September: How Many??

[brlesh]

I only finished 4 books in September.

A Mythos Grimmly ed. by Jeremy Hochhalter was an anthology of stories based on Grimm's Fairy tales told from a Lovecraftian point of view.* Most of the stories were OK, but rather unmemorable.* Favorites were 'The Piper in Yellow' by Brett Talley, a twisted take on the Pied Piper story, & 'Ginger Snap' by Michael Wentela, a modern telling of Little Red Riding Hood which took a decidedly dark turn.* 3/5 **

Dog Days o' Summer by James Newman & Mark Alan Gunnell was a coming-of-age story about a group of friends that spend their last summer before high school trying to solve the mystery of the local werewolf.* As you can guess the story was very reminiscent of The Cycle of the Werewolf.* Newman & Gunnells story was probably a little darker than King's, but not as much fun.* 3.5/5

Ghost Road Blues was the first book in the Pine Deep trilogy by Jonathan Maberry and it was a blast.* This is the first novel length work I've read by Maberry, but I've read several short stories / novellas of his over the last couple of years and have always enjoyed his stories.* It won't be long before I read the second installment.* 5/5

The Haunter of the Dark by HP Lovecraft is the 11th volume in the series Illustrated Lovecraft published by PS.* This volume includes the Lovecraft stories 'The Haunter of the Dark' & 'The Thing on the Doorstep'; the Robert Bloch stories 'The Shambler from the Stars' (which inspired The Haunter) & 'The Shadow from the Steeple' (Bloch's sequel to The Haunter) and the excellent story 'The Spider' by Hanns Heinz Ewers.* 4/5

[Martin]

Completed five reads in September:

1. Shift by Hugh Howey: Book two in the trilogy. I really enjoyed Wool, book one, and was looking forward to this. The story bounces between different stories and different timelines and felt too choppy for me. I would get interested in a story line and adjust to the timeframe when it is taking place and then he would switch to a hundred years later and a different story. This is more of a prequel to Wool and does explain the events that created the Silos. That alone made it a worthwhile read but it could have been so much better. 3 stars.

2. Fright or Flight Edited by Bev Vincent and Stephen King: A list of classic and new stories all with some connection to flight. Several of the stories in this are worth the price of admission alone. Combined this is a classic! 5 Stars.

3. Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward: Pretty standard Woodward fare. Information gained from inside sources with occasional commentary from Mr. Woodward. Overall very informative. 3 Stars.

4. The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis: Discusses how weather forecasting has progressed with technology and efforts to monetize the data. At times fascinating and at time just ok. 3.5 Stars.


5. The Human Division by John Scalzi: Book five in the Old Man's War series. Although one of the weaker books in this series it is still a fun read. 3.5 Stars.

[Dan Hocker]

As usual these where audio books. I also do a lot of re-reading.

1 - 4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books 2 - 5 - These are pretty much classics. Though book 5 leaves a lot to be desired if you ask me. Book 4 outside the first one is probably the best of the whole lot, but book 5 basically takes everything that was good about book 4 and throws it away.

5. And Another Thing - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book 6 - this one is written by someone other than Douglas Adams and it shows. It's an OK read, but it's not great.

6. Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray - I've read this one before, but it had been awhile and I was out of Audible credits so I decided to revist this one. It's as good as I remember it being, and if it hadn't been for my next "re-reads" in this list, it'd be the best book I read this month. It's almost certainly the best of the new "Star Wars" books.

7. Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks - Probably my favorite book, certainly my favorite trilogy. This is another re-read due to a lack of Audible credits. The next one follows suit.

8. A Knight of the Word by Terry Brooks - Book 2 of this trilogy, picks up 5 years after the previous one. Almost as good as book 1, but not quite. I noticed in this go around that Terry Brooks gets a bit confused by his own timeline in this series a bit. Book 2 takes place 5 years after book one, but the age of the one character is stated and indicates it should be 6 years later. Then book 3 takes place 10 years after book 2, but the age of that character indicates that it should be 9 years after book 2. Just a little oversight and the things you notice when you read them back to back.

[JasonUK]

Riley Sager - Last Time I Lied (5/10) More teen melodrama than thriller but some unexpected twists in the final few pages helped make the book worthwhile.

