Ben Saufley - Reading

Books I've Rated 4 / 5

Ratings Breakdown

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

143

3.5

4

183

4.5

5

When No One is Watching

by Alyssa Cole

Finished 2025-05-29
Famous Last Words

by Gillian McAllister

Finished 2025-05-11

Chewed through the audiobook in two days so that’s gotta count for something. Not necessarily a stand-out thriller but it had me hooked all the same.
How Are You Going to Pay for That?Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics

by Ryan Cooper

Finished 2025-05-10

Lots of interesting stuff in this book. Oddly though the actual title of the book seems to be … not really the main thrust. The main thrust is all the things that need to be done; how those things are paid for seems to mostly be “it’s not actually that important” and I think that’s fair but it makes the book title kind of funny.
Careless PeopleA Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Finished 2025-04-20

I think this reinforced a lot of my existing feelings about Facebook and Zuck and despite my disdain for hand-wringing about “echo chambers” I do have alarm bells going off off when I notice that type of thing is happening: am I receptive to this info because it’s compelling and legitimate or because I want it to be true? I did not go in with any real preconception of Sandberg and her portrayal here was pretty shocking. Started out as a kind of “well I guess it makes sense that a powerful person behaves this way” but it gets worse and weirder as it goes on.

I intend to seek out some more info about some of the stuff in this book, but I will say very little in here seemed on its face to be unlikely to be true given other things I know or have heard—or if not “true” then at least an honest recollection of events.
Ashes of the Sun

by Django Wexler

Finished 2025-03-26
Scythe

by Neal Shusterman

Finished 2025-03-06
Before They Are Hanged

by Joe Abercrombie

Finished 2024-08-27
The Blade Itself

by Joe Abercrombie

Finished 2024-08-06
Ordinary Monsters

by J.M. Miro

Finished 2024-06-13

I liked it but I’m not sure I liked it enough to read a second (or third). I think maybe just the whatever it is, Victorian? setting doesn’t grab me. The magic hovered between system-based or even scientific, and mystical, and I kind of wish it would just pick a lane. And Marbur and Marlowe are so easy for my head to mix up, and then you add in that Jacob Marbur is nearly the classic Dickens name Jacob Marley…

Yeah. I liked it but didn’t love it. Maybe I’ll come back to the series in a while when this book has settled into my brain a bit.
Russian Sleeper Cell

by Nathan Monk

Finished 2024-04-26

I really enjoyed a lot of this book. The style is fun and smart; the way it kind of meandered into the main plot was interesting rather than insufferable, and somehow the very unavoidable presence of the author’s voice (which often takes me out of a book) engaged me and kept me reading. But the actual plot of the book was actually kind of weak/straightforward and strangely concluded (what even was the “sleeper cell” the book is so bluntly named after?). Interesting and enjoyable read that was … I don’t know, a little bit of a mess in the end.
Just Another Missing Person

by Gillian McAllister

Finished 2024-04-06
Hyperion

by Dan Simmons

Finished 2024-01-29

I really enjoyed this book and then it … ended before it was over. I know there are sequels but it felt like all the POV stories that were told, each of which I really enjoyed and I loved how they were told so differently, were leading to something at the end that the book just doesn’t provide. That’s disappointing. I’ll probably read at least one of the sequels in a while, but like … it seems like at least the first sequel would just have to be a part of this book.
Infinity Gate

by M.R. Carey

Finished 2023-08-06
Golden Son

by Pierce Brown

Finished 2023-06-26
You Are Not Alone

by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen

Finished 2023-05-07

I enjoyed it but it’s a little unsatisfying once it’s all unfolded. basically: “oh no, they’re gonna frame her—but they failed, the end”

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Books I've Rated 4 / 5

Ratings Breakdown

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } When No One is Watching

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Famous Last Words

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } How Are You Going to Pay for That?Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Careless PeopleA Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Ashes of the Sun

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Scythe

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Before They Are Hanged

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Blade Itself

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Ordinary Monsters

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Russian Sleeper Cell

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Just Another Missing Person

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Hyperion

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Infinity Gate

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Golden Son

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } You Are Not Alone

When No One is Watching

Famous Last Words

How Are You Going to Pay for That?Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics

Careless PeopleA Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

Ashes of the Sun

Scythe

Before They Are Hanged

The Blade Itself

Ordinary Monsters

Russian Sleeper Cell

Just Another Missing Person

Hyperion

Infinity Gate

Golden Son

You Are Not Alone