January 2015

1. The Reality Dysfunction – This is by one of my favorite sci fi authors, this guy dreams so big!!! This is a massive 1,000+ page book that is only part 1 of a universe I can’t even begin to explain. But, by far this is the weirdest sci fi book I have ever read. Very good but also very complicated. I don’t think it is his best book, there are others he wrote that are better and don’t sprawl as much, but it is very good, and I am going to bite off the 2nd half soon.

2. Golden Son which is book 2 of The Red Rising Trilogy. A fantastic sequel and a really great sci fi book which combines space conquest and roman society with genetic human 2.0 type shit. Great writer too! My only quip is the ending was a total plot hanger, and also frustrating… I can’t wait for the 3rd!

3. The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study – Wow!!!!!!!!! Scary to read about other people and see yourself so clearly in them. Just freaking crazy, I am going to read it again with Lindsey as it explains a lot of things about me, my brother, and her too i think.

4. Beyond The Horizon – A little fun sailing book, some interesting stories as they went around the world. There are a few other sailing books I would recommend before this though.

5. The Paleo Cure – A good read as I move into this Paleo AIP diet for myself.

6. Dear White People – Funny and biting and a good read. It is a bit short but still worth it, I can’t wait to see the movie soon as it looks great!

7. Kellogg’s Six-Hour Day – A really amazing story about Kellogg replacing the traditional 8 hour shift with 6 hours and over the last 40 years what happened to that group of people. There was a big movement in the depression area to go to this world wide, and it got defeated over time. I wonder if we will ever see it pop up again. The book was a scholarly book, so boring and without much conclusions. But, I did enjoy learning about it.

8. MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins – This was the single best book on finances/money I’ve read for the general public. I learned a ton of things I didn’t know, and although I don’t agree with the entire thing, it was a fantastic read. Especially the more motivational parts to help people understand what money is and how retirement works. Great book, highly recommended!

9. Matterhorn – Ever wondered what Vietnam was like? This book is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read, and it just leaves your mind lost at times. Incredibly incredibly well written, should be a must read for anyone thinking of going into the military or wondering what war is like. One of the best books I’ve read in the last few years. HE also wrote the book ‘what it is like to go to war’ which is also one of the most powerful book I’ve ever read. Both should be required reading in high school for everyone in the world.

10. When the Tea Party Came to Town: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives’ Most Combative, Dysfunctional, and Infuriating Term in Modern History – This book was really interesting, and not what I was expecting. It gave a really great play by play of how the budget and legislation gets passed in the house, and to some degree, the senate. Really fun read to see how our government works rather than the sound bites the media creates. Cool stuff!

11. First to Kill – A fun military thriller, took a few hours to read, decent story, good writer. I might grab the second one :).

February

12. Endsinger – Book 3 of the Lotus War trilogy, and the final book. It was amazing and a great ending to this steampunk fantasy book based in Japan. Highly recommended as a series :).

13. On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town – I found this at the place we are staying at in Nice, a quick easy read and fun :). About her life in France, a little light on some details, but def a few good tidbits.

14. 15. The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God. Book 2 and 3 of the Night’s Dawn trilogy by Peter Hamilton (one of my now favorite scifi writers). These are HUGE books, all of them seem to be around 1300 pages!!! Peter is an amazing writer and the level of detail is astounding in these books, it is like seeing a view of the entire planet and then zooming down to see the dust in different places. Fantastic book and just the weirdest most interesting presmise you can imagine. Highly recommended but only if you are a super scifi nerd :).

16. Reinventing the Wheel: The Science of Creating Lifetime Customers – A great book with practical real world examples of how to build customer loyalty and experiment. I’d recommend this to any retail small business. Solid read!

17. Firefight – Book 2 of the reckoners book where super villians have come alive, highly recommended and I can’t wait for book 3. I wouldn’t say this one was Brandon Sanderson’s best work, it felt a bit off, but still laugh out loud funny at times, and a really interesting plot.

18. The Autumn Republic, the final of the trilogy called The Powder Mage and what an ending. An amazing universe where magic and gun powder mix, fantastic writer. This was a GREAT ending and one of the best sci fi / fantasy books I’ve read in the last 2 years. Short listed for my best of this year :).