Stephen King & Bev Vincent - Flight or Fright (3/10) I'm not a huge fan of short stories - for every one I enjoy I read another ten that do nothing for me. This anthology didn’t change that with only two stories that I can honestly say I'm glad that I read, and neither of them were King's poor effort.

David Bernstein - The Tree Man (4/10) Inoffensive tale of a young boy's fight against a perceived monster. I prefer my horror to be a bit more vicious than this.

James Newman & Mark Steensland - The Special (7/10) Sick & twisted novella of sexual obsession. Very good!

[Dave1442397]

Again, I'm not keeping track this year, but here's September 2017:

261 09/01/17 Lyle, H.B. The Irregular
262 09/02/17 Parker, T. Jefferson The Room of White Fire
263 09/02/17 Matheson, Richard Somewhere in Time
264 09/02/17 Storey, Erik A Promise to Kill
265 09/03/17 Richards, Matt Somebody to Love
266 09/04/17 Bear, Greg Dead Lines
267 09/04/17 Fury, Dalton All Lines Black
268 09/05/17 Abel, James Vector
269 09/06/17 Percy, Benjamin The Dark Net
270 09/07/17 Barclay, Linwood Far from True
271 09/08/17 Kidder, Tracy A Truck full of Money
272 09/10/17 Lagercrantz, David The Girl who takes an Eye for an Eye
273 09/10/17 Martin, Russell The Resurrection of Candy Sterling
274 09/11/17 Johnson, Craig The Western Star
275 09/12/17 Stross, Charles The Atrocity Archive
276 09/12/17 Stross, Charles The Concrete Jungle
277 09/14/17 Benford, Gregory The Berlin Project
278 09/15/17 Drew, Alan Shadow Man
279 09/15/17 Chen, Curtis C. Kangaroo Too
280 09/16/17 Petrie, Nick Burning Bright
281 09/17/17 Elsberg, Marc Blackout
282 09/18/17 Joy, David The Weight of this World
283 09/19/17 Logan, Michael Hell's Detective
284 09/19/17 Kamal, Sheena The Lost Ones
285 09/20/17 Lotz, Sarah The White Road
286 09/21/17 Chirovici, E. O. The Book of Mirrors
287 09/21/17 Blauner, Peter Proving Ground
288 09/24/17 DeMille, Nelson The Cuban Affair
289 09/25/17 Poore, Michael Reincarnation Blues
290 09/25/17 Merritt, Tom Pilot X
291 09/26/17 Doty, James R. Into the Magic Shop
292 09/28/17 King, Stephen & Owen Sleeping Beauties
293 09/29/17 Coleman, Reed The Hangman's Sonnet
294 09/30/17 Clines, Peter Paradox Bound

[Martin]

As usual these where audio books. I also do a lot of re-reading.

1 - 4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books 2 - 5 - These are pretty much classics. Though book 5 leaves a lot to be desired if you ask me. Book 4 outside the first one is probably the best of the whole lot, but book 5 basically takes everything that was good about book 4 and throws it away.

5. And Another Thing - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book 6 - this one is written by someone other than Douglas Adams and it shows. It's an OK read, but it's not great.

6. Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray - I've read this one before, but it had been awhile and I was out of Audible credits so I decided to revist this one. It's as good as I remember it being, and if it hadn't been for my next "re-reads" in this list, it'd be the best book I read this month. It's almost certainly the best of the new "Star Wars" books.

7. Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks - Probably my favorite book, certainly my favorite trilogy. This is another re-read due to a lack of Audible credits. The next one follows suit.

8. A Knight of the Word by Terry Brooks - Book 2 of this trilogy, picks up 5 years after the previous one. Almost as good as book 1, but not quite. I noticed in this go around that Terry Brooks gets a bit confused by his own timeline in this series a bit. Book 2 takes place 5 years after book one, but the age of the one character is stated and indicates it should be 6 years later. Then book 3 takes place 10 years after book 2, but the age of that character indicates that it should be 9 years after book 2. Just a little oversight and the things you notice when you read them back to back.

I need to get around to Running With the Demon. Been on my TBR for a long time.

[Martin]

Riley Sager - Last Time I Lied (5/10) More teen melodrama than thriller but some unexpected twists in the final few pages helped make the book worthwhile.

