What are you currently reading?

[sholloman81]

Just finished the SST LE of Joe Lansdale's "Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts' Casebook of Horrors". Had previously read some but not all of the stories. Enjoyed them all. These are really fun characters and I enjoy the overall tone of these stories. Hope Lansdale writes more of them in the future. Overall, I would give this book a C+ to B- rating.

Am now reading the SST LE of Paul Tremblay's "No Sleep Till Wonderland", a first time read for me. Enjoyed the previous book and have high hopes for this sequel.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Suntup AGE of Joyce Carol Oates' "Zombie", a first time read for me. This is an admittedly hard book to both read and review. Obviously, the lead character is a repulsive loser; so, it's pretty much impossible to make any sort of connection, but it was fascinating to get into his head space and to see his evolution & how his psyche may have been formed. Also was fascinated by his immediate family and their impulse to explain away odd/bad behavior. That felt very real to me. This story was very well written by Oates and I'm glad to have read it, but I'm not sure that it's a book that I will ever care to re-reread and may decide to offload my copy in the near future. Overall, I would give this a solid B grade.

Am now reading the SST LE of Joe Lansdale's "Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts' Casebook of Horrors". Happy these stories were finally collected and look forward to reading them all!

[TacomaDiver]

Wow, those are great pictures!

How deep were you diving?

Aren’t six gills supposed to be deep water species?

B

Thanks!

I believe I was around 120' when I took those photos - yeah a little deeper than most recreational divers, but I do have the appropriate certifications, plus I wasn't at that depth too long.

And you're right about the six gills being deep water fish. I know the BBC had footage of them at a few thousand feet, but the theory is they come up shallow to give birth.

The Puget Sound area has routine sightings of them in the summer; usually around 75-100' down. Summertime has the worst visibility so who knows how many are out there. This particular summer was a HOT BED of sightings - it felt like every time you got into the water, there was a shark.

[brlesh]

I lost the video over the years which is a bummer - it was a great video in the style of Blair Witch - shaky cam, darkness, flashlight flashing, and a SHARK!

This isn't the one that knocked me over, but it was the one I saw right before I saw the one that knocked me over.

IMAG0010.jpg

This is the one did knock me over:
IMAG0015.jpg
(I always thought that these pics were of different sharks - I may have been mistake by looking at them now, regardless of what my notes may say.)

Wow, those are great pictures!

How deep were you diving?

Aren’t six gills supposed to be deep water species?

B

[brlesh]

Just finished reading the Suntup AGE of Balke Crouch's "Dark Matter". This was a first time read and it blew my mind. It was exactly the book I needed as the last few reads have been duds for me. Not this one! Had previously read Crouch's Pines trilogy and enjoyed it, but this book feels extra special. It kept me surprised throughout and had tons of thought provoking scenes and ideas. Also enjoyed pretty much every character, and they all felt fleshed out and real. For me, this was sci-fi/adventure done right! I hope one day that we get to find out what may have happened to the main characters travel companion Amanda, as there might be a story to tell. I would give this book an A grade for sure.

Am now reading Joyce Carol Oates' "Zombie", another first time read for me. Have only read a few of her short stories in random anthologies.

I was in a similar situation when I read Zombie earlier this year. Had read some of JCO short stories in different anthologies over the years, but had never read any of her novels. I found her short fiction to be hit or miss.

Hard to say I liked Zombie, as it was a very disturbing book, though it did hold my interest.

Similar to Let’s Go Play at the Adams’ and The Girl Next Door, it evokes a visceral response on the reader, though not at the same level as those two books.

B