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2021 - Books Read - Muggle Not


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24. No Time To Spare: Thinking About What Matters - Ursula K. Le Quin - 4/5 - I really enjoyed the first part of the book when Ursula talks about old age and puts many sayings to bed. Other parts of the book not so much but all-in-all it was good. The book covers all kinds of topics, whatever she felt like writing about. 

 

A bit of Trivia about Ursula: Her best friend when she was young ((teenager probably) was Jean Ainsworth and she remained friends with Jean during her life. Jean's mother was the sister of John Steinbeck. Ursula tells a few stories about Steinbeck in the book. Late in her life she considered Steinbeck's novel Grapes of Wrath to be the Great American Novel. Earlier in her life she considered Huckleberry Finn to be the Great American Novel. 

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25. Billy Summers - Stephen King - 4/5 - Good read and a little different from most King books. no horror in this book. Billy Summers is a killer for hire but will only kill bad people. He is a good guy in a bad job. I liked the book.

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I quite liked Norwegian Wood although it was very sad. It made me want to visit those Japanese mountains.

 

I am sure I started reading an Earthsea book when I was a boy, but I think it was  a bit past my reading age. I found it rather strange and unsettling. Come to think of it, I found Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness rather strange and I was about 45 when I read it. 

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26. The Lost Village - Camilla Sten - 4/5 - Good read. Do you remember The Blair Witch Project. This book is somewhat along those lines. An entire village has disappeared except a lone baby. A team of 5 people visit the village to make a film and determine what happened to the people. I enjoyed the book and it was the debut novel for Camilla Sten.

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28. Lightning Strike (Cork O'Connor Mystery Series) - William Kent Krueger - 4/5 - Typical Cork O'Connor series book. Good Read. This book goes back in time and the story is about when Cork's father was sheriff in the upper Minnesota area.

 

29. The Year of Living Danishly - Helen Russell - 3.5 - I enjoyed the book and learned a lot of the Danish people who it is claimed are the happiest people on Earth.

 

30. The Madness of Crowds (Chief inspector Gamache series) - Louise Penny -  4.5/5 - Great reading. Professor Robinson, a well known statistician, promises that if everyone follow her ideas that all will be well in a Country torn apart by the Covid Virus. Inspector Gamache is horrified by her ideas. subsequently a murder is commited and what follows is a good read with interesting characters involved in the story. Louise Penny is one of my current favorite authors.

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31. A Gambling Man - David Baldacci - 4/5 - A very enjoyable read. Takes place in the 40's/50"s and I love how Baldacci adapted the way people talked in that era (and people definitely did use words differently then). This is book 2 of 2 in the Archer series. Archer trains as a P.I. in Baytown, CA  and unravels the towns many mysteries.

 

32. Another Type of Eden - James Lee Burke - 4/5 - Good read and strays somewhat from Burke's typical novels. Takes place in Colorado in the 60's and is a bit dark in nature. True evil takes place near the small town and although I liked the book it left me confused of several happenings, but maybe that was just me.

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I checked my reading history today from the library. From Oct. 17, 2017 until Oct 17, 2021 (4 years) I have borrowed 170 kindle books from the library. An average of 42.5 books per year. The library only lists the last 4 years (or I don't know how to go back further than that). :)

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33. Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy) - Robin Hobb - 4/5 - Very good read. Maybe a 4.5/5. I will definitely read the other 2 books in the Trilogy. I now have a new author for me to read.

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On 10/18/2021 at 10:43 AM, muggle not said:

I checked my reading history today from the library. From Oct. 17, 2017 until Oct 17, 2021 (4 years) I have borrowed 170 kindle books from the library. An average of 42.5 books per year. The library only lists the last 4 years (or I don't know how to go back further than that). :)

 

That's impressive, Muggle! :clapping:

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On 10/17/2021 at 11:43 PM, muggle not said:

I checked my reading history today from the library. From Oct. 17, 2017 until Oct 17, 2021 (4 years) I have borrowed 170 kindle books from the library. An average of 42.5 books per year. The library only lists the last 4 years (or I don't know how to go back further than that). :)

 

Wow, how cool that you can look that up :)! That's a lot of books ^_^.

