Books Read 2025

[Jagosaurus]

Hey RB,

I've been fairly MIA online lately. Taken a bit of a break, but have been reading & playing games between family & work schedule.

I see Re: What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today? was locked so using this as my check in

I've been reading the Gears of War novels by Karen Traviss. I haven't read any of her other works, but she apparently has written several well-received Star Wars novels. These Gears entries are honestly much better than they have any business being!

I blew through Aspho Fields & Jacinto's Remnant. I'm now on Avil Gate. If the Gears lore even remotely interest you, I recommend them. It's adding a lot of back-story to the games. She wrote 2 more I'll pick up after.

I love me some Halo, but too much of the core story is wrapped up in novels. They're actually finishing the Halo Infinite story in a novel releasing this December . This means Halo 7 will pick up somewhere else. They did the same to the Cortana/Gaurdian storyline in H5. Fortunately, these Gears novels are not handled in this make. They're all additional lore, but still welcomed editions. Flashbacks are also very well done, fleshing out character's back-story & motives.

Hope all is well RB-teers

[Ack]

1. When Gravity Fails, by George Alec Effinger
2. Pegasus in Flight, by Anne McCaffrey
3. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, by Addison E. Steele
4. Gun Machine, by Warren Ellis
5. The City and the Stars, by Arthur C. Clarke
6. Ship of the Line, by C. S. Forrester
7. Eight Minutes, by Gregory N. Whitis
8. Tender is the Flesh, by Augustina Bazterrica
9. Strange History, by the Bathroom Readers Institute
10. Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee
11. Let's Pretend This Didn't Happen: A Mostly True Memoir, by Jenny Lawson
12. In Enemy Hands, by David Weber

I haven't kept up positing on here about the books I have been reading, but I definitely haven't stopped reading!

[Jagosaurus]

Should also mention I'm slowly making way through the Laiden Chronicles sci-fi universe books. I've read through 6 of those spanning '24 & '25. There's an insane number of entries, 27 I believe, not counting the mini stories.

It's a true universe with overlapping story archs vs sequential entries. You have to do a bit of timeline research before jumping in.

2. Pegasus in Flight, by Anne McCaffrey

Hey bud, seeing McCaffrey...

Have you read the Dragonriders of Pern books? Been on my mental to-read list for forever. Just officially added the 1st novel to my wishlist last night.

Thats another sprawling series with 20+ novels lol...

[Ack]

I haven't. In fact, Pegasus in Flight was my first McCaffrey novel. I'm aware of the Pern books and know a few folks who loved them. Maybe I'll get around to it...some day...when I'm retired...

[Jagosaurus]

I hear that! I keep a mental running list of 10 or so core books I want to read, but the real Amazon wish list is huge .

I'm on a sci-fi kick the past few years. So many "must reads" when you hit best-of list out there.

Do you read physical or e-reader? Im still physical. I do a purge occasionally at local Half Price Books.

[Ack]

Oh, I'm definitely still doing physical. My wife uses an e-reader, and she likes the ability to read at night with the lights out so I can sleep, as well as accessing local library books without having to worry about physical returns, but I just can't do it. The physical weight of a book, the sound of pages turning, the feel of it...I just can't do otherwise. Plus it is a lot harder to loan a friend a book on an e-reader!

[opa]

I like my e-reader for public domain books; it saves me a little space and money not collecting reprints of the classics.

[Jagosaurus]

I like the idea of saving space and I see the convenience when traveling from Mrs Jago (her Kindle Paper White) ...

But man, I love the feeling of a good physical book also. At least in part because I'm tethered to a screen so much for work. It seems like an intentional effort to do something else I enjoy, non-electronic.

[opa]

I finished Jurassic Park.

I really enjoyed it. Way more violent/intense than the film adaptation. I honestly feel we were kinda cheated with a more "kid-friendly" story (but, admittedly, it's hard to sell merchandise for an R rated film when kids can't see it).

The film doesn't really get across just how much of a megalomaniac Hammond is and how little he cares about people (even his own grandkids). However, I won't fault the film too much since it was a kids movie and they have 2 hours to tell a story.

[MrPopo]

I always wonder if they made the script decision first to soften Hammond, or if they adjusted his character after hiring Richard Attenborough.