What Are You Reading #2

Blood Oath, by Christopher Farnsworth. I have read it before, and it has a bit of dialogue that always makes it hard to take vampire/human romances seriously...

“Couldn’t you hypnotize her or something?"
"It doesn’t work like that."
"I thought vampires were all sex gods with the ladies."
Cade looked at him. "What gave you that idea?"
"Uh ... late-night TV, mostly ..."
"Humans are our food. Do you want to have sex with a cow?”
 
By coincidence, I have read two novels in a row about the Sami people of northern Scandinavia. What are the odds? Aednan by Linnea Axelsson was in the form of an epic poem, which took getting used to, but made it a quick read. I enjoyed it, though I felt I might be missing some cultural context. The other is The End of Drum-time by Hanna Pylväinen, an American, which is pretty good, but focuses less on the culture than the love story. I'm trying to get it finished, so I can get back to IwaV.
 
Taking a break to read Salem’s Lot

I’ve never read this one the whole way through, so I’m very much excited to do so. Want to finish every King Book this year
 
Having finished Salem’s Lot, decided I would go (somewhat) chronological and do Carrie next. Already 40 pages in. Very light and easy read, and already I’m left with the understanding that Carrie White lives an absolutely abysmal life.
 
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. 715 pages, but I think I will actually get it done before it's due back at the library in a week!
Plasma said:
Having finished Salem’s Lot, decided I would go (somewhat) chronological and do Carrie next. Already 40 pages in. Very light and easy read, and already I’m left with the understanding that Carrie White lives an absolutely abysmal life.
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I saw that Carrie is 50 years old. She may have had an abysmal life, but now the New York Times is celebrating her with praise from Tom Hanks, George R.R. Martin, and even the Archbishop of Canterbury! (Might be paywalled.)
www.nytimes.com

How Stephen King Got Under Their Skin (Published 2024)

As “Carrie” turns 50, George R.R. Martin, Sissy Spacek, Tom Hanks, the Archbishop of Canterbury and others recall the powerful impact the writer’s work has had on their lives.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
Went right into The Shining today. This is the first King book that I am re-reading on this release order binge I’m doing, and I’m excited! Remember loving this

While I didn’t do it this time, @Cohen chose Ghost Story for my next book, so I’ll take a break after this one and read that next, alongside Night Shift as it’s a short story collection.
 
@Plasma did you finish Anna Karenina?

I'm in a slump, got lots started but nothing gripping me to actually continue, despite needing to finish two as they're library ones.
 
Currently reading a Stone Barrington novel by Stuart Woods. Just finished Contraband, which was a lot of fun. It was a mystery set in the keys, and lots of interesting side characters. So when I finished that, I tried to move to another book, but I wanted more Stone, so I put that one down and to the side (I’ll return to it), and am now reading Double Jeopardy. This one is set in a main coastal town so I’m excited!
 
nightshade said:
@Plasma did you finish Anna Karenina?

I'm in a slump, got lots started but nothing gripping me to actually continue, despite needing to finish two as they're library ones.
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I did. I found it a really interesting piece ahead of its time.

The characters in it love and are loved, and sometimes it isn’t by the same person. There’s that whole idea of what it feels like to be rejected or discarded, and credit to Tolstoy for not just making the discarded women one dimensional. There’s one in particular who is drawn really well and has this whole air of like “this is it, this is who I want to be with”, but reading the other party you get straight up told he can’t wait for the next woman.
 
Next book has been started. The Stand. I’ve never made it beyond Part I: Captain Trips before getting bored out of my mind with the rambling King devolves into. Hoping to walk away with an opinion that it was worth finishing this time around.

I’m also reading Night Shift, King’s first collection to short stories, on the side. Hard to really sit and read these back to back to back (especially when he starts off with a bland Lovecraft homage) so I’ll just read the stories when I feel like it.
 
Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Grey. I already had a loose knowledge of the plot but didn’t realise how many ideas and phrases from it had become part of the public consciousness

I had fallen behind in my 52 book challenge so have been catching up with a few reads recently
Lauren Buekes - The Shining Girls
Louis de Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Catriona Ward - Last House on Needless St
Jeffrey Eugenides - Virgin Suicides
Conan Doyle - Hound of the Baskervilles (my first ever Sherlock Holmes book!)

Plasma said:
aking a break to read Salem’s Lot

I’ve never read this one the whole way through, so I’m very much excited to do so. Want to finish every King Book this year
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Haha if you manage to read every SK book this year you will need trauma counselling by the end of it !
What did you think of Salems Lot? I love this book. Its not my favourite of his but is arguably the archetypal SK book in the way it builds up slowly by making the small town and the people in it more important than the plot and the horror at the start so that it hits harder when the scares do come. And he conjures up some amazing visuals

Plasma said:
Next book has been started. The Stand. I’ve never made it beyond Part I: Captain Trips before getting bored out of my mind with the rambling King devolves into. Hoping to walk away with an opinion that it was worth finishing this time around.

I’m also reading Night Shift, King’s first collection to short stories, on the side. Hard to really sit and read these back to back to back (especially when he starts off with a bland Lovecraft homage) so I’ll just read the stories when I feel like it.
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The rambling world building is normally one of the things I like best about SK 🙂

A lot of people seem to like Night Shift but for me it is no Skeleton Crew
 
NotASlayer
NotASlayer
I mean to have another go at The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Sometimes 19th century language can be a strain to read.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

@Dogs of Winter I'm doing okay with the 52 challenge, but I've read a lot I couldn't fit in anywhere, so I'll have to read more than 52 books this year to complete it. Not sure I'll manage that!
 
Dogs of Winter said:
Haha if you manage to read every SK book this year you will need trauma counselling by the end of it !
What did you think of Salems Lot? I love this book. Its not my favourite of his but is arguably the archetypal SK book in the way it builds up slowly by making the small town and the people in it more important than the plot and the horror at the start so that it hits harder when the scares do come. And he conjures up some amazing visuals
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Extremely indicative of what he would do later in his career and a solid novel in its own right, like you said. Its only major pitfall is a female character that’s about as well drawn as a piece of plywood.

The visuals are fantastic in all of his novels. I can always conjure up whatever he’s saying in my mind just perfectly, which is why I enjoy his writing so often. It’s why it’s such a shame a fair amount of his adaptations have been blegh or haven’t been as good as they could be. Like John Carpenter should’ve directed a Salem’s Lot adaptation. That scene with the knives in the basement is something I can literally SEE as if it were filmed by Dean Cundy/John.

Dogs of Winter said:
The rambling world building is normally one of the things I like best about SK 🙂

A lot of people seem to like Night Shift but for me it is no Skeleton Crew
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I like it in moderation and when it’s well done. The problem with the stand is you get a lot of minutae that you don’t really need to know or feels pointless in hindsight, since near everyone you’re meeting dies 1/3 of the way through. I get that it’s meant to increase and improve the atmosphere, but like…Night Surf is 9 pages and I get that same feeling of loneliness and dread. Like Night Surf is just depressing with its “the world already ended and all we can do is fiddle while it burns” sort of tone.

Though I will admit, it’s better than Under the Dome. That novel had great characters, but then towards the end it mentioned the population was in the thousands and I was befuddled. The picture he had painted didn’t jive with that at all and he got so wrapped up in characterizations that I felt he failed to convey the size/scope of the area.

Strong agree with you about Skeleton Crew. Night Shift has some stories I really love, like Trucks and One for the Road, but it also has stinkers. Skeleton Crew has more bad than good, but it also has The Mist, his best horror novella.

Having read both…shocked that more stories weren’t Tales from the Crypt stories. Graveyard Shift in particular screams Tales from the Crypt, from the douchebag mill manager, to the ill-tempered employee, to straight up homicide by supernatural means.
 
The Vampire Lestat. I'd like to discuss it if anyone else is reading it, too, after IwtV.

I tried to read Parasol against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi. I liked her previous book, Gingerbread, but couldn't get more than 25 pages into this one before giving up.
 
nightshade
nightshade
Thread started for it in The Bronze
I am finally getting into audiobooks after a slow start although I still see them as complimentary to an actual book rather than an alternative at least for works of fiction, as a good narrator / cast and performance seems almost more important than the actual writing at times.
My favorite so far is American Gods by Neil Gaiman which had a great cast and performances. I almost always prefer the book to the film / TV Show but I would be surprised if the book version was as good because the audiobook creates such a great atmosphere which works incredibly well

nightshade said:
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

@Dogs of Winter I'm doing okay with the 52 challenge, but I've read a lot I couldn't fit in anywhere, so I'll have to read more than 52 books this year to complete it. Not sure I'll manage that!
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I sometimes take the categories quite loosely and use a bit of creative thinking
I used Hound of the Baskervilles for "Wild" as it is set on the moors, and Persuasion for "Wedding" as it mentions there has been one even if it is not actually described in the book.
And how much difference is there really between a slight fear and a phobia!

Plus I make sure not all my books are as long as Lord of the Rings !

@NotASlayer "I mean to have another go at The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Sometimes 19th century language can be a strain to read".
Yes I sometimes have the same problem with old books especially ones where the writing is overly flowery.
But Dorian Grey was quite easy to read compared to most old books apart from one section in the middle with a long descriptive passage that goes on and on and on.
I read my first Jane Austen recently and at first the level of detail almost felt like legalese at times but I did get used to it and really enjoyed it
 
Dogs of Winter said:
Plus I make sure not all my books are as long as Lord of the Rings !
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This is a chapter a day one, so easy to do, most of my books have been less than 300 pages.

I read Dorian Grey this year as well, and I've got another older book to read; My Man Jeeves.
 
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