What are you currently reading?

[sholloman81]

There seems to be unsurprisingly a divergence of opinion on 11/22/63, though the lion's share is positive. I'm definitely in the lion's club...I thought 11/22/63 was fantastic. Sure, it lagged some in the middle third when it focused hard on the Kennedy assassination aspect...and I get it, that's what the plot device is, and that's what the book is titled after, and so on. But for me, this book was at its best when it was a character-driven saga, not a plot-driven one, so I didn't find that assassination research portion as compelling as the build-up and resolution. Either way, though, it's a great read, IMO King's best since his classic days of the '70s and '80s, though I really did enjoy JOYLAND as well (caveat: there's a lot of modern King that I haven't read, so take my "best" qualifier with a grain of salt).

I'm about a quarter of the way through. I haven't read this one since it was first released over a decade ago but also remember it being a divisive book for a lot of SK fans. Much like yourself, I remember loving this one which is why I opted for the PS version when it was available. I tend to agree that there are parts of the book that are a bit of a slog, and the page count should probably have been reduced, but when this one is firing on all cylinders, I tend to feel that it's as good a read as any of King's other beloved stories.

[RonClinton]

Just finished reading the Cemetery Dance Deluxe Special Edition of "The Stand". Took me close to 3 weeks and enjoyed it every step of the way. Has been a while since I read this book and it was like visiting with old friends. Also, after all of these years, I can't believe that I still get choked up when King kills off Nick or when the group leaves Stu behind after breaking his leg. Just really good writing from King. Overall, glad to finally have read ( and received) this version of the Stand!

Am now reading the PS LE of Stephen King's 11/22/63. Has been sitting in my TBR pile for a while. Figured I would do King reads for the holiday and also catch up said pile!

There seems to be unsurprisingly a divergence of opinion on 11/22/63, though the lion's share is positive. I'm definitely in the lion's club...I thought 11/22/63 was fantastic. Sure, it lagged some in the middle third when it focused hard on the Kennedy assassination aspect...and I get it, that's what the plot device is, and that's what the book is titled after, and so on. But for me, this book was at its best when it was a character-driven saga, not a plot-driven one, so I didn't find that assassination research portion as compelling as the build-up and resolution. Either way, though, it's a great read, IMO King's best since his classic days of the '70s and '80s, though I really did enjoy JOYLAND as well (caveat: there's a lot of modern King that I haven't read, so take my "best" qualifier with a grain of salt).

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Cemetery Dance Deluxe Special Edition of "The Stand". Took me close to 3 weeks and enjoyed it every step of the way. Has been a while since I read this book and it was like visiting with old friends. Also, after all of these years, I can't believe that I still get choked up when King kills off Nick or when the group leaves Stu behind after breaking his leg. Just really good writing from King. Overall, glad to finally have read ( and received) this version of the Stand!

Am now reading the PS LE of Stephen King's 11/22/63. Has been sitting in my TBR pile for a while. Figured I would do King reads for the holiday and also catch up said pile!

[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.