January 2020

1 to 13. Books 1 through 13 of the Joe Pickett series about a game warden in Wyoming. I really liked them but over time they got really anti-government in goofy ways and just kinda silly. It was frustrating to keep hearing the same bullshit as if gov isn’t just us. Anyway, 13 is the last one I will read as they just lost what made them special.

14. A Cold Day In Paradise – Decent PI book about an ex Detroit cop. I will probably pick up the 2nd to give it a try.

February 2020

15. Winter of the Wolf Moon: An Alex McKnight Mystery (An Alex McKnight Novel Book 2) – I like the writing, but the character and plot were just ok. I just felt like a lot happens to him, but he doesn’t do much.

16. 17. Books 3 and 5 of the Murderbot Diaries… so Rogue Protocol and Exit Strategy. Both were hilarious and love the main character. Just felt a bit short though.

18. Warrior Ethos – By Steven Pressfield. Nice short book with a lot of wisdom and things to think about.

19. Hiring Engineers – A short one with a very specific focus, good read.

20. Sell More Faster – Good read, learned some sales methods as I try to get faster and better as the sales process.

21. Cry Pilot – Book 2 but not going further, just hit a wall with the concept and couldn’t visualize some of it.

22. Dragonslayer – Good read but felt like only 25% of a book and it ended… it hints at stuff but never shows any meat.

23. The Tiger’s Wrath – Book 5 in one of my favorite series, love the Roman military combined with a different world. Great read and I cant wait for more!!!

24. Career of Evil – Book 3 of the Cormoran PI books… good read as she can really write. But I got a bit bored by the end, just not my detective style.

25. Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich – Very well written and equal parts fascinating, hilarious, and depressing.

26. Morningstar – Well written and fun, and a bit of a rewrite on the Robin Hood legend it felt like. A fun read.

27. Thirteen – Very cool concept and a solid SCIFI, great author, not his best one, but worth a read. All about this enhanced human hunting down other enhanced humans and trying to figure out what is going on, great detective plot.

28. The Force – I love this author’s other works about the Cartels, but this is the most depressing dark book I’ve ever read. You just spiral down with the main character and never come back. Uggghhhhh.

29. The Ark: Children of a Dead Earth Book One – Good read, detective story with some action. But, it just felt like the main character was a little thin and i can’t bring myself to read the 2nd one.

30. Year One – Weird book to read as everyone is getting sick, but overall a big disappointment. Just like reading about boring characters, where nothing really happens, with a teen’s view of romance, and then it ends. I can’t believe how high this is rated.

March 2020

31. Stars Uncharted – I had high hopes for this one, but it fell flat, the characters just lacked humanity and a dimension. You feel nothing for them and they don’t feel real.

32. A Dragon among the Eagles – A book about the Roman legion, it was good, but the characters just a little flat. Very vivid though. I am going to try the next one though.

33. California Fire and Life – By an author I really like. This was a decent investigation book, but not as good as his others.

34. Blood on the Blade – A good book, just a bit simplistic characters. Well written though and I might try the next one and see if they develop a bit more.

35. 36. Book 1 and Book 2 of the 13th Paladin series. Fantastic fantasy books and fun reads from Germany. I am looking forward to the third book.

37. The Cloud Roads: Volume One of the Books of the Raksura – A decent fantasy book, interesting universe, but the main character just was flat. I miss having characters that feel more real. Decent read but I don’t think I’ll pick up book 2.

38. Sea Change: Alone Across the Atlantic in a Wooden Boat – Peter wrote one of my favorite sailing books and this is his personal narrative. Well written but hard to read at times as it was deeply personal and about the breakdown of his relationship, as well as his first boat sinking and having to abandon it. Good read!

39. The Poet – A really dark book about a crime reporter from another favorite writer. Amazing as always but too dark for me, and the ending was a bit out of nowhere. I could see it going one way and then he just went another way that felt weird and artificial. The ending was not satisfying and I am not sure if that is going to circle back down the road…

40. 41. 42. 43. Books 1 through 4 of the Eagles and Dragons series. It is a historical fiction in ancient Rome and follows a Tribune across that universe. I am looking forward to books 5 and 6! Fun to read and great characters.

