What are you currently reading?

[dannyboy121070]

I've been reading the entire Corbett series this year. I think I had only previously read the first four books and figured I should reread those and finish the series up.

I'm probably about 20% of the way through Leviathan. I took a detour between the short short collection and this one to read another book. Also feel the need to toss some other things in-between books, especially after The King of Shadows which was such a slog. Worst one of the series IMHO.

Right before Leviathan, I read The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy. THIS BOOK WAS A BLAST! Right up my alley - 80's hair metal with a touch of cold war espionage.

Hoping to finish Leviathan in the next week or two, and then probably I'll read some random comics before starting The Expanse series for my 2026 goal.

Curious to hear your thoughts on LEVIATHAN when you're finished. I had very strong opinions about it, lol.

[TacomaDiver]

Just finished reading the Lividian LE of Robert McCammon's "Leviathan". What a bittersweet feeling! This is one of my favorite authors and has been one of my favorite series of books for the last quarter century. Was Leviathan the best book in the series, no, but it was an extremely good read and a very fitting end to the series. As always, McCammon's writing is top-notch, and pretty much everything worked for me within the story. Also, I truly loved the ending. McCammon found a way to make it both bittersweet and also very fun and unexpected. I know it will probably never happen due to the author wanting to retire in the near future, but boy would I like to see where he could go if he were to continue on with the ending of this book. Truly going to miss this series of books as I feel like I could read Matthew Corbett stories forever.

I've been reading the entire Corbett series this year. I think I had only previously read the first four books and figured I should reread those and finish the series up.

I'm probably about 20% of the way through Leviathan. I took a detour between the short short collection and this one to read another book. Also feel the need to toss some other things in-between books, especially after The King of Shadows which was such a slog. Worst one of the series IMHO.

Right before Leviathan, I read The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy. THIS BOOK WAS A BLAST! Right up my alley - 80's hair metal with a touch of cold war espionage.

Hoping to finish Leviathan in the next week or two, and then probably I'll read some random comics before starting The Expanse series for my 2026 goal.

[brlesh]

Finished up Enter Boogeyman, which was a decent anthology of boogeyman related stories.

Tonight going to start Noctuidae by Scott Nicolay.

In the past I’ve found Nicolay to be more miss than hit for me, but the premise for this story just sounded too interesting to pass up.

Plus, at only about 80 pages, it’s not too much of an investment if the story doesn’t pan out.

B

So Noctuidae was a big miss for me.

An interesting premise that completely missed the mark.

Nicolay’s annoying writing style didn’t help things (he’s another writer that feels he’s above using quotation marks to delineate dialogue; it makes for difficult reading as he often embeds dialogue in longer descriptive paragraphs).

Why editors or publishers are OK with this practice is beyond me.

Next up, starting Inspection by Josh Malerman, another author that’s been more miss than hit for me over the years.

B

[brlesh]

Finished up Enter Boogeyman, which was a decent anthology of boogeyman related stories.

Tonight going to start Noctuidae by Scott Nicolay.

In the past I’ve found Nicolay to be more miss than hit for me, but the premise for this story just sounded too interesting to pass up.

Plus, at only about 80 pages, it’s not too much of an investment if the story doesn’t pan out.

B

[brlesh]

Glad to hear about Never Flinch, as I still have it in my TBR pile. Still working my way through reading the CD version of The Stand and should have it done this week!

I reread The Stand this summer.

It took me over 3 weeks to finish the whole book, but I enjoyed every minute of being back in that world.

B

[sholloman81]

Finished up Never Flinch, which I liked quite a bit, though the ending felt a bit flat.

Next up, starting the anthology Enter Boogeyman, edited by Alessandro Manzetti.

B

Glad to hear about Never Flinch, as I still have it in my TBR pile. Still working my way through reading the CD version of The Stand and should have it done this week!

[brlesh]

Finished up Never Flinch, which I liked quite a bit, though the ending felt a bit flat.

Next up, starting the anthology Enter Boogeyman, edited by Alessandro Manzetti.

B

[RonClinton]

CHILD OF GOD, Cormac McCarthy. I've kind of bypassed his early work until now, so am trying to get those under my belt as well.

[brlesh]

Started my annual Thanksgiving Day tradition of reading the latest Stephen King novel, Never Flinch.

30 pages in; so far so good.

B

[dannyboy121070]

Using my endless free time to alternate between three books:

ANANSI BOYS, by Neil Gaiman, PREDATOR: IF IT BLEEDS, and WHERE BIGFOOT WALKS: CROSSING THE DARK DIVIDE, with an occasional comic or graphic novel thrown into the mix.

The Gaiman, a follow-up to AMERICAN GODS, is a lot of fun, basically a buddy comedy. The Predator anthology is surprisingly good...Nine stories in, and there were only two that bored me, one of which I just skimmed. I'm not really interested in the "Colonial Marines find a Predator on a derelict spaceship", trope, which describes those two stories to a tee. The rest have featured Predators fighting Stonewall Jackson, vikings, Buffalo Soldiers...Predators throughout history really hit my sweet spot, lol. The Bigfoot book was a bit of false advertising...It's not about Bigfoot at all, but about a conservationist hiking through what is described as a Bigfoot hotspot. The endless descriptions of every tree, plant, and animal he sees are beautifully written, but I'm losing patience. But ever time I say I'm going to DNF it, something makes me keep going.

[sholloman81]

FYI. I saw he has a new book called Homewreckers coming out. The limited has some multimedia elements. It sounds interesting. I'm to damn old and don't like using my phone for media but the majority (by a lot) may enjoy this.

https://www.abhorror.com/product/hom...rdcover-bundle

Yeah, I noticed that one as well. May pick it up later, but am trying to be good at the moment with the holidays around the corner. We shall see how well I can hold out!

[Ben Staad]

FYI. I saw he has a new book called Homewreckers coming out. The limited has some multimedia elements. It sounds interesting. I'm to damn old and don't like using my phone for media but the majority (by a lot) may enjoy this.

https://www.abhorror.com/product/hom...rdcover-bundle

I enjoyed Playground but actually thought the sequel, Playground: Child of Divorce was better. If you get a chance, you should give it a go. The author has gotten better as a writer, and it shows between both books.

[brlesh]

Finished up Ringworld by Larry Niven, which was another science fiction classic that fell flat for me.

Up next, probably finish up Dark Carnival by Ray Bradbury.

B

[RonClinton]

I remember you posting about it, and that's what prompted me to pick up a copy when Valancourt had a sale on the e-book. Thanks so much for recommending this underrated gem!

Excellent, another planted seed blooms. Really glad you enjoyed it!

[dannyboy121070]

I could not agree more. I happened to stumble upon an original pb copy of Harry Kressing's THE COOK many years ago, and crowed about it over at the old Horror Drive-In forum, and it was a year or two later that the Valancourt reprint was published. James at Valancourt was a HD-I member at the time, so who knows, maybe I planted the seed that created that reprint (which remains in print: bonus points!), but if so, I couldn't be happier to have done so. I upgraded my pb with a hardcover 1st a good while back, and I love that I have it in my collection. It's a fable in the best and most horrific way, and it's one that everyone should read...I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this one. I sent a copy to Jerad at Centipede a while back to read and consider for a deluxe HC reprint, and while there hasn't been any progress in that regard, I haven't given up hope.

I remember you posting about it, and that's what prompted me to pick up a copy when Valancourt had a sale on the e-book. Thanks so much for recommending this underrated gem!