I have about a story and a half left in "A Good Man is Hard to Find". After I wrap that up today I have decided to cut down to only two books this month. I have picked The Gypsy Curse by Harry Crews and I will probably grab something from my stack of unread Irvine Welsh.
Outside of that, this month is all about working on my horror story for Scare Us.
I'm rereading Cyril Connolly's incredible and wonderful and ridiculous book, The Unquiet Grave: A Word Cycle by Palinurus.
Last time I read it, I thought: "THIS time I'm actually in the right place in my life to read this."
But now I'm thinking that it's actually THIS time that I need the book's glory in my life.
And so you know it's one of the greatest.
Still finishing Invisible Monsters Remix. I've actually sort of abandoned most of what's in my profile due to the traveling I did, but at some point will return to them. Still working on Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, and will almost certain jump into Nova Parade as soon as I convert it to an ePub. Just picked up my own copy of Clevenger's Dermaphoria also, which I hope to get into before long since I'm in his class here. I've also been meaning to read Angel Dust Apocalypse for a million years and haven't yet. That really needs to happen soon.
Damn it. I wish I had more time.
Reading Nova Parade. So far, damn good.
Nova Parade right now, too. Amazing stuff.
Nova Parade.
Autographed Caleb Ross canon ;)
1. The Asia Hand - Christopher G. Moore
2. Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
then I have Horns by Joe Hill and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman lined up.
Reading Praise of Motherhood.
@Pete It's freaking amazing!
I wish there was more hours in the day so I could start on Neil Gaiman's books.
J. Kircher--Neverwhere is one of my favorites. If you haven't though, you should read American Gods before Anansi Boys. They are both stand alone books, but you get an introduction to Mr. Nancy in American Gods and it sort of sets the reality of Anansi Boys up--and it is a goddamn good book.
Until the last 40 pages. He just tacked those on because he ran out of ideas.
I liked them alright. I mean...I didn't especially feel like they were necessary but they were good.
Dakota, I'm about halfway through. I did that in one sitting pretty much. I just couldn't stop reading.
Ready Player One by robert Cline.
SparrowStark, I just finished American Gods in the beginning of June, I had to order Anansi Boys, so I Picked up Damned and the Postmortal by Drew Magary (read both of them in a week) Anansi just came in when I was half way trough Neverwhere. I can’t wait to dig in though.
Phil's Praise is, indeed, excellent. Read it in about a day and a half. Great book!
Finished Fat Kid Rules the World about a week ago. I haven't decided what I want to read next. Leaning towards Lullaby, Alice in Wonderland, Invitation to a Beheading, or something completely different. Not too sure.
Just finished Shadow Season by Tom Piccirilli. It's really good, but everything by him is really good. I felt like reading some short stories before I dove into another novel, so I started Dig Ten Graves by Heath Lowrance.
Finally reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but not sure I'm quite into it. The thing has moments, but I don't know... overhyped? Still, great to chill out with on long train trips here in Tokyo.
Otherwise itching to start on Nova Parade.
@Andrez: Seriously, Dragon Tattoo has an amazingly slow start. If you can make it through the first, I dunno, 150 pages or so, it picks up quite a bit. But you do have to read a short novel worth of shit before the book really becomes entertaining. And that entertainment level...is mostly worth it.
I wasn't that into it either. I mean it wasn't bad, and I enjoyed it, but I listened on audiobook back at the old job which made it go a lot faster and obviously seem much better because all I had to compare it to was my miserable job. I started the next one but didn't stick with it. In general I think the whole thing is overhyped a bit. They strike me as solid works that probably aren't anywhere near as good as some make them out to be.
Hard to find a book that would keep me interested in more than a page. Currently reading the intro textbook to LAW 101 (for paralegals but still useful for everyone else too). Am also looking at a ton of other books. I found a decent one I may lose interest soon. It's Moore and Gillette's King Warrior Magician Lover about the male psyche or something like that. I got it cheap at Powell's city of books, I think. Actually, I've bought so many books and have given them away that I don't remember how they got into my collection.
Seriously, Dragon Tattoo has an amazingly slow start.
I need to get around to finishing it. I stopped when it picked up because my reading pile is endless. I mean come on, a whole chapter on the swedish economy?!
Hard to find a book that would keep me interested in more than a page.
Wait... what?
Dragon Tattoo had me from page 1. Don't know why. I've heard it has a slow start, but I read it in two days. Then two days for each of the next 2. I never felt like it was slow in a bad way. I guess I just found the politics of the situation interesting.
