Mostly Mike

Amazingly, the themes and emotions that resonate through his later masterpieces are still clearly in evidence here in 1965, speaking from the wilderness of the Tennessee Smoky Mountains
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His prose is unmatched. Though this is his first novel, the voice sounds clearly from off the page. No one writes like Cormac did.

<i>They are gone now. Fled, banished in death or exile, lost, undone. Over the land sun and wind still move to burn and sway the trees, the grasses. No avatar, no scion, no vestige of that people remains. On the lips of the strange race that now dwells there their names are myth, legend, dust.</i>

Book 1 of 2026
The Orchard Keeper - Cormac McCarthy
4⭐️
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They are gone now. Fled, banished in death or exile, lost, undone.

The language is heavily liturgical and ecclesiastical (full of churchy terms)and only partially translated - originally in Italian, thé Latin sentences are not translated. 💙📚

DNF
I thought this was a murder mystery set in an unusual location. It is instead at this point more of a treatise on Papal intrigues in the 14th century as sects vie for power and heresies abound. 💙📚

Oh noooo…

I just read that line lol. so 5 internet 🍪 🍪🍪🍪🍪to you for responding with a quote from the story. Well done.

Above all, it’s the woodness of the writing that I can’t handle.

My friend got me a book for Xmas so naturally I’m trying to read it right away.

He was very excited to share it, because it had been one of his favourites.

It has … not been an easy read so far.

100 pages in and DNF is staring me in the face. 💙📚
The book in question…?

That didn’t jive with Kareem Abdul Jabar dream sequences for me.

I would definitely reread it to see if my mind changes however :)

For me -
Martyr is based on a real story that I knew well - thé USS Vincennes. I was enthralled by reading about the story from one of the people affected by it and by the very real implications of people who have no goals or dreams in this life and the temptation of something better in death.

Thank you for sharing that! I wanted to hear more from people who had enjoyed it.

I loved Martyr so much- until I thought it went off the rails at the end. Would have been one of my top books of the year.

Did you write a review for it?

I’ve not gone full Desmond yet - starting
The Orchard Keeper to start 2026!

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I only knew it from Streisand. But it looked me directly in the eye at the 2nd hand store so I figured it was fate. 😉

And yes. I wanted fellow travellers on the road while we wait for Red God. 😉

We have a LOT of overlap in our reading lists for this year.

I bought Red Rising as a gift for my friends for Xmas

I picked up Prince of Tides because I’ve oddly been seeing it pop up on a lot of lists? (Is it going to make me cry? ( or cry a LOT)

What’s the message- become that which you hate but still blame others? It bothered me. (Clearly, since I read it in the summer and am still talking about it 🙂)

Have you ever read Anne Rice or watched Interview With thé Vampire? Very similar framing device. You might like that one :)

I think the BHH had a strong message that gets muddied at the end. Good Stab kills more of his own people over time than the original massacre

I like asking people what their thoughts on the Buffalo Hunter Hunter are. Specifically thé ending.

For me, it’s a 5 star book without the modern day framing narrative. Did you like the ending?

My 2025 books read

My 2025 reading list at à glance

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And we close out the reading year with the Odyssey. Fagles translation.

It vibes quite a bit differently than the Iliad. It’s telling a different story so that makes sense. It’s rolling along. Parts are good. Parts indifferent. Ans then you meet Argos.

Best boy. 😭 5⭐️
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I mean - mostly just copy paste the original list.

Tom Wilson? Can’t wait to see what he will do wearing the Maple Leaf.

lol.

MacKinnon. McDavid. Crosby. Celebrini.

You shoudl check for a pulse

Oh - rating is absolutely 5 ⭐️

Though I have seen some modern historians sometimes discount Foote’s masterpiece, or say he espouses too much the Lost Cause, my primary takeaway from this tome, as always when the subject comes to hand, is that Abraham Lincoln is not venerated enough.

An incredible work. The best I’ve ever read at capturing an age and a time that are both so hauntingly familiar but also alien as a code of social decorum runs headlong towards the horizon of modern warfare. 💙📚

Well - part 2 was even better.

Artificial Condition - 4.5 ⭐️

Fast and fun sci fi. Classic artificial intelligence story with modern trappings. Loved it

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All Systems Red - sort of a throwback sci fi story. Its brevity is enjoyable. Short and punchy. I think I’m on board for the series. 4 ⭐️ 💙📚

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I just finished the turkey fight. Incredible.
#dungeoncrawlercarl
#theeyeofthebedlambride
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