44. The Nine – A fantasy book with a good start, but really short, and felt really basic. It was hard to believe and going to skip the next one.

45. 46. The Kremlin Conspiracy and Persian Gamble – Two books in a series supposed to be like Tom Clancy but not that good. The Christian bit was just weird with entire psalms being read. Meh.

April

47. Gideon the Ninth – A really dark, funny, horror-fantasy book. Not something I usually read but it was decent. The main character was hilarious and I really liked her… but the rest of the book was hard to follow at times. With a little cleaner action and other characters it would have been a lot better.

48. Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life – Hilarious and some good advice :). Good read from a fantastic comedian.

49. Jade City – Decent book but I am not going to read the second. It took a really really long time to get to where it was going, and not for a reason I could see. Very cool world though, just not enough plot in book 1 to justify book 2.

50. 51. The Tin Collector and The Viking Funeral – Books 1 and 2 of a new detective series, but I can’t do it. It is so unbelievable and like watching the mechanic or that stupid fast and furious series (apart from the one or two good ones).

52. 53. 54. Books 1 through 3 of the Thirde Named Man. Fun books if you like efficiency/warrior porn. He is good at everything etc. Fun reads though and I did not get bored.

55. Galatic Law – I was really disappointed with this one, it had really good ratings but the character was just so flat, and the plot hard to follow. It was like watching speed at times.

56. Void Moon – Probably his worst book, and it still was solid. Just not the amazing bit the Bosch and other series are.

57. Gods of Guilt – I think this was the last Mickey Haller book I had left, and I have now read all Michael Connelly books :).

58. Fifth Witness – Another Mickey Haller book, fantastic as always.

59. 60. Books 1 and two of the Sylvan Chronicles. The Legend of the Kestrel and another one. These two books were ANNOYING. They had so much promise but the author is publishing them as short stories. Each book has a chapter at best of real material and then it ends and pushes you to the next one. It is crazy. I’ve never seen this done so badly. Not buying and avoiding the author like the plague.

61. The Scarecrow – Another book by Michael Connelly about a crime reporter. I like these less but still a fantastic read.

62. 63. Books 1 and 2 of the Shattering of Kingdoms series, book 1 is The Mercenary Code. I really liked these and I am looking forward to the 3rd one. The characters are decently developed, I’d like a little more. And, the world is pretty fascinating. There is a bit too much back and forth between the main characters between chapters, but I am hoping it comes together soon.

64. The Wolf – Book 1 in a fantasy series, it sounded great, but the characters were basic. And, it felt like half a book with no end. Not picking up another but I would try something else the author writes.

65. The Saracen Storm – This is historical fiction about the Moorish invasion of Spain. Decent read but it jumps around a lot and the characters are good but a bit flat. Well written though.

May

66. 67. Rise of the Ranger and book 2, Empire of Dirt. I really really wanted to like these books but the characters are just so flat. The writing is clear, the world amazing, and the plot seems huge and fantastic. But… the characters just have nothing to them. No depth, no emotion, and I just got a bit bored.

68. The Templar Detective – Stright forward and not much intrigue or mystery. I will def not read anymore as the characters are interesting but flat, and the story was just very basic. It might be good for young teenagers. Good writing though.

69. Fair Warning – By Michael Connelly and book 3 of the Jack McEvoy crime reporter series. As fantastic and distributing as always.

70. 83. Books 2 through 15 of the Dresden Files series. All about a Wizard / PI in a really cool universe. They went a bit crazy the last few books, and I struggled to stay with them. But the character is so funny and enjoyable I did. I hope the next few are better.

84. Who is Michael Ovitz? – Wow! I am not sure who recommended this book to me but it was AMAZING. All about the co-founder of the Creative Artists Agency and an amazing person. Some great life stories about actors and Hollywood, highly entertaining!

