August: How Many Books Did You Read....?

[dannyboy121070]

I managed 23 in August, and a good portion of them were from collections that Amazon has created for Prime Members to read for free. The BLOODLANDS collection is a series of true-crime stories, THE REAL THING is a series of essays about love and relationships, and the MISSING series is about.....missing things? (I've only read one so far, CATCHING MURPHY, which was a "You can't make this shit up" story about a traumatized runaway dog that outwitted a town full of people trying to reunite him with his family.)

Here's the list for August:

Bloodlands: The Brick Slayer Overall, the BLOODLANDS collection makes for some phenomenal reading. (9)
Real Life Super Heroes (8)
Clive Barker’s A-Z of Horror (8)
Archie at Riverdale High, Vol. 1 Yeah, I'm man enough to admit that I read Archie comics! These collections of old stories take me back to a simpler time....(9)
Bloodlands: The Pied Piper (9)
Bloodlands: Panic (8)
Bloodlands: The Pirate (6)
The Darkside Presents: Zombie I've been sitting on this obscure book since the Shocklines days. A great, sometimes exhaustive, history of Zombies in film.(7)
Batman, Vol. 6: Bride or Burglar? (7)
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (5)
Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance (1)
My Appetite for Destruction: Sex & Drugs & Guns N’ Roses I'm a HUGE G'N'R fan, but these guys are all shitbags. Love the music, disgusted by the musicians.(8)
Tall Tales A fun collection of old Al Jaffee newspaper strips. Some real laugh-out-loud silent cartoons in this volume.(9)
Cry for the Strangers (2)
Silverback Great premise, terrible execution.(1)
The Real Thing: Everybody Loves Kamau! The best read of the month, maybe of the past year.(10)
The Real Thing: Single Asiatic Male Seeks Ride or Die Chick I love the FRESH OFF THE BOAT TV show, but real-life Eddie Huang is a phony douchebag.(1)
The Monster of Frankenstein Solid collection of 1970's Marvel horror.(7)
The Real Thing: Love & Estrogen (7)
BFI Modern Classics: Blade Runner Now I remember why I stopped buying these BFI books....sooooooo fucking dry and pretentious.(2)
Missing: Catching Murphy (9)
The Real Thing: Boyfriends of Dorothy (6)
The Real Thing: The List (4)

Overall, a solid month of reading. I spent most of the month reading one massive comic book, which I'm still not done with, and the late-summer crush of activities kept me from doing a lot of reviews, but there are a few here
https://thecrabbyreviewer.blogspot.com/
if anyone is interested.

How many did you guys read last month?

[Martin]

Completed 8 books in August:

A Little Gray Book of Shadows by William F Nolan A very enjoyable collection. (4 Stars)

Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi Book 4 in the Old Man's War series. Gave the story from book three from the daughters perspective. Was unsure about this one going in but it contained a good mix of retelling events from a different perspective, different background of those events and completely new information. (4 Stars)

Dog Days O' Summer by Mark Allen Gunnells A little bit coming of age story and a little bit werewolf story. By no means a classic but I did enjoy it (3 Stars)
The Silkworm (Comoran Strike #2) By Robert Galbraith I loved book one in this series and had high expectations for this one. While this was a fine story I probably read it too soon after book one as this was a let down in comparison. (3 Stars)

The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi Book 4.5 in the Old Man's War series. This is an offshoot in the series and is the diaries of one of the main characters. Very different story but a fun quick read. (3 Stars)

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill This was Joe Hill's first published novel and in my view it remains his best. This is a re-read using Audible and 11 years after I first read it this book remains a top notch novel. This book comes out of the gate at breakneck speed and never slows down. (5 Stars)

Gone Girl By Gillian Flynn Had this book on the shelf since the Cemetery Dance edition was released. Enjoyed the movie but was in no hurry to read the book. Well that was a mistake. This book is fantastic! I may not wait until CD releases the next one to read it.(5 Stars)
'Salems' Lot by Stephen King Another re-read on Audible. I was unsure about the narrator early on but I realized his style was correct for the story. I probably last read this in the last 80's and remembered the basic story but not the emotional impact the story has. For me this is the book that King hit his stride. (5 Stars)

Boy did my month of reading finish strong!

