January 2023

1. How to be a Buddhist Millionaire: 9 Practical Lessons to Being Happy in a Materialist World – Great book! I am very much on the same page as the author for what is valuable in life.

2. Horus Rising – Good book in the Warhammer 40k universe, not sure if I will keep going.

3. Wolfblade – Book 4 of the Space Wolf series in the Warhammer 40k universe, super entertaining :).

4. Eagles of the Grand Kingdom – Book 4 in a fun escape series in a fantasy world that I enjoy.

5. Machinehood – Amazing book with a really unique view of the future. I didn’t connect with the main character as much as I would like, but super great book!

6. Forest of Foes – Book 9 in a series about a fantastic Viking in the 650 ACs.

7. Six Wakes – This book is sci-fi and got a lot of praise. It is a murder mystery where clones wake up on a spaceship. It was ok; I didn’t love the cutbacks, and just didn’t do it for me.

February 2023

8. 9. Books 1 and 2 in the fantasy series Empire of the Wolf. This is one of the best and most unique fantasy series I have read in a long time. I am looking forward to book 3 and where this is all going.

10. A Time For Swords – Book 1 in a new series by an author I like. It just went too slow for me and didn’t love the character like the other series he wrote.

11. Gravel Roads – This was a fun travel book, just some lighthearted reading.

12. The Capsarius (Legin XXII) – This was historical fiction set in the Roman legions in Egypt. It was fascinating to read as I haven’t read much about Ancient Egypt within historical fiction. I didn’t fall in love with the main character though. But I am going to read book 2 as I really like learning about this time period.

13. Unpublished book – Very cool book by a friend of nick’s.

14. Mars by Ben Bova – A really great science fiction book about a realistic visit to Mars in the near future. Fun read! Hard science fiction.

March and April 2023

15. Dune audio book – I read it years ago but been working through the audio book since October. Great audio book and fun to hear it all acted out vocally.

16. Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner. I love the Heat movie and I was intrigued when I heard there was an audiobook out. It was so good, a little slow to start, but so Michael Mann. Fantastic ending, and the narration was fun!

17. Ring Shout – A fantastic book about the KKK, dark magic, and monsters from another dimension. Really well written and my only frustration was it was only 192 pages. I want to see more and a bigger universe!

18. They Die Alone – This is crime fiction set in the 1930s. It was ok, but didn’t grab me. Something was missing as the story and character just were pretty basic and didn’t grab me.

19. The Martyr by Anthony Ryan (book 2) – One of my favorite fantasy book series so far this year. About an outlaw named Alwyn Scribe who rises to become something even more. Great book and great writing!

20. 21. 22. The Rorschach Explorer Missions series – An AMAZING hard sci fi series that I enjoyed immensely. One of my favorite books so far this year and I recommended this to some friends.

23. Bellatrix – Book 2 in a historical fiction series set in Ancient Rome. This was fascinating as it was set in Egypt and the middle east which I haven’t seen often in Roman historical fiction. Good books with a solid B+. I am a huge fan of this genre, but I wouldn’t recommend this series to just anyone.

24. Redwall – A fun kids book that I wanted to tackle, I am just too old to fully enjoy this one but looking forward to feeding it to Calico to see what he thinks :).

25. The Cambodian Book Of The Dead – Wow this guy can write, but the problem is this story is really confusing at times. I don’t consider myself someone who gets lost easily and there were quite a few times I had to back up and ask wtf just happened. The plot needs to be cleaned up a bit to understand better. Great writing though.

26. 27. 28. Books 1, 2, and 3 of the Discovery of Witches book series. I enjoyed this one, I had tried book #1 back in the day and it didn’t click. I enjoyed it this time and while it wasn’t perfect, I can see why they are so popular. Cool story and characters.

29. Rubicon – Cool premise, but I just didn’t fall in love with the characters. And the ending was just off the mark and such a huge cliff hanger I felt betrayed. I won’t be reading more.

30. Hungry Ghost – I think I am not a thriller person any more. This was interesting, but just felt a bit blah. Good thriller but not for me.

31. 32. Books 4 and 5 of the Grimm’s war series (A Grimm Sacrifice and Know Thy Enemy). This is a fun series and I really love the characters. It is military sci fi and just fun beach reads. I am looking forward to #6!

May 2023

33. In Search of King Solomon’s Mines – A fun book by Tahir Shah about a trip to Africa.

34. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. A giant book about colonizing Mars, hard sci fi and super realistic. I don’t think I will read the sequels though, as the characters just didn’t grab me.

35. Footfall – A super interesting book about Earth being invaded by baby alien elephant creatures. Entertaining.

36. The Shape of Water – This is book #1 in a 28-book detective series; I didn’t like it, though. The writing style was odd for me, it was hard to follow, and just pretty flat characters who felt like robots.

