Book Talk discussion

You're welcome, sir!

Wow, it's like a lovefest in here. : )

Kin was awesome and it was the best thing I've read in a while.

Yeah, like you would pass up a chance to fondle Kealan....... :P

Ha, I do have that Irish writer thing going on.

Lust, you mean?

Yes, you do.

Kealan wrote: "Charlene wrote: "Ha, I do have that Irish writer thing going on."

Charlene: Trust me, it's hard enough living with a writer, never mind an Irish one."

Charlene would give you a run for your money.....

Paying her won't stop her.....

I already have an Irish guy. I bet you could guess what he's doing right now. ; P

It involves beer.
And yes, I can be hard to fend off. HA!

Seriously, have you guys read any Greg Gifune?

Charlene wrote: "I already have an Irish guy. I bet you could guess what he's doing right now. ; P

It involves beer.
And yes, I can be hard to fend off. HA!

Seriously, have you guys read any Greg Gifune?"

I picked up The Bleeding Season

I'm dying to know what you think. Are you planning on reading it soon? I just loved his use of the language.

I should be getting to it soon.

I got a Gifune short story or novel a while back, but am too overwhelmed with other stuff to get to it.

Giffune is a very good writer and one whom I enjoy... although I think I have read enough of his work to realize that he regularly recycles plot devices and themes. He really likes his stories that involve a group of unrelated strangers passing through a storm fighting off a supernatural terror. I think he has three novel length stories that use the same plot device.

Benjamin wrote: "Giffune is a very good writer and one whom I enjoy... although I think I have read enough of his work to realize that he regularly recycles plot devices and themes. He really likes his stories that..."

I hate one trick pony authors. John Saul was OK when I was a teen and couldn't get enough of haunted house stories but it got old after awhile and I haven't picked up another Saul book since.

I like that fact that his plots mostly deal with people who are damaged. I haven't read a real lot of his work so far, but Heretics, The Rain Dancers and The Bleeding Season all do have these damaged people as characters. I don't find the plots to be recycled at all, but I still have a lot of his work yet to read.

Charlene wrote: "I already have an Irish guy. I bet you could guess what he's doing right now. ; P

It involves beer.
And yes, I can be hard to fend off. HA!

Seriously, have you guys read any Greg Gifune?"

I read and liked The Bleeding Season and have Children of Chaos downloaded.

just got A BOOK OF HORRORS edited by stephen jones in the mail the other day. its the only new book for me in months but i sure have been looking forward to this one!

The Hunter from the Woods
Oasis
The Golem
Black Sun Rising

I finished THE HUNTER FROM THE WOODS.
I liked it.
Little pieces of Michael's life before and after the war.
A solid 4 stars.

Just finished The Last Kind Words which was phenomenal, gave it 5 stars. Just started Hanging Hill.

I have yet to read a Tom Piccirilli book.
I have The Midnight Road on my TBR pile, though.
I think it's time to read it.

Can't wait to hear what you think of Hanging Hill.

Just finished Pressure, by Jeff Strand(thanks Charlene!), and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011. Am reading The Best American Essays 2011 and Rock Your Plot: A Simple System for Plotting your Novel.

Am dipping in and out of Dark Visions - Conversations with the Masters of the Horror Film, a book of interviews by Stanley Wiater. I have two of his other books of interviews, and always enjoy the heck out of them. Those other two provide short snatches of interviews by horror writers -- rarely as much as and even more rarely anything much more than a page long -- but this book has full interviews. Very nice so far. For a horror junkie, Wiater's interview books are very entertaining.

Kealan wrote: "Yeah, Wiater's stuff is always a treat.

Recluse: Glad you liked THITW. Excited to check it out."

Hey, Kealan.
I'ed love to hear what you think of it.

Gator, I added TLKW to my wish list and TBR based on your rec. Thanks!

Marc, if you don't mind my asking, do you write horror?
I know you're a poet. : )

I'm reading Justin Cronin's The Passage and I'm almost done. There was a very long boring portion, but things are racing now (at 86%). At this point, I'm not sure if I will read the sequel.

Charlene wrote: "Gator, I added TLKW to my wish list and TBR based on your rec. Thanks!

Marc, if you don't mind my asking, do you write horror?
I know you're a poet. : )

I'm reading Justin Cronin's The Passage an..."

I haven't written anything but poetry for decades, so no. But I am collaborating on a horror short story with a friend. Just in the plotting stages now. I'd like to start, as I've always been a huge horror fan.

