November - How Many...?

[JasonUK]

As I was compiling this list I realised I'd forgotten to post my October books, so here are both.

Stephen King - The Institute (5/10) King returns to his favourite subject of psychic powers, in this case, telepathy and telekinesis. The 200 pages in the first half of the book describing the kids treatment in the "institute" are needlessly drawn-out and repetitive and could have easily been reduced to about 50 pages. The book does pick up pace in the second half but still compares badly to his earlier novels on the same theme. King is just retreading old, familiar ground without anything new to say.

Robert Ford & John Boden - Rattlesnake Kisses (6/10) Fast paced crime novella muddied by a confused backstory.

Brian Keene - Good Things for Bad People (5/10) I like Keene's straightforward writing style which makes all his work highly readable but, once again, the short story format fails to engage me most of the time.

Cornell Woolrich - The Black Curtain (5/10) Good start with a man coming round after getting knocked on the head only to find he's been missing for 3 years and has been living as someone else. As he tries to find out what happened he discovers he's wanted for murder and has to prove his innocence. Convuluted and highly improbable crime story that never explains why he was using the alias in the first place.

Lee Child - Without Fail (7/10) Jack Reacher is called in to protect the VP. As usual Child doesn't disappoint. Even in one of his more straight-forward books there's plenty of action and believable character relationships to keep you reading.

Peter Swanson - The Kind Worth Killing (7/10) Good Girl type murder thriller with lots of twists. I read this because of a blurb by Joe Hill and enjoyed it. I will pickup the authors other books.

James A Moore - Blood Red (7/10) If Salem's Lot had been written by Richard Laymon it would probably have been something like this very good modern vampire novel.

Josh Malerman - A Little Red Book of Requests (3/10) I wasn't impressed by Bird Box and this collection of stories confirms that this author is not to my taste.

[RonClinton]

Lee Child better than Cornell Woolrich?

Them’s fightin’ words. ;-)

[mhatchett]

I read the Child, I always do, they're like popcorn, but I feel like the series is on cruise control. If you like Child try Robert Crais, he writes a similar kind of story but he's been doing it longer and better. His last book is A Dangerous Man. Thomas Perry is also better.

[jeffingoff]

Blood Red just got bumped up my TBR pile.

[Dan Hocker]

I actually got through some audio books in November.

Star Wars: Resistance Reborn - This was pretty good. Not the best Star Wars book I've read, but a fun time.

The Stiehl Assassin by Terry Brooks - This one threw me off, as I thought this was the last book of this series, but it turns out this last set is 6 books not 3. I'm also a little put out because it ended in a similar way to the previous book in the series. It's kinda a shame as soo much of what Terry Brooks has done in the world of Shannara has been good, but this last outing is only kinda mediocre and I really didn't like the trilogy before this one.

The Tyrant's Tomb by Rick Riordan - This is the fourth book in this series (I think it's going to be 5 books). I've very much enjoyed this series. I like Rick Riordan's stuff as a whole, it's kinda like Harry Potter but with Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. This particular outing has been following the god Apollo who has been cast out and made mortal / human for a mistake he made in a previous series. I'd say if you like mythology at all, and don't mind that this is really YA stuff to check out Rick Riordan's stuff. It's fun.


As a side note if anyone has any idea where I can find the audio book for the first discworld book I'd greatly appreciate it. For some reason it isn't available on Audible. Audible only has book 2 and later available.

[JasonUK]

I read the Child, I always do, they're like popcorn, but I feel like the series is on cruise control. If you like Child try Robert Crais, he writes a similar kind of story but he's been doing it longer and better. His last book is A Dangerous Man. Thomas Perry is also better.

My girlfriend is a big fan of Child and has read all 20+ of his books. I'm slowly catching up, fitting them in when I need a break from my usual horror fare. A big plus for me is that Child's books are easy reading. I always reduce my score for books where the writing style makes them a chore to read, no matter now good the story.

[TacomaDiver]

I read the Child, I always do, they're like popcorn, but I feel like the series is on cruise control. If you like Child try Robert Crais, he writes a similar kind of story but he's been doing it longer and better. His last book is A Dangerous Man. Thomas Perry is also better.

Which Crais series? Looking on Goodreads and there seems to be a couple different ones.

I’ve enjoyed the Reacher novels but they’re starting to feel the same.

[Martin]

Realized I had not posted my November reads yet. So a little late:

9 Reads this month.

The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo:
Generally, I do not care for fantasy novels. I read some comparisons of this story to Harry Potter so I decided to give it a try. The story was fine but just not my thing.
Three Stars

A Christmas Story by Jean Sheperd:
Started my Christmas re-reads early. Love this story.
Four Stars

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham:
Another Christmas re-read. Another classic read.
Five Stars

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill:
After reading Full Throttle twice I began thinking about Joes earlier short stories and realized that I had not read This collection since it first cane out. The diversity in the stories really struck me. This is clearly Joe Hill and many of the stories are not full-throated horror stories. A wonderful collection.
Five Stars

Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar:
This story felt very comfortable. Kind of like catching with an old friend you have not talked to in years.
Four Stars

How Chefs Holiday by Dana Cowin:
An Audible freebie. Not what I was expecting but still enjoyable/
Three Stars

Finish Line by Jason Sechrest:
Another enjoyable short story from Jason Sechrest’s Patreon.
Four Stars

[B]A Christmas Caro[/B]l by Charles Dickens:
Annual listen. Always enjoyable.
Three Stars

A Very Scalzi Christmas by John Scalzi:
A few of the stories reminded me of Mr. Scalzi’s Miniatures collection. That is not a good thing. But a few stories made up for that. Overall an enjoyable collection.
Three Stars