2 minute read

I finished just over 30 titles in the last year. Looking at the ratings I gave on Goodreads, a little over half were 4 stars while the rest were 2 or 3 stars and no 5 stars this year. I am either a grumpy old man now or am picking the wrong books to read considering I gave several 5 star ratings in 2015 and 2014. This is everything I read in the last 12 months:

  • Cotton Malone – Steve Berry
    • The Templar Legacy
  • I Am Legend – Richard Matheson
  • Hello, Startup – Yevgeniy Brikman
  • Mistborn: Wax and Wayne – Brandon Sanderson
    • The Alloy of Law
    • Shadows of Self
    • The Bands of Mourning
  • Mitch Rapp – Vince Flynn
    • Act of Treason
    • Protect and Defend
  • His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
    • The Golden Compass
  • Amos Decker – David Baldacci
    • Memory Man
    • The Last Mile
  • John Puller – David Baldacci
    • The Forgotten
    • The Escape
    • No Man’s Land
  • Revival – Stephen King
  • Redshirts – John Scalzi
  • Call for the Dead – John le Carre
  • Eon – Greg Bear
  • Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne – Brian Staveley
    • The Emperor’s Blades
    • The Providence of Fire
    • The Last Mortal Bond
  • Bill Hodges – Stephen King
    • Mr. Mercedes
    • Finders Keepers
    • End of Watch
  • NOS4A2 – Joe Hill
  • Harry Bosch – Michael Connelly
    • Blue on Black
    • The Wrong Side of Goodbye
  • Jack Reacher – Lee Child
    • Night School
  • Culture – Iain M. Banks
    • Consider Phlebas
  • From a Buick 8 – Stephen King
  • Rainbows End – Vernor Vinge

I won’t go into detail on everything I read but I will highlight a few titles.

Mistborn: Wax and Wayne – Brandon Sanderson

Without a doubt, Sanderson is a great writer. I like his unusual magic systems. They tend to be reasonably sound as far as magic systems go. The Wax and Wayne books are a fun jaunt back into the Mistborn world. I’m looking forward to the third Mistborn trilogy in the coming years. If you’re a Mistborn fan, you will likely enjoy this. If you haven’t read any Sanderson, pick up Elantris and the first Mistborn trilogy. Those are great stories. Jim’s score: B.

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne – Brian Staveley

This series started out great and I was really looking forward to reading each successive book but by the end of the trilogy, I just wanted it to be over. Upon reflection, I was hoping this would be a wonderful fantasy distraction until GRRM released the next Game of Thrones volume or Rothfuss gave us the final installment of the Kingkiller Chronicle. Alas, I continue to pine for awesome fantasy. Jim’s score: C.

Bill Hodges – Stephen King

With the exception of the Dark Tower, King hasn’t shown a penchant for writing a series of books. Between 2014 and 2016, he broke with that tradition and released a series of books known as the Bill Hodges trilogy. It is a bit more mainstream but still has many of the trappings of classic King horror about the books. I enjoyed the read and feel they are one of the better latter day King publications (along with 11-22-63). Jim’s score: A-.

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