Stephen King & Bev Vincent - Flight or Fright (3/10) I'm not a huge fan of short stories - for every one I enjoy I read another ten that do nothing for me. This anthology didn’t change that with only two stories that I can honestly say I'm glad that I read, and neither of them were King's poor effort.

David Bernstein - The Tree Man (4/10) Inoffensive tale of a young boy's fight against a perceived monster. I prefer my horror to be a bit more vicious than this.

James Newman & Mark Steensland - The Special (7/10) Sick & twisted novella of sexual obsession. Very good!

As a lover of short stories I mostly disagree with you view on Fright or Flight. I do agree that Kings was not one of the better stories in the book.

[TacomaDiver]

Here's what I read last month:

Book-Books
1. The Cabin at the End of the World (Paul Tremblay) - 4/5
2. All Systems Red (Martha Wells) - 5/5
3. The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) - 3/5
4. Artificial Condition (Martha Wells) - 5/5
5. The Butcher of Anderson Station (James S.A. Corey) - 4/5
6. Rogue Protocol (Martha Wells) - 4/5
7. Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson) - 3/5
8. Edge of Infinity (Jonathan Strahan, editor) - 3/5

Comics
1. NextWave, Agents of H.A.T.E. (Warren Ellis) - 2/5
2. Black Bolt Volume 1: Hard Time (Saladin Ahmed) - 3/5
3. Black Bolt Volume 2: Home Free (Saladin Ahmed) - 4/5
4. Alex + Ada Volume 1 (Jonathan Luna) - 4/5
5. Alex + Ada Volume 2 (Jonathan Luna) - 4/5
6. Alex + Ada Volume 3 (Jonathan Luna) - 4/5

And as before, you can check out July and August

[HumphreyBear]

I've read the first two Murderbot novellas in the past couple of days. They are a lot of fun - 5s for me too.

[TacomaDiver]

I've read the first two Murderbot novellas in the past couple of days. They are a lot of fun - 5s for me too.

They were so much fun! I’m surprised a little by how much fun I had reading them. The third wasn’t as much fun (4/5) for some reason. And I just started the fourth one this afternoon.

[HumphreyBear]

They were so much fun! I’m surprised a little by how much fun I had reading them. The third wasn’t as much fun (4/5) for some reason. And I just started the fourth one this afternoon.

I started the third one last night. I read the first as an ebook and the next two as audiobooks, but naturally, I went to Amazon and ordered all four as hardbacks. I must have them!

[TacomaDiver]

I started the third one last night. I read the first as an ebook and the next two as audiobooks, but naturally, I went to Amazon and ordered all four as hardbacks. I must have them!

That’s similar to what I did. Not sure what made me want to read these, but once I did I tried to get the first one from the library, but I was number 50 or something in line for their one copy. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I already owned a Kindle version. Had no idea where or how or when. I later learned it was a free offering one month from Tor. So yay! Read it and then promptly ordered all editions in hardcover from Amazon.

I’m really hoping someone collects these into a nice signed limited.

[dannyboy121070]

I hit my crazy goal of one-a-day in September for a total of 30:

