately…

It 03 September, 2017

I am not entirely sure why I avoided reading Stephen King all these years, but now that I have started I don't want to stop. It is the…

The Sympathizer 30 July, 2017

Again on my search for things to read I went back to books that have won prizes and came up with The Sympathizer the winner of the…

The Handmaid's Tale 30 May, 2017

Taya started watching the Hulu show based on this book, and before I wanted to watch it I had to read the book, so I picked up The Handmaid…

Lullaby 22 May, 2017

Chuck Palahniuk is one weird dude, I knew that after reading Fight Club . Reading Lullaby has solidified my opinion. Describing this book…

The Drawing of the Three 16 May, 2017

I guess I am reading the Dark Tower series now, so this was the second installment, The Drawing of the Three . Having enjoyed the first…

The Sellout 30 March, 2017

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, The Sellout is an hilarous, irreverent novel set in roughly present day southern California. This is…

The Color of Magic 22 September, 2016

I was recommended to read one of the books in this series, so I chose the first one, The Color of Magic . It is super weird. I am not…

The Good Girl 23 August, 2016

I think I ended up reading The Good Girl because it was on the list of free books from Amazon for July or August. It was a decent book, at…

Snow Crash 07 August, 2016

I am dragging this year on my reading. Part of that has to do with skydiving taking up a lot of my time. Part has to do with that I recently…

Water for Elephants 10 July, 2016

I kept hearing about or seeing Water for Elephants so that I came to the conclusion that it must be worth checking out. Overall it was an…

Catch 22 01 July, 2016

There are many books that for one reason or another exist in my mind as part of a list of classics. Books that I feel are quoted or read…

The Last Girl 11 May, 2016

I picked The Last Girl as my choice for the free book of the month from Amazon, at least that is how I think I got this for free. It was…

Giraffe 26 April, 2016

Giraffe is the debut novel by J.M. Ledgard although it is the second book of his that I have read. I forget why I initially read…

Morning Star 15 April, 2016

The third and final book in the Red Rising trilogy, Morning Star was equally as good as the first two books. None of them are liteary…

Fates and Furies 10 March, 2016

Fates and Furies is yet another work of literary fiction with a dramatic amount of metaphor and flowery language. This is a heavy book with…

The Bell Jar 29 February, 2016

Thank goodness for leap day as I managed to technically get in another book in February. I forgot why I added The Bell Jar to my wishlist…

The Goldfinch 23 February, 2016

I was in an airport bookshop and saw The Goldfinch on the shelf. I picked it up and glanced at the back cover, decided that yes I would…

Siddhartha 30 January, 2016

I am not sure where I had first heard of Siddhartha , but it has been in the back of my head as a book that I should read at some point…

All the Light We Cannot See 28 January, 2016

All the Light We Cannot See has been constantly recommended to me, it was a top book of the year a couple years ago, as well as a Pulitzer…

The Man in the High Castle 19 January, 2016

Amazon created a TV series semi-based on this book and it was available as part of the Unlimited Kindle reading program on Amazon, so I…

The Moonlit Garden 13 January, 2016

Amazon started a program called Kindle First where you can pick one of six books each month to get for free. Of the six choices for…

Fight Club 11 January, 2016

The movie Fight Club was good, but I always heard that I should read Fight Club as it was much better. Typical. In fact, this is such a…

The Power of the Dog 07 January, 2016

I have seen The Power of the Dog on Amazon for quite some time now; the cover kept drawing my eye and the description was enough to have…

Bull Mountain 02 January, 2016

Another Amazon recommendation that hit the spot, Bull Mountain is a fast paced, well written, crime thriller. The writing style is one…

The Nightingale 28 December, 2015

Even though this book kept popping up on Amazon recommendations and other lists, for some reason every time I read the description I put off…

Ubik 22 December, 2015

Philip K. Dick is widely regarded as one of the top tier science fiction writers of all time. At the same time, he seems to have a bit of…

The Lost Codex 18 December, 2015

After reading a few of the Scot Harvath books by Brad Thor, Amazon recommended The Lost Codex which is part of the OPSIG series by Alan…

The Grownup 16 December, 2015

Gillian Flynn has proven to be one of my favorite authors. I have yet to read something by her that I did not like. This short story, The…

Submergence 14 December, 2015

I have been trying to figure out how Submergence got added to my reading list and honestly I have no idea. I have a feeling this came from…

Takedown 10 December, 2015

I just finished Takedown , which is book 5 in Brad Thor's Scot Harvath series. These books take me less than 24 hours to put down, mostly…

Children of Dune 09 December, 2015

Wow, Dune was long, a bit complex, and good; Dune Messiah was similarly good, with a bit more complexity; Children of Dune took the…

