What are you currently reading?

[Theli]

I was under the impression, and perhaps the wrong one I might add, that it didn't have any supernatural elements to it. Which, I suppose, doesn't preclude it from being part of the SK universe anyway.

[Brian861]

I was under the impression, and perhaps the wrong one I might add, that it didn't have any supernatural elements to it. Which, I suppose, doesn't preclude it from being part of the SK universe anyway.

Not so much a supernatural element and I can't say much more without spoiling it for ya. But if you're familiar with King at all, which I'm sure you are, Dan, you can put 2 and 2 together. I formed my own theory of what happens and would love to discuss it with ya once you've read the book.

[HumphreyBear]

I finished the audiobook of Sleeping Beauties. I thought it was just fair. It was clearly making the point that men treat women badly. Fair enough - no new news there. But I found the men to be less than believable. While there were a few token "reasonable" men, almost everyone else seemed to be a latent psychopath who hates women and everything they stand for. And I get tired of the long drawn out battles that so many books seem to need as part of their climax.
And it was too long.

Taking up from the earlier point about the quality of SK's books since whenever, I would go as far as to say his form has been patchy at best since Misery in 1987. Looking back, I would say the only memorable novels since then are The Green Mile, Under The Dome, Joyland (novella), 11/22/63, Doctor Sleep and perhaps Mr. Mercedes. I have really enjoyed the short story collections and novellas though.

And yet I continue to collect them and read them all as soon as they come out. He has a hold on me.

I have started Justin Cronin - The Passage, and started listening to Swan Song by McCammon. Both going very nicely so far. I seem to be on an Apocalypse kick at the moment.

[RonClinton]

How's the Colorado Kid so far? Still have yet to read that one, but I must say the departure from King's usual subjects does intrigue me.

I didn't care for THE COLORADO KID at all. At all. I know there are many like me, but I've also read comments from many who in fact really liked it (though, by my count, not as many). It seems to be a pretty divisive novel among King fans. If you read it, I do hope you end up liking it.

I finished off The Girl In a Swing by Richard Adams and absolutely loved it. It has a quiet eeriness that I haven't encountered in any other novel yet, though maybe Aickman's and M.R. James's shorts would compare.

Of all the recent Centipede releases that I've skipped (and there have been a number of them), this is perhaps the one that I regret the most, and it seems progressively so, especially when I read glowing comments like that. Oh well, live and learn.

[Brian861]

I finished the audiobook of Sleeping Beauties. I thought it was just fair. It was clearly making the point that men treat women badly. Fair enough - no new news there. But I found the men to be less than believable. While there were a few token "reasonable" men, almost everyone else seemed to be a latent psychopath who hates women and everything they stand for. And I get tired of the long drawn out battles that so many books seem to need as part of their climax.
And it was too long.

Taking up from the earlier point about the quality of SK's books since whenever, I would go as far as to say his form has been patchy at best since Misery in 1987. Looking back, I would say the only memorable novels since then are The Green Mile, Under The Dome, Joyland (novella), 11/22/63, Doctor Sleep and perhaps Mr. Mercedes. I have really enjoyed the short story collections and novellas though.

And yet I continue to collect them and read them all as soon as they come out. He has a hold on me.

I have started Justin Cronin - The Passage, and started listening to Swan Song by McCammon. Both going very nicely so far. I seem to be on an Apocalypse kick at the moment.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed Doctor Sleep. Lot of folks seem to not like that book either but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's like if the masses hate it, I'll love it. And vice-versa. I haven't heard a whole lot of praise for either SB or Gwendy's. But I'll give 'em both a fair listen before I pass judgment for myself.

So do you think King is kinda phoning it in of late, HB?

[Martin]

I thoroughly enjoyed The Colorado Kid and agree it is in the Stephen King Universe. I understand why any are displeased with it, I just do not agree.

I feel King has always been hit and miss and his more recent works are no exception. I continue to read and collect him but I will admit I no longer anticipate his new releases as I used to. With that said I delayed reading The Hodges trilogy until earlier this year and as I read it I wondered why I waited so long. Under The Dome was less than great for me and Rose Madder was not enjoyable at all. While I enjoyed Sleeping Beauties I agree that it could have been shorter and at times felt like they were trying to deliver a subtle message with a sledge hammer. 11.22.63, Duma Key and Lisey's Story are examples of more recent works that I really enjoyed as well.

[c marvel]

How's the Colorado Kid so far? Still have yet to read that one, but I must say the departure from King's usual subjects does intrigue me.

