What Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Dana Jean
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You still dont have it!!!!!
Not yet, I've held it in my hands though! With the wedding almost here I've had other priorities for my cash, but will definitely be purchasing this before the end of the year, I will make it my Christmas treat.
I understand the priorities....... A green christmas feels funny to me but that is always the case in NZ i take it. I can picture you, all wedding stress blown over, christmas things over and done with relaxing in a chair, or perhaps under the blue sky, slowly sinking down in the worlds of the Bazaar..... Sounds nice, doesnt it??
With the wedding almost here I've had other priorities for my cash, but will definitely be purchasing this before the end of the year, I will make it my Christmas treat.
Me, i have just finished Day Four by Sarah Lotz. Liked it more than The Three. This story is more contained both in time and space which is good for suspense. It has flaws of course but is a good story basically and better handled than the Three. Better told.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Have not read the book but the movie based on this book was very good.
Totally missed that it even existed a movie........
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda - a pretty good flick!
I saw the hard cover book in a second hand shop this past summer and almost bought it, but then passed it up.
It was the same shop that had this book in stock:
I could have bought it for 4 bucks! (I had the book in my hand, then changed my mind)
It was the original book from July 1979 in pretty good condition - wow - what a numbskull - I had no idea it was such a rare book.
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So I finished Nick Cutter's The Deep.
The "plot" seemed to get more vague as it went on, never really answering many of the questions it poses and ultimately made me lose all interest in the last 1/4 of the book or so. I was actually planning to read The Troop by Cutter in the future, but I may remove it from my tbr list after this.
Now I am making steady progress through Bazaar.
I am enjoying it (I think). I have never been a lover of short stories, definitely not what I would call short short stories especially.
What I have read is good (currently up to Herman Wouk), even great in places, but I think it's King's style that is causing an odd feeling when reading it.
Sai King has always had that "come here, sit next to me and let me tell you a tale" sort of style. He creates characters that are both fleshed out, believable and I think this is where the problem lies. He manages to sink his hooks into my imagination so well and so fast it's untrue. I find myself building a liking or an understanding for the characters within a few pages of each story, but then the bubble is burst a few pages later when it ends quite abruptly. I do realise that this is the very nature of a short story too btw! It may just be I prefer the longer novels.
When I read Barker's Books of Blood it was a different experience (from what I remember).
They seemed to be short, sharp and brutal tales that didn't sucker me in to the same degree. However this may just be me remembering it wrong or my tastes changing as I did read BoB a long time ago.
Anyone else feel the same?
Or is it just me?
Back to Bazaar I go...
The "plot" seemed to get more vague as it went on, never really answering many of the questions it poses and ultimately made me lose all interest in the last 1/4 of the book or so. I was actually planning to read The Troop by Cutter in the future, but I may remove it from my tbr list after this.
Now I am making steady progress through Bazaar.
I am enjoying it (I think). I have never been a lover of short stories, definitely not what I would call short short stories especially.
What I have read is good (currently up to Herman Wouk), even great in places, but I think it's King's style that is causing an odd feeling when reading it.
Sai King has always had that "come here, sit next to me and let me tell you a tale" sort of style. He creates characters that are both fleshed out, believable and I think this is where the problem lies. He manages to sink his hooks into my imagination so well and so fast it's untrue. I find myself building a liking or an understanding for the characters within a few pages of each story, but then the bubble is burst a few pages later when it ends quite abruptly. I do realise that this is the very nature of a short story too btw! It may just be I prefer the longer novels.
When I read Barker's Books of Blood it was a different experience (from what I remember).
They seemed to be short, sharp and brutal tales that didn't sucker me in to the same degree. However this may just be me remembering it wrong or my tastes changing as I did read BoB a long time ago.
Anyone else feel the same?
Or is it just me?
Back to Bazaar I go...
Have started The War Of The Roses: Trinity by Conn Igggulden. Second in his series. So far most of telling has beem from the Lancastrian point of view even if he has ducked making Richard of York into a pure villain which is good (the father of Richard III). I don't know if that is because he will stay with the ones in power (in that case it will soon change to the York side if i remember history correctly). I hope so because such a complex story is always more interesting when trying to give both sides point of view. Too many historical novels choose the simple way of painting some persons as black and some others as white which is not believable. It can still be good books (I, Claudius by Robert Graves is a great example of that) but they are not convincing. I think Iggulden will try to avoid that But it is really to early to say. The Future Edward IV is only 13 and the future Richard III is just 2 years old. The weak king Henry VI (son of Henry V, the warrior king) is still clinging to the throne though weak in both health and mind. I like that he as much as possible keeps to historical fact even if i understand that sometimes he has to simplify because it is a novel, not a history. It is much more difficult to write a good novel when youre main persons, Henry VI of England, Queen Margarethe of Anjou and Richard of York all are very real historical persons. You cant do exactly what you want. Alexandre Dumas for example, for that very reason, let his main characters be fictive and he could do whatever he wanted with Dartagnan, Athos, Aramis and Porthos. But so far he does a good job with the war of the Roses. The first novel, Stormbird, was not as good because in it he had both to start the action and set the scene. Here the scene is set and we know whats going on.