19. 20. 21. The Dark Space Series – I read the first 3 books but don’t recommend them. They went quick so I read all 3 but I was disappointed by the plot and characters, just not very good.

22. Deadly Straits – A decent thriller, cia, that type of thing. But not my cup of tea, the characters, esp the lead one, were just not enough real people.

23. Court of Nightfall – Very similar to a premise I’ve been playing with for the last 10 years, but really really short. Ok read, and maybe ok for teenagers.

24. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir – I love Bill Bryson and this is a fantastic book I highly recommend! All about the 1950s and Bill’s childhood, fantastic read, laugh out loud funny.

March

25. 26. Dead Six, Swords of Exodus – Books 1 and 2 in a very interesting series, I would rate them around 3.5 out of 5 stars. Military thrillers but with a tinge of conspiracy theory on top. I enjoyed them and will read the next, but the author has other books I enjoyed far more.

27. 28. 29. 30. 31. The first 5 books of the Monster Hunters International series, these books are awesome and so much fun! I can’t recommend them enough! So much fun, great endings, awesome characters and so much fun. The basic premise is that vampires and everything is real, and the government places a bounty on it to control it from outbreak. I can’t wait for the next one.

32. 33. 34. Book 1, 2, and 3 of the Grimnoir Chronicles. Same author as the rest of the books this month, and I loved this one. Slowly 1 in every 100 people is born with different kinds of power, and their power is stronger or lesser. Highly recommended read, I love this series! I hope there are more coming!

35. God’s Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican – A fantastic read about the Vatican and it’s banking arm. Crazy stories of corruption, power, and insanity.

36. 37. 38. Prince of Thorns, King of Throns, and the Emperor of Thorns. – A very dark and fun series about the rise of one many to power in a medieval future. Fun read!

39. Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600–1900 – The writing style was a bit dry but still a very interesting read about these business entities and the men behind them.

40. The Return Man – An ok read about a zombie inhabited future and one man in it.

41. Storm Front – The Dresden Files Book 1 – A story about a wizard detective in modern times. I thought it would be great but I just couldn’t get into it, he is kinda a downer.

42. Darknet – Decent read for a cyber thriller.

April

43. The Silver Ships – I’d give it 2.5 out of 5. Decent sci fi but I just couldn’t get into the writing style.

44. The Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard – A very short but sweet book on what it means to create a responsible company, to it’s people and environment. Yvon is the founder of Patagonia and done some really cool stuff and this was a quick good read.

The Responsible Company shows companies how to reduce the harm they cause, improve the quality of their business, and provide the kind of meaningful work everyone seeks. It concludes with specific, practical steps every business can undertake, as well as advice on what to do, in what order.

45. The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future – Fantastic read that outlines some of the challenges we face as we seek to return the balance of labor versus capital. Some really good ideas in this book and a good overview of the problems faced with historical context.

46. 47. 48. 49. Books one through 4 of the Odyssey series, a fantastic space battle series that was a lot of fun (Into the Black, The Heart Of Matter, Homeworld, Out of the Black). The book starts with the test of a new faster than light starship engine on earth and discovering aliens. And then goes from there. Plenty of action and perfect for the beach :) .

50. Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life – By John Bogle (founder of Vanguard). A brilliant read by someone who is helping everyone’s retirement instead of stealing it with high fees. Great read for anyone wanting to learn about investing and not loosing their retirement funds to 401k and other fees.

51. Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis – An amazing book that illustrates that class difference money now makes, and how American is becoming two Americas. We need to find ways to fix this problem. The book goes from case studies on the ground, to the big view, and does a great job of it. I highly recommend it if you wanted to read one book about the ramifications of inequality and the lack of community in America. It was hard to read at times, you catch yourself asking “how is this america?!?!?”

52. Hollow World – A really unique sci fi book about a man who creates a time machine and skips ahead to a universe I can’t even describe. Plus a little detective story mixed in too with some philosophy. Not my fav read but still a good one.

