What are you currently reading?

[Sock Monkey]

I've been trying to work my way through Cronin's The Twelve and I was really hoping to finish the trilogy this year, but I'm in the last week of finals for school this semester and time has dwindled down to zero. Frankly, I shouldn't even spending time posting on the forum right now, but I need a little bit of a break. After the 18th, I'm on winter break so the plan is to get through The Twelve during that time. We'll see, though.

On a different note, has anybody read Danielewski's House of Leaves? It's been on my radar for the last 20+ years and my wife bought it for me for my birthday (in addition to the new J-Horror Rising boxset from Arrow) and I was just wondering if anybody had any thoughts about it in general (I know it's pretty divisive) and any approaches to reading that bad boy. It'll still be a while before I get to it, but it's sitting on the table next to me so I figured I'd open up the conversation while it was on my mind.

[sholloman81]

Finished up You Like It Darker by Stephen King.

Another solid collection from the master!

B

Glad to hear this as it's sadly still sitting in my tbr pile!

[RonClinton]

Philip Fracassi’s SARAFINA.

[brlesh]

Finished up You Like It Darker by Stephen King.

Another solid collection from the master!

Taking a break from Bound in Blood and started Gone Soth by McCammon last night.

50 pages in and really enjoying this story, as I figured I would.

McCammon never disappoints!

B

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Laurel Hightower's "The Day of The Door". This was my first read by Hightower and definitely won't be my last. Went into it blind and was completely blown away. Reminded me a little of Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts but taken in a very different direction. Highly recommended!

Am now reading the Thunderstorm LE of Hailey Piper's "The Work and His Kings Saga", another first-time author for me.

[Sock Monkey]

These books HAVE turned me on to a lot of obscure movies, for better or for worse, lol. The books do, if I remember correctly, list all of the pertinent movies in the back, but I never peeked....I like being surprised by who turns up. The chapter in TWILIGHT'S LAST SCREAMING concerning the adult Regan MacNeil had more cameos than you could shake a stick at.

I see the point in regards to the element of surprise. My proposed approach could potentially lead to the feeling of constantly waiting for certain characters to appear. Some good food for thought.

[dannyboy121070]

Thanks for the insight. It might be kinda fun to pair the readings with the movies. Maybe create a watch list from one of the books, work one's way through that list, and finally tackle the book. As a big film fan, it might be a fun exercise. I'm this close to pulling the trigger on ENGLAND'S SCREAMING and giving that plan a shot.

These books HAVE turned me on to a lot of obscure movies, for better or for worse, lol. The books do, if I remember correctly, list all of the pertinent movies in the back, but I never peeked....I like being surprised by who turns up. The chapter in TWILIGHT'S LAST SCREAMING concerning the adult Regan MacNeil had more cameos than you could shake a stick at.

[Sock Monkey]

All I'm aware of is the PS hardcover, but I read it years ago, so I haven't really checked.

I think you might miss something if you're not familiar with the characters, since he does use some obscure ones. If he drops a name I don't know, I usually google it, and read the Wiki of the film. You could probably enjoy the stories as/is, but you get a deeper satisfaction from knowing all of the background. For instance, the story I'm reading now is explained pretty well, but having never seen THE SWIMMER and THE APARTMENT, I read their Wiki pages. Hogan made it pretty clear who the characters were and what they were about, though.

Thanks for the insight. It might be kinda fun to pair the readings with the movies. Maybe create a watch list from one of the books, work one's way through that list, and finally tackle the book. As a big film fan, it might be a fun exercise. I'm this close to pulling the trigger on ENGLAND'S SCREAMING and giving that plan a shot.

[dannyboy121070]

All I'm aware of is the PS hardcover, but I read it years ago, so I haven't really checked.

I think you might miss something if you're not familiar with the characters, since he does use some obscure ones. If he drops a name I don't know, I usually google it, and read the Wiki of the film. You could probably enjoy the stories as/is, but you get a deeper satisfaction from knowing all of the background. For instance, the story I'm reading now is explained pretty well, but having never seen THE SWIMMER and THE APARTMENT, I read their Wiki pages. Hogan made it pretty clear who the characters were and what they were about, though.