The Real Thing: Neighbors Amazon has a bunch of different collections available to Prime members (Missing, South Side, The Real Thing)- This one was a long essay about the bond that two women formed by living next door to each other. Fascinating stuff. (8)
Unannounced Book (0)
Werewolf By Night Omnibus This seemed like a no-brainer, but it dragged on and on. Not even some exquisite art in the early issues by Mike Ploog could save it. (5)
Vampire Tales, Volume 1 The first of three volumes collecting Marvel's VAMPIRE TALES magazine from the '70s. (8)
Unannounced Book (7)
Vampire Tales, Volume 2 (8)
Unannounced Book (6)
Vampire Tales, Volume 3 (8)
Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica What a missed opportunity to create a fun, classic book. (4)
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles Who the hell would have thought a comic about Snagglepuss could create so much drama and emotion? One of the best comics I've read in a LONG time. (9)
Batman/Catwoman: The Wedding Album- The Deluxe Edition (7)
Crossed, Volume 1 Tenth Anniversary Hardcover (8)
James Bond: Case Files, Volume 1 Another big surprise. These four short stories about Bond, Moneypenny, and Q are better than most Bond MOVIES. (9)
When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals (7)
Justice League: No Justice I don't get the love for Scott Snyder at all...This was fucking horrible. (0)
The Paybacks (8)
Hunting Charles Manson: The Quest for Justice in the Days of Helter Skelter (6)
Ex Machina: The Complete Series Omnibus Every fan of comics and/or Sci-Fi should read this book. Everyone on this BOARD should read this book.....a genre-bending classic with an amazing swerve. Can't recommend enough. (9)
Southside: The Gun King (9)
Southside: Cellmates (8)
Missing: The Button A history of....The Clitoris...? Umm, no, no thanks. (2)
Live Long and...What I Might Have Learned Along the Way He's probably a dick in real life, but I love William Shatner. (9)
Missing: The Stones, The Crows, The Grass, The Moon (7)
Thicker Than Blood Great art can't save this poorly written Werewolf yarn. (5)
Lovecraft: The Myth of Cthulhu Graphic adaptations of three Lovecraft classics. (7)
Missing: Time Out The true story of a thirteen-year-old boy imprisoned for murder. (9)
Convergence: Zero Hour, Book 1 (5)
Action Comics #1000: The Deluxe Edition (8)
The Zombie Who Cried Human Fun, unnerving children's book from Freeman & Chadbourne. (8)
Savage Game (6)

As always, reviews for a bunch of these books can be found on my blog, The Crabby Reviewer:
https://thecrabbyreviewer.blogspot.com/

[Martin]

I hit my crazy goal of one-a-day in September for a total of 30:

The Real Thing: Neighbors Amazon has a bunch of different collections available to Prime members (Missing, South Side, The Real Thing)- This one was a long essay about the bond that two women formed by living next door to each other. Fascinating stuff. (8)
Unannounced Book (0)
Werewolf By Night Omnibus This seemed like a no-brainer, but it dragged on and on. Not even some exquisite art in the early issues by Mike Ploog could save it. (5)
Vampire Tales, Volume 1 The first of three volumes collecting Marvel's VAMPIRE TALES magazine from the '70s. (8)
Unannounced Book (7)
Vampire Tales, Volume 2 (8)
Unannounced Book (6)
Vampire Tales, Volume 3 (8)
Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica What a missed opportunity to create a fun, classic book. (4)
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles Who the hell would have thought a comic about Snagglepuss could create so much drama and emotion? One of the best comics I've read in a LONG time. (9)
Batman/Catwoman: The Wedding Album- The Deluxe Edition (7)
Crossed, Volume 1 Tenth Anniversary Hardcover (8)
James Bond: Case Files, Volume 1 Another big surprise. These four short stories about Bond, Moneypenny, and Q are better than most Bond MOVIES. (9)
When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals (7)
Justice League: No Justice I don't get the love for Scott Snyder at all...This was fucking horrible. (0)
The Paybacks (8)
Hunting Charles Manson: The Quest for Justice in the Days of Helter Skelter (6)
Ex Machina: The Complete Series Omnibus Every fan of comics and/or Sci-Fi should read this book. Everyone on this BOARD should read this book.....a genre-bending classic with an amazing swerve. Can't recommend enough. (9)
Southside: The Gun King (9)
Southside: Cellmates (8)
Missing: The Button A history of....The Clitoris...? Umm, no, no thanks. (2)
Live Long and...What I Might Have Learned Along the Way He's probably a dick in real life, but I love William Shatner. (9)
Missing: The Stones, The Crows, The Grass, The Moon (7)
Thicker Than Blood Great art can't save this poorly written Werewolf yarn. (5)
Lovecraft: The Myth of Cthulhu Graphic adaptations of three Lovecraft classics. (7)
Missing: Time Out The true story of a thirteen-year-old boy imprisoned for murder. (9)
Convergence: Zero Hour, Book 1 (5)
Action Comics #1000: The Deluxe Edition (8)
The Zombie Who Cried Human Fun, unnerving children's book from Freeman & Chadbourne. (8)
Savage Game (6)

As always, reviews for a bunch of these books can be found on my blog, The Crabby Reviewer:
https://thecrabbyreviewer.blogspot.com/

congratulations on making your goal!

[dannyboy121070]

Thanks, Martin. Reading is my big stress reliever, so I try to squeeze in as much as possible.