The First Reader is on leave from work, and has departed for his parent’s house. He will be down there, returning the favor for them raising him. However, we both anticipate long hours of quiet time, where he will have little to do besides read.
So…
I need to make a very special book list. I can feed his Kindle library from home, and plan to. But he is going to run out of reading material and I’m going to run out of ideas! Help us, reader friends! You’re our only hope!
Just to summarize his tastes: he reads a lot of Louis L’Amour, David Drake, John Ringo, Peter Grant, anything Baen Books put out up until the last 5 years or so (and much of that, but there are new authors neither of us are familiar with). His latest binges have included all of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Glen Cook’s Garrett PI series, and Jerry Boyd’s space salvage crew.
Things he doesn’t like: romance as a main plot. He’s fine with it as a sub-plot, but as a major theme it does not float his boat. He doesn’t read gray goo, or horror, and he’s not a fan of most YA.
Ideally, I’d love to hear about books in the Kindle Unlimited library, as I have a more limited budget than usual (this is unpaid leave for 6 weeks. The family income literally just halved. We’re going to be fine, but I’m budget-conscious).
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17 responses to “Nominate! for the Curmudgeon’s Book List”
CJ Carella’s Warp Marine series is good, and his Armageddon Girl series, if he likes superhero stories.
I’ve enjoyed all those authors. I have also enjoyed James Rollins and Clive Cussler.
If he hasn’t read them, CS Forester – The Hornblower Series, Sink the Bismark, The Good Sheppard (on sale!) and The African Queen.
There’s a nice omnibus collection of Talbot Mundy out there, as well as Robert E. Howard (all the Conan, plus his lessor known works).
Heck, Bulwer-Lynton isn’t as bad as he’s been made out to be.
I have enjoyed Pam Uphoff’s books and there are many. Chris Kennedy Publishing has a good catalogue.R.K. Thorne has some good ones as does Alma Boykin. I liked Dan Willis for a couple of arcane detective books. Andre Norton has a few on unlimited. There are more on my unlimited list if you need them.
If he likes Glenn Cook, he might want to look into the Black Company.
The Grey Man series by J L Curtis, White Powder by Larry B Lambert, and any of C.J. Box’s books.
He needs to try the Four Horsemen Universe. It’s all on KU so it shoupdn’t cost you a dime if you already subscribe.
https://chriskennedypublishing.com/the-four-horsemen-books/4hu-suggested-reading-order/
If he hasn’t read Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series, that was a good one. Military fantasy with Roman influence, 6 books total. (Apparently, Butcher was challenged to write a series using two “lame” ideas, and his prompts were “lost roman legion” and “pokemon.” I absolutely loved it.)
My Book Of Lost Doors is on KU. There are horror elements, but it’s mostly what might be called Urban SF–a lot of the conventions of Urban Fantasy, but the characters are the result of alien technology rather than magic.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MPNBNS
Bad Dreams & Broken Hearts is cop drama with magic, also on KU.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z7CKXFN
Freepen fat fingers. I just typed out WHY you would like this series, hit some wrong key, and it’s vanished.
Short form: good lawyer books, authentic and STRONG background. Free on Kindle.
Here’s the link to the first five books in a “boxed set.”
https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Dillard-Box-Books-through-ebook/dp/B00GXV16H6/?tag=httphabakkubl-20
“Shadow of an Empire,” It’s a Fantasy Wild-West, on Kindle Unlimited, came out about two years ago, so it’s still fairly new. Lots of horseback chases, mystery, shootouts, and of course, some very neat magic.
Here’s a link. If he enjoys it, then it’d be worth taking a look at the rest of my library to see what’s enjoyed, but that’s the one that most clearly shouts, based on interests “Yes, you’ll like me!”
He liked the first one, Max. I bought it after we met at LTUE.
Woo-hoo! And thank you! He may have already read “Shadow” then, if he got curious, though if he liked “Colony,” “Jungle,” the sequel, dropped just a few months ago.
If he’s successfully cleared those, has he tried “The Lost Fleet” by Campbell yet? Ace published them, and I’m not aware if they’re on Kindle, but there are nine books in the series and it’s a very good blend of space-based combat with actual naval experience.
Well … my books aren’t on Kindle Unlimited, but if First Reader loves L’Amour, there are some reviewers who have done me the courtesy of comparing my Lone Star Sons series to his books. Traditional, old-fashioned western, no gray goo, gloom despair and agony…
We have some of yours, I’ll check and see what we’re missing!
Just a single book, but”Gates of Fire,” by Steven Pressfield, I’d put on the required reading list for any man, of either gender.
Nathan Lowell’s Solar Clipper books, perhaps?
And for a wonderful classic: Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana.
Sid Fleischman’s By the Great Horn Spoon! is a wonderful tale of the California Gold Rush, but may be available under the title Disney gave it, “Bullwhip Griffin.”