What are you currently reading?

[bugen]

Just finished, and really liked this book! I think a few times I had trouble holding some of the story / environment structure in my head, but there were a number of times when the imagery exploded off the page into a full-blown IMAX sized moving image - I don 't actually experience this very often so it was quite a treat. I imagine this to be an innate talent of the author, not necessarily something trained, although I'm sure practice helps.

*edit
Thank you for the note on the type!

I hear you, bookworm, and trying to find a way to deal with some of these issues is one of the reasons I started reading these forums. I figured there are experts on here who have taken full charge of their (our) obsessions and figured out an orderly way to approach a mountain of books. Personally my experience is somewhere around obtaining two books for every one I read, and I can't quite figure out how to manage this yet. If I doubled my reading speed would I catch up or just go 4 for 2 instead of 2 for 1? I suspect the former. Hell of a good time trying to sort this problem out, though.

Well done, Mr. Hill, and I very much look forward to the pull-from-the-pile that is another one of your books!

[srboone]

Finished Hindsight by Ronald Kelly. This is now my favorite of his novels. He shines when he writes about children.

The sequel, Restless Shadows is up next.

[Plasticine]

Finished Doctor Sleep the other day. I only bought it because it was part of an EBay auction for a Subterranean Press edition of The Shining. For the price I paid, it was basically a "bonus" book. It was a bit rambling, and the True Knot felt a little undercooked, but overall I enjoyed it. Now I've moved on to Joe Hill's NOS4A2.

[bugen]

I read a lot of books on Kindle, and go for higher end or specialty editions if I really like the book and want a hard copy. With the Hachette / Amazon war, I'm going print until everyone can get along. Amazon bullying publishers, and by extension, authors, reminds me quite a bit of Comcast bullying Netflix, and I'm voting with my wallet. Just starting this one:

We Are Here.jpg

[TJCams]

bugen - I know what you mean with Amazon bullying the competition - I am a Kobo user/reader, and it really annoys me how Amazon seems to always deny Kobo users (I am sure others too) many titles or deals on certain ebooks. I won't purchase many ebooks because of this. Plus, I will never buy a Kindle.

I just finished The Shining - loved it!

Now....onto Doctor Sleep

[Sock Monkey]

I read a lot of books on Kindle, and go for higher end or specialty editions if I really like the book and want a hard copy. With the Hachette / Amazon war, I'm going print until everyone can get along. Amazon bullying publishers, and by extension, authors, reminds me quite a bit of Comcast bullying Netflix, and I'm voting with my wallet. Just starting this one:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15221[/ATTACH]

Love Michael Marshall! Currently reading the second Straw Men book, The Upright Man, and loving it.

[srboone]

Read Dreamlike States by Brian James Freeman over the holiday weekend. A great set of stories. Particularly liked the ending stories, telling the story of the sister and then the younger brother. Kudos, Brian.

[bugen]

I read Dreamlike States a couple of weeks back myself. My favorite was the opener, but the set of stories was strong enough for me to pick up his other 2 collections to read at a later date. Some of the reviews for Weak and Wounded kinda spoke to me - really looking forward to both.

Should finish up We Are Here today, just a bit off-pace. It's a solid, complicated (I feel), surrealistic read, and while Mr. Marshall is a good novelist, I really love him because he's a level 90 ninja with short stories.

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Couldn't quite leave that... I shouldn't say Mr. Marshall is only a good novelist. I've read his 1st and latest, and have yet to read the Straw Men books that everyone loves so much.

[Sock Monkey]

I finished The Upright Man by Michael Marshall. I can see where people who were huge fans of The Straw Men might be disappointed by this follow-up. While there is a logical progression from the first book to this one, it doesn't feel like this is the second part of a trilogy but rather more of an episodic chapter. It also goes off the beaten path when it starts to explain some back story. That all being said, if you relieve yourself of any preconceived notions, this is one fun thrill ride. Marshall weaves plot threads and various sub plots like a master craftsman and his prose is just plain enjoyable to read. I am looking forward to reading the third book in the series.

[Sock Monkey]

I also finished Mia Moja from Thunderstorm. This collects ten stories, eight of them new, from the authors that are most associated with the publisher. With any collection there are hits and misses, but in my opinion there were only two misses and even those weren't too far off the mark, in fact one story was only a let down because the beginning was so good that the rest couldn't live up to it. It was nice to see Shane McKenzie do a more subdued story rather than the hardcore gross out stuff he's usually known for. My favorite stories were by Nate Southard (a tale with hints of The Evil Dead, doesn't quite stock the landing but still good), Gene O'Neill (can't explain the story at all without ruining it, but this story is another example of O'Neill's ability to create fascinating characters), and Ronald Kelly (I usually don't enjoy stories with historical figures in them, but this tale set during the Civil War is great). The one that took the cake was Mary SanGiovanni's tale. It completely blew me away and was the perfect way to end the collection. Overall, it was a great book and definitely recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy.

[bugen]

Wow that Mia Moja is limited - this is a great review of it so I'd like to keep an eye out for it.

Just yesterday I finished The Weird. Pretty sure this is the largest book I've ever read (double-columned, even!), and I believe I started it about 1 year ago. There are some masterful tales within, the best of the best of the best, but I consider this a difficult and advanced read nonetheless when considering the whole. It's great to have on my shelf (tho mine's only paperback), and a fantastic reference, but I'd have a hard time recommending it as a cover-to-cover read to anyone but the most hardcore.

[srboone]

Reading Mr. Mercedes. Not a lot of time to read right now, but I've got a couple of days off to work on it. But my electricity is out and my house is very uncomfortable.

[Theli]

Ouch sucks man. I had to live May-July with no AC last year. It was the worst.

[srboone]

It lasted about 9 hrs. If you call and tell the electric company that there are children all over the neighborhood because of a garage sale and there are live wires on lawns, they get out there pretty quickly. I went to the movies for the last bit of it.

[TJCams]

No power because of storms???