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Title Author Rating Type Comment

A God in Ruins Kate Atkinson B Fiction Click for comment
Life and Fate Vasily Grossman A Russian
Historical novel

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Everything Flows Vasily Grossman A Russian
Historical novel

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Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

D Fiction Click for comment
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson D Fiction Click for comment
Pattern Recognition William Gibson A- Fiction Click for comment

Spook Country William Gibson B+ Fiction Click for comment

The Big Sky A. B. Guthrie B Fiction Click for comment

The Way West A. B. Guthrie B Fiction Click for comment

Truck, A Love Story Michael Perry B Fiction Click for comment

Europe Central William T. Vollmann

B- Fiction Click for comment
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes

D Fiction Click for comment

War and Peace Leo Tolstoy C Historical Fiction

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Flashman and the Redskins George McDonald Fraser

B+ Historical Fiction Click for comment
Flash for Freedom George McDonald Fraser

B+ Historical Fiction Click for comment
Riddley Walker Russell Hoban B Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Amazingly original and imaginative. Very difficult reading because of the evolved (or devolved) language in which the main character narrates. David Mitchell must have gotten his idea for part of Cloud Atlas from this book.

Flashman on the March George McDonald Fraser B+ Historical Fiction Another colorful, funny, sexy, and generally wonderfully entertaining way of learning about an interesting historical event, this time the British expedition, with a large force, to Abbysinia (Ethiopia) to free a bunch of English hostages from a crazy savage king. Fraser is a master of description, and he is also a scholarly historian.

The Emperor's General James Webb B+ Historical Fiction

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A Winter's Tale Mark Helprin B Fiction Wonderful writing and imagery. A story that reminded me of Tolkein, because of the many magical elements in it. The book feels very deep and is very poetic. It's flawed by the author's tenuous grasp on reality. I think he lost control at the end. I don't understand why I enjoyed the book, but I did.

The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger

B+ Fiction Click for comment
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini B- Fiction Click for comment

Broken Prey John Sandford C+ Fiction/
Murder Mystery

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That Uncertain Feeling Kingsley Amis A Fiction Click for comment

Days and Nights Konstantine Simonov B Fiction A novel by a Russian set in the defense of Stalingrad, published in 1945. Almost non-political, which is remarkable for the time. Simonov was born in 1915. He was a Russian war correspondent and covered almost all of Russia's fronts during WW II.

Cloud Atlas David Mitchell A Fiction Click for comment

Ghostwritten David Mitchell B Fiction Click for comment

The Cloud Atlas Liam Callanan B- Fiction Another good book with almost the same title as Mitchell's. This one takes place in WW II, mostly in Alaska, in the context of the little-known Japanese operation to send thousands of bombs and incendiary devices to the US under unmanned balloons. The story also concerns the relationship of Catholicism and Alaskan shamanism, and it has some interesting characters and relationships. I read it non-stop.

Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson

A Historical fiction An amazingly vivid and varied book set both in WW II and the present and with codes and code-breaking and related extraction of information from seemingly random data as its principal theme. Great writing, good characters, humor, and action.

Quicksilver
The Confusion
The System of the World

Neal Stephenson A Historical fiction Click for comment
Master and Commander Patrick O'Brian A Historical fiction Click for comment

All the Names Jose Saramago A Fiction Click for comment

Embers Sandor Marai A Fiction Click for comment

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon B Fiction Click for comment

The Man in My Basement Walter Mosley B Fiction Click for comment

Barchester Towers
The Warden
Anthony Trollope A Fiction The Warden is the sequel to Barchester Towers, and they are the first Trollope books I read voluntarily, i.e., with enjoyment, and they are still my favorites of the Trollope novels I've read. They are funny, full of insight, and surprisingly suspenceful.

Barbarossa - The Russian-German Conflict 1941-1945 Alan Clark A History Click for comment

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