 

On 10/19/2021 at 3:07 AM, muggle not said:

33. Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy) - Robin Hobb - 4/5 - Very good read. Maybe a 4.5/5. I will definitely read the other 2 books in the Trilogy. I now have a new author for me to read.

 

I'm glad you really liked this too! I hope you enjoy the other books in the trilogy too when you get to them :) (your library will hopefully have them?). I still have to read more than the trilogy and read others in the same world (Ship of Magic / Liveship Traders is the one next to read for me, from what I understood from other people it takes place in the same world but with different characters / different location), and I will but I am in the mood for other stuff lately, all in good time though :).

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On 10/20/2021 at 5:42 AM, poppy said:

 

That's impressive, Muggle! :clapping:

 

On 10/21/2021 at 2:57 AM, Athena said:

 

Wow, how cool that you can look that up :)! That's a lot of books ^_^.

 

 

Thank you poppy and Athena.

I feel very fortunate that I am able to borrow almost any book at our library. I very seldom find a need to actually purchase a book.

Athena - I did a fast check and our library has 20 Robin Hobb written books, I would guess that is about all of the books she has written. :)

 

34. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke - 4/5 - good read. Unusual written book.

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15 hours ago, muggle not said:

Thank you poppy and Athena.

I feel very fortunate that I am able to borrow almost any book at our library. I very seldom find a need to actually purchase a book.

Athena - I did a fast check and our library has 20 Robin Hobb written books, I would guess that is about all of the books she has written. :)

 

That's great :)!

 

15 hours ago, muggle not said:

34. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke - 4/5 - good read. Unusual written book.

 

I've heard good things about this book, I'm glad you liked it.

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WOW!! I am anxious to watch the upcoming series that will be shown on Amazon Prime. Amazon has hopes of making the Wheel of Time series into a Game of Thrones type blockbuster.

 

“The Wheel of Time” (Nov. 19) is the big-budget series adaptation of the best-selling fantasy novels by Robert Jordan that Amazon hopes can be its own version of “Game of Thrones.” Rosamund Pike stars as Moraine, a member of magical society who leads five young villagers on a journey to discover if one of them is the reincarnated Dragon, who has been prophesized to save humanity. The sprawling epic reportedly had a budget of $10 million per episode, and it’s already been renewed for a second season.

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5 hours ago, muggle not said:

 

“The Wheel of Time” (Nov. 19) is the big-budget series adaptation of the best-selling fantasy novels by Robert Jordan that Amazon hopes can be its own version of “Game of Thrones.” Rosamund Pike stars as Moraine, a member of magical society who leads five young villagers on a journey to discover if one of them is the reincarnated Dragon, who has been prophesized to save humanity. The sprawling epic reportedly had a budget of $10 million per episode, and it’s already been renewed for a second season.

 

 

I've never been tempted to read that series, as it's what - 15? - epic sized tomes (and the last one was written after Jordan's death?).

 

Will be interested to watch the series though!

 

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1 hour ago, Raven said:

 

I've never been tempted to read that series, as it's what - 15? - epic sized tomes (and the last one was written after Jordan's death?).

 

Will be interested to watch the series though!

 

There were 14 books total and I read all of them. I started reading them when they first came out. Brandon Sanderson wrote the last 3 books in the series and he did a great job of writing the books. I enjoyed the whole Wheel of Time series and really look forward to the TV Series by Amazon.

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55 minutes ago, muggle not said:

 

There were 14 books total and I read all of them. I started reading them when they first came out. Brandon Sanderson wrote the last 3 books in the series and he did a great job of writing the books. I enjoyed the whole Wheel of Time series and really look forward to the TV Series by Amazon.

 

 

I hope you enjoy it!

 

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23 hours ago, muggle not said:

WOW!! I am anxious to watch the upcoming series that will be shown on Amazon Prime. Amazon has hopes of making the Wheel of Time series into a Game of Thrones type blockbuster.