37. The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph – Love this book; I would have loved it even more if I read it in my 20s or early 30s. A lot of the lessons here were things I’ve already learned. I wish I had this to jump-start these quicker in my 20s. A great book for any high school and college great, heavy on stoicism.

38. A Knight and a Spy 1410 (The road to Agincourt- king’s spy Book 1) – Great book, but just didn’t grab me enough to read the sequels.

39. Book 4 of the Karus Saga, Rapax Pax. Fun read, a mix of ancient Rome and fantasy. This is from the POV of Karus and the original 9th.

June 2023

40. I listened to the audiobook of “A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir”, by Colin Jost. Very entertaining, interesting dude :).

41. The Tiger’s Fight – This is book 7 in a fantasy / roman military adventure. It was a bit long and muddled, and not sure I am going to read the next one. It just felt unfocused.

42. 43. 44. The Inspector Lu Fei series starting with Thief of Souls by Brian Klinborg. I loved this series as it is about a rural policeman in China. And book 3 was getting even better and def will read the next one.

45. Lindsey and I are reading the The Psychology of Money, it is a good book but a lot of lessons I’ve neared a million times before.

46. The Hero’s Way by Tim Parks – Great book that combines history with pilgrimage in Italy. I enjoyed it although I wish I had a little more big picture of before/after on this period in Italian history.

47. Walking With Sam – I loved this, it was the story of walking the Camino with his son. He had done it the pilgrimage when he was younger, and I loved the thoughts and process. I didn’t realize who it was until I got started, fun read!

48. The classic Good Omens, it was great, but I think I would have enjoyed it more 10 years ago when I was younger. Fun interactions though!

July 2023

49. Legend by David Gemmell. I found this in a used bookstore and bought it, it was a good read. The characters are fun but a little flat (I like Rek though). My favorite part is the dialogue as so much of it is hilarious and the main characaters are entertaining. It felt familiar and I realized I had read it in 2017.

50. Book 23 of the Gabriel Allon spy series was The Collector, quite fun as always :).

51. I read book 3 in the Covenant of Steel series, The Traitor. Great ending to one of my favorite fantasy series of the last few years. The characters were fun and the writing vivid. The series is a great one!

52. Hero of the Imperium – A really fun Warhammer 40k book about an infamous character. I hope they do the TV show based on this one!

53. Washinton and Caesar – A historical fiction book set during the revolutionary war. This was an interesting read… and super hard at times. The picture of slavery was intense. My history classes did such a shit job of showing the absolutely disgusting nature of America at this time. Slavery is such a repulsive thing, and somehow it is 100x more repulsive when based on race. I read so many books with slavery in Ancient Greece or Rome, but reading about something a mere 200 years in our history where the echos of it affect everything today is just heart numbing.

54. 55. Books 1 and 2 of the Last War series. I started with high hopes, but ultimately got very frustrated and read book 2 in massive pain. The characters are flat and never develop, the plot moves scene to scene, and there is no limits on the power. The writing is clear, and that is why it is so frustrating, as the books have no soul in them. There are weird moments where the author is trying to maybe show some humanity in the other side, but it just flops, so much of this book just flops. I have no idea how this is rated so highly, its like it has the pieces of a good book but fails in execution.

56. Silk Road – A straight up adventure book that was a fun read. But the characters fell a bit flat and it is just missing the last 20% that can make a truly magical book. I started book 2 in the “series” but its totally new characters and as flat. I don’t think I will finish it.

57. I reread Tom Clancy’s Bear and the Dragon. With everything going on with Russia and China I was curious how this book ended up, I first read it as a kid and it is crazy how dated Tom Clancy is at this point. As a kid I thought he was so smart, and now I can see so many areas where he didn’t understand different levels of complexity in the world (or refused to). Amazing author though.

August

58. 59. 60. 61. 62. Books 1 to 5 of the Traitor Son Cycle. I read this series many years ago and loved it, and decided to read it again. It is a fantastic mix of knights and fantasy. Fun books!

63. The Land Beyond: A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East. This was a fun travel book about a man walking through the Middle East. I would give it a solid B-, nothing too exciting, but a lot of really interesting tidbits along the way.

64. Eye of the Needle – A fun WW2 spy book by Ken Follett. I enjoyed it.

65. Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt, and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History – A fantastic book about something I had read in the papers but never followed up on. One of my fav nonfiction books for the year.

66. I Am Pilgrim – This is the best thriller I have read since Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy. Stunning, and I can’t wait for the next book in 2024. This is on my short list for one of my 3 favorite books for the year.

67. Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America, 1919 – A fantastic micro-history about the year 1919. I love this format and it was utterly fascinating.

68. The Last War by Peter Bostrom and Nick Webb and David Adams. I don’t understand how this had such good ratings, it was lacking characters and a story.

