How was that? I was just looking at that today, as I've liked a few of his other books. Would've bought it but I hate paying 11.99 for a book (I've gotten pretty spoiled, I used to pay that all the time pre-Kindle).

It is a pretty solid thriller. I would give it 4 out of 5. Very quick read. The only other Victor Gischler novel I have read is The Deputy, which I loved. I do plan to read his earlier crime fiction books.

Just finished:



I thought this was pretty great. An epic sci-fi story that immerses you in a strange time and place, puts you on the ground floor of world-shaking events, and gives you a story and characters to care about. Like a lot of world-building sci-fi/fantasy, it took some work at the start to get a grasp of things. But it was worth the effort. I'm pretty intrigued by the history of this world ... I hear that some short stories are set in the same world. I'll have to give them a shot.

Of course general reader reviews at places like Amazon and Goodreads are useless for this God forbid a book that demands a little effort on the part of readers.

Finished Stephen King - The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger



I'm not generally a fan of King, but I liked it. Creepy.

So I started Stephen King - The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

How was this? I read a few chapters and got bored and just stopped reading this.

Currently reading:

Yeah, I'm having a hard time with the first few chapters. I'm going to try to stick this one out and see if it picks up.

Read "Of Turin Turambar" after reading Children of Hurin and ended up rereading

You're a tougher man than I am. I re-read the Lord of the Rings every five years or so. I have never read the Silmarillion again, although it's been on my shelf for 30 years. The most I've done is to pull it out and read five pages, and then I put it back again.

Just finished:

I wouldn't go that far Nick. For some reason the Silmarillion was not quite the chore to read as it was ten years ago and I stopped and started several times my first read. Maybe it's like the Matthew McConaughey commercial -- "I know there are those who say you can't go back. Yes, you can." I will probably re-read Lord of the Rings later this year.

Finished:

Just finished Stephen King's Joyland and really enjoyed it as a Summer read.

I'm just starting on To Kill a Mockingbird again for the first time since I read it in high school, probably 20 years ago. I wanted a refresher before Go Set a Watchman comes out next month.

Finished:



Very welcome for Clive Barker to get back to making horror stories for adults. And Mister B. Gone didn't even feel like a proper novel to me, and before that we're going all the way back to 2001's Coldheart Canyon. The Scarlet Gospels isn't quite the epic that it was built up to be (though I've heard that Barker himself trimmed 2/3 of the original length). And the genre seemed more like fantasy than horror to me (kind of like Barker's Weaveworld and Imajica). And while this is no way what I'd recommend to readers unfamiliar to Barker, it's a pleasant enough treat for fans (especially those who like the older stuff from the 80s).

Bill Bryson, Made in America, about the English language. Just got yesterday as Amazon's DOTD for a couple of bucks, sounds fascinating (and I really like learning about language and trivia and tidbits).

Finished:

Finished: