What are you currently reading?

[RonClinton]

Thanks for the review of the Tremblay book. It pretty much sealed the deal as far as passing on it goes. Maybe if I pick it for a song the aftermarket, but the general consensus is that it just isn't that good and there WAY too many other books to spend money on.

Chiming in on THE PALLERBEARERS CLUB (if I haven't already, but I don't recall doing so) with another thumbs down...and I'm a big fan of his work. Unlike Sholloman81, I didn't make it to the final two chapters, so will have to take his work for it that it finishes strong, but everything else he mentions is spot on: unlikeable characters, one of whom has the classic unreliable narration which adds nothing to the plot other than confusion, and a slow slog of a rather shallow plot...if there was some rich subtext going on under that surface telling of this story, it escaped me (or, at least, the first half that I read before DNFing it). I'm looking forward to HORROR MOVIE, his new one that's due out in a couple months, and have confidence it'll be a return to form. Then again, I had hoped that as well from his most recent offering, THE BEAST YOU ARE, half of which was a free-verse novella of poetic narration, which turned me off -- fairly or not -- immediately, so I didn't pick up that one. I like that Tremblay is experiemental to a degree in his form and isn't wary of taking chances and expanding his approach, but like all readers I guess I have my limit and "The Beast You Are" pushed it over the red line for me.

[sholloman81]

Chiming in on THE PALLERBEARERS CLUB (if I haven't already, but I don't recall doing so) with another thumbs down...and I'm a big fan of his work. Unlike Sholloman81, I didn't make it to the final two chapters, so will have to take his work for it that it finishes strong, but everything else he mentions is spot on: unlikeable characters, one of whom has the classic unreliable narration which adds nothing to the plot other than confusion, and a slow slog of a rather shallow plot...if there was some rich subtext going on under that surface telling of this story, it escaped me (or, at least, the first half that I read before DNFing it). I'm looking forward to HORROR MOVIE, his new one that's due out in a couple months, and have confidence it'll be a return to form. Then again, I had hoped that as well from his most recent offering, THE BEAST YOU ARE, half of which was a free-verse novella of poetic narration, which turned me off -- fairly or not -- immediately, so I didn't pick up that one. I like that Tremblay is experiemental to a degree in his form and isn't wary of taking chances and expanding his approach, but like all readers I guess I have my limit and "The Beast You Are" pushed it over the red line for me.

That's a bummer to hear about the Beast You Are. Haven't picked it up yet and but was hoping for something more in vain of his Growing Things collection which I enjoyed. I'm sure the free-verse novella of poetic narration thing will not be my cup of tea either; however, I'm sure that I'll give the book a chance up the road.

[RonClinton]

That's a bummer to hear about the Beast You Are. Haven't picked it up yet and but was hoping for something more in vain of his Growing Things collection which I enjoyed. I'm sure the free-verse novella of poetic narration thing will not be my cup of tea either; however, I'm sure that I'll give the book a chance up the road.

Yeah, I really dug GROWING THINGS, too. Until recently, I'd enjoyed everything he'd written (to varying degrees), including GROWING THINGS, his second collection.

[dannyboy121070]

I grabbed an ARC of Ray Garton's THE LOVELIEST DEAD off of the shelf after I heard he had passed, and it's a banger so far. Really enjoying it.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Midas". This was such a fantastic read. I was already a big fan of Jones due to his Thunderstorm Collection "Turn Up The Sun", but "Midas" has now made Jones a must-read author for me. Everything about this story works. Fully-fleshed out characters, a unique setting, a very interesting plot, a cool mythos, lots of scares, and some very memorable villains. Overall, this was an A+ read for me.

Am now reading the reading the signed hardcover of Kristopher Triana's "That Night in the Woods". 

[RonClinton]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Tyler Jones' "Midas". This was such a fantastic read. I was already a big fan of Jones due to his Thunderstorm Collection "Turn Up The Sun", but "Midas" has now made Jones a must-read author for me. Everything about this story works. Fully-fleshed out characters, a unique setting, a very interesting plot, a cool mythos, lots of scares, and some very memorable villains. Overall, this was an A+ read for me.

Am now reading the reading the signed hardcover of Kristopher Triana's "That Night in the Woods".Â

I made a mistake passing on Earthling’s MIDAS…one of these days I’ll rectify that.

[brlesh]

Finished The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper, and though I liked it better than her short story collection that I DNF’d a couple of years ago, it still didn’t work for me. Probably my last attempt at reading Piper.

Currently half way through This World Belongs to Us, an anthology of horror stories about bugs. It’s been a very hit or miss anthology up to this point.