Die a Little 13 November, 2015

I happened upon an article in Slate that basically says adults should read books for adults and should be embarrassed about reading young…

Blowback 03 November, 2015

Blowback is book four in Brad Thor's Scot Harvath series. I am not sure why I am sometimes able to suspend disbelief and sometimes I am…

Pretty Girls 29 October, 2015

Since I am back on the reading train, I went all in and plowed through Pretty Girls , which I decided to check out after an Amazon…

Dune Messiah 28 October, 2015

I started reading another book right after Dune but it proved too dense for me to keep up my motivation to get past the first third. What…

Dune 03 August, 2015

I had only vaguely heard of Dune before I decided to add it to my reading list. Well, I had heard of it as this classic science fiction…

World War Z 25 July, 2015

Movies and books are often times two sides of the same coin, but recently they seem to have diverged to the point of being unrecognizable…

The People of Sparks 23 July, 2015

After reading The City of Ember , I was sufficiently interested to see what the next installment in this series would have to offer. Thus…

State of the Union 09 July, 2015

I decided to put State of the Union on my reading list after reading a couple of the other Scot Harvath books. I have to say the first two…

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep 08 July, 2015

Another science fiction book, another one in the class of important scifi books, but this one, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , I…

Neuromancer 07 July, 2015

I have always enjoyed reading science fiction books, but for whatever reason I sometimes disagree with the status quo when it comes to what…

Golden Son 04 July, 2015

I read Red Rising a while ago and enjoyed it enough to put the second book in the trilogy, Golden Son on my reading list. Red Rising…

The City of Ember 02 July, 2015

After reading a few young adult trilogies, Amazon recommended The City of Ember . This book was pretty similar to Red Rising and that…

A Small Indiscretion 22 June, 2015

I read Everything I Never Told You and The Girl on The Train for whatever reasons (I think because of some Amazon list), and hence A…

Path of the Assassin 16 June, 2015

After reading The Lions of Lucerne , I really wanted to read more about Scot Harvath, so I followed up with the second book in the series…

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 15 June, 2015

There has been an increasing amount of discussion and interest in what is now known as the Autism spectrum, which includes Asperger's…

On the Road 12 June, 2015

I don't completely know what to say about On the Road . It was an okay read, although I had trouble staying awake throughout as it was so…

Dark Places 25 May, 2015

This is the last of Gillian Flynn's books that I needed to read. I read them nonchronologically, reading Gone Girl first, then Sharp…

The Girl on the Train 17 May, 2015

The Amazon lists of top books seems to be a bit hit or miss with me, but more hit than miss. The Girl on the Train is definitely a hit on…

Cryptonomicon 04 May, 2015

Cryptonomicon was a long and at times convulted read, but overall it was entertaining. Although the book was not ridiculously long (around…

Red Rising 17 March, 2015

I just finished another book that further reinforced how much I like science fiction. Red Rising felt quite a bit like the Hunger Games…

The Strange Library 05 March, 2015

Another weird book that made it onto my list, but this one turned out to just be weird in a bad way. The Strange Library is a very short…

The Lions of Lucerne 24 February, 2015

I have always liked thrillers like Rainbow Six and The Bourne Identity , so when I heard about the Scot Harvath series, I decided to…

Ready Player One 13 February, 2015

Rearranging my reading list to mix up the content and genre was definitely a good idea. Ready Player One got bumped up in my queue because…

An Officer and a Spy 08 February, 2015

Historical fiction is a strange genre. The first example of this that I remember reading was The Agony and the Ecstasy . That was a very…

Everything I Never Told You 01 February, 2015

I really need to stop reading books about families with dead daughters. I have read 8 books so far this year and 3 of them have their main…

See How Small 30 January, 2015

See How Small is Amazon's Spotlight pick for January 2015, whatever that means. Basically, there was a list on Amazon of books and I picked…

The Martian 26 January, 2015

Somehow The Martian ended up on my reading list and I am quite happy that it did. I found it difficult to put down, even more so that some…

I Am Pilgrim 19 January, 2015

Focus is one of the attributes that I like most about myself. It allows me to drop out of the rest of the world and engross myself in a book…

Sharp Objects 12 January, 2015

A couple years ago I picked up Gone Girl and was quite impressed. It was the kind of book that was really hard to put down, and more than…

Fifty Shades of Grey 11 January, 2015

This may seem like a bit of an odd choice for me to read, but I've been wondering what the big fuss was about this series of books…

Waiting For Godot 01 January, 2015

Through a series of comedic errors I was recommended the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. I had never heard of it before it was…

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