53. 54. 55. I read the first 3 books of the Purge of Babylon series but gave up after that (The Purge of Babylon, The Gates of Byzantium, The Stones of Angkor). Why did I give up? The writing is ok, but the books are like watching lost, nothing real ever happens, just a lot of description of moments and I got bored. This book is about the modern rise and destruction of society by vampries, which is a really cool survival concept, but it lacks a real plot and ends up just being about the day to day moments of survival.

56. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman – A great book by the founder of Patagonia and it tells his story of how they created Patagonia while still keeping their soul. Good read!

57. War God: Night of the Witch – By Graham Hancock who I’ve read for a long time. This is a cool one that mixes gods, shamen, and the arrival of Cortes to South America into a truly unique story. I give it a B+.

58. Fortune’s Pawn – Space battle one from a mercenary’s point of view. I liked it but wasn’t enough plot on the bone to keep reading the series.

59. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August – A truely unique and awesome science fiction book about a group of people who die and wake up with their same life and get to relive it. Combined with a detective / thriller story about technology advantages. Fantastic read and highly recommended!!!

May

60. The Abyss Beyond Dreams – By Peter Hamilton. Peter is one of my favorite authors and he writes some of the most amazing space operate sci fi I can imagine, and the most original. Sometimes you get 400 pages into one of his books, and you have to put it down because such crazy shit is happening you need a moment to think about it :). I won’t even try to describe this one, only to say it is a fantastic book with great characters and a great mystery and universe to explore. I can’t wait for book 2!

61. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time – An amazing book and great overview of the challenges, it is a bit dated as I wish there was an update but still a great read. I bought one of his newer books and looking forward to hearing more from him.

62. Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School – A fascinating read about getting an MBA at Harvard, and to hear about the grooming school for the global elite… Some crazy ass stories.

63. 64. 65. Pulse, Instinct, and Threshold – The first 3 books of a beach thriller with a super natural spin. I liked them but couldn’t get into the flow and writing style, but they are really orig ideas. For example, one deals with discovering the hyrda and hercules, another with the tower of babylon.

66. Apex – This is book 3 of one of my favorite sci fi trilogies by Ramez Naam and probably the best thing I’ve read this year. You want to see a glimpse of a possible future? READ THIS BOOK! It is so good, it is on the short list for the best sci fi book of the year. I can’t describe the plot in a few lines, but imagine that you can use nanoparticles to program and empower your brain, and directly access shared memories and experiences. Think “internet for the brain”!

67. Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America – I got this for Tony for Christmas and after he read it he recommended it to me. This is a crazy book, and such an amazing aspect of history you never hear about. So many Nazis in the usa who helped us get to the moon and so many other disgusting things. A hard book to read when balancing morality and power during the cold war. I hope the us government learned something from this mess.

68. The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue A fantastic intro on the subject, and so many businesses should read this. I do wish it had more case studies though.

June

69. 70. 71. The 3 book bundle of the Void Trilogy – This is a bundle of the Dreaming Void, the Temporal Void, and the Evolutionary Void. I love love love Peter Hamilton and have read almost everything he has done, it is some of the biggest out of your mind sci fi / philosophy I have ever read. Describing the plot is so hard given the pure scope of the idea. Fantastic characters all set in his big universie, loved all 2080 pages of it.

72. Persuader a Jack Reacher book – I found this one at a little apartment we stayed at on the island of Korchula and read it quick. Good beach thriller :)

73. Bound For Distant Seas: A Voyage Alone to Asia Aboard the 28 Foot Sailboat Atom – A good book, not as good as his first one, but still a fun read. I wish it was a little less soap boxy but that seems to be what happens to people as they get older.

74. Buzzing Communities – A great overview of how to manage and build a community.

75. The Liar’s Key – Book 2 in the Red Queen’s War – This wasn’t quite as funny/good as the first book, but still a fun one. I am hopeful that the 3rd one is better. Fantastic characters with a dark sense of humor and always entertaining.

76. The Real Story: The Gap into Conflict – A really really bad book imo, set in space, but boring as fuck and doesn’t seem to have a story in it. Avoid this one.

77. Uprooted – A fantastic fantasy book that is a bit different than most. Less cliche and a unique story. Some of the twists were a little hard to follow but still a delight to read.

78. The Remaining – A book about some military guys left in a banker in case the world self destructs, and it finally does. I was excited about this book but it is short and just a concept book, there isn’t any meat on this, just an introduction.

79. Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value – A good overview of entrepreneurship, and a good reminder that not everyone is a 20 year old in silicon valley :).

80. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun – I LOVED this book! She has a great sense of humor, well written, and very good mix of her personal narrative and scientific facts, and insight from others. One of the better books I’ve read this year.

81. Hades’ Daughter – This is book one of a series that is truly unique, it is set 100 years after the fall of Troy and has a really unique magic system. The writing is great and the characters pretty fun. I wasn’t quite hooked, but went ahead and bought book 2 to see how it goes given the uniqueness.

82. Peter Thiel’s Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future – Fantastic read, I totally agree on the loss in the USA of big ideas and the so called “Definite Optimism”. We are still optimistic but we no longer seem capable of planning or attempting big things. I think a lot of that is due to politics being taken over by money, and the public being disgusted and slowly uninvolved :(.

83. Clay Water Break: Finding Inspiration from Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least – A fantastic book from the co-founder of Kiva.org which is one of my favorite non profits. The book was excellent and talks about her life, how kiva.org came to be, her passion, and a lot of little stories about different people helped through Kiva. Highly recommended and one of the better books I’ve read this year.

July

84. Queen of Fire – Book 3 in the Raven’s Shadow novel, a fantastic ending to a great series. It was a hard plop down into the story after it came out, I wish the author had done a catch up, but still an ok read. A little too easy if you ask me to win it all.

85. 86. Darkwitch Rising and Druid’s Sword – Books 3 and 4 of the Troy Game series. A kinda cross time fantasy story that was pretty entertaining, but at times slow going. I enjoyed it but I am not sure I would recommend it to many people. Well written though.

87. Things I Wish I’d Known Before We Got Married – This is a really helpful book and I am going to read it a few times over the coming years I bet. Lindsey and I had a lot of fun doing a book called 1,001 questions to ask before you get married, and it was a great help. This book is also very insightful and helpful.

88. Armada – I really liked the author’s previous work of Ready Player One, but this one didn’t work out so well. He is constantly throwing in meaningless cliche trivia, as well as a plot that is pretty weak. I hope his next is better.

89. God’s Concubine – Book 2 of the troy game series. See above for review.

90. A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing – A book I’ve had on my reading list for a while now, a very good read and it supports a lot of the other items I’ve read on Mr. Money Moustache and similar sites.

91. The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet – This is a MUST READ for anyone trying to get a big view of how the planet is doing and how we are doing as a species. I loved this book and the author also writes some great sci fi. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year for sketching out climate problems, and possible solutions.

92. The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism – By John Bogle of Vanguard fame. Another good read that really shows a lot of the big problems with Wall Street and the so called “free” market. Over the next 10 to 20 years we are going to see the rise of a huge 401k / retirement crisis in America as the people and government start realizing wall street has been stealing their retirement funds with fees and no service in return.

August

93. 94. 95. Fear the Sky, Fear the Survivors, and Fear the Future. This is a series about an alien invasion and humanity coming together and not coming together to stop it. I’d give it 6 out of 10 stars, I decided to finish it, but after the first book I just didn’t feel much for the characters. The most interesting they left out, and they were always kinda 2d.

96. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. This was a really really good book, the first 80% was about the moon breaking apart when a small black hole hit it, and our work to figure out how humanity will survive it. This part was riveting and interesting and very cool. The last 20% was way in the future, and just awesomely bizarre. If you love Stephenson you will know what that means :), excellent book!

97. The Three-Body Problem – This is by a Chinese science fiction author named Cixin Liu and it is EXCELLENT, not only for the change in perspective, but the story is fantastic! It is almost like a mystery combined with a lot of science combined with a possible alien invasion. I just bought the sequel which came out a few days ago and can’t wait to read it :).

98. Tesla: Man Out of Time – A fantastic overview of Tesla, his life, inventions and impact. Fascinating stuff. The book was good but sometimes seemed a little less organized than I wanted, I’d give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

99. The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey – I loved this book, the author and his brother go by Wagon following the Oregon trail. Fantastic writing and a good mixture of history one chapter followed by what they went through the next. Highly recommended read, and some of the best travel writing I’ve gotten my hands on in a while.