I've heard a lot of good things about Laird Barron. His second collection of short stories, "Occultation," is on sale at Amazon now for two bucks, FYI, everyone.

I picked that one up.

Currently re-reading the Locke & Key graphic novels (Vol. #1-4) by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez in anticipation of Vol. 5--which should arrive any day now.

Kealan wrote: "Marc: Feel free to share some links to your work here."

Thanks Kealan.

I think folks might like one of my horror poems, "Working for a Living Death." It's behind a passworded wall so it can still be submitted someday if I get around to it. The password is citrus.

The passworded forum is at:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/f...

People might have to reload after signing in. But you don't have to register.

The poem itself is at:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/s...

Here's a non-horror one:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/s...

Doesn't work.
Invalid user name

Jon Recluse wrote: "Doesn't work.
Invalid user name"

Hmm. Maybe you do have to register then. Oh well. It's a free board, but I don't like to register any more than I have to, either.

Just finished CURRENCY OF SOULS, now reading SATANIC SUMMER by Andersen Prunty.

Got one of those beautifully illustrated books on magical creatures that came out in the 70's on gnomes, giants, fairies, etc. This one is on gnomes, and it's called simply "Gnomes." It's ridiculously charming. I had to put it aside because I want to savor it instead of reading it all at once or to the point at which it is anything but great fun.

I've seen those.

Loved some of the illustrations.

They're really cute. I think I might send one to my niece for Christmas. I would have flipped my lid if I'd gotten one as a kid.

They are. That's a nice idea! I probably would have, too.

I Michael Bennett by James Patterson

Kealan wrote: "Charlene wrote: "

I'm reading Justin Cronin's The Passage an..."

That seems to be a very common consensus. I haven't read it yet. Can't decide if I want to."

Read it. It's not boring at all. Can't wait for the sequel.

Come on, you chicken, read it! lol Seriously, it didn't take me that long to finish it. Aren't you the least bit curious as to what the fuss is all about?

Kealan wrote: "Big commitment for a book that has so severely divided its audience...hmm..."

That puts me in mind of people enthusiastically recommending "The Stand."

Gator, how can you say it's not boring?
Yes, the beginning was good. Now that I'm close to it, yes the ending is good as well. But, OMG, that long part at the town under the lights? B O R I N G.
: )

There was a time when we had the time to read a BIG book.
I still have a certain affection for doorstops, but with the evident lack of purpose so many of these blockbusters are padded with has worn away what pleasure I get from diving into one.

Besides, I'll be reading George R.R. Martin into my second century at this rate......

Few authors of even ordinary-length novels can keep them from going off the rails at some point, generally wasting, here and there, momentum and vitality on events and discursions that neither matter much to the story nor tell us much that's interesting about its characters. The chance of doorstop novels not doing so -- and perhaps (shudder) at the extra length their size allows -- is smaller still.

To me, there's too much good writing out there to allot a book or an author more of my time than they're worth.

Many people feel the opposite; if an author creates a world they enjoy, they want to hang around as long as possible -- maybe set up shop, buy a nice piece of land, raise some kids.

Me, I don't need things to move at a quick pace. But I don't like them to flag. If nothing happens toward any notable end, be it character development, enjoyable incident, or plot advancement, I feel the author has abandoned me while he has gone off to do his own thing. Then I'm just paddling away helplessly in the doldrums, waiting for the wind to pick up. Being in his world is not good enough. Something worthwhile has to happen there.

speaking of big books, anyone ever read House of Leaves?

Yes, I did.

I liked it!

it was absolutely mind-boggling! i liked it too.

Exactly!

Tried to read House of Leaves 10 or 12 years ago, and then again fairly recently. Couldn't make it either time.

Charlene wrote: "Gator, how can you say it's not boring?
Yes, the beginning was good. Now that I'm close to it, yes the ending is good as well. But, OMG, that long part at the town under the lights? B O R I N G.
: )"

Because it wasn't boring. The pace was slower, yes, but that doesn't make it boring. I found the characters and their interaction very interesting and the descriptions of the camps and the town fascinating. Cronin is an excellent writer.

Kealan wrote: "Gatorman: Fifteen years ago I'd have read the book in a matter of days. Now, with limited time, I'm extremely selective about what I read. I've read enough derogatory things centered around "that s..."

Keanan, I totally understand and I feel the same way about my reading time. Maybe someday you'll get the urge and try it out.