What's the last book you read? How would rate it---5 being great ---1 being it is not a reread.

[debm55]

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Can't remember.

Spend all my time these days reading DU and news sites.

[debm55]

2. Thanks, OAITW r.2.0

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Backatcha.

[Diraven]

4. Wizards First Rule

By Terry Goodkind. My wife has been trying to get me to read the Sword of Truth series for like 15 years, lol. Unfortunately we apparently lost the rest of the books when we moved last, I can't seem to find them anywhere in the house. 😕

Edit: forgot the rating: 4, would recommend. Contains some disturbing torture and abuse scenes if you avoid those.

[debm55]

5. TY, Dirvaen. You might want to try the library. You don't have to pay for the books and when you take them back , they

don't up space in your new home.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. I read maybe 12 of those.

I also recommend the library especially for a big popular series like that one. Many ebooks are often available not to mention they don't take up space in our house

I decided to give Kindle a try when I realized I could go forever without bringing another book into the house.

[limbicnuminousity]

6. Peter Straub's Shadow Land.

Re-reading, actually, for the first time since it was released. Rating: 4.5.

It's a haunting coming of age story cast as a dark fairy-tale circa 1950s. Two school boys come of age while discovering magic, love, pain and loss. Reminds me a bit of Jack London although the plot is nothing like Jack London's stories and the writing style is dissimilar. It's really good story-telling, engaging in the same way that Jack London draws you into his short stories/novellas.

Not high fiction by any means but there's something graceful about the way the plot is woven together. And the fairy-tale vibe to the novel is unique to modern novels. Reminiscent of the original Grimm's in some ways. Definitely a dark fairy tale.

The rating is based on the quality of the story, the quality of the writing, and its uniqueness.

[debm55]

8. thank you very much, ;lim,bicnuminiousity. will give it a chance.

[UTUSN]

7. Jesus in the Talmud - 5. But at my age nothing is a reread.

[debm55]

9. TY, UTUSN. It seems like a unique book.

[electric_blue68]

10. I finished Octavia Butler's book 1 "Dawn" of her Xeogenisis/Lilith's Brood Trilogy...

Earlyish into book #2

Quite unique aliens. A daunting experience for Humanity. Interesting characters, settings, etc.

I'd give it a 4.

[yellowdogintexas]

14. I have The Patternist series. Caught it on deep discount for my kindle

the reading sample was very intriguing. Maybe I will read that after I finish the one I am in

[electric_blue68]

17. What are you reading?

[debm55]

38. TY electric_blue68. Sounds good.

[Tikki]

11. Harmony In My Head...by Steve Diggle..Copyright 2003

Steve Diggle is Guitarist, a vocalist and a song writer from an early (1977 ~) Punk band out of Manchester England.. The Buzzcocks.
I met Steve recently..nice guy.

I read an awful lot of these Musician biogs and auto-biogs.
Steve's was one of the more honest ones.
He was in the Scene really early. The crowd I met him with was there to learn and share.
He was very generous with his time.

Tikki

[debm55]

39. Thank you Tikki. Sounds like a good read of a good man

[yellowdogintexas]

12. The Key To Justice by Dennis Carstens

first in a lawyer/mystery series

THE CASE OF A LIFETIME WALKS IN THE DOOR...
Financially embarrassed, getting a divorce, living in a shabby apartment, and distinctly short of clients, Marc Kadella’s beginning to question why he ever went into the law when a friend brings him the case all Minneapolis is watching—defending an accused serial killer. If he wins, it could turn his life around—if he blows it, he better go into sales.
The story is full of twists and the ending is a surprise.

Currently I am reading the second book Desperate Justice

[rogerashton]

26. I read several in that series.

Enjoyed most of them, but the series got a little repetitious.

[debm55]

40. Ty yellowdogintexas. I like surprise endings. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Hekate]

15. The Land of Milk & Honey, by C Pam Zhang. Not for everybody, but 5 stars from me.

There’s been a semi-apocalypse that kills off most edible plants. The unnamed female protagonist has been hired to be the chef in a billionaire’s retreat.

[debm55]

41. TY Hekate. I sounds interesting. Thank you for the recommendation

[hunter]

16. Connie Willis -- The Road to Roswell.

Light entertainment rating: 5

It reminded me of situations I've been in.

Here's an interview with Willis by a Los Angeles Public Library librarian:

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/interview-author-connie-willis

[Backseat Driver]

18. Last one I finished was fiction - Victory City by Salman Rushdie; give it a 4

An interesting story of the rise and fall of a magical city/state grown from seeds through times of peace and times of pain and intrigue.

[Backseat Driver]

19. Victory City by Salman Rushdie - 4 star rating, debm55.

An interesting story of the rise and fall of a magical city/state grown from seeds through times of peace and times of pain and intrigue. Loss of 1 star - Seemed not quite up to Rushdie's best sarcastic romancing of the story, but still held my interest to continue on until the end.

[Behind the Aegis]

20. "read" Fact or Fiction 2: 50 (More) Popular Myths Explained

It was actually pretty good, so a 4 or 5; though, I tend not to re-read too many things, except classics.

I am currently "reading" The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, which is somewhat technical, but given my love of languages and linguistics, I am really enjoying it.

I do HIGHLY recommend: Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.

And, if you haven't read it, Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism: READ IT!!! This doesn't get a "5" it gets a "10"! It is PHENOMENAL!

[Mister Ed]

21. "The Guns of August", by Barbara Tuchman. I'd give it a 5.

Tuchman was an historian whose writing style allowed her books to flow like novels. "The Guns of August" details the events of August 1914, when the nations of Europe blundered inexorably into the disastrous World War I, "the war nobody wanted".

