What are you currently reading?

[MonteGss]

It really is a great book, I can't wait to read it again!

[John Blaze]

glad. Once he hooks up with beezer and his crew, it gets good and it moves along fast.

[Unfound One]

Just started Insomnia...

[John Blaze]

you'll love that! I did.

[Unfound One]

If you love them I will too?
I'll be sure to check with you before starting books from now on.

[Wuducynn]

Oh wow....

I just finished Chapter 21 of Black House, and I have to say....

I have NEVER so thoroughly changed my mind about a book (certainly a Stephen King book) in my recollection. It used to be a chore just to get a single chapter read, but now I don't want to put it down!

I still think it's a shame that the first half of the book was so boring, but at least it's going somewhere now....

Great to see!

[MonteGss]

Unfound, just be prepared for a very slow, long start....
I'll let you decide whether it is "good" or not.

[Wuducynn]

Just started Insomnia...

Another awesome book.

[Wuducynn]

Unfound both Black House and Insomnia are the most closely connected to the Dark Tower Saga of all of King's books, also Low Men in Yellow Coats too. They really bring some insights into the series and are just great as stand-alone books. Like Monte said Insomnia does start slow, so be prepared for that.

[Unfound One]

Yeah that's what I've been told. I'm excited to see how.

[John Blaze]

If you love them I will too?
I'll be sure to check with you before starting books from now on.

damn skippy. since you are (almost) as cool as me, it's only natural we love the same books.

[Unfound One]

I'll keep that in mind.

[jayson]

I still think it's a shame that the first half of the book was so boring, but at least it's going somewhere now....

i blame it on straub. the later it gets in the book, the more it feels like king.

[MonteGss]

I still think it's a shame that the first half of the book was so boring, but at least it's going somewhere now....

i blame it on straub. the later it gets in the book, the more it feels like king.

It's funny....I never even thought of that.
Hmph. I like this line of thinking....it was his fault.



Now...who can I blame the boring 3/4 of Insomnia on?

[jayson]

I still think it's a shame that the first half of the book was so boring, but at least it's going somewhere now....

i blame it on straub. the later it gets in the book, the more it feels like king.

It's funny....I never even thought of that.
Hmph. I like this line of thinking....it was his fault.



Now...who can I blame the boring 3/4 of Insomnia on?

i still love insomnia, but it does start off pretty slowly.

[Girlystevedave]

I just started The Hobbit a little while ago.

[John_and_Yoko]

I don't know what anyone's talking about, with Insomnia--I got into it FAST!

Black House took over half the book to pick up, that I saw, but Insomnia--I went into that expecting NOT to like it (at least at first) and being wrong.

Must be just that subjective, I guess, then, huh?



EDIT: As for Peter Straub, I haven't read anything of his that wasn't co-written with Stephen King, so I hate to prejudge him as an author--unfortunately, though, the low points in the Stephen King books I've been reading so far have mostly been in The Talisman and Black House, so it's hard not to....

[pathoftheturtle]

Peter Straub is a great author. Not to everyone's taste, sure, but you might well enjoy some of his work. You're right to avoid developing a bias, if you can, before giving some a try.

Of course, I may just have a different view of things than you do: I was into Black House from the very start.

Spoiler:

(I'm mad about linguistics & I'd already read about Albert Fish.)

[Brice]

Black House took me a little longer than The Talisman to get into the first time I read it. I'm not reallt sure why.

I agree Path, Straub is great.

[Daghain]

I hated both Insomnia and Black House on my first read. Black House was especially disappointing, since I LOVED The Talisman so much.

I am going to reread both this year. We'll see if I change my opinion.

[John_and_Yoko]

Yeah, I don't want to boycott an author just because what little I know of him doesn't impress me much. I won't buy out my local bookstore's whole selection of him and force myself to read each one, but if I see something of his that looks like it might be my thing, I can try it out, see what I think. As I said before, it's subjective--what some love, others don't, and vice versa.

I've been wanting to reread The Dark Tower series at some point (probably next year at the soonest), but now I'm thinking of possibly also rereading Insomnia, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," and Black House at the same time, just to see if my opinion of them changes with time (and to refresh my memory of everything, as well as pick up on things I might be missing this first time, since I don't know everything about it yet).

Just something to think about, especially since I don't reread whole novels as a rule (though I'm thinking of rereading The Shining at some point).

[Daghain]

I read Straub's Lost Boy Lost Girl not too long ago, and let's just say I was less than impressed.

Not a bad story, but totally predictable, IMHO. Trust me, if I can figure it out, the plot's too easy.

[John_and_Yoko]

Yeah, as I said, I haven't read anything of his that he didn't co-write with Stephen King, but I did read about some motifs that he keeps bringing back, which sound an awful lot like Black House to me....

They may be all right as stories, but I don't want to keep reading the same story over and over with different names....

[Brice]

If you're gonna' read Straub at some point his earlier stuff is best IMO. Try, Ghost Story, Floating Dragon, Julia, Shadowlands, or If You Could See Me Now. Or if you prefer short stories Houses Without Doors is good.

[Daghain]

I've heard Ghost Story was good. I'm not sold yet, however. He seems very John Saul-ish to me - too easy to figure out.

But, for mindless entertainment, I'd go there.