It’s been an epic reading week, so bear with me here.

I finished off Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett on Saturday morning. I’ve posted separately about this so I won’t go on about it here too much, but overall I enjoyed it.

I then read the entirety of The Martian, by Andy Weir through the weekend. I’d seen the movie already, and it seems like it was pretty true to the source material so it was an easy read. Great book, would recommend.

I started War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells last night and am about 20% through. Im thoroughly enjoying it so far. I’ve read very little sci-if that’s not based in either a modern or futuristic world, so having something set so long ago is interesting in itself.

My plan is the get into the Witcher series later this week as I picked up the whole series on kindle for cheap this weekend. I’ve already read The Last Wish, so will be starting with The Sword of Destiny, by Andrzej Sapkowski. I’m very excited as I loved the Witcher games as well as the first short story book.

I started The Martian, by Andy Weir, but I'm not sure if I'll actually finish it at the moment. It might just be the most cringeworthy writing I've ever encountered in all my years of reading. Since it's in first person, I can't necessarily conclude that the author just has a bad writing style -- maybe he just intended for the main character to sound like a human representation of the absolute worst parts of Reddit -- but in any case, it's been painful to read...and I'm only four chapters in thus far. I have the movie recorded on my DVR, and I might just abandon the book and watch the movie instead.

I have The Alienist, by Caleb Carr checked out from Overdrive, and it's only available for another week or so (it came in right after I started The Martian, of course), so I'm considering switching to it while I still have the chance.

I'm close to finishing up The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (using the Penguin 50th anniversary translation). After that, I'm planning on starting The Martian by Andy Weir.

Finished:

Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin - Really enjoyed, I'm glad I elected to start reading the ASOIAF books following Season 8, but after having listened to A Game of Thrones and this; I elected to take a break from this series for a couple of books until I return to Storm of Swords.

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman I listened to this book in less than 24 hours, I absolutely adore this book and I adore the film as well. It's a solid fantasy story and I try to read it once a year because I love it so much.

Started:

The Martian, by Andy Weir Started this book and I'm really enjoying it. I'm about halfway through and having seen the film, I'm really enjoying the book. The humour comes through a lot more in the book and I've found myself laughing outloud occassionaly.

Not sure where to go next before I return to ASOIAF. I'm tempted by Metro 2035, by Dmitry Glukhovsky as I absolutely loved Metro 2033 but couldn't get into Metro 2034 so I returned it. I've read that Metro 2035 returns to Artyom though.

Has anyone read Artemis, by Andy Weir? I'm enjoying The Martian so I'm curious to know if it's worth reading afterwards. Thanks!

I finished

2001: a Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

And The Martian by Andy Weir

They were all very good reads.

Finished:

Ghost Story by Peter Straub - I liked it. It was reminiscent of Salem's Lot in a lot of ways. Ending was unsatisfactory but horror stories usually are.

The Martian by Andy Weir - I really liked it. The character was a smart-ass after my own heart and I don't think I have rooted so hard for a character in a long time. I also learned science stuff so that was cool.

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey - great story. The whole time I was reading it I was thinking it would make an awesome movie and then found out at the end that it was a movie and the screenplay was written in conjunction with the book. A "horror-ish" type story with a satisfactory ending so that was a bonus.

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Started:

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson. I just came off three strong books and I don't think that this one is going to extend my streak but I am less than a 1/4 in so I could be wrong.

Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. It wasn't as good as I was expecting. I dunno I enjoyed the general plot line but there were times when he started going into the numbers/science of things and I just sort of glossed over it. And I'm a science nerd! It just wasn't something I wanted to read I guess.

Just started Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. My mom got me the trilogy for my birthday and I'm super excited to read it based on all the great reviews his books have gotten on Reddit.

Finished: The Martian by Andy Weir

Started: Dune by Frank Herbert

Priceless, The Myth of Fair Value, by William Poundstone

I really liked this book. One of my friend recommended it to me. He told me it was the site version of Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman. There were a lot of experimenta in this book and I think the author did a fair job of putting his Ideas out there without overreaching to ridiculous conclusions. Overall: 4/5 (Just a tad bit slow)

Speaking of overreaching to ridiculous conclusion,

Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell

I'll admit I looked up a review to this book on reddit after I went through half the book and was immensely happy to find people who felt like me about that book. The Book is an interesting read but the author is a prime example of attributing success to one single thing (which to me, doesn't work like that)

Overall: 2.5/5

The Subtle Art of not giving a f*ck, by Mark Manson

I had a lot of expectations from this book and it delivered. I think it was maybe because I am young, it was like a someone's no bullshit guide to adulthood. This book definitely has an age cut off. People in their late thirties or fourties may know everything he's talking about but a still a great read nonetheless.

