Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories - Dr Seuss. Mrs Danger had never read it, so I borrowed it from the library. I had the same reaction that I did when I was three years old: the first two stories are great, the third one not so much. But Mrs Danger thought that the third story was hilarious and was laughing out loud at the ending.

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The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter. I saw this while I was in the children's room. I've never read it, only had it read to me. It's a hundred and twenty years old, and it's great! The paintings are wonderful, and the words are very well written.


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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Those are challenging. Let us know when you're done!

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

I completed two classics while you still haven't finished Dostoevsky!

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

The Dostoevsky is the Bazooka Joe version. I'm chewin' gum as fast as I can!

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

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I just started Falling by T.J. Newman. I was listening to an interview with her on Adnan Virk's cinephile podcast, and Falling was rejected by 41 literary agents before an agent accepted her. It debuted at #2 on the New York Times Best seller list. The film rights were sold to Universal for $1.5 million. I guess sometimes the 42nd try is the charm.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett. This book is peak Pratchett, one of the best books I've read by him. A book about the end of the world, and he ends the world (and the rest of the universe) about 2/3rds of the way through. It starts off with a fast pace, and gets faster and faster. At one point I thought, "Everything is happening all at once!" Then I realized that of course it was, because time had stopped. Thief of Time returns to some of Pratchett's favorite themes: the difference between mythic space and reality, the nature of being human, and the conflict between chaos and order. It's also hilarious.


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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

It's a good story ... especially factoring in that she wrote in his spare time working as a flight attendant. Which isn't at all surprising when you start reading it. This could be a case where the movie is better than the book. I read it a year ago, and like a lot of popular thrillers it was a fast but shallow read for me.

Finished:
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Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian. I'm always down for a good "weird Western", and this was a lot of fun. I appreciated that while it was a horror story, and bad things happened, it had a lot of feel good sentiments. Reminded me a lot of another period piece horror novel I recently read ... Between Two Fires. While that one was set in Middle Ages Europe, it was also an episodic road trip that involved escorting a young girl that had a lot more going on with her than you first think.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Also finished:
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Blindsight by Peter Watts. Despite reading a lot of hard SF, this is my first book by this author. For me it was one of those cases where I can respect what the author does, while not particularly enjoying the process of reading the book. After Peter Hamilton's monstrosities the conciseness was refreshing: ~300 pages, 5 characters, with most of the action taking place on a couple of ships. The themes were ambitious and it was a very original take on alien life. Although by the end it wasn't very satisfying, always teasing the possibility of something happening that was a lot more interesting than what we got. I don't care for books that go on chapter-long philosophical ramblings. And having the main character have no emotions was a barrier to me caring about what happened.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Finished:
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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Getting into some horror for October.
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Blood Standard by Laird Barron. Which is a non-horror (detective-crime specifically) novel from an author who's best known for cosmic horror. From what I've read, this trilogy takes a similar path that King's Bill Hodges books took ... gradually veering into the type of story you'd expect from the author. As a mystery, this is intentionally low key and anticlimactic. But I do like the author's style and he's very good at atmosphere.

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The September House by Carissa Orlando. I enjoyed this ... I liked how it started over-the-top crazy, almost verging on dark comedy.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

I just started: Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller
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I wanted to read some of this before I watch the new Saturday Night movie.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Ghost Story: Dresden Files #13 by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden is dead and has to deal with existence as a ghost. I get the feeling that the author is trying to find interest in his characters. Sometimes it feels like Butcher is going through the motions. The middle of the book is just dreary, but it perks up towards the end.


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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Finished
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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

I read FEVER HOUSE. How was this as a followup?

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

It was a fun read but the book really could be double the length. Where the first book was basically one night of hell in Portland, the follow up is global, more akin to the Stand, but the book is shorter than the first. The author did say that they made him edit out a significant portion, and its mind boggling why. Its really noticable the last 1/4 of the book, where it felt like I was missing multiple chapters as the story leap frogged toward the end.

It was still a fun read, but not as good as the first one

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Still on Crime and Punishment. For seeming quite contemporary, I find I can't binge it easily.

Just started The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Over the past couple weeks I've been on a Haruki Murakami kick, I read Kafka On The Shore, South of The Border West Of The Sun and now I'm reading Sputnik Sweetheart

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Finished
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This was great from start to finish.

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Finished:
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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett. Death takes a holiday, and everything gets weird. It's a very good book.

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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

< looks around > Hey, what the hell is this place?!?

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

One of my favorite TPB quotes will fit nicely here:

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

I've read a book. "Honey Goes To Hollywood."

It's a good read. Fast. Angry. Sexual. I was thinking about the syntax, and how it affected the overall mood. Particularly during the more ... expository passages in the 5th chapter. Where Honey meets the whole. Australian. Soccer. Team.


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Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

Finished:
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All the Fiends of Hell by Adam Nevill. I like Nevill's writing but I wish he did more with his premise. It's all so vague, and very little is cleared up by the end. And in a book with alien demons it's a bit of a let-down to have the main villain be some guy called Bob.

Re: What Are You Reading 2024 (The Readening)
 

I really just always hunger for a chance to say "can you read, my son?" Truly one of my favorite quotes from a series that is nothing but favorite quotes.
at any rate, Toby, I expect you to update us on a monthly basis with your latest book as all the cool kids do.