jpcamb

Streets of Laredo is on my reading list for sure after Lonesome Dove it's hard to pass on it.

It seems the Dark Tower either resonates hard or misses completely for a lot of people. The most challenging book in the series for me is Book 6 when SK is written into the series directly. I still enjoy it and understand what he did and why he added himself but it gets a bit weird.

Finshed book II and onto the Wastelands or Book III now.

thematahara

Finished:

rbrown498

Just finished:



I've had this book since the late '70s, and I had never read all of the stories in it. I seemed to remember liking a few of the ones that I had read, so I was looking forward to finally reading all of it. Now that I'm finished, I think that "meh" sums up my feelings for it best. Some of the stories are pretty good, most are fairly forgettable, and one ("Oh Tell Me Will It Freeze Tonight") took a whole lot of willpower to slog through. Oh well.

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Pointyskull

Just finished:

I cannot recommend this ^ enough. Brilliant stuff....

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brainee

Is Anthem as much of a downer as reviews make it sound? No matter how well done, I don't think I want to read a depressing dystopia that's a realistic worst-case scenario extrapolation of where the United States seems to be going in the near future.

Just finished:

I haven't read Kim Newman in years, though I was a big fan of Anno Dracula back in the day. This has an irresistible (at least for me) premise: Boris Karloff and Raymond Chandler team up to solve weird noir crimes in late 30's Hollywood. Overall I enjoyed it, although the writing and pacing seemed a bit "clunky" at times (with Newman trying to imitate Chandler's style and the story bouncing around chronologically with flashbacks within flashbacks). Still a lot of fun with mad science, Golden Age Hollywood, twisty mysteries, femme fatales, murderous clowns, and monsters.

Nick Danger

Finished A Thin Ghost and Others by M.R. James.

More Victorian ghost stories, but not as good as the previous volumes by the author. But it has one story that I think was clever. Have you ever watched a movie and asked, "Why don't they just not open that magic box with the big warning signs on it?" In one story, they decide that it makes sense not to open it.

Pointyskull

It's not so much dystopia as it's a future seemingly just down the road from now, where all the parts of the collapse are already in place. It has fairy tale elements, and Hawley injects a ton of what I consider well-crafted commentary on what is helping make things appear to be ready to go to hell. Does the future go pretty dark in Anthem? Yes it does. I didn't consider it a downer - despite much bleakness and violence - because Hawley has a way about him, and I like the way he writes and how he breaks down what he sees as the markers of why things end up rotten. Readers that are hard right politically may not find this as enthralling and riveting as I did (since I lean the other way). As with all things: your mileage may vary. I loved it.

PAG

Just finished:

PAG

Just finished:

L. Ron zyzzle

Just finished one of the many editions of The King In Yellow collection. A big meh from me, for many reasons.

Starting Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation

thematahara

Finished:

Tom Banjo

Next up:

Pointyskull

Just started:


and

thematahara

Finished:



Fantastic book from start to finish. Some have compared it to It, but the comparisons are for the coming of age part of the story, not the horror. This also is one of the few times a book made me cry, and Im not afraid to admit that one chapter in particular absolutely wrecked me. Granted, I had just experienced a similar experience in real life, but it was really tough to keep going at that part.

Pointyskull

Read this back in the early 90s, and loved it (though I don't recall much of the plot specifics). It's been on my "re-read list" for a long time, just never got around to it. Think I will move it up the list.

Nick Danger

Quest of the Three Worlds by Cordwainer Smith. Classic science fiction, still excellent.

PAG

Just finished:

Pointyskull

Just started:

brainee

Finished:

This is a follow-up to the author's 14 and The Fold (both of which I really enjoyed). I think I liked those books a bit more, although this was still a good entertaining read. I agree with Clines' afterward when he says he thinks he's done as much with this general idea as he can, and will be moving on to different ideas for the next book. But I liked the Lost like setting here, and the apocalyptic scenario (which the previous books suggested, but this one shows).

rbrown498

Just finished:




I enjoyed this one a whole lot; even though Richard Matheson is known for writing horror and science-fiction, this book doesn't fit into either of those categories. It reminded me most of a couple of plays, Anthony Schaffer's Sleuth and Ira Levin's Deathtrap.

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thematahara

Finished:


This was a dud. The plot twist that it was building too seemed so obvious that the hope was it had to be something else....nope exactly what you expected and hits with a whimper.

PAG

Just finished:

mndtrp

Finally finished Metro 2033. I didn't really like it. Guy travels from one station to another, meets a lot of people, most die, weird monsters that are mentioned but never really explored or investigated, book over.

Started:


The Forever War - Joe Haldeman

thematahara

Finished:


What a great book! This was non-stop entertaining from beginning to end, blew through it in a single day

Nick Danger

Re-read The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting. Doctor Doolittle goes to the floating island to meet the Indian whom he calls "the world's greatest naturalist." I think this is the best book of the series.

This time through I deliberately watched for racism. The author tries very hard not to be racist, but as an Englishman in 1922 he still has some unconscious attitudes that are visible a hundred years later. I give him major points for treating the Indian and the Englishman equally, and because he laughs at the Black man for his intellectual pretensions but respects him for being an African. He is of the same generation of Englishmen who called the visiting Crown Prince of Japan a "monkey in a suit".