100. The Dark Forest – This is an incredibly well done transition of book 2 of a science fiction book by Cixin Liu, one of the most well known sci fi writers in China. I love the concepts in this book and it is some fantastic science fiction, even better is the unique perspective to see this from a Chinese viewpoint. Highly recommended, and some of the best sci fi I’ve read this year. I can’t wait for book 3 to be translated!

101. New Elite: Inside the Minds of the Truly Wealthy –
This has become a much quoted study of modern wealth, and it was a fascinating read. I am quite interested in recent inequality trends and what impact that is going to have going forward, and this was a great look at that group.

102. The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits – A well written book showing that if companies take care of their people + have very very solid operations in places to manage everything, usually the end results is above average performance. I enjoyed this book and I do think it is true, although with some caveats. I don’t think viewing people as cogs in a machine, to be replaced willy nilly is the best path. And, I think we might see a lot more companies realize this as they get some bigger data sets crunched. Wal-Mart for example is making some changes that seem to show they might slowly be coming around. Heavily tied to inequality too and some problems in our economy that might emerge if this trend goes another 20 years.

103. Sunbolt – Well written but really really short and not much meat on the bones. It is basically an introduction to a world of really interesting creatures, some hints about what is going on, and then it ends. I wish it was longer, felt more like 5 introductory chapters.

September

104. On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads – This was an amazing book about a dude traveling on horseback from Mongolia to Hungry just like the monguls. This was the BEST travel book I’ve read in years. Highly recommended, just beautiful and so well written.

105. National Security (Jericho Quinn Thriller Book 1) – Bad book, waste of time.

106. Dark Intelligence – Decent read about a rogue AI and the crimes it committed. Very interesting universe, I might try another by this author.

107. The Secret Corps – This book is Dick Cheney’s wet dream. Worst book ever. The guy can write, but man is he a nut job.

108. The Forever War – Reread. A classic, and weird to read one that has a concept so many authors use today. Decent, but surpassed by so many other authors since it’s release.

109. A Hymn Before Battle – A military sci fi thriller where aliens suddenly approach us to fight for them. This was the first book in a longer series and I might grab the 2nd book. My only complaint is that the battles are a bit haphazard to visualize through the author’s writing. Otherwise decent characters.

110. Zero Day – This was almost a mystery book but from a military investigator perspective, excellent writer and I am going to try another one. This one was an investigation into the murder of a senior military man and his family in rural Virginia. The ending was weirdly “big” in scope, but otherwise fun.

111. The Girl in the Spider’s Web – This is a sequel to the hacker series about Lisbeth Salander. It is a bit of a flop, not a bad book but not nearly as good as the others which are brilliant. I recommend skipping it.

112. Warship – Another space sci fi for some fun. Good build up and decent read, I am not sure if I will grab a second. Very similar to Battlestar Galatica in some ways, a very old ship at the end of her road, a war captain in a peace era, and a threat that comes out of nowhere.

113. Fool’s Assassin: Book 1 of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy – I’ve never read any Robin Hobb books but they are excellent, this was one of the best fantasy books I’ve read so far and dominated by really interested characters from some of her previous books. It has a very slow build but that gives it time for the back story to slip in. Loved it and reading the 2nd one as well!!!

October

114. Fool’s Quest – Book two of the Fitz and fool trilogy. Magnificent once gain, and I can’t wait for the 3rd one hopefully next year. Great characters and a little faster paced. The end of this one is super mysterious and can’t wait to have my questions answered…

115. The Forgotten – Book 2 in the John Puller mystery series, John is an army investigator. Fun read, the author can write well and sucks you in, good characters too. This one was about human trafficking and good plot.

116. 117. Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Spain and A Parrot in the Pepper Tree – Fantastic books that follow the life of a couple who buy a farm in rural Spain and make a go of it. Great reads and it was nice to dive into some travel books.

118. When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail – I bought this in 2012 and finally dug into it. This is incredibly well written and a fantastic overview of the history of China and the United States through the age of sail. I found it incredible that the record holding trip at the time was 90 days to go from NY to China.

