I well written, if lengthy review. Interesting at times too. I think Iād have to ready, or in the mood to read Wolf. Maybe if I got into the era, to get a personal view of how it is/was to him at the time he was actually a part of it.
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Recents books Iāve readā¦
The Company (basically how the Hudsons Bay Company turned fur into a gold mine and helped form Canada as a country)
Small Mercies (mid 70s Boston, a womans daughter goes missing and she basically tears apart the underworld to find out what happened)
The Last Days of the Incas (Pizzaro and his fellow conquistadors attempt to out ruthless out torture out rape out plunder what Cortez did to the Aztecs in Mexico)
Colombiano (really well written fictional story about a child soldier joining paramilitaries in Colombia to revenge his fathers murder)
Demon Copperhead (modern hillbilly take on David Copperfield from the mountains of Virginia in the 80s)
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I am currently reading Wild Cards III, Aces High. Itās the third book in a series that is currently over 32 books long. I first read the original three books in 1987. This is a shared world series with multiple authors mostly from Albuquerque, NM. This collection of Science Fiction writers all used to pay tabletop roleplaying games together, and in particular a super hero TTRPG lead directly to these books.
George R.R. Martin writes some stories, serves as the primary editor (assisted by Melinda Snodgrass who was a writer on Star Trek TNG) and was the game master for the TTRPG that lead to this series.
The basic premise is, on September 15, 1946, an alien virus is released over New York City. 90% of those who contract the virus draw the Black Queen and die horribly. Of the survivors, 90% draw a joker and become deformed mockeries of humanity. That last 1% infected by the virus gain superhuman powers, almost always related to telepathy or telekinesis. These are usually āAcesā, though some draw a deuce and have a minor power like changing the color of their hair whenever they want by will alone.
Most of the series is released in ātriadsā. The first two books being a collection of short stories all in overarching plot lines with a bigger plot line in the three books of the triad. The last book in the triads tends to be a mosaic novel, written by multiple authors and edited into a single coherent novel.
In my current re-read of this series, it is September 15, 1986, the 40th anniversary of Wild Card Day, and it covers the events of that day in New York City, much of the action happening in the Bowery, which in this timeline is known as Jokertown.
Iāve got the entire series in Kindle format, including multiple short stories not in any book. There are also three graphic novels.
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Holy macaroni and sufferinā succotash, what a good book!
This book has been on my TBR list for a long time.
Milton slams me.
No power. Kindle time.
I regret that I did not read it earlier in my life. Tried some friends. and neighbors to find some one whoās read it, but no one, so far. I want to talk about omens
Really nice book which I would recommend to all.
The Alchemist
[
Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.
Paulo Coelhoās masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far differentāand far more satisfyingāthan he ever imagined. Santiagoās journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along lifeās path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.
I also started Strphen Kingās Fairy Tale on Kindle, and itās another good hurricane book, almost finished with it.
Fairy Tale
4.10
273,629 ratings31,681 reviews
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Fantasy (2022)
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higherāfor their world or ours.
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Nice!! A thread for those of us who wasted money on English/Lit majors can share all of the stuff weāve read. Haha.
One of my biggest regrets is getting rid of book collections during moves. Thousands of books gone that Iām now rebuying.
Edit: Some book reports in here too. Haha.
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I didnāt mention what Iāve been rereading. Iām going through all of Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiassenās stuff again as Iām rebuying them in order and hardcover for my bookshelves. Easy and light reading.
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Iāve read a few of his adult novels, Mrs. mota has read more of them. We both thoroughly enjoyed his writing. 
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Yikes, Florida writers.
I like all the above
Some faves not mentioned yet
John D McDonald- Travis McGee
Elmore Leonard
Jonathon King
Randy Wayne White
PJ Parish
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Typed a reply while I was out, but it doesnāt seem to have posted. Iāll try and recreate it. Haha
Yep yep, quite a few authors from or based in FL. I read through a lot of them as a kid, but all of the fun crime stuff and whatnot I tore through voraciously. Thatās a nice list of authors as well! All of my books from these FL authors and fun crime types ended up at Haslamās when I left for college. I āsoldā them over 1,000 books at that time. Mannnnn do I wish I had them all back. I loved Haslamās as a kid. Good times. Iāll try to use this thread to get me rereading stuff I should or reading some stuff Iāve never read, but always meant/wanted to. Cheers all!!
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Iāll start with these two. I enjoyed both. Absolutely love Borges. Saw someone post Big Sur earlier, so why not.