85. Death’s Head: A Soldier With Richard the Lionheart – Historical Fiction from 1191 as a boy named Roger joins the Crusades. Well written, very clear, and so far great characters. We shall see how book 2 goes.

June

86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. Books 1 through 7 of the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective series. These are in no way perfect, but they are pretty entertaining. My biggest gripe is the inhuman response he has to some situations. Such as if you get to relive the last 2 years of your life, would you really not see your biological father? Or, some other things… I also get tired of him reacting to the idea of ghosts as if that is illogical just after he summons a demon. Regardless, the character is interesting and I’ve had fun reading them. A few of them can get pretty Law & Order SVU too.

93. 94. The Godfather of Kathmandu and Vulture Peak. Both are new books in the Royal Thai Detective series. Both were great, This guy is highly entertaining and I love the unique mindset he brings.

95. Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie – Good story about a guy biking along the length of the EuroVelo 8 route and over 6,000km. Good read :)

96. 97. Books 1 and 2 about Carbo of Rome. I am looking forward to book 3, highly entertaining and good writeups about historical Rome. It is about a soldier who returns from his 25 years of service to a city he doesn’t know.

98. 99. 100. 101. Books 1 through 4 of the Bernicia Chronicles. This follows a Viking through his life, and it is very entertaining. I wouldn’t say the characters is crazy deep but the clarity of writing and historical accuracy is enjoyable. I am going to read the next one soon.

102. Tales From the Hilltop – Fun story about an English couple who run a bike tour place in Southern France. This is where we are visiting soon so I wanted to see if I could learn anything before we go. A fun read but more a collection of mini-stories and not much history.

103. Slovenology – A book about Slovenia, a fun read and a collection of little essays. Since we are visiting I was hoping to get some background on the country.

104. 105. Books 1 and 2 of the Jake Moran series. These are simple cowboy gunman stories. Entertaining but really basic without much depth. I won’t pick up another as just not enough meat on the bones.

106. 107. Books 2 and 3 of a historical fiction series about the Crusades and Richard the Lionheart and a boy named Roger of Huntley. Fantastic reads and the setting and clarity of writing were fantastic. The authors is very good I just wish he would work on the depth of his characters but this one was far better than Jake Moran and that series.

July

108.109. Books 1 and 2 of the Marine Terran Scout Fleet Series. Including Marine and Boneshaker. Very entertaining and fun, great vacation reads about a Marine in space.

110. 111. Book 5 and 6 of a Viking series I really love. Warrior of Woden and Storm of Steel. Fantastic historical fiction around 643 AD. I am looking forward to the next one.

112. Book 8 of the Jack Nightingale series, Tennessee Night. These books were different to start, but they just got a bit formulaic and annoying with some huge plot holes. And, the plot got rather dark and stupid in the latest ones. So I am not reading anymore :(.

113. The Silver Sorceress – A good read, I read the first one in 2017 and going to read the 3rd shortly. I wish more books would put out a recap in the initial chapter.

114. Fin Gall – Book 1 of a historical fiction about Viking set around 852 AD. This one focused on Dublin and some really good characters. I am looking forward to the 2nd one.

115. Sol Arbiter – I had high hopes but it felt like the prologue to the book and not a big enough plot for an actual book. Half a plot which really annoys me.

116. The Chiral Agent – A Military Science Fiction Thriller: Biogenesis War Book 1 – Interesting book about cloning and some other stuff. Not bad but I am probably not picking up the sequel.

117. Peace Talks – Book 16 of the Dresden series which is one of my favorites lately. The hilarious character even if they are a bit formulaic. And, this book was far better and made up for some books recently that did not seem to fit the series.

118. Night Flight to Paris – A WW2 Thriller that was pretty good, but a bit long sometimes and I am not sure I would pick up another.

119. Furies of Calderon – A fantastic Fantasy book that is one of my favs of the year so far. It is by Jim Butcher who did the Dresden series and the main character is fantastic.

August

120. 121. 122. 123. 124. Books 2 through 6 of the Codex Aleera series by Jim Butcher. One of the best fantasy series I’ve read in a while.