Overall: 4.5/5

Books For the Next week:

1. A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
2. The Martian, by Andy Weir - The Audiobook Version.
3. The New Penguin History of the World, by J.M. Roberts

Finished:

The Martian, by Andy Weir Brilliant book, thoroughly recommend to any fan of Sci-Fi.

Murder on the Orient Express Ended up going out of my comfort zone for this one, never read any Poirot stories, let alone any Christie. Surprisingly enjoyable, although I didn’t like the ending but that’s the Legal Mind in me I guess.

Why Do We Sleep, by Matthew Walker Very fascinating non-fiction book about the science of sleep and dreams. Actually eye opening to the mystical concept of sleep.

Started:

Stories Of the Law and How It’s Broken by, The Secret Barrister I have a feeling I’ll finish this tonight as I’m currently 30 pages from the end. I recommend this to anyone who lives in the UK. As someone who is a year or two away from becoming a Solicitor (hopefully), this book is eye opening to those within the legal profession and it should be incredibly worrying to those outside of it. I can not recommend this book enough.

Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch Saw a lot of recommendations so elected to pick this up. First chapter was mad, very intriguing. Looking forward to my long train rides on Friday and Sunday where I hope to smash it out.

Finished The Martian, by Andy Weir.

Not sure how I feel about the book. The sciency stuff was entertaining, but in the end I was just glad it ended. Maybe I had high expectations for it, but it left me quite bored past the first third or half of the book.

Started Hyperion, by Dan Simmons.

I just finished Brawne Lamias story, and so far I love it. I actually like how technologies aren't explained in detail, but you piece together bits of information here and there.

I started reading Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain this week.

Finished The Martian, by Andy Weir.

Finished The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. I've come to understand that it's very polarizing on this sub, but I know I absolutely loved my entire time with this one. I haven't read anything quite like it in many years, as my favored genres have worn deep grooves and made exploring other styles and themes become a monumental effort. The beginning was unexpected and a perfect hook for the likes of me. The prose had me shaking my head in awe at Tartt's mastery, while the story and message made me fearful of how shallow and confined my existence seems to be. That's a much more personal reflection, as I certainly picked up more than was in the book (but maybe that's perfectly in line with the message). I'm really glad I decided to get out of my comfort zone on this one.

I don't know what to read next. I'm torn between reading some of the classics (to get further afield), or something more contemporary that is aligned with my usual indulgences. My hold on The Martian, by Andy Weir was just filled, so maybe that's where I'm headed.

I finally finished up The Martian, by Andy Weir over the weekend. I’ve been reading this slowly for the last month due to school and work ramping up. Overall I thought it was pretty enjoyable, but unfortunately I don’t think it was this absolutely amazing book like a lot of people seem to feel. The premise is great and I really enjoyed the problem-solving aspects, but the insane amount of details during the middle portions of the book really made it drag a bit. That being said, I almost never read science fiction (barring the Hitchhiker’s series) so I’m sure I’m not necessarily the target audience for this one.

I’m about halfway through Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marianne Satrapi and I’ll probably finish it later today. So far so good. I knew a bit about the Islamic Revolution going in from a class I took in college a few years ago, but getting firsthand accounts from the perspective of a child makes for very interesting reading. It’s a bit disjointed and feels all over the place, but what can you expect given the chaotic setting?

After Persepolis, I’m planning on starting Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande. Very excited for this one as I’m a big fan of Dr. Gawande. I own a few of his books and I’m looking forward to finally going through them.

The Martian, by Andy Weir

I started The Martian, by Andy Weir

I'm 13 chapters in and I'm enjoying it so far

Finished: The Martian & Artemis, by Andy Weir

Started: The Last Ringbearer, by Kirill Eskov

Finished The Martian, by Andy Weir in like a week. I saw the movie last year, so I was pretty sure I'd like the book, and it did not disappoint. It was fantastic.

Starting Emperor of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence. I finished King last week I think. Just before I started on Martian. Can't wait to see what happens in this book.

I finished The Martian, by Andy Weir

My daughter does the First Lego League whose theme this year was Space. One of her teammates watched the movie, and I recently heard a debate about this book vs. the movie. The book was incredible. I read it in about 3 days.