Book Talk discussion

Kealan wrote: "Gatorman wrote: "Kealan wrote: "Me neither, but I will.

I'm currently rereading all the books in the TURTLE BOY series to ensure continuity in the final volume. I'll let you know what I think when..."

Sorry Kealan, I'm overwhelmed. It's the mechanics more than anything. I find cliffhangers extremely aggravating.

I do want to read Kin, though.

Marc, you do need to read KIN.
Really, you do. : )

Read it NOW!!!

OR:

EVENTUALLY!

Glad I have already read it.....WHEW!

I smack you on principle!

Can I release his family now?

The whining is driving me batshit.

My pleasure, Kealan. I need to go post the review on Amazon also.

I just started "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" and it is pretty good so far. It comes highly reviewed.

Aggravates the daylights out of me when I'm between books and just can't find something to suit me:). Just read (very quickly, as it's a short story)Desolation Road: A Short Story. Think I feel a Kealan weekend coming on though.:)

I'm reading The Sound of Midnight, and deciding between The Sleepless and Flesh And Blood.

and that reminds me, I have 2 Dennis Lehane's and The Waiting Room

I am going through my friends' "all time favorite" lists for ideas. A great place to start.

I've been wandering into Fantasy for ideas.
Picked up Garrett Takes the Case

I just saw a note on Facebook that DeCaprio signed up for a movie of Lehane's newest book. Live By Night is the title.
There is no information available that I could find about what the book will be about.

Chris wrote: "I am going through my friends' "all time favorite" lists for ideas. A great place to start."

Chris, I do that too! : )

Charlene, I saw a post the other day in The Book Page about the new Lehane-out in October-a sequel to The Given Day, which is why I'm ordering TGD May 1:)

I got Boy's Life off of your list, Charlene. And "Haunted" off of Jon's.

http://www.bookpage.com/the-book-case...

Ooh, a gangster story! Nice! Thanks for the link.

Chris wrote: "I got Boy's Life off of your list, Charlene. And "Haunted" off of Jon's."

Yeah, Jon and I have good tastes. : )
You do too, of course.

Boy's Life is fantastic. I am reading non-horror between finishing Summer of Night and starting its sequel, A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons. How the heck did I miss this guy in the 80's? I swear I never read anything by him during that period when I was gobbling up all things horror by King, Saul, Koontz, et.al.

I enjoy many autobiographies by people that have lived through our most trying times such as war. My latest is Wild Swans by Jung Chang. She writes about three generations of her female ancestors from her grandmother being a concubine to a General only to have him die and free her up to marry a doctor, who raised her daughter as his own.

Her mother grew up to work for the resistance Communists that came in to remove the Kuomintang leaders. She married a communist leader and eventually gave birth to the author, who grew up during the Cultural Revolution.

Those of you who know me have heard me say it before and I shall say it again: the scariest horror is reality. You just can't get any more horrifying than parents leaving their children in 6 foot deep pits to die of starvation because there is not enough food to go around and the famine has lasted years. Or parents that exchange babies only to smother them and eat them for the same reason. They exchanged with other families because they could never do it to their own child. How can anyone be forced to face such a choice?

The Communists promised so much and delivered so little. It amazes me they are still in power, although they have loosened their grip considerably since the 1970's when Mao Zedong died and Deng Xiaoping took over. Money and capitalism have made inroads in China but we have a long way to go to see humanitarian abuses end and true freedom of the people accomplished.

Highly recommended: Bad Things

That's a good one.

Sharon/ LFrog1386 wrote: "Boy's Life is fantastic. I am reading non-horror between finishing Summer of Night and starting its sequel, A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons. How the heck did I miss this guy in the 80's? I swear I..."

Sharon, I like to see you all excited about a book. : )
It makes me feel less geeky!

I just finished two: Crude Sunlight. All I can say is Meh. A generous 3* from me.
I also finished Dark Doorways which was a collection of shorts. It was pretty good. I read a few of the stories before (they had all previously been published elsewhere). My favorites were the Maberry short about a private eye and F. Paul Wilson's "Soft" which is just...AWESOME.

I just started Geek Love and it's a bit disturbing so far.

I love Wilson's short stories.

"Buckets"
"Foet"

I agree. Wilson has always had a golden touch with short stories. I couldn't name a single one but I just know the name and when I see it, I know it'll be good!