[jeffingoff]

Completed 8 books in August:

A Little Gray Book of Shadows by William F Nolan A very enjoyable collection. (4 Stars)

Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi Book 4 in the Old Man's War series. Gave the story from book three from the daughters perspective. Was unsure about this one going in but it contained a good mix of retelling events from a different perspective, different background of those events and completely new information. (4 Stars)

Dog Days O' Summer by Mark Allen Gunnells A little bit coming of age story and a little bit werewolf story. By no means a classic but I did enjoy it (3 Stars)
The Silkworm (Comoran Strike #2) By Robert Galbraith I loved book one in this series and had high expectations for this one. While this was a fine story I probably read it too soon after book one as this was a let down in comparison. (3 Stars)

The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi Book 4.5 in the Old Man's War series. This is an offshoot in the series and is the diaries of one of the main characters. Very different story but a fun quick read. (3 Stars)

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill This was Joe Hill's first published novel and in my view it remains his best. This is a re-read using Audible and 11 years after I first read it this book remains a top notch novel. This book comes out of the gate at breakneck speed and never slows down. (5 Stars)

Gone Girl By Gillian Flynn Had this book on the shelf since the Cemetery Dance edition was released. Enjoyed the movie but was in no hurry to read the book. Well that was a mistake. This book is fantastic! I may not wait until CD releases the next one to read it.(5 Stars)
'Salems' Lot by Stephen King Another re-read on Audible. I was unsure about the narrator early on but I realized his style was correct for the story. I probably last read this in the last 80's and remembered the basic story but not the emotional impact the story has. For me this is the book that King hit his stride. (5 Stars)

Boy did my month of reading finish strong!

Thanks for the reviews. I'll have to read Heart-Shaped Box.

[Martin]

Thanks for the reviews. I'll have to read Heart-Shaped Box.

Thanks, I tried to give my thoughts without giving any of the story away. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on Heart-Shaped Box.

[Brian861]

Thanks, I tried to give my thoughts without giving any of the story away. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on Heart-Shaped Box.

While HSB is very good, Horns remains Joe's best novel to date, Jeff .

[Martin]

While HSB is very good, Horns remains Joe's best novel to date, Jeff .

I have only read Horns once so I need to give it another read. Really enjoyed it but I am unable to agree with you on that.

[Brian861]

I have only read Horns once so I need to give it another read. Really enjoyed it but I am unable to agree with you on that.

Well, Martin's been booted from the island

[mhatchett]

Well, Martin's been booted from the island

Let's all back to neutral corners LOL!!

[Martin]

Well, Martin's been booted from the island

Damn, I was planning on going to the beach today!

[Brian861]

Damn, I was planning on going to the beach today!

LOL!

[dannyboy121070]

I have only read Horns once so I need to give it another read. Really enjoyed it but I am unable to agree with you on that.

I've got your back, man.....NOS4A2 is the top of the heap.

[TacomaDiver]

August was kind of the reverse of July for me - more book-books, less comics:

Book-Books
1. A Closed and Common Orbit (Becky Chambers) - 5/5
2. Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood) - 4/5
3. Record of a Spaceborn Few (Becky Chambers) - 5/5
4. Abaddon's Gate (James S.A. Corey) - 3/5
5. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (Ken Liu) - 5/5

Comics
1. Runaways Deluxe Volume 1 (Brian K Vaughan) - 4/5
2. Power Pack Classic Volume 1 (Louise Simonson) - 3/5

[JasonUK]

I've got your back, man.....NOS4A2 is the top of the heap.

Yep, a stone cold classic.

[JasonUK]

Four for me, one novel and three novellas.

Dean Koontz - The Crooked Staircase (7/10) Another very good book in this on-going series. Introduces a couple of nasty villains and finishes with a cliffhanger ending. I can't wait for the next one.

Joe Lansdale - Zeppelins West (2/10) Frivolous nonsense is essentially Lansdale's own description of this book in his afterword. And I can't disagree.

Edward Lorn - Fog Warning (5/10) Several horror tropes - supernatural fog, ghosts, premonitions and a serial killer - and thrown together but don't gel to make a convincing whole. Very good in parts but unsatisfactory overall.

Kelli Owen - Wilted Lilies (4/10) A girl who can hear peoples thoughts and talk to the dead is interrogated by the police about a murder while a mysterious man looks on. Simmers with intrigue and possibility but never comes to the boil.

[Brian861]

I've got your back, man.....NOS4A2 is the top of the heap.

Yep, a stone cold classic.

Just happy to see all the Hill love.