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The Joe Pickett novels by C. J Box are awesome. The main character is a Wyoming game warden who always finds himself in the middle of some crazy situation involving murder, drugs, animal poaching, domestic terrorist ectā¦ He has an amazing family and his best friend is an ex-military spec Ops, outlaw Falconer who Carries a 454 Casull revolver everywhere who gets deep in harry situations with Joe. I read all 23 books in order in 2023, I was hooked after the first 3. If you like Louis Lāamour, youāll like the Pickett series
Also any Cormac McCarthy book. The Road, Stella Maris, All The Pretty Horses, No Country For Old Men, Child Of God, Blood Meridian or any of the other ones. He was praised as the best living American writer until he died a few years ago. His writing style is life changing.
Iām stoked thereās some book readers here too!!! This is AWESOME!!!
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What a nice thread. Hereās a few of books that I thought of while I went down the list. Iām picking these because they are strange and weird tales, but also extremely good, and you all have good taste in books so these might work for you, too
The Third Policeman, by Flann OāBrien
One of the very best absurdist novels. Irish to the core. Very funny and surreal. Bicycles and boxes inside of boxes and philosophy from the almighty de Selby, and, of course, policemen
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, by George Saunders
This is a very odd story, seemingly impossible to tell, but Saunders is one of the very best story tellers and pulls off this tale with remarkable wit and cleverness
Cosmos, by Witold Gombrowicz
A very absurd and fun mystery
Alice in Wonderland, C.S. Lewis
Classic absurdity. If you havenāt read it, itās a pure treat. I like the Norton annotated edition with all the footnotes that goes into all of the mathematical tricks and language games, etc. What a trip!
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Blood Meridian was recommended to me yesterday. Iād be a fool to ignore synchronicities. Gonna order a copy today.
The Road was an amazing book that I couldnt put down.McCarthys writing style stirred emotions in me that I never thought possible from a book. Itās a shame certain classes of people donāt encourage reading at home. Itās possible to have personal experiences money canāt buy.
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Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance
-Robert Pirsig
Re-reading for the 3rd or 4th time. Not for everyone, but a game changer way to look at life for those who are receptive to it.
Quality is an event wherein subject meets objectā¦
-Grouchy 
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Nice!!! Iām with you on the numerous reads and itās definitely one of the books Iāve bought the most times and given to people for them to read. My mom nagged me so much as a young kid to read it too. Haha. I canāt stand motorcycles though.
Edit: Just checked and I mustāve given away the last version of it I bought as well. Looks like Iāll be buying it once again. Haha.
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As some of you know, Iāve been re-reading the Wild Cards series of books that are based upon the premise of an alien virus being released over Manhattan on September 15, 1946 resulting in 90% of those contracting the virus dying horrible deaths.Of the 10% who survive, all have their DNA altered and 90% become deformed hideous versions of humanity who are called āJokersā. The final 10% of survivors gain Psy powers such as super human strength, ESP, pyschokinesis, etc.
The 6th and 7th books in the series occur in the same 10 day period during the 1988 Democratic Convention in this world. The books overlap and whenever I re-read these in the past, I would flip from one book to the other to read it all together. The publishers released the eBook versions DRM free, so I have edited the two volumes together (using Calibre) as a single version (which the writers have assured me was the original intention, but the publishers balked at it because it was simply too long).
After this massive undertaking I have decided to take a break from this current 33 books series that will expand another volume in February to re-read the Elric Saga, adding another volume to the re-read that I have never read before. Anybody familiar with Michael Moorcock will know the first Elric story was published in 1961 and the latest volume I was previously unaware existed was published in late 2022. Moorcock continues to write epic stories and novels in his Eternal Champion universe multiverse.
Long may he live to add to this epic seriesā¦
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If you didnāt order a copy, I will send you mine to read? I have quite a few more of his books too.
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I appreciate the offer 
proper kind of you. I was naughty and got the audible version so I could listen as I worked. I started it this morning funnily enough. I know I should read it myself to get the full enjoyment but I always end up with 3 or 4 credits burning a hole.
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No worries my friend. This book in particular can be kind of a tough read for some, it certainly was for me the first time. I may have been a little green to the style in which he chose to write it, but after a re read I was blown away. I will say this however, people either love it or hate it kind of no in between. Itās one of my favorites books of all time. My wife said it sucked hahahaha. Listening to it sounds awesome!! I hope you enjoy it.
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Blood Meridian isā¦ well, I donāt want to hype it. Itās really fucking good
Made me want to be a writer by the time I finished reading it. Iām not a writer, but it sure as hell stirred something in me. This book makes me wish I could use words in such a powerful and artistic way as McCarthy did (RIP).
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