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.

Finished:

Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell was meh, not his best. 7.5/10

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson sublime. 9/10

Started:

War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

I finished Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin Liked it better than the movie, Rosemary's spiral down into paranoia was really wel done.

I finished The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells I liked the mystery in the first half, and I wished the hunt in the second would have taken longer.

I finished The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells This was a better read for me than The Invisible Man. I liked the storytelling perspective from the main character and his view on things, and the how and why it could have happened.

And I finished Siberian Red by Sam Eastland It was a fun thriller that I have read through in a few days, I liked the portrayal of Pekkala. though but still human.

I started Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Still about 200 pages to go but the conversations between Crowley and Aziraphale are my favorite.

###Currently reading:

Conversation in the Cathedral, by Mario Vargas Llosa

I'm about 70% done, it's a long read but so worth it. It's a bit difficult to get the hang of it at first but it's incredibly good and gets easier after the first part. Really recommend it, I had forgotten how much I enjoy Vargas Llosa's style (several years ago I read The Feast of the Goat which was also amazing).

Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang

I read the first two stories, the first one (Tower of Babylon) was alright but nothing too special. I loved the second one (Understand), just read it last night and couldn't put the book down even though I was really tired. I look forward to the other stories.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Started this yesterday and since it's short I'm already close to the half point. The subject is interesting (life in a soviet work camp) but I find the style a bit dry.

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###Finished:

The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells

I liked it but I expected a bit more from this, after hearing so much about it over the years. At times I felt like I needed a map of London and the surroundings to follow the story. It was OK but I don't think I'll be reading more by Wells in the near future.

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###Coming up next:

Seven Years in Tibet, by Heinrich Harrer

Kiss of the Spider Woman, by Manuel Puig

Add me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/juanreads

After years of not reading anything really I've read 8 books in 2019 and I'm trying to go through my Goodreads 'to read' list. Looking forward to making new friends there: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/88616238-juan

###Currently reading:

Conversación En La Catedral, by Mario Vargas LLosa (a third of the way through, loving it)

The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells (about 25% done, I like the story but am struggling to read it in English which isn't my native language)

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###Finished:

Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan

I didn't like it at all but I pushed myself to finish it, I didn't like the style of writing at all. I want to find a good LGBT story but I'm afraid that, like movies in the genre, it all ends up filled with clichés. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know!

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###Coming up next:

Seven Years in Tibet, by Heinrich Harrer

Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang

Finished:

The Invisible Man, by H.G Wells

I enjoyed it overall but didn't think it was as good as The Time Machine. I like Griffin as a mysterious character but I would have liked a bit more introspection from him, even though it's not really wells' style. Some of the events also seemed a bit ill-thought out as well. Still good, just wish we had a bit better idea of why the main character acted the way he did.

Still reading:

A Song for Arbonne, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Things are finally starting to fall into place and it's getting more interesting by the chapter. I don't think it tops Tigana for me, not yet anyway, but I'm really enjoying it.

Started:

The War of the Worlds, by H.G Wells

I've enjoyed all of Wells' work thus far, so I look forward to diving into this one as well.

I read Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. Amazing book, I might be biased because I'm interested in Korean culture and am already quite familiar with it, but it's the first "family saga" that I read and I really enjoyed the way the story is told through all the different characters. It has some low lulls, but it's a very worthy read! Really recommended to anybody, and a must for those that have some kind of connection with Korea.

I read The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. Quick and easy to read and it's really interesting to see where a lot of alien invasion stories took inspiration from. I found this story much better than his Time Machine. I really enjoyed the way he made the narration more plausible through the mention of fictitious scientists and papers.

I'm about to start Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Really excited!

I finished The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells

Been meaning to read it for a while and I really enjoyed it, espicially with the Jeff Wayne score on in the background.

I started Artemis, by Andy Weir.

I know it's not exactly a popular book on this sub and while it may not be as good as The Martain, I'm really enjoying it so far.

Finished:

The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells

Very much enjoyed this as I have with all of Wells' works. Truly the father of science fiction, shocked it took me this long to finally get around to reading it.

Started:

The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

First time I've really explored short stories. About halfway through and have to say there has yet to be one that I've disliked. Bradbury is starting to emerge as one of my favorite authors.

Finished:

The War of the Worlds, by H.G Wells

I Very much enjoyed this one more than The Invisible Man and thought that the pacing was pretty good. I thought it was interesting that he touched on the Martians treating us like we treat animals below our intelligence level, especially considering the time period. I'm still amazed how well these novels hold up so long after they were written. I Still think The Time Machine is my favorite Wells novel, though.

Still Reading:

A Song for Arbonne, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Almost have this one wrapped up, gotta say that I think it has overtaken Tigana for me at this point. Really enjoying it and can't wait to finish it.

Started:

The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne

Finished re-reading The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells - the ending only grew on me more and more with every re-read, would highly recommend it to any fans of sci-fi or desolate thrillers.

Not sure which one to read next; "The Time Machine" to keep up with the theme or finally reread "A Little Princess" past the first chapter...

Finished The Man Died, by Wole Soyinka, which reads sometimes like a novel and sometimes like a philosophical essay. Any book highlighting horrendous acts that are normally concealed is worth calling attention to, and while I had a few issues this book is worth giving a read.

Also finished War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells which holds up surprisingly well for being so old. There are a few things that date it but it has some commentary about the nature of humans in relation to other animals and the future of humanity that's worth thinking about today.

EDIT: forgot I also started and finished Sula, by Toni Morrison which is a crazy book that you could read in a few hours. Picked it up cause I had never read Toni Morrison and it was a small book but I had no idea what I was getting into.

I finished The House of Daniel, by Harry Turtledove. Weird quasi-urban fantasy set in depression-era America, with a heavy dose of baseball. A very strange book, but one I greatly enjoyed.

I finished Lords of the Sith, by Paul Kemp. My first Star Wars book in a couple of months. Kemp is really good at writing action, and I found this one to overall be impressive.

I finished The Last Days of Krypton, by Kevin J. Anderson. This one was fun. I have little knowledge of the Superman mythos but it made sense, and it made a good apocalypse story.

I finished The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. A classic of science fiction, and very modern in many respects. I'm going on a general survey of The War of the Worlds based literature, and so I started where it all began.

Soon I will start The Martian War, by Kevin J. Anderson.