69. Never by Ken Follett – This was the best Ken Follett book I’ve read yet (I am working through a backlog). This was a fantastic thriller and one of the better books I read this year. It was haunting to see a replay of WW1 and nuclear war.

70. 71. 72. Books 2, 3, and 4 of the Last of the Romans series. These were fantastic and fun historical adventure fiction, set in a much different time than most Roman historical fiction I read. I liked the characters even if they were a tad flat, fun adventure books.

73. 74. Books 1 and 2 of the Whale Road series by Tim Hodkinson. These were Viking historical fiction and well written. That said I got really frustrated on book 2, as they take a character they are developing and throw it all away. I gave up after book #2 as it just wasn’t fitting from a story perspective.

September

75. A Chateau Under Siege – This was book #16 in the Bruno Chief of Police series. It was sadly a big disappointment; it was like half a story and very odd. I am very sad about this as the author is amazing and I am not sure what happened. Surely his beta readers told him it was not a good book.

76. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky – I love the hugeness of this sci-fi world and it is a pleasure to read. The characters are solid, and I am hoping as I dig into book #2 to see growth and arcs and changes. Great read so far and loving the world and mystery of it.

77. Finder by Suzanne Palmer – A fun sci-fi book with a ton of humor. I enjoyed it but not enough to pick up book #2. I just couldn’t get enough into it at times.

78. Dissolution – A historical mystery that was quite good, but for me quite boring. It is super well written and I learned a ton about this Tudor time period, but most of the book just has nothing happening, and the lead character feels like an observer.

79. 80. 81. Books 1, 2, and 3 of the Palladium Wars. This is a fantastic action adventure sci-fi that I enjoyed, and can’t wait for book #4. It def isn’t hard sci fi and avoid a ton of limits, but great fun reads that engrossed me.

October & November

82. Brad Meltzer’s Book Of Fate – A fun and silly political thriller. Just a good vacation read, plot was kinda insane :).

83. contagious by Jonah Berger – I swear I’ve been listening to this on audiobook for at least 5 years :). I just never finished it and finally did. I got so many little tidbits on marketing, viral marketing, psychology, etc. A true resources and fun listen.

84. Book 22 in the Eagles of the Empire series. This is Rebellion and treads on some very familiar ground as my 2 favorite Romans get into more adventures.

85. Resurrection Walk – Book 7 in the Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly. I love this one and Connelly is the king. Great author!

86. Between Two Fires – A really interesting horror book, almost literature it felt like an old sage. Outside my wheelhouse and I enjoyed it. With the right direction this could be a spectacular movie.

87. Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. A fantastic and fun thriller that I enjoyed about a weird murder mystery and the Donner Party. Great ending!

88. 89. Books 2 and 3 of the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Eyes of the void and Lords of Uncreation). What a magnificent author and picture he draws of an incredibly world. I really enjoyed this but it took me some time to get into it. For me, it falls flat in that the characters just don’t really change or evolve. The main character is fascinating and grew on me, but the rest just felt like placeholders. I am going to try more of his books to see if this changes…

90. A Grimm Decision – This is book 6 in a fun military space thriller, love it! Great adventure read :)

91. Smaller and Smaller Circles – This was an interesting serial killer mystery set in the Philippines. Really good book, but not sure it is for me. I enjoyed it though, I just wish the main characters had more fleshed out, I didn’t feel much for them.

92. The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky – Amazing world and imagination but the characters just feel so flat for me like his other series. They are going through insane things and I don’t feel like they have an arc or are real. I can totally see how other people love him, but for me characters are everything.

December

93. Babel by R. F. Kuang – A truly unique and wonderful book, I see why it has so many fans. What a unique world, I feel like I barely touched it though and I want 6 more books that really dive into the story. The book is more about the world building and some interesting mirrors into technology, capitalism, power, and identity.

94. From Strength to Strength by Author Brooks. My brother asked me to read this one, and it was a great read. It is about finding success, happiness, and purpose in the 2nd half of your life. My brother is turning 40 this year and we had a good chat about it.

95. 96. Books 1 and 2 of the Disco Space Opera which is a really fun hard to describe space adventure series. The first book is called “You Sexy Thing,” and the author’s name is Cat Rambo which I love. I am not sure I will pick up book 3 when it comes out, but generally this was a fun read with an interesting story (esp the ship).

97. 98. 99. The first 3 books in the Memory Man series by David Baldacci. Great books and I really love the characters, I love his other series and this was a great one to jump into as well. I am taking a break but I’ll dive into the next one soon.

100. 101. 102. The first 3 books in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. These are FANTASTIC, I kept seeing them recommended on Shepherd.com, and I finally bought the first one. It makes me laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions. I love the perspectives of these old people, and it has been really fun to read. Great characters. I am halfway through the 3rd one now.