What a coincidence! I recently finished all of Brandon Sanderson’s StormLight books (waiting for the remaining books to be written). They were GREAT! And, I’m currently reading his MistBorn series. 
I’ve been reading Fantasy and Sci-Fi books for over 40 years. My favorite author is Stephen R. Donaldson, and my favorite book series BY FAR is:
I recently finished “The Golden Compass” and “The Subtle Knife” In the “His Dark Materials” trilogy I’m looking forward to the third book “The Amber Spyglass”
After that I may read the “Bobiverse” series, or possibly “The Lies of Locklomora”
@markwr “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” looks like an very interesting series might check it out
Read the Chronicles years ago with a big gap between the first book and the last. Despite the gap, I was straight back into the story, a true sign of a true serial and great writing.Recommended.
Also, just to give everyone an idea of how much I love “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” books, in recent years I started using Covenant (or a near variation) as my user name at some websites, even though it had been many years since I read the books.
I started Golden Compass just recently, so far it was pretty good. The usual trope of “kid going toe-to-toe with adults outsmarting them every other turn and getting away with everything” is present but it’s not overbearing like in so many other books aimed at children.
The setting is right up my alley as well - it’s pretty unusual with this “every human has his personal demon friend” concept and I like unusual settings that are well thought out.
I’m not sure if I should continue contributing to this thread though - I’m pretty snobby with my book tastes and more prone to posting rants than gushing over stuff %)
Understood. I have gotten pickier over time. Once you read really good writing, it is painful to read bad stuff. Nay, impossible.
Ok, I like puns, so here goes:
When I was a kid I liked reading books. So what I wanted to be when I grew up was … a Bookie. 
For Brandon Sanderson fans, when the next Stormlight book comes out, this is what the Book Cover will look like. 
Happy !00th, Ray! 
I clicked your link, I read the essay. Thank you. Very nice. He was one of the authors I loved to read. 
One of fav “new authors” talking about his admiration of one of my fav older authors…I have John in my RSS feeds so I see anything his daughter or he posts. She is home because of the Virus; she is writing on his blog too.
This is completely off topic but when I saw Ray Bradbury’s last name it reminded me of Steven Bradbury, an Australian speed skater who won Australia’s first gold medal at a Winter Olympic Games, and the way he won it was the most unusual and I feel would almost never be repeated.
This video is worth a 6 min watch if you want to see some crazy luck (or maybe he was a genius, you decide)
I’m well into Dune by Frank Herbert, and I really like it. Has anyone else read this series? If so, what do you think about it?
Nope, but it sounds kinda spooky. Mown, need Audible trial to snag it too.
If you do decide to get the Audible trial, wait. Get the Amazon Prime trial first if is available to you, and then sign into Audible with that same email and start the Audible trial. Having Prime attached to your trial will give you 2 credits rather than the trial basic of 1. 
I’ve read all the Dune books. Dune was (and still is) one of my all-time favorite books. 
Awesome! Any characters from the first book that are your favorites? Favorite scenes? etc?
There is a TON to pick from, the book is that good. One that comes to mind is the first time a thumper is used to call a sandworm. 
That reminds me of the first scene featuring the sandworms. How it progressed so quickly and how it swallowed the roller was so creepy. xD
Dune is definitely high on want to read list. While it’ll probably be a while before I sink my teeth into it I’m definitely looking forward to it.
In the meantime though I’ll be reading Rick Riordans “the trials of Apollo” series, while i do normally avoid young adult books I have fond memories of some of Rick Riordans other book series, and I’ve heard some good things.