119. Shadows of Self – From my favorite writer Brandon Sanderson a new book in the Mistborn world. I loved it and it was awesome, I can’t wait for the next one and hope he keeps writing so fast in the years to come :). Mistborn is a world where people can digest and burn metals to achieve special effects, but which one depends on what you are born with and some other factors. Cool concept and it would be nothing without superb characters and plot.

120. The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass – A good book but a little flat on the characters, cool concept though with ships flying through the clouds. I might try the next one in the series when it comes out but I am not sure. I just don’t jive with the author’s style and I’ve tried a few of his books with the same feeling.

121. My Foot Is Too Big for the Glass Slipper: A Guide to the Less Than Perfect Life – A kinda hilarious ramble by Gabrielle Reece, famous in her own right plus married to Laird Hamilton. Laugh out loud funny at times, and sometimes it goes into some weird subjects but a decent read.

122. Split Second – A kinda fun thriller, with a little bit of a sci fi twist. Fun read, recommended for the beach. Imagine you can go half a second backward in time, how do you make that useful?

123. Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears – Fun book on the rise of AI and it feels pretty realistic. Fun read but really a bit of a concept book. I enjoyed it though.

124. What No One Tells the Bride – Hilarious book we grabbed, some really funny stories in here as well as some very real ones. Nice to see a realistic look at the first year of being married :)

November

125. Son of the Black Sword (Saga of the Forgotten Warrior) – Larry Correia is now on my list as one of my favorite writers! This book is FANTASTIC and on my short list for best fantasy of the year. Fantastic main character, and the writing style is so easy to visualize. I loved his MHI series, and I hope he can keep turning out great books like this. I hate having to wait for the next one :)

126. 127. 128. The Steel Remains, The Cold Commands, and Dark Defiles. A fantastic fantasy trilogy by Richard Morgan. The first book took a while for me to love it, it wasn’t until I was 75% through that I could really see the characters and the world. From there on out it was amazing and a great read. Good ending!

129. Silicon Man – A fun short little thriller, it reads more like a short story though. The book is based in the future where robots do all the work but are starting to waken. I found the situation a little hard to believe…

December

130. Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life – Louis Zamperini is an amazing guy with an amazing story. This is the guy they just made the movie Unbroken about, and I really enjoyed hearing more about his life.

131. CyberStorm – A very interesting book about a hypothetical internet war setoff by a China/USA spat. Good perspective and a bit scary to read. I am not sure how accurate it is but still very interesting read. I am not sure I liked the ending but it was a decent read.

132. Traitor’s Blade – Book 1 of a series about a 3 musketeers like group of soldiers hanging onto ideals infused with them by a long dead king. Great read and buying the 2nd one.

133. The Star Cross – An interesting book about a space war and earth entering a huge galactic union. I am not sure if I will read the second one as it just didn’t click partially with me.

134. 135. Red Tide: The Chinese Invasion of Seattle and Occupied Seattle – Silly books about the invasion of Seattle, I was hoping for more Tom Clancy style where it was believable but this was more action move. Still fun reads but nothing spectacular.

136. Invasion – Great writing and almost like Speed but for a family escaping the panic that comes with an alien invasion. That said it was super super frustrating as nothing happens except them fleeing the panic and it has a huge cliff hanger to convince you to buy book 2. Disrespectful to the reader.

137. Wolf By Wolf – The year is 1956 and the Axis powers control the world. This is the story about a shape shifting girl and her quest to kill Hitler. Great read and I’d give it a solid B+. I am hoping a sequel comes out.

138. The Long Way to a Small, Angry, Planet – Space thriller, but not enough action for my tastes. Too much stuff with interpersonal conflict / relations on the ship and other weird stuff. A little too basic in what it is about. Solid writer though, just not for me.

139. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less – Great read, Nick read it too and going to compare notes. I’ve read a lot of similar points in the past so nothing too groundbreaking, but I do strongly recommend it.

140. Knight’s Shadow (The Greatcoats Book 2) – A fantastic series that was really fun, think 3 musketeers but with a little magic.

141. Alif the Unseen – A really really cool techno thriller with some mysticism thrown in. It takes place in the middle east with hackers and a dictatorship and then throw in some Jinn. Fantastic book and totally different, highly recommended!