What are you currently reading?

[brlesh]

Finished up Fever House by Keith Rosson last night and really enjoyed it.

It is a complete batshit crazy story that shouldn’t work, but it does.

After Fever House it’s back to The Mad Butterfly’s Ball, which unfortunately, is becoming a drag.

B

[RonClinton]

Just finished reading the Phantasia Press LE of Phillip Fracassi's "The Third Rule of Time Travel". Enjoyed this one a ton but felt that it slightly missed the mark. It was well written, had a lot of neat science ideas, a small dose of horror, characters you can root for, and a great villain to root against, but by the time I finished, I never got that feeling you get when reading a truly special time-travel story, the feeling I got when I read Grimwood's Replay or Crouch's Dark Matter. Still, I'm glad to have read this story and added this edition to my library/fracassi collection!

Am now finally getting around to reading my PS Publishing LE of Stephen King's "Different Seasons", one of my all-time favorite books and a sure piece of nostalgia for me!

That's unfortunate...I still have to read my copy of the Phantasia ed. of RULE, and was hoping the hype -- and my favorable history with his work -- would carry the day, but the comparison to Grimwood and Crouch, both time-travel touchstones, has me concerned. Fingers crossed it works for me a bit better.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Phantasia Press LE of Phillip Fracassi's "The Third Rule of Time Travel". Enjoyed this one a ton but felt that it slightly missed the mark. It was well written, had a lot of neat science ideas, a small dose of horror, characters you can root for, and a great villain to root against, but by the time I finished, I never got that feeling you get when reading a truly special time-travel story, the feeling I got when I read Grimwood's Replay or Crouch's Dark Matter. Still, I'm glad to have read this story and added this edition to my library/fracassi collection!

Am now finally getting around to reading my PS Publishing LE of Stephen King's "Different Seasons", one of my all-time favorite books and a sure piece of nostalgia for me!

[RonClinton]

Just started John R. Little's memoir, MY QUIRKY LITTLE MEMOIR: CONFESSIONS OF A SMALL PRESS WRITER.

[mhatchett]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm Limited Edition of Todd Kiesling's "Cold, Black, Infinite,". This was my first time reading Kiesling's work, and if this book is any indication of his talent, it certainly won't be my last.

This collection of stories really resonated with me. While there were a few that didn't quite hit the mark, the majority were thoroughly enjoyable. Two stories in particular, "The Gods of Our Father" and "Midnight in the Southland," stood out as truly exceptional.

If you haven't had the chance to read it yet, I highly recommend giving it a go!

Am now reading the Phantasia Press LE of Phillip Fracassi's "The Third Rule of Time Travel". Have very high hopes for this one!

I enjoyed the book. I have met Todd a couple times and he's a really nice guy!

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm Limited Edition of Todd Kiesling's "Cold, Black, Infinite,". This was my first time reading Kiesling's work, and if this book is any indication of his talent, it certainly won't be my last.

This collection of stories really resonated with me. While there were a few that didn't quite hit the mark, the majority were thoroughly enjoyable. Two stories in particular, "The Gods of Our Father" and "Midnight in the Southland," stood out as truly exceptional.

If you haven't had the chance to read it yet, I highly recommend giving it a go!

Am now reading the Phantasia Press LE of Phillip Fracassi's "The Third Rule of Time Travel". Have very high hopes for this one!

[brlesh]

Hope I like this one a bit more than you as I still have it in my TBR pile!

I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on it.

I haven’t connected with a lot of the newer authors I’ve read over the last couple of years, and Castro was no exception to that trend.

As I get older and my TBR continues to grow, I’ve become much more willing to DNF books, especially if I don’t have a track record with the author.

B

[brlesh]

Taking a break from The Mad Butterfly’s Ball and started Fever House by Keith Rosson.

This hit the ground running and hasn’t let up.

60 pages in and the pacing has been frenetic.

B

[sholloman81]

The Pink Agave Motel by V. Castro - didn’t have enough interest in the short stories / vignettes at the beginning of the collection to tackle the novella / short novel that ended the collection. DNF. B

Hope I like this one a bit more than you as I still have it in my TBR pile!

[brlesh]

Finished up None of You Shall be Spared by Brian Evenson, which was an OK collection.

Never a good impression when the longest piece in a collection / anthology was the piece you liked the least, which was the case here.

Nothing in the collection I would call an out-and-out horror story.

For the most part the stories tended to be more of the weird tale variety.

The Pink Agave Motel by V. Castro - didn’t have enough interest in the short stories / vignettes at the beginning of the collection to tackle the novella / short novel that ended the collection. DNF.

Next up, started The Mad Butterfly’s Ball, edited by Preston Grassmann & Chris Kelso.

Five or six stories in & the tone tends to be more towards the whimsical fantasy end.

Hope things get a little darker with this one.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Little Boy by James Cooper.

I really liked the first two parts of this coming of age story from Cooper; interesting characters, well paced plot line, very readable story.

But I had some major issues with the last part, which really tempered my overall enjoyment of the novel.

Next up was Kill Your Darling by Clay McLeod Chapman, which also had a questionable ending, though I never really got into this short novel / novella by Chapman.

Next up, started The Pink Agave Motel & Other Stories by V. Castro.

It’s the first thing I’ve read from Castro.

A few stories in, and for the most part, the stories tend to be so short that it’s hard to get a feel for them, though there seems to be a vampire / succubus theme to most of them.

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Night of the Long Knives". Would probably give it a B+. Enjoyed this one quite a bit but did ding it a little as I felt like the central mystery could have been explained a bit more and some of the character motivations seemed a little off and more to drive the story forward. Even so, the plot was quite enjoyable, and the characters felt very real. I also really liked the ending but do wish it had been a bit longer. Overall, this was another winner from by Jones and Earthling and I am glad to have added this to my collection.

Am now reading the Earthling LE of Brian Evenson’s “Altmann’s Tongue”, a first time read for me.

[brlesh]

Taking a break from the Evenson collection to start Little Boy by James Cooper.

I’ve really liked Cooper’s short fiction, but Little Boy is the first novel length work I’ve read from him.

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Ian Rogers "Family", a first time read and author for me. Really enjoyed this one. The book seemed to fly by once I could dedicate the time to reading it. The short chapters really worked well for me, and the authors voice compels you to keep on reading. While nothing too groundbreaking, the story itself was very enjoyable. Each character in the family felt very real and I found my favorite character shifting from person to person as the story progressed. While not everything is explained by the end, the author did nail the ending quite well IMO. Overall, I'm very glad to have read this story and added this book to my collection and will be marking Rogers down as a new (to me) author to read again in the future (which works well since I have his next book from Thunderstorm on pre-order!)

Am now reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Night of the Long Knives". Am looking forward to this one very much!

[Martin]

Finished up The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi, which was a mixed bag for me.

The first half was a quick and entertaining read, as the story was allowed to just flow along.

I felt the second half bogged down, as the narrative felt forced into the science of the time travel.

IMO, a simpler story would have been more effective.

After The Third Rule, I started None of You Shall be Spared, a short story collection by Brian Evenson.

I found the first story to be too surreal for my tastes.

The next two stories were better.

In general, I’ve found Evenson to be more miss than hit in the past.

B

I finished THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL today. I really enjoyed it but also agree with your perspective. The first half was fantastic, but time travel was a bit player. This is really a story about loss with time travel and corporate greed as subplots. The time travel elements in the second half feel a bit forced but overall, I really enjoyed the read.