What are you currently reading?

[Sock Monkey]

I don't think your rule about not reading books by the same author back-to-back is weird at all. I made that mistake a while back with a giant stack of Bentley Little books that I had accumulated, and it completely ruined him as an author for me. The books were fine, some of them were even exceptional, but reading them back-to-back made me notice how formulaic a lot of them were. I probably wouldn't have noticed or felt that way if I hadn't read them in that fashion.

Glad you ended-up loving Annihilation! I'm a huge fan of the Area X books!

Yeah, I think something similar happened to me with an author at one point, which caused me to put this rule in place.  I remember thinking that the book I was reading was good, I was just burnt out on the writer's style or something.  Ever since, I always alternate authors.  The problem, though, is that I wind up losing momentum with series of books and they drift from memory, causing me to start all over again.  I'm about to start Cronin's PASSAGE trilogy soon...for the third time.  One day I'll finish the darn thing.  Luckily, I remember really liking the first book!  

As for Bentley Little, his books can be very formulaic.  I still enjoy him, but I have to take significant breaks between titles.

[sholloman81]

I'm definitely looking forward to the collections. They seem to be more positively reviewed than GOTHIC, though I try to take book reviews with a grain of salt. I'll probably put a couple books between them and GOTHIC, though. I have this weird rule about not reading books by the same author back to back.

Expectations are a killer. I've posted about this before on the forum, but the first time I read ANNIHILATION by Jeff Vandermeer, I absolutely hated it. It was such a slog and I couldn't understand the rave reviews. About two-thirds of the way through, I realized that I was actively fighting against the book because it wasn't what I had thought it would be. A vowed to give it another shot and a year later I read it again and absolutely loved it. (Still haven't finished the trilogy, though. But that's another story for another time.) Sometimes it's the book and sometimes it's who we are or what we expect when we approach the book.

I don't think your rule about not reading books by the same author back-to-back is weird at all. I made that mistake a while back with a giant stack of Bentley Little books that I had accumulated, and it completely ruined him as an author for me. The books were fine, some of them were even exceptional, but reading them back-to-back made me notice how formulaic a lot of them were. I probably wouldn't have noticed or felt that way if I hadn't read them in that fashion.

Glad you ended-up loving Annihilation! I'm a huge fan of the Area X books!

[Sock Monkey]

While it seems that I liked it a bit more than you, this is honestly a pretty fair review. I haven't read Boys in the Valley yet; so, I can't speak to the hype train with that one, but if you haven't read his short story collections, they will knock your socks off. A part of me wondered the whole time I was reading Gothic if I was being harsher toward it just because it wasn't living up to the bar that the collections set.

I'm definitely looking forward to the collections. They seem to be more positively reviewed than GOTHIC, though I try to take book reviews with a grain of salt. I'll probably put a couple books between them and GOTHIC, though. I have this weird rule about not reading books by the same author back to back.

Expectations are a killer. I've posted about this before on the forum, but the first time I read ANNIHILATION by Jeff Vandermeer, I absolutely hated it. It was such a slog and I couldn't understand the rave reviews. About two-thirds of the way through, I realized that I was actively fighting against the book because it wasn't what I had thought it would be. A vowed to give it another shot and a year later I read it again and absolutely loved it. (Still haven't finished the trilogy, though. But that's another story for another time.) Sometimes it's the book and sometimes it's who we are or what we expect when we approach the book.

[sholloman81]

I just finished reading Gothic last night, but it took me a lot longer to get through it than it took you. I started the book at the beginning of January and stalled after the first fifty pages. I struggled to connect with Tyson Parks as a character and lost all momentum with the story. I hardly ever DNF a book, so I refused to move on to something else and just left the book abandoned on the nightstand. I finally decided to give it another chance this past week and wound up finishing it. Tyson still never grew on me, which I doubt was the author's intentions, but I did find myself rooting for Sarah and Violet. I really found the last fifth of the book compelling and kinda wish the book had lived in that world a little longer. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away. Not a homerun, but maybe a solid double. And this may be due to just the sheer hype heading into reading it. I have heard nothing but rave reviews for Boys in the Valley and his two collections of short stories, so I think there was a part of me expecting to be blown away and instead I was presented with a pretty solid horror book reminiscent of the 80s and 90s paperbacks. And it is completely possible that I would have been more impressed if it was a $8.99 paperback and I hadn't already spent $710 on limited and lettered editions from the author. I try not to let either hype or the cost of the book to come into play when engaging with the story, but it's possible that these two factors got the best of me. I will say that after reading Gothic, I'm still looking forward to reading his other work.

While it seems that I liked it a bit more than you, this is honestly a pretty fair review. I haven't read Boys in the Valley yet; so, I can't speak to the hype train with that one, but if you haven't read his short story collections, they will knock your socks off. A part of me wondered the whole time I was reading Gothic if I was being harsher toward it just because it wasn't living up to the bar that the collections set.

[Sock Monkey]

Just finished reading the Earthling LE of Philip Fracassi's "Gothic", a first time read. I really enjoyed this one. It was very well written with lots of genuinely creepy scenes, and ended up being a much meaner book than I was expecting. It also left enough room for a sequel or story set in-universe, should the author want to revisit this world, which as a reader I wouldn't mind. I also enjoyed the author's sense of humor in this one. There were a couple digs and barbs that had me laughing out loud. Overall, while I don't feel that it rose to the level of excellence that his short story collections have IMO, I really enjoyed this novel length work by Fracassi and look forward to reading another from him soon!

Am now reading the Centipede LE of Mendal W. Johnson's "Let's Go Play at the Adams'", a first-time author and read for me. Have had this one on the TBR pile for a while and am interested to see if it lives up to its rep, especially having already read Ketchum's Girl Next Door.

I just finished reading Gothic last night, but it took me a lot longer to get through it than it took you. I started the book at the beginning of January and stalled after the first fifty pages. I struggled to connect with Tyson Parks as a character and lost all momentum with the story. I hardly ever DNF a book, so I refused to move on to something else and just left the book abandoned on the nightstand. I finally decided to give it another chance this past week and wound up finishing it. Tyson still never grew on me, which I doubt was the author's intentions, but I did find myself rooting for Sarah and Violet. I really found the last fifth of the book compelling and kinda wish the book had lived in that world a little longer. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away. Not a homerun, but maybe a solid double. And this may be due to just the sheer hype heading into reading it. I have heard nothing but rave reviews for Boys in the Valley and his two collections of short stories, so I think there was a part of me expecting to be blown away and instead I was presented with a pretty solid horror book reminiscent of the 80s and 90s paperbacks. And it is completely possible that I would have been more impressed if it was a $8.99 paperback and I hadn't already spent $710 on limited and lettered editions from the author. I try not to let either hype or the cost of the book to come into play when engaging with the story, but it's possible that these two factors got the best of me. I will say that after reading Gothic, I'm still looking forward to reading his other work.