What are you currently reading?

[WeDealInLead]

The Last House on Needless Street

I've started a tiny subsection of contemporary genre fiction I like to think of as Future Classics*. "The Last House on Needless Street" just made the list. All the things in the blurb (the one on Goodreads, at least) are true and I was still pleasantly surprised.

* It's a very short list:

Josh Malerman - Birdbox (his only book I enjoyed. It has been diminishing returns since then to the point of unreadability)
Paul Tremblay - A Head Full of Ghosts
Grady Hendrix - My Best Friend's Exorcism
Alma Katsu - The Hunger (You loved "Terror"? You'll love this too then)
Marisha Pessl - Night Film
Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian

I've also bought a couple of inscribed books directly from Philip Fracassi. "Beneath a Pale Sky" was neat. Iain Reid also makes the list but I haven't decided which book.

[St. Troy]

I've just finished The Fall of Númenor...

I'm looking forward to this; thanks for posting your thoughts.

[St. Troy]

Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian

This was fucking tremendous.

[WeDealInLead]

Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian

This was fucking tremendous.

Right? Truly a secret (or maybe overlooked) gem. Once I clear the next 3 waves (I plan these out in advance), I'll track down a used copy of The Swan Thieves. Her used books are all over the place here and max out at $5.

Currently reading:

Dan Simmons - Prayers to Broken Stones (truly a monumental collection).

Gene Wolfe - Endangered Species. Clues within clues but under all the head scratching whaaa moments, Wolfe's stories are horrific. "The Dark of the June" and its eight pages was as much of an emotional gut punch as Simmons' The River Styx Runs Upstream.

Alastair Reynolds - Belladonna Nights and other Stories. Masterclass SF. Infinitely vast ideas and humane (if not always human) characters. Highly recommend. You don't need to be a fan of science fiction to appreciate this. Think Song of Lya by GRRM.

[Heather19]

So I bought a bunch of Junji Ito books last year and they've just been sitting on my shelf. My goal this year is to go and start reading the books I already own, so I decided to start with Uzumaki yesterday. I loved it! Flew through it in a day. So today I decided to read Gyo. This one I wasn't as thrilled with, the characters were super annoying and the storyline wasn't as intriguing. I just picked up Tomie a few days ago, and I have a couple of his short story collections, so trying to decide which one I should start on next.

[WeDealInLead]

Dan Simmons - Prayers to Broken Stones

I started Frankenstein yesterday. I got as far as the second page. Those letters are dreadful. This one might take a while.

[Stockerlone]

Don Winslow - Kings of Cool

[Bev Vincent]

Don Winslow - Kings of Cool

I'm also reading Winslow. I just finished City on Fire and am 1/3 of the way through the sequel, City of Dreams.

[Ben Mears]

Dan Simmons - Prayers to Broken Stones

Some good stories in that collection. Been a while since we've heard from Mr. Simmons.

[Stockerlone]

Pheromon - Rainer Wekwerth, Thariot

[Heather19]

Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe. Super creepy ghost story.

[WeDealInLead]

Mark Samuels - Glyphotech and Other Macabre Processes

I've read blurbs about Samuels being the UK Liggoti and generally a fine weird fiction writer is in his own right. I've read only four stories in this collection and dunno, this is a lot more straight forward than Liggoti and the greats of Weird Fiction. I admit ignorance about the rest of his body of work (it's sizeable) but to me this was a lot like Books of Blood. Or maybe a less nebulous Laird Barron and John Langan.

Another book I accidentally discovered and have no qualms recommending to a purveyor of a good horror tale.

And I'll just pretend I didn't see the limited editions done by Zagava Press.

[kingfan2323]

The Magus
Hannibal Rising (audiobook read by Harris)
Cinema Speculation (Quentin Tarantino)


ISO: (1sts f/f), Bazaar, Different Seasons, Mr. Mercedes

[WeDealInLead]

I just finished The Collector. Lots to talk about, no energy to do so. Brilliant book though.

I'm reading Punktown at the moment but I'm also trying to decide on something meatier. It's either going to be The Hellfire Club or Necroscope.

[Stockerlone]

Pheromon Sie riechen Dich
Rainer Wekwerth+Thariot -Leseexemplar/ARC

[WeDealInLead]

Jeff Vandermeer - Authority
Philip Fracassi - Commodore

[Tommy]

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Semi/fictional autobiography kind of a thing but it is really good. There is a smallish passage about how much SK's novels pushed young Bret into writing and how much he disliked Kubrick's The Shining for not being like the book. Can never tell with Ellis but it might be that we would not have American Psycho without Stephen King's influence.

[WeDealInLead]

Jonathan Janz - The Dismembered

[Heather19]

Jonathan Janz - The Dismembered

I grabbed this one from KU but haven't started it yet. How is it?

[WeDealInLead]

Jonathan Janz - The Dismembered

I grabbed this one from KU but haven't started it yet. How is it?

Pretty good. It starts off as a Gothic story and ends up like something that'd make the young Clive Barker proud.

There's a scene that in retrospect changes the tone of the story. It's pretty disturbing. You can't miss it. Hold onto your hat after that.

[WeDealInLead]

Just finished Authority by Jeff Vandermeer. Holy moley, this was INTENSE. Pure psychological terror. The secret room/attic scene made the room 217 seem like unicorns frolicking in some magical meadow under a rainbow.

Reading: Gene Wolfe - Endangered Species. Probably his least nebulous collection. It's actually enjoyable.

[Tommy]

I wish I could read fast like that

[WeDealInLead]

The last two books were pretty short. I deleted them but I think they were roughly 110 and 150 pages.

[Heather19]

Jonathan Janz - The Dismembered

I grabbed this one from KU but haven't started it yet. How is it?

Pretty good. It starts off as a Gothic story and ends up like something that'd make the young Clive Barker proud.

There's a scene that in retrospect changes the tone of the story. It's pretty disturbing. You can't miss it. Hold onto your hat after that.

Just got to the turning point in the story! And that scene you mentioned was rough, I admit I skimmed over it. Just knowing what happened is enough for me.

I do love gothic stories so I loved the way he started the book. Hopefully this last half will be just as enjoyable.

[Stockerlone]

Josh Malerman - Bird Box
Leseexemplar/ARC