[Sock Monkey]

Also burning through Sean Hogan's WHAT SCREAMS MAY COME, the latest in his "Screaming" series, that imagines characters from movies, mainly Horror, but not always, existing in a shared world. I've raved about and recommended these books here so many times, and no one has given one fuck, so I give up. I will say that, if you're HERE, you would love this book. I just got through reading about a shattered post-Kong Ann Darrow's encounter with Satanists from ANGEL HEART, THE BLACK CAT, and ROSEMARY'S BABY, and now Burt Lancaster's character from THE SWIMMER has just received an eerie phone call from Jack Lemmon's THE APARTMENT character. Someone here needs to read these books so I can talk to SOMEONE about them!

I normally avoid these types of books as I'm not a fan of authors using others characters, BUT you have praised them highly and I've heard good things from other sources as well, so maybe it's time I give these a shot. Is the PS hardcover the only edition of the ENGLAND'S SCREAMING? It's all I've been able to locate. And how do the stories hold up if you aren't familiar with each film the characters are from? I'm pretty well-versed but I have my gaps in film history.

[brlesh]

Have one more story in the new King collection, which I like a lot. I‘ll finish it this weekend, since I’m back to work.

Started Bound in Blood, an anthology about haunted / cursed books, edited by Johnny Mains.

Finished the first story by Charlie Higson, which I really enjoyed, so have high hopes for this one.

My recent luck with anthologies hasn’t been very good.

B

[dannyboy121070]

I finished Brian Keene's GOOD THINGS FOR BAD PEOPLE and Alan Koszowski's Centipede art book DREAMS FROM THE DARK SIDE today. I was disappointed in the Keene, because I read most of the contents in another collection a few months ago, so...no fault of the Author, I just wasn't expecting to have read most of the book already. The Koszowski book...wow. A beautiful production by Centipede. I had my eye on this for a while, and when Centipede offered unnumbered copies that came with a Koszowski signature and remarque, I leaped. So much beautiful art (Nearly 600 pages!), and, again, the production is so beautiful that I hated to handle the book. Highly recommended.

I started Keene's ISLAND OF THE DEAD, despite my never wanting to read another zombie story for the rest of my life. Enjoying it so far, but I'm not up to the zombies yet, so....

Also burning through Sean Hogan's WHAT SCREAMS MAY COME, the latest in his "Screaming" series, that imagines characters from movies, mainly Horror, but not always, existing in a shared world. I've raved about and recommended these books here so many times, and no one has given one fuck, so I give up. I will say that, if you're HERE, you would love this book. I just got through reading about a shattered post-Kong Ann Darrow's encounter with Satanists from ANGEL HEART, THE BLACK CAT, and ROSEMARY'S BABY, and now Burt Lancaster's character from THE SWIMMER has just received an eerie phone call from Jack Lemmon's THE APARTMENT character. Someone here needs to read these books so I can talk to SOMEONE about them!

[RonClinton]

Wow, never heard of this book/author, but it sounds very cool. Keep us posted!

Ended up DNF'ing it at about the halfway point. Took me two weeks just to get to that point. Sure, I have stuff going on, but c'mon, that kind of molasses-like progress is indicative of a book that just isn't working for me with no real interest in getting back to the story and character. It isn't a bad book at all -- I can see why it has the reputation it does -- but, man, you really have to be in the right state of mind to immerse yourself into a book that has no real narrative conflict and is told entirely though the thoughts of one woman, a character that is generally (and purposely, I think) bland and shy of personality. I just have too much stuff going on right now to free my mind enough to appreciate this kind of story, but others' milage may vary, so THE WALL comes with a very qualified recommendation.

Starting a biography of Mickey Spillane, and I suspect this one will be far more up my alley at the moment.

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm LE of Michael J Seidlinger's "The Body Harvest". Overall, I enjoyed the book but didn't love it. The writing style & plot reminded me very much of Chuck Palpalahniuk except lacking his trademark humor, which is a shame as I think some humor might have made this book much better. For me, this story had some great ideas/themes, but too little in the way of plot, and it did drag at times as pretty much all of the characters are sad-sack loser types, and I found it hard to connect/care with what was happening to them, even if I did feel bad for their circumstances. Overall, glad to have read this book, just not sure that I will be too keen on a re-read in the future.

Am now reading the Thunderstorm LE of Laurel Hightower's "The Day of The Door".

[brlesh]

Finished up the Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King.

It was something different from my usual reads, and I liked it quite a bit, though it did run a little long towards the end of the story.

Tonight, starting You Like It Darker by Stephen King.

I’ve always enjoyed King’s short stories, so looking forward to cracking this one open.

B