Finished 8 with one DNF in January.
1. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn was a reread from a few years ago. I’d forgotten just how funny this short novella was about a young female grifter trying to take financial advantage of a disruptive family situation. 5 / 5
2. Heavy Oceans was the first thing I’ve read from Tyler Jones. I thought it was an ambitious story about the effects of a violent incident on the troubled relationship between two brothers. It was an engaging read that ultimately did not come together for me at the end. 3.5 / 5
3. The Vampyre and Other Macabre Tales was an anthology of Gothic fiction from the 1800’s. The writing tended to be a lot more wordy and descriptive (flowery), but most of the stories had a satisfying conclusion. Good stories by John Polidori, Washington Irving, Walter Scott, Mary Shelley, Catherine Gore, Letitia Landon, & Edgar Allan Poe. 3.8 / 5
4. The Girl on the Porch by Richard Chizmar was another reread. A good story about social paranoia and asking the question ‘how well do you know your friends and neighbors?’. 4 / 5
5. Cold, Black, and Infinite was a short story collection by Todd Keisling. This is the third thing I’ve read by Keisling, (a novella, a novel & a story collection) and he seems adept at all three narrative lengths. My favorites were ‘Midnight in the Southland’, (a man on late night drive has a genuinely creepy experience while listening to an Art Bell inspired radio show), ‘The Gods of our Fathers’ (a young girl call upon the gods of her grandfather’s religion to deal with an abusive father and brother), ‘Solve for X’, (while on a babysitting job a teenage girl has an unusual encounter with a neighborhood boy), & ‘Holes in the Fabric’, (a woman has a ghostly encounter while helping with the Devil’s Creek compound cleanup). 3.9 / 5
6. A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O’Nan, was a short, but hard-hitting story about a small Wisconsin town undergoing simultaneous catastrophes: a diphtheria outbreak and a uncontrollable forest fire. As his town and his family quickly slips away, a reformed man reverts back to his unsavory past. Second thing I’ve read by O’Nan, and both have been great. 5 / 5
7. Anathema was the first thing I’ve read by Nick Roberts. It was his first published novel, and it read like a first book; clunky prose and too many eye rolling scenes that pushed the bounds of credibility. Only made it about 2/3 of the way through. DNF
8. Black Seas of Infinity: The R’Lyeh Cycle Book 2 ed. by William Holloway was a collection of 4 Lovecraftian novellas about the coming Cthulhu apocalypse. I liked Book 2 better than the first volume. I thought all the stories were very solid, with the standout being the opening story by Curtis Lawson, ‘And the Whole of Reality Shall Crash Upon Me’. Damn, but Lawson went into some dark places with this piece. Other good stories by Brett Talley and Gemma Files. Here’s hoping for a third volume. 4.1 / 5
9. The Devil’s Pocketbook was the first thing I’ve read by Ross Jeffery. An engaging and genuinely creepy first half was marred by an increasingly incredulous second half. 2 / 5
B
1. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn was a reread from a few years ago. I’d forgotten just how funny this short novella was about a young female grifter trying to take financial advantage of a disruptive family situation. 5 / 5
2. Heavy Oceans was the first thing I’ve read from Tyler Jones. I thought it was an ambitious story about the effects of a violent incident on the troubled relationship between two brothers. It was an engaging read that ultimately did not come together for me at the end. 3.5 / 5
3. The Vampyre and Other Macabre Tales was an anthology of Gothic fiction from the 1800’s. The writing tended to be a lot more wordy and descriptive (flowery), but most of the stories had a satisfying conclusion. Good stories by John Polidori, Washington Irving, Walter Scott, Mary Shelley, Catherine Gore, Letitia Landon, & Edgar Allan Poe. 3.8 / 5
4. The Girl on the Porch by Richard Chizmar was another reread. A good story about social paranoia and asking the question ‘how well do you know your friends and neighbors?’. 4 / 5
5. Cold, Black, and Infinite was a short story collection by Todd Keisling. This is the third thing I’ve read by Keisling, (a novella, a novel & a story collection) and he seems adept at all three narrative lengths. My favorites were ‘Midnight in the Southland’, (a man on late night drive has a genuinely creepy experience while listening to an Art Bell inspired radio show), ‘The Gods of our Fathers’ (a young girl call upon the gods of her grandfather’s religion to deal with an abusive father and brother), ‘Solve for X’, (while on a babysitting job a teenage girl has an unusual encounter with a neighborhood boy), & ‘Holes in the Fabric’, (a woman has a ghostly encounter while helping with the Devil’s Creek compound cleanup). 3.9 / 5
6. A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O’Nan, was a short, but hard-hitting story about a small Wisconsin town undergoing simultaneous catastrophes: a diphtheria outbreak and a uncontrollable forest fire. As his town and his family quickly slips away, a reformed man reverts back to his unsavory past. Second thing I’ve read by O’Nan, and both have been great. 5 / 5
7. Anathema was the first thing I’ve read by Nick Roberts. It was his first published novel, and it read like a first book; clunky prose and too many eye rolling scenes that pushed the bounds of credibility. Only made it about 2/3 of the way through. DNF
8. Black Seas of Infinity: The R’Lyeh Cycle Book 2 ed. by William Holloway was a collection of 4 Lovecraftian novellas about the coming Cthulhu apocalypse. I liked Book 2 better than the first volume. I thought all the stories were very solid, with the standout being the opening story by Curtis Lawson, ‘And the Whole of Reality Shall Crash Upon Me’. Damn, but Lawson went into some dark places with this piece. Other good stories by Brett Talley and Gemma Files. Here’s hoping for a third volume. 4.1 / 5
9. The Devil’s Pocketbook was the first thing I’ve read by Ross Jeffery. An engaging and genuinely creepy first half was marred by an increasingly incredulous second half. 2 / 5
B
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