Shadowland- Peter Straub
Angle of Repose- Wallace Stegner
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski
Eyes of the Dragon- Stephen King (again)
Still haven't read Finders Keepers.
Angle of Repose- Wallace Stegner
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski
Eyes of the Dragon- Stephen King (again)
Still haven't read Finders Keepers.
Just started on Firestarter this weekend.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Me, neither! (That sounds like a perfect thing to do next week).Shadowland- Peter Straub
Angle of Repose- Wallace Stegner
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski
Eyes of the Dragon- Stephen King (again)
Still haven't read Finders Keepers.
Is this your first time reading it? It's either my third or fourth, and I'm just now warming (heh) up to it.
First time for me. I'm reading all the novels chronologically. Most will be first reads for me.
Finished Bazaar of Bad Dreams. Loved it. All collection of stories that range from very good to excellent. Not a clunker among them.
My only quibble was closing the book out with Summer Thunder. My pick for last story would have been Mister Yummy.
In rereading Mile 81 - King's ability to craft layered characters in an awesome display of his writing talent.
Up next another short story collection - this a free one edited by Elizabeth Bear and funded by Microsoft -
Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft. You can find it on Amazon - Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft
This a heavy hitters collection of SF writers:
Future Visions features contributions from:
Elizabeth Bear
Greg Bear
David Brin
Nancy Kress
Ann Leckie
Jack McDevitt
Seanan McGuire
Robert J. Sawyer
…along with a short graphic novel by Blue Delliquanti and Michele Rosenthal, plus original illustrations by Joey Camacho.
My only quibble was closing the book out with Summer Thunder. My pick for last story would have been Mister Yummy.
In rereading Mile 81 - King's ability to craft layered characters in an awesome display of his writing talent.
Up next another short story collection - this a free one edited by Elizabeth Bear and funded by Microsoft -
Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft. You can find it on Amazon - Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft
This a heavy hitters collection of SF writers:
Future Visions features contributions from:
Elizabeth Bear
Greg Bear
David Brin
Nancy Kress
Ann Leckie
Jack McDevitt
Seanan McGuire
Robert J. Sawyer
…along with a short graphic novel by Blue Delliquanti and Michele Rosenthal, plus original illustrations by Joey Camacho.
Now that I have a pretty impressive collection of SK books, all hard covers, I decided to start working my way through all of them in alphabetical order (some will be a re-read of course but should still be a fun journey). Starting with my Bachman books and just finished Blaze. Really enjoyed it. Certainly had an Of Mice and Men feel to it.
Up next The Regulators!
Up next The Regulators!
Re-reading a little Robert E. Howard Conan these last couple days. Always been a Conan freak, ever since childhood, so it's taken some time before I could peel away the media's skewed conception of the Barbarian (the 'roided-out brute in fur britches--Tarzan with a sword, basically) and enjoy the original tales from a fresh, 1930s perspective. Going into a story like A Witch Shall Be Born without the preconceived baggage of the movies, comics, and pastiches helps to appreciate just how groundbreaking ol Two-Gun Bob really was. Compared to other 'weird fiction' of the early thirties, Howard's sword and sorcery yarns are like finding rare cuts of prime rib at a salad bar.
Imagine a Conan movie made in the 1930s! Think we'll need a beefed-up Errol Flynn as the Cimmerian, maybe a scantily clad Jean Harlow slave girl, Marlene Dietrich as an evil queen, oh! And let's see Basil Rathbone as the sorcerer Thoth Amon. Howard Hawks at the helm, we can't miss.
Imagine a Conan movie made in the 1930s! Think we'll need a beefed-up Errol Flynn as the Cimmerian, maybe a scantily clad Jean Harlow slave girl, Marlene Dietrich as an evil queen, oh! And let's see Basil Rathbone as the sorcerer Thoth Amon. Howard Hawks at the helm, we can't miss.
My son wanted me to ask you about what old Conan's are the best to read. He gets a lot of sh*t for liking these I guess. And he says he sees such horrible reviews, so he's not sure what's good.
Reading A Different Flesh by H arry Turtledove. Good alternative history starten out with the idea that homo erectus crossed the landbridge to americas instead of homo sapiens. No native societies ever arose. What would the effect om history be? Curious creatures there would be because erectus was not as good at extinction as we were, No gold treasures though that made spain the richest and most powerful country in europe. And the animals like mammoth, sabertooth, giant ground sloth and several others would still be alive to see. Not to speak of erectus. Would that make some humans mind turn to evulutionary thoughts earlier when they had live examples to go from? It starts with the first english colony and continues through the centuries. I am at the beginning of the railroad now. Good story ut Turtledove is often interesting.
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