[maxrandb]

22. Been reading some Jeffrey Deaver books

With Coulter Shaw as the main character. The new TV series Tracker is based on these books.

I would rate them a 4. Kind of a guilty pleasure for me.

[yellowdogintexas]

42. Jeffrey Deaver is one of my favorites.

I love the Lincoln Rhyme series

[Niagara]

23. I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir from Val Kilmer

Interesting memoir.



I haven't really had time to read books lately.

[bedazzled]

31. I loved that book too!

Because I LOVE Val Kilmer!

[Niagara]

43. Val certainly put his heart and soul writing his autobiography.

It almost knocked my socks off!

[bedazzled]

44. He is so talented

I think he can do anything!

[Niagara]

45. Here's one of his last interviews before he lost his voice.

If you've already viewed it that's okay ...I wanted to share it with you.

[bedazzled]

46. AMAZING! THANKS SO MUCH!

I had never seen that. He has a great sense of humor. He is a great singer. I love "Top Secret" and "The Doors" best of his work

[Niagara]

47. You're welcome, bedazzled.

[bedazzled]

48. Here's an interesting article back at ya

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/magazine/val-kilmer.html?ugrp=u&unlocked_article_code=1.fU0.zbnq.d4TzcFe9YQbc&smid=url-share

What a guy!

[Niagara]

49. Thank you sharing this article, bedazzled!

[birdographer]

24. The Children of First Man by James Alexander Thom

A resounding 5 from me.

[debm55]

37. OH good, Thank you birdographer. I will see if I can get it at the library.

[Elessar Zappa]

25. Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill.

It’s a horror and very good. Very scary atmosphere, my only complaint is the ending isn’t as satisfying as I would have wanted.

Also I’m reading the non-fiction Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir. Queen Eleanor was a remarkable woman.

[debm55]

36. Ty so much fpr the recommendations,

[MontanaMama]

27. Just finished The Family Remains

by Lisa Jewell. It’s the sequel to The Family Upstairs. I could not put either of them down. 10/10. I picked them up after reading The Night She Disappeared by the same author…I couldn’t put that one down either. Riveting.

[debm55]

35. Thank you MontanaMama. I just think I found my summer reads.

[Cartoonist]

28. Two men named Connelly

I read a book by Michael Connelly that was about a 3. It was a crime novel. I thought he also wrote a fantasy novel so I checked it out.
My mistake, it was John Connelly. His book was a 1.

[debm55]

34. Oh my, not so good reads. Sorry

[mike_c]

29. William Manchester's A World Lit Only By Fire...

...about the end of the dark age in Europe. I thoroughly enjoyed it, 5/5. I'm currently re-reading Manchester's biography of Churchill, The Last Lion. This is my third reading of The Last Lion, but the first time I've had a copy of the third volume. I'm re-reading the other volumes in preparation for the third. I'm very excited about it.

I'm also re-reading Manchester to prep for Churchill's own six volume history of WW2 and his four volume History Of The English Speaking Peoples. I've wanted to combine these thirteen volumes into one marathon read for years, and only just now have time to do it.

[debm55]

33. TY mike_c . It spunds like some excellent reading.

[bedazzled]

30. "The Manicurist's Daughter" by Susan Lieu

Very moving book about the lives of a Vietnam refugee family in America. Of special interest is the relationship of the author with her mom, who died when she was young due to complications of unnecessary plastic surgery. The clash of American and Vietnamese culture was very challenging. Give it a five!

[debm55]

32. Ty. bedazzled. I will try to locate.

[Aristus]

50. Chronicle Of The Pharaohs.

Part of a series of "Chronicles Of..." books detailing the reigns of various historical monarchies, the Roman Emperors, the Popes, the Czars, and so on.

I think I have the whole series.

One glaring absence from the series that they need to correct pronto: "Chronicle of the Byzantine Emperors." I would snap that up in a heartbeat.

Chronicle Of The Pharaohs is very interesting. It confirms the assertion that the cheesy Hollywood movie "The Scorpion King" was at least correct in that the shadowy, mysterious, earliest known pharaoh is named "Scorpion".

As important as Pharaoh "King Tut" Tutankhamun is to archeology, the book puts him in his proper historical context as a minor, otherwise obscure ruler.

5/5.

[Jrose]

51. Been reading James Patterson's mystery series...

Very suspenseful, lots of surprising twists and he writes from many points of view - even as first person from the view of Lindsay Boxer, a female detective.

[bucolic_frolic]

52. For me this is a funny question

I read a book by a new author I met in a writers group. I won't mention title or name because it was awful. It was like no editing, characters that repeated the same words and actions throughout, not a lot of plot, and the ending was a 90 degree turn as if it needed to be finished fast. If there were 4 ways to say something, all 4 were included in successive paragraphs, so you sure couldn't miss them.

I'm not sure self-publishing Amazon has improved what's available in any given year. The vast, vast majority will never make a dime. But people can call themselves "writer"!!!

[Charlie Chapulin]

53. Charlotte's Web

That’d be a 5.

[MOMFUDSKI]

54. Am in the middle of The Ghost Orchid by

Jonathan Kellerman. Pretty good so far.

[rainy]

55. Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Loved it. we read it for book group. So much discussion of pertinent topics.

[Mr.Bill]

56. Life, Keith Richards' autobiography.

Trust me, this guy has some stories to tell. Great book.

I'm currently reading Like a Rolling Stone by Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone magazine. Again, some great stories to tell. Some I would have never dreamed of. For instance, he was very good friends with Jackie Kennedy.