This year I've read:
'The Institute' by Stephen King (D+) - I've read 37 of his novels and this is in the bottom 10, imo. Last good book I read from him was '11/22/63'. Fwiw, I also really enjoyed 'The Stand' (both iterations), 'The Green Mile' series, 'Different Seasons' (basis for the movies 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Stand By Me'), etc. from decades ago.
'Das Boot' by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim (B) - Nazi U-Boat trying to survive in the Atlantic Ocean during WWII
'Gulag Archipelago: Volume II' by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (B) - life in Soviet forced labor camps under Lenin/Stalin/Khrushchev
'Gulag Archipelago: Volume III' by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (B+) - I enjoyed the attempted escapes from the camps
'One Midnight to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, & Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War' by Michael Dobbs (A-) - mutually-assured destruction avoided by Kennedy agreeing to removing nuclear missiles from Turkey in exchange for Khrushchev agreeing to to remove nukes from Cuba (that could have hit Washington, D.C., NYC, etc.); btw, it was interesting to learn that the Soviets had tactical nukes on Cuba to use against invading American forces and to destroy the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo
'Down With Big Brother' by Michael Dobbs (B) - rapid dissolution of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev
'A Game of Thrones' by George R.R. Martin (B+) - I like the novel a bit better than the HBO TV series
'A Clash of Kings' by George R.R. Martin (B+) - TV producers started deviating from the novel here (e.g., Theon Greyjoy and his sister's stories)
Fwiw, I'm currently reading book #3 (i.e., 'A Storm of Swords') of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series - am wondering when GRRM is going to finish book #6? He's been working on it since 2011, is 72 years old, and just signed a $50M contract w/ HBO to produce some Game of Thrones prequels.
'The Institute' by Stephen King (D+) - I've read 37 of his novels and this is in the bottom 10, imo. Last good book I read from him was '11/22/63'. Fwiw, I also really enjoyed 'The Stand' (both iterations), 'The Green Mile' series, 'Different Seasons' (basis for the movies 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Stand By Me'), etc. from decades ago.
'Das Boot' by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim (B) - Nazi U-Boat trying to survive in the Atlantic Ocean during WWII
'Gulag Archipelago: Volume II' by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (B) - life in Soviet forced labor camps under Lenin/Stalin/Khrushchev
'Gulag Archipelago: Volume III' by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (B+) - I enjoyed the attempted escapes from the camps
'One Midnight to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, & Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War' by Michael Dobbs (A-) - mutually-assured destruction avoided by Kennedy agreeing to removing nuclear missiles from Turkey in exchange for Khrushchev agreeing to to remove nukes from Cuba (that could have hit Washington, D.C., NYC, etc.); btw, it was interesting to learn that the Soviets had tactical nukes on Cuba to use against invading American forces and to destroy the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo
'Down With Big Brother' by Michael Dobbs (B) - rapid dissolution of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev
'A Game of Thrones' by George R.R. Martin (B+) - I like the novel a bit better than the HBO TV series
'A Clash of Kings' by George R.R. Martin (B+) - TV producers started deviating from the novel here (e.g., Theon Greyjoy and his sister's stories)
Fwiw, I'm currently reading book #3 (i.e., 'A Storm of Swords') of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series - am wondering when GRRM is going to finish book #6? He's been working on it since 2011, is 72 years old, and just signed a $50M contract w/ HBO to produce some Game of Thrones prequels.
