What are you currently reading?

[dannyboy121070]

You kinda buried the lede there...so what did you think of Hill's new one? I'd typically be excited about its release in four, five months, but the whole plot focus on college kids summoning a dragon to help them out...the idea of it is not doing it for me, at all, but perhaps I'm not giving Hill enough credit to fashion an otherwise rewarding adult novel from a conceit that on the face of it seems ridiculous and more appropriate for YA/juvenile fiction.

Weeeelll.......If you're worried that this is a more Fantasy-oriented tale, because there's a Dragon involved, don't worry. The Dragon is almost a maguffin, and the characters start out in college, but the book follows them for decades, so no worries about YA fiction. I'm pretty jaded, as far as spotting plot twists goes, but Hill did spring a few here that I didn't see coming. The ending, after all that had gone before, seemed a little rushed.

It was a long book. Crazy long. Not, IMO, among Hill's best (NOS4A2), about even with my least-favorite (HORNS). I wrote up a whole non-spoilery review, which I can post here if anyone is interested. I rated it a 7 out of 10. Well-written, with a few ridiculous scenes that an Editor should have excised entirely.

[RonClinton]

Finally wrapped up Joe Hill's KING SORROW, and trying to decide what books to bring on our upcoming road trip to Savannah for my son's graduation. Leaning towards Philip Fracassi's THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE.

You kinda buried the lede there...so what did you think of Hill's new one? I'd typically be excited about its release in four, five months, but the whole plot focus on college kids summoning a dragon to help them out...the idea of it is not doing it for me, at all, but perhaps I'm not giving Hill enough credit to fashion an otherwise rewarding adult novel from a conceit that on the face of it seems ridiculous and more appropriate for YA/juvenile fiction.

[dannyboy121070]

Finally wrapped up Joe Hill's KING SORROW, and trying to decide what books to bring on our upcoming road trip to Savannah for my son's graduation. Leaning towards Philip Fracassi's THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE.

[RonClinton]

Read Eric Higgs' THE HAPPY MAN via the recent(ish) Valancourt reprint, a book I've been meaning to read for a long time but just never got around to it. Turned out to be kind of dated, with a somewhat illogical progression of character development (or regression, actually), and so on. But interesting enough in a macabre kind of way to keep me going. Not quite what I was hoping for -- a lost modern horror classic -- but engaging enough for a few nights, I guess.

[brlesh]

Taking another break from The Mad Butterfly’s Ball to start a reread of Carrie tonight.

Want to reread the source material before Carrie’s Legacy gets here.

B

Finished up Carrie last night, the second time I’ve read it, and the first time in 40 years, and have to say I liked it much more this time around then what I remembered from it 40 years ago.

Marked by a fast paced storyline and the great character work that King has been known for, it really is a great debut novel.

I’m just sorry I waited 40 years to revisit this one.

Will probably start Carrie’s Legacy tomorrow.

B

[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

Taking another break from The Mad Butterfly’s Ball to start a reread of Carrie tonight.

Want to reread the source material before Carrie’s Legacy gets here.

B

[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!