I finished off The Girl In a Swing by Richard Adams and absolutely loved it. It has a quiet eeriness that I haven't encountered in any other novel yet, though maybe Aickman's and M.R. James's shorts would compare.

I followed that up with A Christmas Carol, one of my favourite stories that I had never read. I've always enjoyed the many film adaptations and I had tickets to a theatre adaptation in early December (which was AMAZING!) so I figured I should finally read the novella. I loved it, needless to say.

That was followed up by The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. A very different story than I had anticipated, yet very captivating. It's filled with hard cynical characters. Hard to love them, but easy to pity them. I had expected as much, what I hadn't expected was the European settings and odd structure. It doesn't really follow a plot as much as the characters themselves.

Lastly I polished of E.T.A. Hoffman's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was a more modern translation, but I think it did a good job of captivating the time and atmosphere. A bit different than I had expected, as I had never seen a true adaptation of the novella, but not too far different. Great fairytale like story, of course.

Now I'm on to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, just a few chapters in but I am already enjoying it.

I'm really enjoying The Colorado Kid so far. I am glad I opted to read it next.


Cap

[jeffingoff]

I have started Justin Cronin - The Passage, and started listening to Swan Song by McCammon. Both going very nicely so far. I seem to be on an Apocalypse kick at the moment.

I liked The Passage a lot. I trudged through The Twelve. I gave up on City of Mirrors. I think one of the best takes on vampires was Brian Lumley's Necroscope series--the first 5 books. The Passage was also pretty original--but it just fizzles as a series.

[jeffingoff]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed Doctor Sleep. Lot of folks seem to not like that book either but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's like if the masses hate it, I'll love it. And vice-versa. I haven't heard a whole lot of praise for either SB or Gwendy's. But I'll give 'em both a fair listen before I pass judgment for myself.

I didn't love or hate Doctor Sleep. But as a continuation of The Shining it falls far short. I probably would have liked the book more if the main charter's name wasn't Danny Torrance. Also, it annoyed me that I kept picturing Sarah Palin as Rosie the Hat. But I don't think I can blame SK for that even though when the book came out, Sarah was riding around the country in an RV. And I think King used his hate of Palin to create Rose.

As far as SB--the criticisms I've heard are all pretty consistent. Which is why my copy has been hanging steady in the middle of my TBR pile. Despite that, I'm still thrilled to be getting the Artist Edition from CD. Because, you know, CD.

[bsaenz24]

I really liked Doctor Sleep. No, it wasn't as good as The Shining, but I think after so many years of being a favorite of King fans, I don't know that any sequel COULD be as good.

[RonClinton]

After knocking THE COLORADO KID, I'll keep my Negative Nellie thing going and say I really didn't care for DOCTOR SLEEP. I felt all the characters -- especially the villans -- were poorly and improperly (villans too cartoony and not particularly scary, and very young protagonist too heroic) fleshed. It had a great first chapter or so that addressed the evils of addiction, but after that the whole thing just went south, devolving into a Hanna Barbera-like battle of forces. Even as a standalone it was weak, but especially as a sequel to one of the genre's great works, it was incredibly disappointing and felt like a pallid afterthought.

[Brian861]

We can all agree that The Shining is one of his best works.

[Theli]

^Yup!

I too dislike Dr. Sleep. Enough so to put it down altogether about halfway through.

[RonClinton]

READING:

* Finished ARTEMIS by Andy Weir. I enjoyed it as well, generally speaking. It was certainly not as good as THE MARTIAN, as most if not all reviews/posts have argued, but if THE MARTIAN was a 8.5, I'd still give this one a solid 7. I do understand and appreciate some of the criticisms leveled against it, but I don't see them to the degree that some others have suggested. Recommended.

* Starting STRANDED by Bracken Macleod. Only a few pages in so too early to tell, but reviews were quite positive and thus far the writing is clean and well-done.

[Martin]

READING:

* Finished ARTEMIS by Andy Weir. I enjoyed it as well, generally speaking. It was certainly not as good as THE MARTIAN, as most if not all reviews/posts have argued, but if THE MARTIAN was a 8.5, I'd still give this one a solid 7. I do understand and appreciate some of the criticisms leveled against it, but I don't see them to the degree that some others have suggested. Recommended.

* Starting STRANDED by Bracken Macleod. Only a few pages in so too early to tell, but reviews were quite positive and thus far the writing is clean and well-done.

I completely agree with your assessment of Artemis. It was an enjoyable read.

I also liked Doctor Sleep but I agree that the believability of the girl and her parents reactions was a tough sell.