I have been fortunate enough to read through some fantastic books recently and am now running into the problem of everything I pick-up feeling flat. I suppose I have certain predilections but overall, I think I’m pretty open to genres/topics. My hope is to find some souls who might have similar interests that can recommend some no brainers. I do lean towards audiobooks as I’m far more of an audible learner. So extra points to recs that have a particularly good audiobook production.
​
Heat 2 – Mann, Gardiner — I thought it would be too much of a 90’s chzy throwback action movie but my god was it awesome. It never lets up. It’s like three novels perfectly interwoven. Absolutely loved the details from how scores are conceptualized to, the infrastructure for funneling monies, the traveling to South American and Southeast Asia.
​
The Wager – D. Grann — The only adventure, human resiliency story that comes close to Shackleton’s Boat Journey By Frank Arthur Worsley
​
Fairytale – Steven King — The audiobook was tremendous. It was the first King text I’d listened to since having finished listening to all of the Dark Tower series. After having finished the Dark Tower saga I was worried if I’d ever be able to read another King book/story and not find myself unfairly comparing it to the Dark Tower books. Fairytale’s audiobook production was so well done. My only comparison was thinking that I hope King brings us back to Empis.
​
Altered Carbon – Richard Morgan — What a great detective novel set in a dystopian future. Really, really, dug it.
​
The Martian – by Any Weir — Loved the detailed yet digestible scientific jargon. Made the whole experience so believable.
​
Count of Monte Cristo – Difficult at start to get going with the writing style, however, once you get that down (similar to Shakespeare) it becomes quite possibly my favorite story. Just a masterfully crafted story.
​
Game of Thrones – They’re all pretty darn good. A few of them got slow but damn if it wasn’t an amazing ride.
Fear and Loathing – Thompson – Another favorite of mine. I just love it. All of it. It’s weird, it’s funny, it’s poignant. And in my opinion it’s a rare instance of a movie that captures a book well.
​
Unbroken – really good powerful narrative. Incredible depictions of brutality of that period. But even the seemingly mundane parts are really well described. Like the period training to fly; which included those wonder details of how terribly built those planes were and the stats depicting such numbers of catastrophes due to ignorance, greed, and negligence.
A Million Little Pieces – As a clinical psychologist, I am appreciative whenever I come across well crafted accounts of the depths of addiction and trauma
.
The Things They Carry- Tim O’Brien — The audiobook version narrated by B. Cranston describes aspects of war in a different way than everyone else I’ve read that writes about the horrors of war.
​
by uribrob