Books 1-20
I used to read Grisham all the time at his peak, and then went away
from him for a while. The books became somewhat formulaic, and I was
kind of bored with them. Last year, I got Camino Island, and really
enjoyed it, so when his new one came out around Christmas, I bought it.
This was a brutal book. I don’t really remember any other books where
he went full tragedy. This book was tragic. I wasn’t sure how much I
liked it when I finished, simply because of how brutal the story was.
But it’s stuck with me more than most books this year, so I guess
that’s saying something. I recommend it, but it’s a heavy read for
that author.
10. Djibouti by Elmore Leonard
Leonard is one of my all-time favorite authors, so really anything
written by him I enjoy. I wouldn’t put either of these in his top-10,
but they were both well written and enjoyable reads.
4. Shadow Gate
5. Traitors Gate
6. Hunter Killer by Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley
7. The Eighth Day by John Case
8. The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer
9. The Silent Corner
The Crossroads Trilogy by Kate Elliott
These aren’t just the best books I’ve read so far this year, they
are the best fantasy books I’ve read since the Lord of the Isles series
20 years ago. These are truly epic in both scope and character
development. You come to care about both the heroes and the villains.
If I could pick any series of books to be developed into a Game of
Thrones type TV series, this would be the one I would always choose.
The ending left me gutted and crying, both happy tears and sad. I can
not recommend these books highly enough.
A first person account of the birth of drone warfare, leading up to
the killing of one of the leaders of Al Qaida. Something different
than what I’ve read in the past, but a needed diversion after the
previous trilogy. A good read for anyone that’s interested in military
history and/or drone warfare.
A solid international thriller. Lots of plot twists without the
constant red herrings that plague that genre overall. It’s not going
to blow your socks off, but it’s a good read if you enjoy that genre.
A better international thriller with more developed characters.
This is like a cross between the Lisbeth Salander novels of Stieg
Larsson and the Jack Reacher novels of Lee Child. Well paced and a
quick read.
16. The Whispering Room
17. The Crooked Staircase
Books 1-3 of the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz
Koontz is another one I went away from for a while. After hooking
me with Strangers and Watchers when I was a teenager, he just put out a
string of books that were so generic that I grew extremely bored with
him. But he started really turning things around a while ago, and now I
think he’s at his creative peak.
This series, about a former FBI Agent that is on the run from one
truly massive government conspiracy, is just a really cool series. It
was good enough that I was actually paying full-price for the last
couple of books in the series, which is something I only do for my
favorite authors.
The books are scary mainly because of how close the technology is to actually having this be possible.
11. First To Die
12. 2nd Chance
13. 3rd Degree
18. 4th of July
Books 1-4 in the Women’s Murder Club series by James Patterson (and various co-authors).
So, generally when it comes to Patterson, your mileage can vary a
lot depending on who is doing the bulk of the writing. When he writes
the books himself (like the Alex Cross series), they are almost always
quite good. If he’s just outlining, and others are writing, then it’s a
mixed bag.
Patterson wrote the first of these by himself, and it’s the best of
the bunch. Books 2 and 3 are written with Andrew Gross, and are much
more generic. By the 4th book, Maxine Paetro is on board, and she
pretty much takes over the series, as she’s still the co-author in a
series that’s now 18 books deep.
These are super easy reads. Like, I’ve never taken more than a
day and a half to finish one. But the characters become more and more
fleshed out over time, and I at least, find myself caring about them as I
get deeper into the series.
Nothing that’s going to expand your mind here, but for an easy little mystery, you could certainly do worse.
14. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
If you aren’t much of a book reader, then go to YouTube and type in
this title. It’s an hour long or so, but you will be a better person
with a better outlook on life for watching that hour.
This book is the only one I’ve read this year that I was reading
for the 2nd time. It’s just a more fleshed out story of the video,
with some more details and back story. But it’s just one of those
things that makes you want to be a better version of yourself. It will
make you realize that you can always be doing more with your life, and
that you should be because you never know when it will be gone.
15. The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
For those of you thinking that all my reviews here would be positive, have no fear...
This is probably the worst book I’ve ever read. Only because it’s
Patterson and therefore a one-day read did I even finish it. Most
books this terrible I toss aside quickly.
I won’t savage the multitude of problems that this book had here,
simply because there isn’t enough space in this blog. But you have to
know that for me to immediately give away a first edition hardcover of
ANY book, it’s got to be bad.
When I said above that your mileage will vary depending on who his
co-author is, this is about as bad as you can get. Avoid this one at
all cost unless you need a reason to be upset.
19. The Waterborn
20. The Blackgod
By J. Gregory Keyes
A really great 2-book series that is unlike almost anything I’ve
ever read before. It’s fantasy that reads like Native American myth.
There are Gods and gods, woven into the fabric of everything in the
world.
I can’t really do it justice by trying to explain it here.
Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed them a lot, but am realistic
enough to know that they aren’t for everyone. If you like your fantasy
to be much more straight up good guys vs. orcs or whatever, this won’t
be for you.
But if you want something a little different, I think this is well written and worth your time.
————
So there’s my first 20 books this year. I’m closing in on 40, so I’ll have another list soon.
And hopefully will find some time to write about other things bouncing around in my head.
Thanks as always for reading.
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