Reading Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins. Also, at the same Goodwill, I found a book of photographs by blind teenagers, which reminded me of Beethoven. It was sitting next to a copy of Siddhartha, but I already have that one.
Just finished Rosemary's Baby. Should have read it years ago.
I keep meaning to get a copy of that. Saw the movie, never read it, and I can only imagine the book being infinitely better than the film.
Yeah, I really liked The Stepford Wives (book). I've always meant to read Rosemary's Baby, and just haven't gotten around to it.
Finished Praise of Motherhood. Loved it. I'm going to reread it when I get the physical copy in my hands. I have a lot to say about this book, but I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts about it.
Started Strangeness in the Proportion.
Just finished The World of Poo (Discworld) by Terry Pratchett... and I'm about to start The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (anyone read it?)
I've had The Night Circus for months and months and still haven't read it. My girlfriend got excited that it was releasing and wanted a copy, then I told her I already had it. I guess it was the paperback that was coming out. So now she's got it, and she isn't reading it either because she has to study. Whoops.
Wait... what?
I go through books a lot. I think I'm getting picky-er when it comes to reading materials. I soak up info like the sponge I am.
Reading Au régal des vermines, Marc-Edouard Nabe.
I soak up info like the sponge I am.
I thought you were a lobster. This new info is fucked up. I feel betrayed. I mean, don't come out telling me you're a lobster when you're really a sponge. It's like you're trying to Ocean's Eleven me. Be all clandestine to steal my valuables, or just to cop a quick feel.
Not cool.
I love Ira Levin. Rosemary's Baby is excellent.
The Soul Consortium by Simon West-Bulford. I'm not usually much into sci-fi, but I thought it was a wonderful story with some well-thought-out themes when I was helping him workshop it a few years ago, and so cool to see that he landed this on Medallion Press.
Also some T.S. Eliot: The Wasteland.
today's thrift store finds:
The Temple of the Golden Pavillion by Yukio Mishima -- probably a real (effective) bummer.
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson -- never before heard of it or her. Napoleonic magical realism
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason -- not sure, comparisons to Eco, "the ultimate puzzle book," maybe a "smarter" Da Vinci Code-type thing. We'll see.
I'm a sucker for books like The Rule of Four but the Amazon listing has TONS of bad reviews. I wonder if they're all writen by people who loved The Da Vince Code. In case you haven't heard of it, Umberto Eco's book, Foucault Pendelum is the one that would be similar. I really liked it. There were a couple of Amazon reviewers who reviewed The Rule of Four negatively and liked it too.
I have Foucalt's Pendulum and like 2 or 3 other Eco books I haven't read yet. I remember being stoked about that one in particular, though, because I got a first edition hardcover for like 2 or 3 bucks somewhere.
I've read a little Eco non-fiction, but haven't gotten into his novels. I've heard lots of good stuff about F'sP.
Browsing those reviews of Rule of Four, it sounds like it's more "literary" and perhaps less suspenseful than DVC, which for some people means "boring." Some bad ones say stuff like "I got this because it was compared to the Da Vinci Code, but..." or, "it's just a bunch of people talking."
Have either of you read An Instance of the Fingerpost? Solid, dense (in a good way) historical mystery.
Never heard of that one, no, but I'll mark it down.
So I'm reading Clevenger's The Contortionist's Handbook since I'd only read a little of Dermaphoria before but never had my own copy, and I'm floored. It's so good. I'm halfway through in I think two days, which is very quick for me. Invisible Monsters Remix took me more than 2 weeks.
No. Haven't heard of that one. I'll check it out.
Don't revoke my nerd-cred, but I'm finally reading Neuromancer.
Anyone care to explain the Invisible Monsters Remix?
On another note I'm reading Tobbacco Stained Mountain Goat - Andrez Bergen and Click - Kristopher Young.
Define "explain".
LitReactor did a review of it. It would explain it plenty.
Reading Murder is my Business by Brett Halliday. Old 1945 pulp. Writing typical of the time. Full of women, violence, booze and guns. A quick, fun read.
Read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" in a day - thought it was great. And it was so hot this weekend, I hid in the AC and read all of "Gone Girl" which was also great. So I'm on a good book streak, including "Angle of Repose" which I finished last weekend, though that one did take me a few weeks to get into. Next up, "The Last Policeman" which I have heard good things about! Yeah, books!!
I am finishing Damned by Chuch Palahniuk and Flashover by Gordon Highland. I am planning on starting The Talented Mr. Ripley, next.