125. Book 7 of the Bernicia historical fiction series called Fortress of Fury – This is based in 650 AD and follows a Viking. I love the other books but this one was a bit bland and felt like half a story. Not much happens and the character doesn’t really develop or face any big crisis. Kinda boring.

126. 127. 128. 129. Books one through four of the Drop Trooper series about a Space marine in the future. I really liked this one, the main character is fun and the action fierce. Good reads and I am looking forward to book 5 when it comes out later this year :).

130. 131. 132. The 3 books in the Of Blood and Bone series, that is A Time Of Dread, A Time Of Blood, and A Time Of Courage. These are a sequel set ~140 years in the future of the other series he wrote. This was good but not as good as the others. It lacked the character development of the first one IMO. There just wasn’t someone I cared about as much as the others.

133. 134. 135. 136. This is one of the best fantasy series I’ve read in a while, it is the Faithful and the Fallen. The 4 books are Malice, Valor, Ruin, and Wrath. Fantastic reads and really cool world.

September

137. 138. 139. 140. Books 1 through 4 of the Saga of Roland Inness series. This is historical fiction set in the time of Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood, but on a different track in England. Fun adventure reads and nothing more.

141. Sandman Slim. I really wanted to like this book, as it is right up my alley, but the main character is just so incompetent I struggled to love it. And, the plot suffers from his incompetence and then he suddenly decides to help and everything is fine. Just doesn’t jive.

142. 143. 144. 145. 146. Books 2 through 6 of the Norsemen Saga about Night Wolf. Fun adventure books with historical accuracy. That said, I got a bit frustrated as not much happened in some of them, and they felt a little short and flat after a while. Each book has become more a half book or long chapter I do not like this move by authors to reduce the plot of a book in order to sell books.

146. 147. 148. The first 3 books of the Dead Cold Series set in Denmark and solid police mysteries. I enjoyed these but sometimes they were a bit dark / outlandish :). Not going to read more as they got a bit insane and hard to believe. Good writing/reads though.

149. Swastika Night – An insane book that was written in 1937 and a futuristic novel looking at the world if Hitler won and his claim that he would create a thousand-year Reich. Super dark and disturbing, especially around women. Worth a visit just to read the mindset of a woman in 1937 who saw this coming.

150. The Stolen Throne: A Novel of the Roman Empire (Eagles and Dragons Book 5) – Good read, but out of the series my least favorite. It was a little side story he decided to write, so not really historical fiction.

151. 152. I reread two Tom Clancy books I haven’t read in years. Red Storm Rising and The Bear And The Dragon. Fun reads, but man has Tom Clancy not aged well with some of his politics, racial slurs, and so on. Weird to read something I haven’t read in 20 years and see how gross it was in the time period.

153. 153. Books one and two of the Junkyard Pirate. I really wanted to like these as I am desperate for some good space science fiction, but these just didn’t click. The plot is interesting but everything else just felt off.

154. War’s Edge: Dead Heroes – Fuck. This book is like reading a book about real combat and the PTSD that follows. This follows the life of a recruit into the Space Marines and a tough read as the combat, emotions, and shit felt so intense. And, not in a fun way. Well written but I wish it was a bit lighter.

155. The Stark Divide – Crazy hard sci fi, I couldn’t get into it and it was a struggle to finish.

156. The First Compact – From one of my favorite Roman series. I love his writing but it just felt like not much happened and I am a bit lost in the series at this point. I miss his early books where the leader controlled a small team. This book felt short.

October

157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. Books 1 to 6 of the Alex Kovacs thriller series (Vienna at Nightfall, The Spies of Zurich, The Lyon Resistance, The Limoges Dilemma, Paris in Disguise, and The Agony of France). Great historical fiction about a man who becomes a spy and guerilla fighter. Fascinating to see the perspective pre-ww2 and what was going on. Some really hard moments to read, and to live with, especially not knowing what happened to his wife. I look forward to more, good reads.

