You might be right. As some time has passed, the ending seems more right than it originally did. Maybe.

I recently got a kindle unlimited membership. It allows you to read many of the kindle books that Amazon carries for free (but not all of them). I read a few books, one was called, "Phobia: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller". It's about a guy who is OCD about germs and then a devastating nationwide plague happens, and he has to deal with all of the ramifications of that.

Honestly, it wasn't that good. The main character was just too wimpy, and not that interesting. Definitely didn't want to keep reading the series. I also read a British detective book, "An Accidental Death", and that was just OK. Also didn't make me want to read any of the other books in the series.

Something truly offbeat was a book titled, "The Reptilian from 1935?". And yea, it was about a bizarre monster sighting from 1935 that a woman's mother had and that she described to her daughter, while living in a very rural part of Texas. (Reptilians are supposed lizard-like creatures that are speculated as being either from the underground Earth or are possibly extraterrestrials, lol, not kidding)

I enjoy reading offbeat, paranormal-related books like this.

I've been slogging through it in the past few months myself… It's so terse, and it plain annoys me that in every 5 words he uses there is one that neither I nor Wikipedia or the dictionary know. I feel like it's almost too far above my head, that I should be reading more into the tiny, trivial details or random encounters that seem meaningless… Reading it kind of feels like work, but then sometimes the story does manage to grip me and I find myself immersed (if I can get over not understanding every 5th word).
Anyhow, my OCD prevents me from giving up, I am about halfway through the 4th (Citadel of the Autarch), so almost done. Looking forward to my next read, for sure. I kind of wanted to start the books the Expanse is based on, but I feel like I am due for a LotR re-read.

First few are excellent. Actually, I would say his Empire trilogy ranks in my top 3 trilogies.

It's certainly a nice change up to Ancillary Justice. Much lighter, faster paced, and a more relatable and less alien protagonist and setting.

Ash: A Secret History
 

I bought a second hand copy of this book from Amazon as I wasn't sure I would like it. The format is unlike anything I have come across. There is in effect two stories in one book. What we have is a historian who is translating the "ASH Chronicles" from medieval times. In between each "translated chapter" we have correspondence between the historian and his publisher who is trying to make sure it is authentic - they see this as history not fiction.

At times I have had to walk away from some of the more disturbing parts of the book but I have always come back. I am approximately 40% of the way through the book (there is over a thousand pages). There is a Kindle edition so you can preview part of the book.

A collection of ancient Egyptian literature - tales and poems.
I've read one of them, but I was very much impressed.

I am finishing the "Broken Earth" series. It is okay, but the protagonists are kind of emo, and a lot of the time I wish the internal monologues and worrying would stop. Brandon Sanderson does this in his books too, and I don't like it. My score: 6.5/10

I also finished "Peripheral" by William Gibson. I liked most of the characters, and the dialogue was pretty good. The premise of there being two connected worlds (I don't want to spoil too much) was also interesting.

However, I did not like the tiny alternating chapters, and I wish the book had spent more time exploring the (farther) future politics/culture, especially the raft and other disenfranchised people. (I didn't fully understand what happened to most of humanity before the events of the book.) My score: 7.5/10

I'm reading John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice book 6 at the moment, a YA series that is for people who like playing Rangers in CRPGs what Raymond Feist's Magician is for Mage lovers. Really good fun. The books are rather short though, you could easily group them in threes or fours. Book 1-4 are about the protagonist's apprenticeship and starting with book 5 he's a full Ranger.

What I love about these books (Ranger's Apprentice and Magician's Apprentice/Master) is that they completely make me want to fire up any high fantasy CRPG and play the class.

Which begs the question, are there similar novels for other classes? Like:

• Mage: Magician by Raymond Feist (Midkemia series)
• Ranger: Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
• Thorwalian / Viking: Brotherband series by John Flanagan (spin-off series of Ranger's Apprentice)

Haven't read the latter yet though, so I don't know whether it fits the apprentice -> master formula. Any novels/series with the focus on other classes you guys can recommend?

Have you read any of the DnD series, like Drizt or Elminster series? I also liked a few others.

Reading Reality Is Not What It Seems by Carlo Rovelli. A really good summary of the cutting edge of physics, and how it challenges our common sense notions of the world. He writes clearly, and I enjoy the fact that he comes at it with historical knowledge, too, placing the development of thought in context.

I've seen and heard a bit about the Curse of Chalion, by Bujold, so I've picked that up. I'm not very far in, but enjoying it so far.

Both Curse of Chalion and the Paladin sequel were quite impressive. I borrowed and read those from our library, but I'll be buying that entire series next time I see them. I've requested the third book to see if it is equally awesome!!

I think the third book is different; It's very good and worth the read, but not as good as the first 2.

The third book of the Chalion series was good, I wouldn't say equally good as the prior two, but still worth reading. As a whole, the series impressed me, and I can certainly see myself rereading it again in the future.

Over the weekend I finished the most recent book in the Pillars of the Earth series, A Column of Fire, by Ken Follett. What a great read, I'd venture to say even better than the first two books in the series. He does a great job of mixing in a few fictional characters amongst a landscape full of historical people, while weaving a new story amongst the rather large cast. If you enjoyed the other two books in this series, this one will not disappoint.

I haven't read a genuinely epic fantasy series in ages, so I've just started Gardens of the Moon, the first book in that Malalalalazaladingdong series by Steven Erikson. I found almost the entire series in a library book sale for 20c each. I also got the first four Malawalalawotsit books from Ian Esslemont from the same sale!

I've heard that Gardens is pretty difficult as far as series first volumes go, but while I am finding it complex, it's so far very compelling reading.

I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the moment. Pretty neat so far. A murder mystery with nice atmosphere -- good change of pace from my usual fantasy / scifi stuff.

By the way, it appears that Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive book 3 is out as of today, which is called Oathbringer. Damn. I thought I still had a couple of days, but I'll be sure to make it the very next book I read.

Lately, I've read a couple of the "new" Alien novels:

Alien: Out of the Shadows
Alien: River of Pain

Both are worth reading, but River of Pain is definitely the better book. It's essentially the story about what happened on Acheron/LV-426 before the colony was wiped out.

I was surprised at how satisfying it was - and I highly recommend it if you're an Aliens fan.

Out of the Shadows was so-so - but entertaining enough. Focusing a little too much on the spectacle - and the plot is VERY far-fetched in a couple of key ways.

But, again, if you like Aliens - you will probably enjoy it.

Yesterday I ploughed through Twin Peaks: the final dossier. This is a very different volume from the previous book, this one deals more with characters that were prolific in the first two years, but maybe not so much during the recent event series. There are a lot of answers in here, but then again, after what happened during the series, just about everything is in doubt. I found it rather short also, compared to the first volume. If you are a fan, this just might tide you over until the next iteration.

I'd like to hear your impressions when you're done the first book. It's on my wishlist, but still deciding whether or not to get it.