Charlene, I get passionate about politics and injustice. When I see it, I have to call people on it, even if it's my own boss. I can see why I've had short careers in my past. But now that I am getting into the legal field, I have an excuse to argue AND fight injustice AND get paid for it! :)

That is the best of all worlds for you, Sharon. : )

Mallory Anne-Marie wrote: "Highly recommended: Bad Things"

That is a good one. I've raed all of Marshall's books and they are all excellent reads.

In between Geek Love I am also reading Speed Dating with the Dead, the new Penny Dreadnought: Uncommitted Crimes. Oh! And Biohazard.

My nosy self just went down my list of friends to see what they're reading and Kealan is reading Drood, by Dan Simmons. I really liked that book.

Anyone see those McCammon pictures at a library book signing, in Huntsville?
THERE WERE EMPTY CHAIRS! What is wrong with people?

Who goes to the library for books?

They're all in the DVD section, fighting over copies of Larry the Cable Guy's movie "Delta Farce"

I went all the time, until I got my Kindle.
If he were coming to my library, I would start camping out a week before. No lie!

*chuckling* Delta Farce? Is that a real movie? : )

I go to the library at least twice a week.

If he came to my library, I'ed be playing "Extreme Survivor" on line.

Yes, it is. My library has 4 copies for the droolers.

I finished Speed Dating with the Dead-maybe 3.5*, and Bones also 3.5 stars, the new Penny Dreadnought: Uncommitted Crimes which was AWESOME-5* and now I have started The Providence Rider by McCammon. YAY me! : )
I can't say enough about the Penny Dreadnoughts-I have found each and every one to be fabulous.

Boy are you a fast reader, Charlene!

I can be. I had yesterday off, so that helped! : )

The Providence Rider was awesome. Sometimes it's so good to sit down and settle in with some old friends. Matthew is not really making a lot of friends these days. He's growing and changing as a character and I just find him to be fascinating.

Just finished up Barron's debut novel THE CRONING. If you have not bought this, please do so, you'd really be missing out if you skipped over this one. This cruel piece of cosmic horror fiction was absolutely monstrous in its delivery/storytelling and soul crushing in its treatment of the key characters (as Barron is known to do). I'll put up a proper review soon enough... but I think I need a little break from this soul shredding novel and the very dark thoughts that it devilishly engenders.

I added it Benjamin. Thanks!

Just finished That Which Should Not Be. It was an awesome read. Any Lovecraft fans should definitely check it out.

Kealan wrote: "Wow, sounds right up my alley. I'll definitely add this to the buy list. Thanks Benjamin!"

Just posted my review of THE CRONING. I really don't have enough positive superlatives to explain how much I enjoyed it...I hope it doesn't reflect too badly on me given how sick and twisted the novel is. A few spoilers though... so tread carefully if you have not yet read the book.

Just started an ARC of Line of Fire.

I have been meaning to read "Summer of Night" for a while. You must really like it.

I am reading "Nanjing Requiem" by Ha Jin. I really enjoyed his "Waiting" which won either the Pulitzer or the National Book Award, I can't remember which. Reading a story like "Requiem" shows how the fictional horrors of a horror novel pale in comparison to the factual depravity of war.

Kealan wrote: "I actually ditched DROOD for the time being and am now 200 pages into SUMMER OF NIGHT (2nd time reading it and my first time rereading a book, ever)."

Really?

Damn, your luck finding good books must be one Hell of a lot better than mine.
Although my local Barnes & Noble Twitlight outlet does suck fish.

Kealan, so you didn't like Drood, or you got bored with it?
I can't believe you've never reread a book before. : )

I tried reading Drood twice.
I like it, but it's a huge time investment.
And a pain in the butt to lug on my commute.

Recluse,
hence this invention, perhaps you've heard of it?
Kindle! : )

I know what you're saying. I recently read an oversized paberback in DTB format. I really had a hard time with it. Lugging it all over the place, trying to prop it open while eating etc.

I know what you mean about not wanting to re-read but I changed my mind recently. I have seen "The Godfather" and "Casablanca" (and others) several times so why not a favorite book?

There is a danger in re-reading a beloved book from your youth. Some books are meant to be read at a certain age and a re-read can be disappointing.