 

“The Wheel of Time” (Nov. 19) is the big-budget series adaptation of the best-selling fantasy novels by Robert Jordan that Amazon hopes can be its own version of “Game of Thrones.” Rosamund Pike stars as Moraine, a member of magical society who leads five young villagers on a journey to discover if one of them is the reincarnated Dragon, who has been prophesized to save humanity. The sprawling epic reportedly had a budget of $10 million per episode, and it’s already been renewed for a second season.

 

I am really excited to see it too!! Like you I have read and loved the Wheel of Time books (Raven, 14 books and 1 prequel, makes 15 together if you count the prequel as part of the series, maybe that's where you heard the number before? Most people say 14 books, but anyway..). I really hope it will be a good TV series, and I look forward to see it. The Dutch Amazon Prime has the trailer up for it, so hopefully I should be able to watch the series on there when it comes out in November (Note: there isn't as much stuff on the Dutch Amazon Prime as there is on UK's or US's, so that's why with these things I have to check sometimes if I get it here too or not, same with Netflix's regions/country differences).

 

I showed the trailer to my other half and I think he'll want to watch it with me, so that'll be fun to watch together hopefully. I'm excited for it! (though I'm also aware that there will probably be choices made in the making of the TV series that I'll probably would have liked to have seen different, I'm sure it won't be all amazing 100% as that's very hard).

 

Anyway.. let me know what you think, Muggle, when you've seen it :) (you could post a review on your blog? Or post in the Movie/TV subforum?), I don't know if they will release an episode a week or all of them at once, or what they'll do. I'm not sure I even know how many episodes will be in the first season (but hey, I should find out in November at some point). Here's hoping it will be a good TV series!

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35. Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy) - Robin Hobb - 4/5 - Second book in the Trilogy and a good read.

 

36. you Have Arrived at Your Destination - Amor Towles - 4/5 - Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the      near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. (53 pages)

This book is free for Amazon prime members on your kindle.

 

 

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On 03/11/2021 at 4:01 PM, muggle not said:

35. Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy) - Robin Hobb - 4/5 - Second book in the Trilogy and a good read.

 

36. you Have Arrived at Your Destination - Amor Towles - 4/5 - Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the      near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. (53 pages)

This book is free for Amazon prime members on your kindle.

 

Yay for you liking the second book in the trilogy! I saw you loaned the 3rd one from your library in the book activity thread, I hope you enjoy it too!

 

Shame the Forward books aren't free for me in NL, but I'll buy them at some point and read them since you are enjoying them.

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On 03/11/2021 at 3:01 PM, muggle not said:

36. you Have Arrived at Your Destination - Amor Towles - 4/5 - Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the      near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. (53 pages)

This book is free for Amazon prime members on your kindle.

 

 

 

Thank you for recommending this, and the others, muggle not. I liked the look of them, so bought them all. Looking forward to my wayward reading mojo being ready for them. If I get to spend any more time gardening this year (I can mostly keep warm, but keeping dry becomes a challenge out there), I may well listen to them instead!

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On 03/11/2021 at 3:01 PM, muggle not said:

36. you Have Arrived at Your Destination - Amor Towles - 4/5 - Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the      near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. (53 pages)

This book is free for Amazon prime members on your kindle.

Oooh this sounds interesting...

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37. Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy) - Robin Hobb - 4/5 - Book3 of the Trilogy. i Would rate all 3 books equally a 4/5 although probably book one a little better as it involves the main character when he was a young boy. Reminds me a little of Oliver Twist (not the writing, the story).

 

38. Dark Waters - Katherine Arden - 3/5 - I was a little disappointed in what was supposed to be book 3 of what I thought was a Trilogy but turns out to be a Quartet. I believe book 4 will be much better than book 3 as that is when the "smiling man" will be more directly involved with Ollie, Coco, and Brian. 

 

Tonight will start to read "Daughter of Morning Star" by Craig Johnson. I can't believe that I haven't already read this book as it was released earlier in the year and I usually read all of his books as soon as they are released. It doesn't show though on my library list that I have read the book and my memory is letting me down. :)

 

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