163. Dark Matter – Wow, fantastic thriller that I actually enjoyed. I don’t want to spoil it, but worth a read… about the life not lived, and yet lived. It does seem to angle for a movie, but still a fun little beach read.

164. Under the Eagle: A Tale of Military Adventure and Reckless Heroism with the Roman Legions – Very well written and I am looking forward to the second one. This one follows a freedman in Rome who joins the legion and the moments leading up to the invasion of Britain. I am looking forward to the next one shortly.

165. The Chestnut Man – Wow, so what happened in the nordic to make shit so dark. Great read, but man what a dark story.

166. The Nazi Hunter – Solid read about someone hunting an ex-nazis, solid thriller.

167. 168. 169. 170. 171. The five book series called Theirs Not to Reason Why. It takes place in a future where there are people who have psch powers, but rarely and of varying strength. The main character can see the future on a scale nobody can really measure, and at a young age sees the entire universe and humanity being wiped out. And, surfing the timeline figures out everything she needs to do to save mankind. The first couple books are great, but then it kinda turns into a superman problem where she can almost do anything and its a bit of a grind. Great reads though.

172. Stormblood – Super soldiers are combined with alien tech, war ends, and they are left to figure out how to control what made them great soldiers but poor civilians. Thrown into that is someone trying to trigger them and throw the world into chaos, but why? Great detective read in an cool universe, going to pick up the second I think.

173. Book 17 of one of my fav series about Dresden, a wizard in Chicago who is married to trouble. The book is Battle Ground and I can’t wait for the next one :).

174. The Eagles Conquest – Roman historical fiction and book 2 in a series about the invasion of Britain. A solid read and looking forward to the next one. Very well written.

November

175. The Law of Innocence – Another great Lincoln Lawyer book, number 6 and brand new. It was a great read, he is such a fantastic writer! It was weird to read a book set in this year, with masks, panic, pandemic, and so on.

176. The Smoke Hunter – This was hard to get through, just too many tropes, and the man/woman bit was torture. I don’t recommend it. I was looking for a good Indiana Jones book and IMO this was a miss.

177. Texas Ranger – By James Patterson, I’ve never read his books and gave it a try. I was unimpressed, he is a clear writer but just kinda boring and short without a lot of color. I am going to try one more but maybe he isn’t for me.

178. 179. 180. 181. Books 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Eagle Series, which are fantastic historical fiction during the Roman conquest of Britain and after. I want to read more, but they don’t have them in ebook format, trying to find out why now.

182. Sandstorm – Mildly interesting mix of Tom Clancy and Indiana Jones. Just got kinda boring by the end.

183. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. A kinda reflection on his life and wildly entertaining. This guy is 100x crazier than I thought and a really fun read. I think I told Lindsey stories from it for a few hours that night, and read it in one go. Great read!

184. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life – One of the best books I’ve read this year and one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read in the last 5 years. It is like a memoir of his life and how it is intertangled with surfing. Just a fantastic read and I will probably read again. Some of the reflections on travel really resonated with why I love it too.

185. Red Alert by James Patterson, after a bust on a book by James P I tried another. It was a bust too. Who is reading this crap????

186. Home Front – Book 5 of the Drop Trooper series, good read, but prob done with this series. Well written, good plot, just pretty small in scope and this one felt like it is trying to show a bigger world, but just to get you hooked.

December

187. 188. One of my favorite authors has a new series that is very cool. Uncanny Collateral and Blood Tally. It is about a half-troll half-man collection agent in our world but with fantasy creatures everywhere. Very fun.

189. Cauldron by Larry Bond. A very fun read about trade barriers going up and how the USA and Uk end up in a war against France and Germany. Weirdly believable and well done.

190. 191. 192. Books 1 through 3 of the Rise of the Republic Books. So into the stars, into the battle, into the war. Really fun science fiction, not too thinky, but full of action and a cool universe. I look forward to some fun reads when the next one is released in June.

193. Ready Player 2 – I am sorry to say that this was a giant turd :(. Just stuffed full of useless references that detracted from the plot and characters that failed to evolve. The plot was an old one and it just failed in every way.