What are you currently reading?

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the SST LE of Josh Malerman's "Unbury Carol". This was a reread for me, and I liked it much better this time around. Lots of fun and quirky characters and a really unique story. I've always enjoyed westerns, especially weird westerns and this one fits the bill for sure. This book truly deserves to be turned into a film. If I had one complaint, I do wish the supernatural element would have been given more of an explanation or been left out completely. While it was very creepy, the book could have stood fine on its own without it. Overall, to me, while not top Malerman, it was still a very unique and worthwhile read, and I would give it a solid C+ to B- rating.

Think I will be reading the Midworld LE of Christopher Buehlman's "The Blacktongue Theif" next, a first time read for me. I'm in the mood for something different, and I have heard great things about this book and author.

[brlesh]

Finished The Exorcism of Winchester House.

The over-the-top second half did not maintain my interest like the first half did.

Finishing up the last story I have to read in Horrors of War by Tim Curran.

1867: The Skull Eater Campaign is a reread, as it was originally published by CD in Four Rode Out about 10 years ago.

I remember liking it the first time I read it, though I remember little else about the story.

At over 80 pages, it is the longest story in the collection.

Half way through and really enjoying this bloody good story about the Indian war.

B

[brlesh]

Finished Classic Monsters Unleashed.

The second half was not as good as the first half.

Started The Exorcism of Winchester House by Douglas Wynne.

A third of the way through and liking it so far.

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the SST LE of Josh Malerman's "Inspection". This was technically a re-read for me, but I hardly remembered the plot beforehand and had jumbled elements from it with Stephen King's "Inspection" which I had read around the same time. This time around Malerman's "Inspection" left a much deeper mark. For some reason, the characters seemed to resonate more with me, and the letter names for characters didn't seem as bothersome. Perhaps the book just caught me at a better time as a reader. I also think that this story would make a wonderful limited TV series, saw it in my head as I was reading. On a side note, while the SST production is nice, I do wish they had used different art and had included some extra features beyond that, but at the $60 price point, it still feels like a steal! Overall, I would give this book a solid B to maybe B+ rating.

Not sure, but I think I will be reading the SST LE of Josh Malerman's "Unbury Carol" next, another re-read that I hardly remember.

[brlesh]

Finished The Dog Stars by Peter Heller a few days ago.

Great book!

A different kind of post apocalyptic story.

While most post apocalyptic stories tend to have a long and sprawling story line with a huge cast of characters, TDS was a very intimate, character driven story with a rather simple plot; society has gone to shit, do what you need to do to stay alive.

I thought Heller did a good job of presenting a realistic apocalypse scenario, no zombies, no supernatural deities, just two men trying to survive on a daily basis, which was enough for one but not the other.

A lot of bad things happen in TDS, though most of action takes place “off screen”.

I also liked that Heller didn’t sugar coat his two protagonists.

While you’re sympathetic to the two main characters (more so Hig; less so with Bangley), they do awful things to stay alive and preserve their safe haven.

Definitely a different kind of read.

Highly recommended, especially if you are looking for something outside the normal horror / sci-fi reading genre.

B

As Brian James Freeman mentioned somewhere on the boards, Heller’s writing style for this story was not traditional.

He doesn’t use quotation marks and very little punctuation.

The story is told from the mind of main character, so there’s a lot of sentence fragments and sharp breaks, but it was a style that I as a reader quickly adapted to, and if any thing I think it helped to speed the story along.

Take it from someone who usually hates any kind of experimental writing, I found The Dogs Stars to be an easy read.

B