B

[Chuggers]

After seeing the cover for Pay The Piper by George Romero & Daniel Kraus, I'm hoping (kind of assuming) SST will put out a nice edition of it...but I just opened their edition of The Living Dead and already learned that Romero had hoped to adapt The Stand back in the day and I'm beyond irritated that we didn't get that. 

[sholloman81]

After seeing the cover for Pay The Piper by George Romero & Daniel Kraus, I'm hoping (kind of assuming) SST will put out a nice edition of it...but I just opened their edition of The Living Dead and already learned that Romero had hoped to adapt The Stand back in the day and I'm beyond irritated that we didn't get that.Â

Wow, hadn't heard of this one before and am super intrigued! The amazon description sounds pretty cool. If SST ended up doing a version, I'm sure I would purchase it as well.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the signed hardcover of Kristopher Triana's "That Night in the Woods". Am a big Triana fan and enjoyed this one a lot. Felt like a throwback 80's horror novel (whether that's a good thing or a bad thing may depend on the reader). The characterization (at least until the final page) was top-notch. All the main characters felt fully fleshed-out and like real people. Also thought the setting for the majority of the book was quite creepy. Looking at the goodreads reviews, this book seems like a mixed bag for most people, but I think it's the ending that people really dislike. It's almost designed to piss you off as I can guarantee that it's not what most people are hoping for when they get to the final page. That being said, it's by no means a bad ending and does make sense within the mythos that the author builds within the story. I personally didn't have an issue with it. If I did have an issue with the book, it would be that the mythos really should have been explained a bit more, if only to give the villains a bit more depth to their actions rather than just coming off as crazy. Either way, I still found the book a good read and am happy to have snagged a copy while available.

Am now reading the reading the Thunderstorm LE of Chad Lutzke's & John Boden's "The Bedmakers". This was a blind buy for me as I've never read either author, but I do trust Thunderstorm's taste and am hoping to find a gem!

[Sock Monkey]

Am now reading the reading the Thunderstorm LE of Chad Lutzke's & John Boden's "The Bedmakers". This was a blind buy for me as I've never read either author, but I do trust Thunderstorm's taste and am hoping to find a gem!

I still haven't pulled the trigger on this one. I'm kinda hoping you'll come back completely disappointed so it'll save me some money. I have the feeling that won't be the case, though. Either way, curious to hear your thoughts.

[sholloman81]

I still haven't pulled the trigger on this one. I'm kinda hoping you'll come back completely disappointed so it'll save me some money. I have the feeling that won't be the case, though. Either way, curious to hear your thoughts.

Too funny! I tell myself that same thing sometimes when I pass on a book that I'm on the fence about purchasing. I will definitely leave a review here when done.      

[Boggle Champion]

Last week I finished The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones. Read/re-read the entire Indian Lake Trilogy in April, absolutely loved it. Chainsaw is sitll my favorite, but the series is a must-read for anyone who's happily seen too many horror movies. I intend to read a lot more SGJ going forward.
Also finished The Black Ice (audiobook) by Michael Connelly, the second Harry Bosch novel. Wasn't on par with Black Echo which was a masterpiece, but still a great entry. I've listened to these two, but plan to read the next few volumes.

Currently reading:
City in Ruins by Don Winslow, 3rd book in Winslow's "City" trilogy. I'd rate the series good, not great. Would like to try other Winslow books though if anyone has some recommendations.
Cold, Black and Infinite by Todd Keisling. Been reading these stories in between books for about a month now, almost done with the collection. Great cosmic/folk horror. Has anyone read Devil's Creek by Keisling? I'd like to get into that one sometime soon.

[Sock Monkey]

I don't quite remember who brought it up--maybe Ron, but I believe someone else chimed in on it as well--but I just finished Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby and it was one heck of a book! This shot Cosby onto my "need to find other books by this author NOW!" list. It's a short, lean book and I had doubts that Cosby was going to pull of a satisfying ending, but for my buck (and that's all that the book cost me as I bought from a library book sale), he sure did. Reminded me of the best crime heist movies in all the right ways. So good. So to whomever it was that posted about the book: Thank you very much!

[sholloman81]

Currently reading:
City in Ruins by Don Winslow, 3rd book in Winslow's "City" trilogy. I'd rate the series good, not great. Would like to try other Winslow books though if anyone has some recommendations.

I'm a huge Don Winslow fan and agree with you in regard to the "City trilogy", good not great. IMO, his best stuff occurred after he was done writing the Neal Carey series of books but before The Force in 2017. IMO, from The Force on, his stuff has been good but not special. I would definitely read Power of the Dog if you haven't done so. Savages is also very fun and is a somewhat newer title from his backlog.